BOMBAY (Presidency) has become what it is mainly in the present century. Diming ninety years, it was confined, with now and then a temporary and insignificant excep tion, to the island and the two rocky islets on the south. Even the adjacent islands, such as Salsette and Caratija, were acquired only in 1775--the very year in which a vounger presidency, after Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, annexed Bemires. With the exception of the detached territory of Sinde, this presidency, reared princi pally at the expense of .;:iliratta dominion, physically divides itself into three ;nuts: the two Concans, between the western Gliants and the Arabian sea; the eastward slope of the western Manus ; and, to the la of both these divisions, the alluvial tracts towards the mouths of the Taptee and the Xcrbuddn. Of these three regions. the first, thonell in a higher latitude than the second, is IT far the hottest—its temperature occa sionally reaching 115'. The first two differ widely as to rainfall. In the C'onenns. the vapors of the say, monsoon, intercepted by the mountains, have been known to yield, at three different plileesin the stunt: year, 106,180, 810.248 almost us a ueces nary consegnence, the eastward slope is generally liable to suffer from droughts. With out anticipating, details, which will be given under the respective districts, it may be stated that 13., including Sinde, contains 188,195 sq.m., of which 63,523 are in native states, with (1872) 25,624.696 inhabitants. The British part of the presidency has an area of 124,44:3 sq.in. and a pop. of 16,352,628. •The revenue is about £10,000,000, and the expenditure about £1,000.000 less. The administration is vested in a governor and three councilors, subject, however, to the control of the governor-general of India. The ecclesiastical establishment consists of a bishop of the church of England, who has tinder him an archdeacon and many clergymen; and a number of chaplains of the church of Scotland. The schools are of two cl•sses—seminaries under the various
missions, and schools managed by. a board of education—the latter being. by far,the more numerous. The majority of the scholars use merely the vernacular tongues. •In 1872-73, the entire number of schools and colleges aided by government, or under its inspection, was 4088, with 218,466 pupils. The university of B. was founded in 1857; 203 candidates passed for admission in 1876. In 1871, the 13. army consisted of 10,583 European soldiers, with 1312 officers, along with 27,107 native officers and men. During the mutiny of 1857, the local army remained, on the whole, steady and faithful; and it was, in fact, a portion of it which, under sir Hugh Hose, acted, if not actually the first, at least the second part in the suppression of the insurrection. It is to tltis presidency that the naval force for all the presidencies belongs. To the island of 13., as to Great Britain itself, "wooden walls "were from the beginning a necessary of life, more especially on waters proverbial for piracy from time immemorial. Accordingly, from 1670 onwards, the company's navy have done battle for the crown. 13. has benefited vastly from the establishment and extension of the Indian railway system. The first railway in Hindustan was opened in B. in 1833. There are now five main railway lines in B., giving direct communication with Ahmedabad, Calcutta, and Madras. A cable telegraph from B. to Aden was laid in 1809. Of late years, the manufacturing indus tries have been extremely active in Bombay. Many great cotton-mills have been erected; and the presidency, commanding. as it does, the richest cotton-fields in India, has- improved to the utmost its natural advantages, by adding English machinery to its cheap labor and ready material. Government has been liberal itt supplying money for public works.