The colonial administration of the Bri tish colonies is an important department of the general administration. At the head of it is the principal colonial secretary.
Historical and Statistical View of British Colonies, 6-c.
The word Colony is not applicable to all the foreign possessions of Great Bri tain. Gibraltar, Malta, and Heligoland may be more correctly termed Posses sions , Port Essington, on the northern coast of Australia, is a Settlement; British India is a Dependency, and so likewise are the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man ; Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, &c. are Colonies. The seven Ionian Islands are under the protection of Great Britain. Tenasserim, Singapore, Penang, Malacca, Aden, and some other places, are Dependencies of the East India Company. The Chatham Islands are Dependencies of New Zealand, and Norfolk Island of Van Diemen's Land. In the British Colonies the waste lands belong to the British Crown, and they are now. disposed of by sale only, under one tolerably uniform system. The mode in which these lands are sold, and leased, or depastured under licences, and the mode in which emigra tion to them is now conducted, are con sidered under the head of EMIGRATION.
I. Date of Captiire,:Ceasion, or Settle ment.
Canada, capitulation, 18th Sept. 1759, and 8 Sept. 1760, and cession by treaty, 1763.
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward:a Island, and Newfoundland-fisherles or settlements, established soon after. their discovery in 1497.
Antigua, settlement, 1692.
Barbados, settlement, 1605.
Dominica and Grenada, ceded by France, 1763.
Jamaica, capitulation, 1655. Montserrat, settlement, 1632.
Nevis, settlement, 1628.
St. Kitt's, settlement, 1623.
St. Lucia, capitulation, 22 June, 1803. St. Vincent and Tobago, ceded by France, 1763.
Tortola and Anguilla, settlement, 1666. Trinidad, capitulation, 18 Feb. 1797. Bahamas, settlement, 1629.
Bermudas, settlement, 1609.
British Guiana, including Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, capitulation, Sep tember, 1803.
Honduras, treaty, 1670.
Gibraltar, capitulation, 4 Aug. 1704. Malta and Gozo, capitulation, 5 Sept. 1800.
Cape of Good Hope, capitulation, 0 Jan. 1806.
Sierra Leone, settlement, 1787.
Gambia, settlement, 1618.
Gold Coast, African Forts, 1618. Ascension Island, taken possession of by permission of Spain, 1827.
Fernando Po, taken possession of, 1815. Ceylon, capitulation, 17 Sept. 1795. Mauritius, capitulation, 3 Dec. 1810. New South Wales, settlement, 1787. Van Diemen's Land, settlement, 1803. Western Australia, settlement, 182Q. South Australia, settlement, 1834. New Zealand, settlement, 1839. Falkland Islands, taken possession of, 1833.
St. Helena, ceded by Holland, 1673. Hong-Kong, treaty, 1842.
The immense territory in North Ame rica which lies north of the British Colonies, and extends to the Pacific, where it is bordered on the north-west by the Russian possessions, and on the south by the Territory of the United States, is administered by the Hudson's Bay Cora pan ' under a charter. Another vast territory in North America, which lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific, and is called the Oregon Terri tory, is claimed by Great Britain as far south as the Columbia river ; but it is partly occupied by citizens of the United States, and partly by British subjects ; and there are conflicting claims between the two governments as to the right of sovereignty.
VIII. Principal items of Revenue and Viii. Principal items of Revenue and Expenditure in British Colonies in the year 1842.
Gibraltar. Reve'nue: -L Wine duty, 2717/. ; spirit duty, 8101/. ; auction fees, 3207/. ; ground and hodse rents, 3836/. ; post rates and duties, 5806/. ; licences on taverns and wine-houses, 3153/. Expen diture :-Government, 5013/. ; • post de partment, 50311.; police, 3889/.; revenue department, 3527/.; judicial, 2975/.; civil secretary's department, 1862/.
Malta. Revenue : - Import duties, 81,649/. ; tonnage does, 4618/. ; quaran tine dues, 3855l.; post-office, 2431l. Ex penditure : - Governor's establishrhent, 5177/. ; chief secretary's office, 3142/. ; courts of justice, 6575/. ; interior police, 73741.; marine police and quarantine, 6`2401.; University and Lyceum, 2679l.; primary schools, 6791. ; charitable insti tutions, 41731. ; pensions, 99:,0/.; alms to the poor, 3086/. ; hospitals and asylums, 9061/.