a market-town of Ireland, in the county of Tyrone, 9 miles N. by W. of Omagh, contains many well-built houses; a large parish church; Presbyterian, Wesleyan, and Roman Catholic churches; a school; a dispensary; and the ruins of an old castle. Pop. 1405.

NEW YORK, one of the United States of America, is situated between Lat. 40, 30, and 45, N., and (including Long Island, &c.) between Long. 71, 51, 58, and 79, 55. It is bounded N. by Lake Ontario, St Lawrence River, and Canada East; E. by Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut; S. by the Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; and W. by Pennsylvania, Lake Erie, and Niagara River. Its form is irregular, but may be compared to that of an irregular triangle, with its apex touching the Atlantic. The extreme length east and west of its continental part is about 335 miles, and the extreme breadth north and south about 308 miles. Including Long Island, Staten Island, &c., the total area of the state is computed at 47,000 square miles, or about one sixty-third of the entire area of the United States.

Long Island, the largest insular portion of the state, projects into the Atlantic (opposite, and in the main parallel, to the shore of the mainland, the most of which is embraced by Connecticut), a distance of about 125 miles; its greatest breadth is about 20 miles, its average breadth 12 miles, and its area about 1440 square miles. Staten Island, at the mouth of New York harbour (and included in Richmond county), is about 14 miles long, from 4 to 8 miles wide, with an area of about 60 square miles. Manhattan Island (embraced in New York city and county) has an extreme length of 13½ miles, an average breadth of 2 miles, and an area of 21½ square miles. In New York harbour are three islands—Governor's, Elles', and Bedlow's, ceded to the United States government, and fortified. In the East River, or Strait of Long Island Sound, are three islands occupied by New York city institutions. In Niagara River, about 4 miles above Niagara Falls, is Grand Island, having an area of 27½ square miles, besides several small islands.

The surface of the state is considerably elevated, the larger part of it being a section of the great Alleghany table-land. There is, however, a great diversity in the aspect of the several physical divisions. The eastern half of the state is traversed by ranges of mountains; the interior has an uneven surface, and contains several large and deep lakes; and the western part, though frequently uneven, is distinguished for its broad and rich plains. There are four great natural divisions,—1. The Atlantic district, the smallest of these, comprises Long Island, which is a low sandy region, with extensive plains rising along its northern borders into hills of moderate elevation, at but one point only exceeding 300 feet in height. Its temperature differs much from that of the mainland. Its insular position, and its early settlement, have occasioned the extermination of the larger quadrupeds; and it is more remarkable for the abundance and variety of its birds, than for the number of its mammalia. It forms the southern limit of the migrations of the arctic species of birds, and the northern limit to those of the torrid zone. It seems also to be the boundary between the fishes and other classes of the northern and tropical seas. 2. The Hudson valley district comprises the region watered by the Hudson River and its tributaries, the chief of which is the Mohawk River. The outline bears some resemblance to the letter L inverted (thus, Λ), the perpendicular and main part of the letter representing the Hudson River, and the horizontal and minor part of it representing the Mohawk River. The latter, after an eastward course of 140 miles, enters the Hudson at a distance of 160 miles from the Atlantic. This district New York is traversed by ranges of the Alleghany Mountains, and its western border embraces the Catskill range of mountains, some of which are nearly 4000 feet high. In regard to size, this is the third of the four districts. 3. The Northern district lies N. of the Mohawk valley, is bounded W. by Lake Ontario and the River St Lawrence, and has the shape of an irregular truncated triangle. Its south-eastern half embraces the region of the Adirondack Mountains, estimated to contain an area of about 6000 square miles, and containing numerous conical peaks and short ranges, reaching in some places an elevation of more than 5000 feet. Towards Lakes Champlain and George they subside suddenly to the level of those sheets of water. To the N. and N.W. there is a very gradual slope towards the River St Lawrence. 4. The Western district includes the Western region between Lakes Ontario and Erie on the N., and the district Pennsylvania boundary-line on the S. A large proportion of it is elevated and furrowed by valleys, extending N. and S., which give rise to rivers pursuing opposite directions. Its central position is a level table-land, rising in its southern parts to elevations of from 1000 to 1200 feet above the sea, and abruptly subsiding on its western border to the level of Lake Erie. This same portion contains a series of lakes, stretching generally from N. to S., varying from 15 to 38 miles in length, and discharging their waters by one common outlet, the Oswego River, into Lake Ontario. Lakes Erie and Ontario exercise a great influence on the climate and other features of this district, the whole of which is exceedingly fertile, and in its uncultivated portions is covered by a vigorous growth of forest trees.

The Alleghany Mountains enter the S.E. part of the state by two distinct ridges from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The former crosses the Hudson River at West Point, forming the highlands of the Hudson, celebrated for their scenery, which combines grandeur with the most picturesque beauty. At this crossing the highlands are from 15 to 20 miles in breadth, and have a height of about 1400 feet, and in one instance, on the E. bank of the river, near Fishkill, they attain an elevation of nearly 1700 feet. East of the Hudson this range has a N.E. direction, until it approaches near the Connecticut boundary-line, and then extends N., being called the Taconic range, until it merges in the chain of the Green Mountains. The second branch of the Alleghanies, leading from Pennsylvania, is the range of the Shawanunk Mountains, which also extends in a N.E. direction, approaching the Hudson, but not crossing it. The Catskill range approaches the Hudson by a similar course, and extends parallel to it for 20 miles, but then bends off to the N.W., towards the Mohawk River. The mountains in the northern part of the state, which are together generally called the Adirondack Mountains, comprise several ranges which have distinct local names; but they constitute a cluster which may be considered as a branch of the great Appalachian system. In other sections there are ranges of hills and highlands.

The most important river for purposes of general navigation exclusively within the state, is the Hudson, which is also one of the most magnificent water-courses in the New World. It rises, by two branches, among the Adirondack Mountains, and having received the Sacandaga, pursues its course (of about 160 miles from its sources) to Waterford, 10 miles above Albany, where it receives the Mohawk River, and thence flows almost directly southward about 156 miles, to its entrance through New York Bay into the Atlantic Ocean. To Troy, 151 miles from the city of New York, the tidal wave passes in from seven to nine hours from New York; and to that city the river is navigable for large steamboats of light draught. Ocean vessels do not ascend above Hudson, 118 miles from New York. The River St New York Lawrence, the outlet of the great lakes, forms a large part of the northern boundary of the state, and conveys to the ocean a larger volume of water than any other river in the world, except the Amazon. It is navigable for sloops to Ogdensburg, 60 miles from Lake Ontario, but below that place its navigation is much interrupted by rapids. Several rivers of great volume, lying within the state, have each a course of above 150 miles; and, in addition to their natural service in draining and watering their respective valleys, afford, from their descent, most valuable water-power, which latter circumstance prevents continuous navigation by vessels of considerable size.

The falls and cascades of the rivers of this state are numerous, forming notable features in its scenery. The great Falls of Niagara are elsewhere described. The Genesee River has a series of falls; near its sources it descends, within the space of two miles, by three falls of 60, 90, and 110 feet, through a wild and picturesque gorge, formed in the solid rock to the depth of 400 feet; and at Rochester it again descends by three falls of 96, 20, and 105 feet (making, with two rapids, a total descent of 268 feet within the city's limits), the first of which, by its affording immense water-power, has been a principal cause of the prosperity of that flourishing city. Fall Creek, near Ithaca, descends 438 feet, in the space of one mile, by several cascades, one of which has a perpendicular pitch of 116 feet. The Mohawk River in its falls at Cohoes is precipitated over a broken rock 62 feet high, the bank of the river forming precipitous walls 140 feet above the stream; and at Little Falls, some miles above, it passes through a fissure in the rocks, which rise on each side 500 feet above its surface.

Trenton Falls is a series of cascades and rapids in West Canada Creek, a tributary of the Mohawk, and 15 miles N. of Utica, extending over 2 miles in a narrow channel cut through solid limestone rock, the sides of which in places rise perpendicularly to the height of 140 feet. At Glenn's Falls, 18 miles from Saratoga, the Hudson flows over a precipitous ledge of rocks, with a descent of 70 feet. In various other rivers, especially in the northern part of the state, there are many waterfalls of much beauty, which are also of importance from their furnishing motive power.

The great exterior lakes, Ontario and Erie, are navigable for the largest steamers and sailing-vessels, and each has several good harbours. Lake Champlain, between this state and Vermont, is 134 miles in length, and of comparatively narrow though unequal width, but is navigable throughout its length for steamboats of the first class. The lakes in the interior of the state not only constitute an interesting feature in its physical geography, but they are of considerable importance to commercial navigation. The largest of these which are navigable by steamers are Lake George, 36 miles long; Cayuga, 38; and Seneca, 35; after which are Oneida Lake, 20 miles long; Skaneateles, 16; Crooked, 18; Canandaigua, 15; Chautauqua, 18; and several others. The northern district of the state abounds with small lakes, there being perhaps 200, some of which are greatly elevated above the sea.

The harbours of Buffalo and Dunkirk, on Lake Erie, are capacious, and are also important commercial stations, forming the termini of the two great lines of railroad which extend through the whole length of the state to the Hudson River. On Lake Ontario there are several good harbours,—viz., Sackett's Harbour, Oswego, Genesee (port of Rochester), Niagara, &c.; the first of which is the best, and was an important naval station during the war of 1812-14. Lake Champlain has some harbours, which are sufficiently commodious for the shipping on that lake.

The sea-coast of the state is nearly all comprised in the shores of Long Island, which contain a few harbours and inlets, but none that are much frequented by shipping.

The bay and harbour of New York are subsequently described.

The legislature of New York, by its act of 15th April 1836, authorized a complete geological survey of the state, which should furnish a perfect and scientific account of rocks and soils, and their localities, with a list of all its mineralogical, botanical, and zoological productions, and which should also procure and preserve specimens of the same. In the execution of that act, and of the acts of May 18, 1840, and of April 9, 1842, the survey was made. The final report on the results of the survey consists of sixteen large quarto volumes, abundantly and splendidly illustrated. There are eight several collections of specimens of the animals, plants, rocks, minerals, rocks, and fossils, found within the state, one of which collections constitutes a museum of natural history at the capital of the state, and the others are distributed among its collegiate institutions. A geological map is also published, and several more volumes are expected upon the paleontology. The total cost of the survey and of printing, &c., has been estimated at about £145,000.

With the exception of the alluvial and alluvial deposits, and the Geology, beds of Tertiary on the St Lawrence, occupying a very limited area, all the formations of the state of New York are older than the coal formation. The lowest rock of the coal formation occupies some small patches in the south-western part of the state; but none of the coal-bearing strata approach nearer than within six miles of the state line. The prevalence of limestone in nearly all the formations is worthy of notice, affording as it does the basis rock best adapted to yield the materials for fertilizing the soil.

There are two tracts of rocks of the Primary system (comprising Primary the unstratified crystalline and the stratified non-fossiliferous) system, which together occupy about one-third of the area of the state, and are separated from each other by the intervention of a narrow belt of sedimentary rocks. The first is in the north-eastern part of the state, and is of irregular circular form, occupying the counties of Essex, Warren, and Hamilton, with parts of the adjoining counties embraced in the region of the Adirondack Mountains. Nearly the whole of the county of Essex, with its hills and mountains, is composed of hypsotrope rock, a compound of Labrador feldspar and hypersthene, allied to syenite granite. In this region it is associated with very large deposits of magnetic iron ore. Throughout this northern section primitive limestone, important for the manufacture of lime for agricultural purposes, is quite abundant. The second tract of the Primary formation consists of a comparatively small section, somewhat triangular, in the southern and south-eastern portion of the state, comprising the counties of Putnam and Westchester, with the larger part of New York, and parts of Rockland, Orange, and Dutchess. The predominant rock in both these Primary sections is gneiss, which furnishes a fine building material, and, under the popular name of granite, is extensively quarried, varying, however, in appearance and composition in different sections. Granite exists, but it is quite unimportant both in extent and value.

The term Taconic system has been given to that series (comprising Taconic seven groups, according to the New York geologists) denominated system, metamorphic, lying between the most decided crystalline slates and the lowest fossiliferous rocks. (This system is referred to Professor Emmons, is fossiliferous, distinct from, and lower than the New York system, and corresponds to the Canadian rocks of Great Britain; but according to others, the New York system metamorphosed by heat.) The term is derived from the Taconic or Taghkanic range of the Appalachian chain, on the eastern boundary of the state, in which it is the principal deposit; but there are extensive deposits of similar character all along the west side of the Green and Hoosac Mountains of New England, and so through the Appalachian ranges to Alabama, besides thinner ones in many other places throughout the United States, making in all a series of rocks many thousand feet thick and many hundred miles long. Its seven groups or formations are,—granular quartz (which furnishes white siliceous sand for glass and sand-paper, and for sawing marble), Stockbridge limestone, magnesian slate, sparrey limestone, roofing slate, Taconic slate, and black slate. The limestone is fine, furnishing good building material.

The New York geologists denominate as the New York system New York that whole series of rocks which are identical with the lower and system, upper Silurian of Europe, including two or three members of the Devonian group; and this system they divide into four principal groups, and subdivide into twenty-eight minor groups. Other American geologists have given other names to these series. Our limits allow only a synopsis of their extent in the state of New York, and brief allusion to their characteristics. The four principal groups are named Champlain division, Ontario division, Heberberg series, and Erie division.

The Champlain division, the lowest of the four, corresponding to New York: the Lower Silurian (or Cambrian or graywacke) system of Europe embraces eight formations. It occupies a very considerable but irregular territory. It extends along the St Lawrence, commencing from its mouth, to its source in Lake Ontario. A branch runs southerly along the east side of the granitic mountains of Essex, &c., along the borders of Lake Champlain, and thence south-westerly to Alabama. These rocks, indeed, flank the mountains of Essex county, &c., so as to form a huge granitic island, giving us an idea of the state of things when the Silurian rocks were in course of deposition. Its lowest formation, the Portland sandstone, is supposed to be the lowest fossiliferous rock in the world. The most common shell in it is a Lingula, a genus which has survived all the revolutions of the earth, and is still found in the ocean. This formation, 300 feet thick, furnishes a beautiful and durable building material. The other formations (in ascending order), and their estimated thicknesses, are—calciferous sand-rock, 300 feet, in which fossils are both rare and obscure; Chazy and Black River limestones, 100 feet, some of which produce fine dark-colored marbles, as well as good quicklime; Treston limestone, 400 feet, rich in organic remains; Utica slate, 100 feet, employed in roofing; and the Hudson River group, embracing the gray sandstone, 700 feet, which furnishes stone suitable for grindstones.

The Upper Silurian of Europe embraces the two highest members of the Ordovician division, all the Ontario division, and more than half of the Helderberg series of the New York geologists; and its thickness is about 2400 feet. In New York the Upper Silurian rocks extend in a belt of nearly equal width along the south side of Lake Ontario (and in Canada on the north side of Lake Erie), whence it spreads out southerly and westerly over more than half of the Western States. The lowest of this system is the Onondaga grit, which is 500 feet thick, coarse and fine grained, and almost destitute of organic remains. Next to this is the formation comprised in the Ontario division of the New York system,—viz., Medina sandstone, Clinton and Niagara groups, and the Onondaga Salt group. The Medina sandstone, 350 feet thick, is a red or variegated siliceous mass, sometimes marly and friable, interstratified with bands of quartzose sandstone. The Clinton group, 80 feet, is composed of red and variegated shales and sandstones, so diversified as to have received the name of Protein, and it abounds in fossils. The Niagara group, 204 feet, consists of shale below and limestone above. The former, exposed to atmospheric and aqueous action, crumbles away and leaves the limestone in overhanging masses, which at length break by their own weight. These are the rocks over which the water at Niagara falls is precipitated, and this is the cause of their retrocession. This formation is highly fossiliferous. The Onondaga Salt group, from 100 to 1000 feet thick, is an immense mass of argillo-calcareous clay, often abounding in veins and beds of gypsum, and the source of all the salt springs in New York and the Western States. Notwithstanding its great thickness, it is very barren in fossils. This Helderberg division comprises a strip about 20 miles in width, and nearly equal in length to Lake Ontario, which bounds it on the north. The remaining varieties of the Upper Silurian (placed by Professor Hall under the name of the Lower Helderberg limestone) are—the Water Lime group, 100 feet thick; Pennsauken Limestone, 82; Delthysite limestone, 200; and Upper Pennsauken Limestone. The last named (with the following)—Oriskany sandstone, 700 feet thick—in Pennsylvania; Canda Galii grit; Schoharie grit, or sandstone; Onondaga limestone; and corniferous limestone, 70) constitute the Helderberg series (of the New York system), which is most fully developed in Albany and Schoharie counties. The Helderberg limestone is cavernous; and some of its caves are celebrated for their extent, containing stalactites and stalagmites of great variety and beauty.

The formations last enumerated with the Erie division of the New York system (which consists of the following)—Marcellus slate, 50 feet thick; Hamilton group, 600; Fully limestone, 20; Genesee slate, 250; Portage or Nunda group, 100; Chemung group, 1500; and the Old Red sandstone, Oriskany, 3000—making a total thickness of about 7000 feet) constitute the Devonian system, or Old Red sandstone of Europe. The Erie division is divisible into two parts, the lower, called the Ludlowville shales, consisting of shales upon thin beds of limestone, most of them quite decomposable, occupying a belt nearly 20 miles in width, through the central portion of the state; and the upper, called the Chemung group, consisting of thin, even beds of gray sandstone, with intervening shales, occupying the whole of the southern tier of counties. Thus it appears that in New York the Devonian system occupies the southern half of that portion of the state which extends between the Pennsylvania boundary-line on the south and Lake Ontario and the Mohawk River on the north. The Old Red sandstone proper is confined chiefly to the Catskill Mountains, which are mainly composed of it. It consists of various strata of sandstone, shale, and shaly sandstone, the sandstones being of a red or reddish color.

The clays and sands of the tertiary formation skirt the shores of the St Lawrence, Lake Champlain, and the Hudson, consisting of a New York stiff blue clay beneath, a yellowish-brown clay in the centre, and sand above.

Iron ores are abundantly distributed through the north-eastern, eastern and south-eastern sections of the state, especially in the former. In Clinton and Essex counties, the deposits of magnetic iron ore, the black oxide, form beds of from 1 to 20 feet in thickness, almost without mixture, encased in granite; they are also found in the mountains of that region, and appear to extend without interruption into New York from Canada. The Stafford vein in Essex county was estimated in the geological survey to contain ore sufficient to yield three million tons of malleable iron. The specular oxide is found chiefly in the counties of St Lawrence, Jefferson, and Franklin, which border the St Lawrence River. In the south-eastern section there are extensive beds of both magnetic and hematite ores, but the latter is the more abundant. The carburet of iron occurs abundantly in the same section, and less abundantly in the north-east section. Lead ores occur in considerable deposits in various sections, of which by far the most extensive and celebrated are those in the town of Rossia, in St Lawrence county. In 1837 and 1838 these yielded nearly 3000 tons of metallic lead; but they have not been regularly worked to that extent. There are small veins of zinc, copper, &c., in several counties. The Onondaga salt springs, at and around Syracuse, are the most important in the Union; they have been worked since 1797, and the amount of their product has increased with nearly every successive year. The number of bushels of salt made in 1854 was 5,803,347; in 1855, 6,082,885; and in 1856, 5,966,810. Mineral springs, celebrated for their medicinal value, and as places of great resort in the summer, exist in various districts. The central, and some of the western counties, contain abundance of gypsum, which is largely used as a fertilizer, and extensively exported. The abundance of excellent building material has already been noticed. The petroleum springs, in the counties of Cattaraugus and Allegany; the nitrogen springs of New Lebanon and Hoosac; and the carburetted hydrogen springs, in the neighbourhood of Lake Erie and Niagara River, are also worthy of notice. There are several springs of the last-named class in the county of Chautauqua, one of which affords gas that is used to light the houses in the village of Fredonia, while another supplies the lighthouse in the village of Barcelona.

The soils of this state are so very various, that a full and correct description of them, within our limits, is impossible. In general terms, the most of the soils, or the greater portion of the surface of the state, may properly be called very fertile. The sections least fertile are in the north-east part, traversed by the mountains, where much of the surface is poor and cold; and yet there are many productive valleys in that region. The valleys of the Hudson and Mohawk comprise tracts of excellent soil, but they are greatly surpassed in extent and fertility by the western parts of the state, especially by the section known as the Genesee Flats.

The different sections of the state have considerable climate diversities of climate, each being marked by its own peculiarities. Taken altogether, the climate of the state is everywhere one of great extremes, and subject to sudden and severe changes at all times of the year. Notwithstanding this, however, it appears that the state as a whole is very healthy. The mean average temperature of the whole state is 46° 49' Fahr.; mean maximum 92°; mean minimum 12° below zero, and the mean annual range 104°. The southern section of the valley of the Hudson, and the whole of Long Island, are the most equable portions of the state. The Mohawk valley has a climate which does not vary greatly from the mean average. The region N. and E. of the Mohawk is characterized by a low average tem- perature, backward seasons, and early frosts. The western or lake region has a similar climate to that of Long Island. Summarily, this state has the summer heats of Spain and Italy, and the rigour of its winter is equal to those of the northern portions of Europe.

Corresponding to the varieties in its characteristics of surface, soil, and climate, we find, as we should expect, that this state has an exceedingly diverse vegetation. Within its borders are trees, shrubs, grasses, &c., of both extremes of the States—the north and the south. Its most important natural growth is that of its forest trees, which once covered its whole territory, and yet occupy the immense tracts that have not been brought under cultivation. The most common trees in the forest are the varieties of oak, pine, beech, &c.; but scarcely any variety, found under similar latitude and climate, is wanting. The mountain sides and woods are clothed with a shrubby undergrowth. The native grasses are numerous and widely distributed, but only a few of them are valuable, and the cultivated meadow grasses are of foreign origin. The whole number of flowering plants in the state is about 1450,—of which 1200 are herbaceous, and 150 may be regarded as ornamental. Of woody plants, there are 250 species, including 80 that attain to the stature of trees. Of plants that are reputed medicinal there are, native and naturalized, about 160 species.

From the diversity of the climate, which exercises a great influence upon the number and distribution of its animals, it results that its classes of the animal kingdom comprise those found in both the northern and southern portions of Europe. The families Cerividae and Mustelidae may serve as examples of the one; while the Vespertilionidae and Muridae will illustrate the other. The previous explanation of the natural divisions of the state points out the four principal zoological districts, each sufficiently distinct in itself, but of course so much blended at the lines of separation as not to be contradistinguished. The forests were formerly ranged by the moose, stag, and reindeer, but these are now seldom met with. The existing animals are the American deer, black bear, puma, &c., descending in size to the hares, squirrels, and smaller quadrupeds. The Mastodon has been found in a fossil state in several places; the most perfect and gigantic skeleton being that found in 1845 near Newburgh, Orange county, weighing 2000 lbs., and owned by Dr. John C. Warren of Boston, by whom it has been described in one of the memoirs published by the Smithsonian Institution. Teeth and other remains of elephants, &c., have been occasionally dug up. Of birds of prey the species are numerous; of birds of passage, 20 different tribes and 149 species; of the Sessoriae, the genus Picus (woodpecker) is very common; of the Gallinaceae, several species; of the Grallatoriae, or waders, there are 62 species in 7 families; and of the Palmpedipes, or swimming birds, there are many varieties. In regard to the Reptilia, Amphibia, Pisces, Mollusca, Crustacea, and Insecta, we have not room for even a condensation of the results of the survey of the state.

The state of New York, in common with other portions of North America, possesses many interesting but obscure traces of once powerful nations, which seem to have existed previous to those savage tribes who occupied the country at the period of its discovery by Europeans. The ruins of fortifications, mounds, &c., the traces of agriculture, and the remains of rude art which have been brought to light in various parts of the state, display marks of high antiquity, and bespeak the existence of a people entirely distinct from the Indians who were found here by the first European discoverers. These works consist chiefly of earthen parapets, the sites of which, with a view to defence, appear to have been selected with much judgment; and greater skill was exercised in their construction than has been displayed by the Indian races known to us. The forms of these remains are various, being circular, elliptical, triangular, and New York square; and they are generally placed in situations which command the adjacent country. Near many of the forts are mounds of earth raised for cemeteries, in which human bones, in various stages of decay, are common. These may have been the burial places, in some instances, of the more recent Indian tribes. The number of forts and mounds in the western part of the state much exceeds 100. The inclosed areas of the fortifications vary from 6 acres to 100 feet in diameter; and the earthen walls which inclose them, in their present abraded condition, are from 10 to 12 feet in height, and from 6 to 8 feet in breadth. Some of these breastworks bear or have borne trees, whose age has been estimated at more than two hundred and seventy-five years, and which may have been preceded by others. There are indications that the architects of these works were not so greatly advanced in civilization as the Toltecs or Aztecs of Mexico, and thus their origin is surrounded with additional mystery.

At the time of the first settlement of New York, the principal Indian tribes in the region now comprised in the state were those of the celebrated confederacy of the Five Nations, viz., the Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Onondaga, and Cayuga. It is asserted by a writer in 1741, that this confederacy was established, as the Indians say, one age or one man's life before the white people settled at Albany (1615), or before white men came to the country. Long before they were known to the Europeans, these nations had acquired a decided superiority over other Indians; and this they long retained, extending their conquests as far as South Carolina. In 1714 they were joined by the Tuscaroras, and from that time the confederation was known as that of the Six Nations. In 1608 Champlain, by his attack, had rendered them hostile to the French, and their hostility continued until the French lost Canada. Their alliance with the English continued so firm, that on the breaking out of (and in fact before) the Revolutionary war, they were induced to engage against the Americans. The Six Nations then numbered about 10,000, and had 2000 bold and skilful warriors. Including these, there were, within the Indian department of the northern provinces, 130,000 Indians, of whom 25,420 were fighting men. But if their employment by the British government was disastrous to the Americans, it was equally so to the Indians. A considerable portion of the Oneidas refused to join with the other tribes against the colonists. The bond of this confederacy was severed never to be reunited. The war made sad havoc with their warriors, and at its close the remnants of the tribes passed away before the influx of settlers. In 1788 and 1789 the Six Nations, by treaty, conveyed to the state a large tract of their territory; and by other purchases, &c., the Indian title to nearly all lands in the state was extinguished. Certain reservations, chiefly in the western counties, were made, portions of which the Indians and their descendants have continued to hold to the present time. Their total number in 1845 was 3753; in 1855, 3934.

The history of New York commences with 1609. On the third day of September in that year, Henry Hudson, in 1609, an Englishman by birth, in the service of the Dutch East India Company, anchored his vessel, the Crescent, within Sandy Hook. Almost at the same time Champlain was invading New York from the north. After a week's delay, Hudson sailed (Sept. 11) through the Narrows, and anchored in New York harbour. Ten days (Sept. 12th to 22d) were employed in exploring the river. Hudson, the first of Europeans who penetrated so far into the country, went sounding his way beyond the Highlands, till the Crescent had sailed some miles above the city of Hudson, and a boat had advanced a little beyond Albany. Frequent intercourse was held with the astonished Indians. Having completed his discovery, Hudson descended the The right of possession of the country was claimed for the United Provinces; and, in 1610, merchants of Amsterdam fitted out a ship with various merchandise to traffic with the natives. The voyage was prosperous, and was renewed. In 1614 the first rude fort was erected—probably on the southern point of Manhattan Island. In the next year (1615) the settlement at Albany was begun, on an island just below the present city. This was the remote port of the Indian trader, and was never again abandoned. Yet at this early period there was no colony; not a single family had emigrated; the only Europeans on the Hudson were commercial agents and their subordinates. The Dutch West India Company was incorporated, June 3, 1621, for twenty-four years, and became the sovereign of the central portion of the United States, though colonization on the Hudson was neither the motive nor main object in its establishment. Its first ship arrived in the harbour of New York in 1623. This is the era of the permanent settlement of the country, which in its development shortly assumed the form of a colony.

In 1624 Peter Minuit, the commercial agent of the West India Company, arrived with several families, and thenceforward held the office of director (governor) until 1633, when he was succeeded by Wouter Van Twiller, who in 1638 gave place to William Kieft. During the administration of the latter, the colony was troubled by controversies with the encroaching English, and suffered from the provoked hostilities of the Indians. In 1647 Peter Stuyvesant became governor, and by his exertions a provisional treaty was made with the surrounding English colonies. In 1664 Charles II. granted to his brother James, the Duke of York, the territory claimed by the Dutch. On 8th September of that year, Colonel Nichols, commissioned for the purpose, compelled Stuyvesant to surrender, and changed the name of New Netherland to New York. In 1673 the Dutch retook the colony, but in the next year they finally surrendered it to the English, who held possession until the American Revolution. During this lengthy period New York suffered much from the Indian depredations and ravages in the wars waged between the French and English. In 1690 Schenectady was burned by the savages, and many of its inhabitants massacred. Apart from these wars, no very important event occurred for many years preceding the negro plot in 1741. On 7th October 1763, the first continental congress of the colonies met in New York city; and from that time, until the close of the Revolution, the general history of New York is almost identical with that of the united colonies.

A considerable portion of the active hostilities of the revolutionary war took place on the soil of this state. At its commencement the American militia captured Ti- conderoga, Crown Point, and Whitehall, and thus secured the command of Lake Champlain. The most prominent occurrences in New York were,—the defeat, in the autumn of 1776, of the Americans on Long Island and at White Plains; the surrender, on 17th October 1777, of Burgoyne, the British general, with his 6000 troops; and the capture, on the 16th July 1779 of Stony Point by the Americans, under General Wayne. Jay, Hamilton, and others distinguished in the national councils, were natives of New York.

The colonial government was suspended in May 1775, from which time, to 20th April 1777, a provincial congress governed; of which Nathaniel Woodhill was president from August 1775. On 9th July 1776, the fourth session of this body met, by adjournment, at White Plains, and having received the Declaration of Independence, approved it. On 12th March 1777, a constitution for the state was reported by a committee of the congress; on 20th April following it was adopted; and it so remained through the war, and afterwards. On 26th July 1788 it was ratified by the state legislature, and it thence continued to be the organic law, without change (excepting a few amendments in 1801) until 1821, when it was revised by a convention elected for that purpose; and their revision was duly ratified by the people. In 1846 a new constitution, prepared by a convention, was approved by the people; and to this was made, in 1854, an amendment relative to the public debt.

The present constitution came into operation 1st January 1847. The right to vote is granted to every white male adult citizen resident of the state one year, of the county four months, and of the election district thirty of the Cent-days; and to coloured persons having paid tax on freehold estate of L.52, and been citizens for three years. General elections are held on the Tuesday after first Monday in November. The legislature assembles on the first Tuesday in January. Senators (32) are elected for two years; assembly-men (128) for one year; and both receive 12s. 6d. per diem for a hundred days' session, with mileage. The Judiciary is thus constituted:—The court for the trial of impeachments consists of the senate and the judges of the court of appeals, and its judgment extends only to removal or disqualification for office, with liability to indictment. The court of appeals is composed of 8 judges, of whom 4 are elected by the electors of the state, and 4 are selected from the justices of the supreme court having the shortest time to serve, and its chief judge is chosen from those elected. The supreme court, having general jurisdiction in law and equity, comprises 8 districts, in each of which 4 justices are elected for eight years. County courts (except New York county) consist of 1 judge, elected for four years. Municipal courts have uniform organization and jurisdiction; justices of the peace are elected for four years. Any male adult citizen of good morals, and requisite ability, may practice in all state courts. The governor, elected by the people for two years, must be thirty years old, state resident for five years, and United States citizen. Of the administrative officers, the secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, attorney-general, and state engineer, are elected by the people for two years.

In 1814 the state had a fund applicable to the support of its government, amounting to L.916,017. In 1817 the construction of the Erie and Champlain canals was commenced; and in defraying their cost the public monies were exhausted, and a debt was created. Before the year 1835 the state had formed 656 miles of canal, at a cost of L.2,427,631, of which the Erie Canal, 354 miles long, cost L.1,488,285. The public debt, though it has been gradually increasing, has never been a burden to the taxpayers of the state; since the receipts from the tolls, &c., of the canals, have not only paid the expenses of the canals and a large share of the ordinary expenses of government, but have earned a surplus, used in discharging the interest of the debt. On 30th September 1856, the total canal debt was L.4,670,056. The work of enlarging the canals, which, for several years, has been in progress, has resulted in an increase of the canal debt; but, it is confidently believed, that when this is completed, the canals will amply repay all the cost of construction and maintenance, and thereafter, afford a large revenue to the state. In 1856 the assessed value of taxable property in the state was nearly L.292,000,000; but this assessment, as in all the states, is much below the real value.

The following table exhibits the result of the census of New York during the period preceding the War of Independence: In 1774 it was estimated that the colony of New York embraced a population of 161,098 whites, and 21,149 blacks; or 182,247 in all. Of the enumerations in 1776 and 1782, only fragments now remain. In 1786 a full census gave to the state a total of 238,897; of which there were 219,956 whites, 18,889 slaves, and 12 Indians paying taxes. The following table is a synopsis of the enumerations of the state from 1790 to 1850, taken by United States authority:

| Date of Census | White Persons | Coloured persons | Total Population | |---------------|--------------|-----------------|-----------------| | 1790 | 314,142 | 4,654 | 21,324 | | 1800 | 556,030 | 10,374 | 20,343 | | 1810 | 918,699 | 25,339 | 15,017 | | 1820 | 1,332,744 | 29,980 | 10,081 | | 1830 | 1,873,663 | 44,879 | 75 | | 1840 | 2,978,894 | 50,027 | 4 | | 1850 | 3,048,825 | 49,069 | 0 |

The increase of population in this state during these sixty years was not only greater in absolute numbers, but was also greater in proportion than in any other of the free states, the ratio having been 810:68 per cent.; while Maine, which exhibited the next greatest growth, increased its population 504:07 per cent. during the same period. On 1st June 1855, the population had increased to 3,466,212; of which there were 45,286 coloured persons.

The state census of 1845 first directed inquiries concerning place of birth, which were of a general character. Similar, but more minute inquiries, were made in the national census of 1850, and still more careful investigations in the state census of 1855. A synopsis of the returns of the three periods thus presented:

| Place of Birth | 1845 | 1850 | 1855 | |---------------|------|------|------| | State of New York | 1,894,278 | 2,129,651 | 2,151,196 | | New England States (6) | 228,881 | 307,130 | 381,470 | | Other United States | 83,642 | 0 | 98,584 | | Total United States | 2,206,801 | 2,436,771 | 2,539,266 | | Foreign countries | 347,265 | 653,929 | 651,801 | | At sea | 0 | 0 | 511 | | Unknown | 60,428 | 4,694 | 0 | | Total | 2,604,495 | 3,097,304 | 3,097,394 |

The constitution of 1821 provided that no man of colour should vote unless possessed of a freehold worth L.52, above colour, all incumbrances, and for three years a citizen, &c.; also, that no person of colour should be taxed unless possessed of said real estate. In the adoption of the constitution of 1846, this provision was retained by a special vote of

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1 The two tables for 1850 are both derived from the official United States census. Their discrepancies are owing to the circumstance that the tables from which these totals were taken were prepared for different purposes, in different ways, and at different times, involving the examination of the names of many millions of persons, and easily giving opportunity for some errors. The first is perhaps the more correct. It is taken from Tables XLII. and XLVII. of the Compendium, 8vo, and is composed thus:—

| Nativities | Whites | Free Coloured | Total | |------------|--------|---------------|-------| | Born in the State | 2,022,076 | 37,675 | 2,129,651 | | Born out of the State, and in the United States | 295,754 | 10,396 | 306,150 | | Born in foreign countries | 655,224 | 705 | 655,929 | | Unknown | 4,271 | 423 | 4,694 | | Aggregate | 3,048,325 | 49,069 | 3,097,394 | New York 114,900 for, to 3901 against retaining it. The returns of this class have been as follows:

| Coloured persons | 1852 | 1853 | 1854 | 1855 | |------------------|------|------|------|------| | Not taxed | 38,770 | 42,836 | 42,321 | 35,956 | | Taxed | 931 | 934 | 2,025 | 9,330 | | Voters | 298 | 578 | 1,001 | ... |

One of the most prominent indications of the recent enumerations is the tendency of the population to centralize in cities and large towns, and apparently at the expense of the rural districts. These changes, however, inevitably result from the greater changes in the general condition of the state and the whole Union. The increase of the facilities of intercommunication has concentrated the trades that they may take advantage of the division of labour. The unlimited field of enterprise offered in manufactures, trade, and commerce, has caused a remarkable growth of cities and towns along the lines and at the centres of the great routes of transportation and travel; and these localities have also received the greater share of the foreign immigration. In 1855 the eight chief cities contained nearly one-third of the whole population of the state. The following table shows their growth:

| Cities | 1852 | 1853 | 1854 | 1855 | |-----------------|------|------|------|------| | New York | 197,112 | 208,089 | 312,710 | 371,223 | | Brooklyn | 17,014 | 27,854 | 42,622 | 72,762 | | Buffalo | 8,068 | 19,715 | 18,313 | 29,773 | | Albany | 24,200 | 28,109 | 33,721 | 42,139 | | Rochester | 14,471 | 17,469 | 20,151 | 30,955 | | Troy | 11,656 | 16,529 | 19,932 | 27,709 | | Syracuse | 8,223 | 10,183 | 12,782 | 12,190 | | Utica | 17,505 | 22,271 | 25,107 | 22,169 |

In 1855 there were twenty-eight townships, with an aggregate population ranging from 5000 to 14,000, which contained one or more flourishing villages; and fifty-four other townships, with a population ranging from 4000 to 6500, with villages, &c.

In the western and other agricultural sections of the state, the increase of population has been checked by the extensive emigration therefrom to the western states and territories. This emigration has drawn off a considerable share of the best class of the native population. However, it should be considered that, in many sections, agriculture itself requires less manual labour than formerly. The well provided farmer of the present day has his machines for sowing, hoeing, reaping, and threshing, and other improved implements of agriculture.

The employments of the male population over fifteen years of age were thus summed up in the census of 1850:

| Occupations of the People | Numbers | |---------------------------|---------| | Agriculture | 313,930 | | Manufactures, mechanic arts, mining, trade, and commerce | 312,697 | | Labour not agricultural | 196,613 | | Sea and river navigation | 23,243 | | Law, medicine, and divinity | 14,258 | | Other pursuits requiring education | 11,104 | | Government civil service | 4,985 | | Army | 1,462 | | Domestic servants | 6,324 | | Other occupations | 3,628 | | Total | 888,294 |

Owing to the absence of uniformity in the schedules on this subject in the several enumerations, there are no reliable data for comparing the number of persons in the various occupations at different periods.

New York stands unrivalled among the states of the Union in most of the great branches of national industry. In some few particulars it is surpassed by some states, which have greater natural advantages for the prosecution of those branches,—as Maine, in making lumber and building vessels; Pennsylvania, in raising coal and producing iron; and Massachusetts, in manufacturing cotton and woollen goods, and in prosecuting the coast fisheries. But, taken altogether, the industrial pursuits in New York are more varied and more valuable in their results than those of any other state.

Agriculture employs the greater part of the population, Agricultural societies have been made, especially by agricultural societies, to introduce everywhere the best modes of culture, and with much success. Improvements of this class have been particularly made in the vicinity of the city of New York; although in that section this result has been directly owing to the great demands of the populous city. For example, the western part of Long Island has soil that is naturally of moderate fertility; but it has been greatly improved, and it is now noted for its market produce.

Comparison of some of the Returns in 1850 and 1855.

| In State of New York | 1850 | 1855 | |----------------------|------|------| | Number of farms, &c. | 170,621 | 231,740 | | Acres of improved land | 12,408,964 | 13,657,491 | | Acres of unimproved land | 6,710,120 | 13,100,693 | | Cash value of farms | L115,530,545 | L168,532,362 | | Cash value of implements | 4,601,021 | 5,609,892 | | Cash value of stock | 15,327,183 | 21,620,067 |

In 1850, average number of acres in the farms, 113; average value of same, L675; average value of farming implements and machinery, L25. According to the census of 1850 (in which the returns of products are for the year ending 1st June 1850) New York ranked as first of the states in its aggregate production of oats (26,552,814 bush., out of 146,584,179 in the whole Union), of buckwheat (3,183,955 out of 8,956,812), of barley (3,585,059 out of 5,167,015), of Irish potatoes (15,398,368 out of 65,797,896), of peas and beans, of market garden products, of orchard products, and of hay, maple, sugar, honey, and hops. The wheat crop was 13,121,498 bush., or 13 per cent. of the whole United States' crop, and ranking as the third state in this respect; that of Indian corn was larger, amounting to 17,858,400 bush., though only 3 percent. of the United States' crop. It also ranked as first of the states in the amount of its live stock (valued at L15,325,099 out of L113,370,936 in the whole Union), in the value of animals slaughtered, and in its products of butter and cheese. Its product of wool was about one-fifth of all in the Union, greatly exceeding that of every other state, excepting Ohio, which was a trifle larger.

In manufactures New York is very extensively engaged. Its aggregate productions of this class of industry in 1850 tares, not only exceeded the corresponding product of any other state, but amounted to nearly one-fourth of all manufactures produced in the United States.

Statement of Establishments in 1850, each producing to the amount of L104, or upwards, yearly.

| Class | No. | Capital | Value of Raw Materials | Persons Employed | Annual Produce | |-------|-----|---------|------------------------|-----------------|---------------| | Cotton | 86 | L570,180 | L467,748 | 1,670 | L14,833,325 | | Woolen | 249 | 929,002 | 799,438 | 563 | 1,461,206 | | Pig iron | 18 | 136,940 | 66,929 | 563 | 124,504 | | Iron casting | 34 | 309,258 | 458,728 | 2,019 | 1,250,842 | | Wrought iron | 34 | 309,258 | 458,728 | 2,019 | 1,250,842 | | Distilling, &c. | 159 | 509,720 | 458,728 | 1,670 | 760,000 | | Salt | 192 | 170,820 | 135,654 | 572 | 295,079 | | Total | 2,535 | L29,183,414 | L28,053,200 | 199,349 | L49,439,421 |

Percent. profit of the total, 53·86; total females employed

This return of unimproved land is of that attached to farms. New York (included in the above) 51,612—in cotton works 3668, woollen 2412, tanning 31; total annual wages of all persons employed L.8,360,623. From the census of 1850 it appears that the classes of manufactures specifically mentioned New York then ranked as first of the states only in the manufactures of iron-casting, those of tanneries, and of salt, beer, and ardent spirits; indicating that its products, aside from the great classes, were of many kinds. It also appears that, in distilleries and breweries, New York employed more capital than any other state (amounting to L.538,726 out of L.1,772,409 in the whole Union); that its product of beer was about four-sevenths, of rum about two-fifths, and of whisky and high wines about two-ninths of all made in the Union. The census of 1855 returned the following statements:

- Total number of establishments ........................................... 24,833 - Establishments using water-power ........................................... 7,551 - Establishments using steam-power ........................................... 2,444 - Men .................................................................................. 156,155 - Women ................................................................................ 37,771 - Employed: Boys under 18 years ............................................. 15,736 - Girls under 18 years ............................................................ 6,233 - Capital invested in real estate .................................................. L.14,818,832 - Capital invested in tools and machinery .................................. 7,337,406 - Cash value of raw materials used ............................................ 37,165,478 - Cash value of manufactured articles ....................................... 66,128,816

The products from mining, so far as reported in 1850, are included in the preceding total of the manufactures. The localities in which this branch of industry is prosecuted are referred to in the previous descriptions of the geology and mineralogy of the state. The census of 1840 reported that 1898 persons were then employed in mining.

The lumber business of this state is a source of much wealth. The forests about the Susquehanna and Delaware furnish large quantities of pine for the Philadelphia and Baltimore markets. Albany is noted as one of the greatest markets for lumber in the world, though the greater part of it is not obtained from New York, but from Canada, Michigan, and Ohio.

The interest of New York in the coast fisheries is important, but there are no official or reliable returns on this subject. In the deep-sea fisheries the state is not largely engaged, and less so now than formerly. The number of vessels in the whale fishery, January 1, 1856, was 31, with aggregate tonnage of 10,493 tons, showing a great decrease from former times.

The building of vessels is very extensively prosecuted. The amount of tonnage built within this state annually, during the last four years, has uniformly averaged one-fifth of the whole built in the Union. Nearly all of the great American steam-ships have been built in New York city.

The amount of tonnage owned in this state is proportionally less than the commerce, because many vessels New York, which are employed in its carrying-trade are built, owned, and registered, or enrolled in other states. New York, however, owns two-sevenths of the total tonnage, and one-third of the steam tonnage of the whole United States.

Statement of 30th June 1856.

| New York | United States | |----------|--------------| | Total tonnage | 1,508,810 | | Registered steam tonnage | 68,777 | | Enrolled steam tonnage | 155,738 | | Total steam tonnage | 224,515 |

Tonnage of the several Districts in 1856.

| New York | United States | |----------|--------------| | Sag Harbour | 7,219 | | Greenport | 10,238 | | Cold Spring | 1,263 | | Champlain | 11,249 | | Owegatchie | 9,672 | | Total tonnage owned in the state | 1,508,810 | | consisting of 734,283 enrolled and licensed, and 774,526 registered. |

Soon after the organization of the state government, provision was made for an efficient system of public education. Every town is divided into a suitable number of districts, and in each is a school maintained at the public expense.

Statistics of the year 1855:

School districts in which school was kept on an average eight months in the year, reported ........................................... 11,883 Teachers employed (males 10,117; females 14,019), do. ........................................... 24,136 Children in state between 4 and 21 years, do. ........................................... 1,207,214 Attendance in the common schools, do. ........................................... 876,603 Attendance in private unincorporated schools, do. ........................................... 45,362 Attendance in academies, do. ........................................... 29,967 It may be justly concluded that there is comparatively only a small proportion of the children and youth in the state who do not spend a portion of their time in school.

| State Funds for Education | Capital | Income 1856 | |---------------------------|---------|-------------| | Common school fund | L319,146| L327,756 | | Literature fund | 66,132 | 3,536 | | United States deposit fund| 836,357 | 53,919 |

Eighteen collegiate institutions, in the census of 1850, were reported to have 174 teachers, 2673 pupils; and an annual income of L30,864; and 883 academies, &c., were reported to have 3130 teachers, 49,262 pupils, and annual income of L168,817.

Libraries other than private in the State in 1850.

| Libraries | Number | Volumes | |-----------|--------|---------| | Public | 43 | 197,229 | | School | 10,802 | 1,388,729| | College | 25 | 138,870 | | State school | 137 | 33,294 | | Church | 6 | 2,698 |

Aggregate of libraries reported, 11,013, 1,700,820

In 1810 there were 66 newspapers, with circulation of 4,139,200; in 1828, 161; and, in 1834, 267 issues; of which 21 were dailies. The returns of subsequent periods are as follows:

| The Press | Number in 1855 | Copies Yearly | |-----------|---------------|---------------| | Dailies | 34 | 63,928,685 | | Tri-Weeklies | 13 | 776,109 | | Semi-Weeklies | 13 | 1,116,360 | | Weeklies | 188 | 39,205,920 | | Monthlys, &c. | 57 | 8,258,408 | | Total | 302 | 115,385,473 |

In 1855, number whose circulation was reported... 540 Copies printed per annum of those reported... 193,294,621 Estimated copies per annum of all classes... 241,749,902

The following table presents the statistics of the principal religious denominations, according to the census of 1855, preceded by the total, which embraces over forty sects. These returns are of those religious societies that have each a regular chapel of their own, not including those that worship in schoolhouses and places of secular use:

| Denominations | Chapels | Value of Property | Usual Attendance | Church Members | |---------------|---------|------------------|-----------------|---------------| | Baptists, four sects | 882 | L638,925 | 148,465 | 89,718 | | Congregational | 301 | 300,671 | 55,037 | 25,946 | | Evangelical Lutheran | 100 | 81,281 | 20,834 | 12,564 | | Friends | 134 | 86,533 | 9,985 | 5,360 | | Methodists, nine sects | 159 | 958,007 | 250,905 | 140,196 | | Presbyterians, five sects | 710 | 1,230,157 | 163,054 | 92,712 | | Roman Catholic, Episcopal | 346 | 1,396,626 | 78,686 | 32,978 | | Reformed, United Dutch | 230 | 628,146 | 70,663 | 30,197 | | Roman Catholic, Roman | 291 | 1,254,361 | 277,415 | 17,923 | | Union Bethel and Free | 152 | 46,834 | 17,415 | 9,223 | | Universalists | 133 | 143,628 | 18,064 | 4,670 | | The total | 507 | L6,588,547 | 1,124,211 | 70,2,884 |

Average value of churches, L1,290; average accommodation, 421; average number of inhabitants to each church, 683. Percentage of accommodation to total population, 61:73; of attendance do., 32:41; of membership do., 20:23.

By census of 1825 the percentage of paupers to total population was 0:34; do. 1835, 0:31; do. 1845, 0:32. The census of 1855 made no report on this subject. It is known, however, by the annual reports of the secretary of state, that pauperism has, since 1845, been much increased, though in no greater ratio than the foreign immigration, to New York City, which it is in a very large degree attributable.

During the year 1855 there were convicted in the courts of record of the state 1842 persons, as follows:—Of crime offences against the person, 397 (383 males and 14 females); offences against property with violence, 278 (275 males and 3 females); offences without violence, 586 (507 males and 79 females); offences against the currency, 37 (36 males and 1 female); all other offences, 544 (513 males and 31 females). In all the courts there were 6744 convictions, and of these 5076 were of foreigners.

There are three state prisons, in which for the 8 years State 1847–55, the average yearly number of prisoners was about 1,700; and the average yearly increase was 86. Number on 1st December 1855, 1901 (1679 whites and 222 blacks); and of these 92 were white females, and 14 black females.

The state has two establishments for the reformation of juvenile offenders. The older one, at Randall's Island, city refuge of New York, was opened in 1825; and, up to the close of 1856, had received 6880 children and youth, of whom it is believed that 70 per cent. were there reformed.

The state maintains numerous public institutions for Public those unfortunate by nature or calamity. These are very extensive, and conducted according to the best practice known in similar establishments. The chief of these are—the lunatic asylum at Utica; institution for the deaf-and-dumb at New York; institution for the blind at New York; and the asylum for idiots at Syracuse. At New York also, partly sustained by the state, are the City Hospital, Bloomingdale Asylum for the insane; emigrant hospitals; institutions for seamen; dispensaries, &c.

NEW YORK, city and port of entry, New York county, state of New York, lies at the head of New York Bay, and at the confluence of the Hudson River and the strait called East River, which connects Long Island Sound through New York Bay with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the commercial metropolis of the state of New York, and the greatest emporium in the New World. In general importance it surpasses all other great cities of the world, excepting London and Paris. Its area comprises (the city and county having the same limits) the whole of Manhattan or New York Island, and several small islands immediately adjacent. The separation of the former from the mainland is caused by the water-course called Harlem River, connecting the Hudson and East Rivers; but this is, in fact, of little account; for, although the stream is, or might be, of considerable service in navigation, it is crossed by bridges and the Croton Aqueduct. The extreme length of New York Island is about 13½ miles; its width through the greater part of its length is about 2 miles; but at each extremity it decreases irregularly; and its area is about 14,000 acres, or 22 square miles. Lat. of the City Hall 40. 42. 43. N., Long. of do. from Greenwich 74. 0. 3. W.

New York enjoys from nature almost every advantage that could be desired to build up a great emporium. It bay, and extends between two rivers, each of which is navigable for the largest vessels; and the harbour, below their confluence, might contain the navies of all nations. The width of the Hudson River is quite uniform, and is somewhat more than a mile; while that of the East River varies, being, in some narrow localities, not more than two-fifths of a mile, though generally much greater. The harbour or inner bay is of irregular elliptical form, about 8 miles long and 25 miles in periphery. This is not only one of the best but one of the most beautiful harbours in the world. Its southern part is surrounded with small settlements, connected by elegant villas and their gardens. Toward its northern part the number of vessels at anchor increases; and beyond these is the dense forest of masts, bearing the flags of all nations, crowded around the wharves of the great city and its suburbs. In it are three islands ceded to the national go- verment, and fortified for the defence of the city. By the strait called "the Narrows," 7 miles from the lower part of the city, and which is, for the space of a mile, about 1 mile wide, with extreme depth of 86 feet, it communicates with the outer harbour, or bay proper, which extends thence to Sandy Hook Light, 18 miles from the city, and opens directly out into the ocean, forming one of the best roadsteads on the Atlantic coast. On the bar, at Sandy Hook the depth of water in the old channel is 21 feet at low tide, and 27 or 28 feet at high tide; but, in the New or Gedney's Channel, it is 32 at low tide, and 38 or 39 at high tide. The channel inside varies from 35 to 72 feet. The rise of the tide is nearly 7 feet. The depth of water at the wharves is sufficient for the vessels which they respectively accommodate, and increases rapidly outwards. The currents in the rivers and bay are very strong, keeping these waters open when the rivers and bays much farther south are frozen up. In very severe winters the East River is obstructed for a short time by ice; which, in a few cases, has collected so as to form a solid mass.

Defences. The harbour has for a long period been well provided with defences, and these are being steadily augmented by the general government. The principal works are at the Narrows, which is the most important and most readily accessible avenue of approach. On the Long Island side, or shore of the channel, are Fort Hamilton and Fort Lafayette. On the Staten Island side, or shore of the channel, are batteries Hudson and Morton, Fort Richmond (in 1857 not completed), and Old Fort Tompkins. Quite near the lower point of the city there are fortifications on three islands,—Governor's, Bedlow's, and Ellis's,—and to these may be added Castle Clinton, which is now entirely dismantled, but occupies a good position, and might again be put in serviceable condition. The passage by the East River from Long Island Sound is defended by Fort Schuyler, a powerful work, situated at a narrow pass in the river, about 17 miles from the lower part of the city. Since 1854 there has been in construction a monster iron steamer, or steam battery, designed for use in the waters of the bay from Sandy Hook upwards, and intended to be, in fact, a moveable fort of great efficiency. In 1857 Congress provided for the commencement of a fort opposite Fort Schuyler; for the erection of another on the site of old Fort Tompkins; for the repairs of those already established; and for extensive fortifications at Sandy Hook.

Surface. The island was originally much diversified; and, in its upper portion, where least peopled, it still retains somewhat of its original character. The elevated rocky portions subsequently mentioned, vary from 70 to 130 feet above tide water—the valleys being often deep, and the hills precipitous. With the increase of population improvements have been made according to a uniform system, in laying out avenues and streets, levelling them, providing sewerage, &c. The island is traversed centrally throughout its lower part by a ridge, on each side of which the ground slopes gently to the water. There is also a line of elevation along the western side of the island in its upper part, from which the ground descends to the Hudson and the East River. A considerable portion of the lower part of the city, particularly that near the rivers, is artificial ground. The Battery, a public park at the southern extremity, was made upon a low ledge of rocks, much beyond the original water-line, at first of 10 acres; but since 1854 it has been extended to 17 acres.

Geological formation. The island lies upon the upturned edge of the primitive range which extends through Westchester county and the New England States into Canada. The basis rock is gneiss, except for about 1 mile at the northern extremity, which is limestone, granular and primitive, and considerably quarried. The middle and northern portions are, or were, rough and broken, from the almost constant outcropping of the rock. The rock begins to make its appearance in the neighbourhood of Thirtieth Street, and thence extends northward to Manhattanville. In many places it occupies large patches. On the west side of the city, not far from the Hudson River, between Fifteenth and Sixtieth Streets, and in some other parts, streets were cut through it. The lower portion is everywhere covered with alluvial and diluvial deposits, and is comparatively level. The soil is a sandy alluvion, and less fertile than in many other parts of the state.

The history of the city is directly divided into three periods, during which it has belonged to the three governments—the annals of the city, Holland from 1609 to 1664; Great Britain from 1664 to 1783; and the state of New York since 1783. The most prominent events in each period are thus stated:

Dutch period.—1609, September 3, Hendrick Hudson entered New York Bay; 1613, the settlement of New Amsterdam was commenced; 1621, the Dutch West India Company commenced operations; 1626, the island was purchased of the Indians; 1632, New Amsterdam was incorporated, and the government passed from the West India Company into the hands of two burgomasters and five assistants, called schepens, and one schout or sheriff; 1664, September 9, the English took the province.

English period.—1664, name changed to New York; 1673, July, retaken by the Dutch and called New Orange, and held by them until ensuing year (treaty of 9th February 1674); 1686, James II. abolished the representative system, &c.; 1689, Leisler insurrection; 1690, a colonial congress assembled here; 1696, city lighted by ordinance; 1711, slave-market established in Wall Street; 1720, two per cent. laid on European imports; 1725, New York Gazette appeared; 1730, enlarged charter granted by Governor Montgomerie; 1732, stage routes established to Boston and Philadelphia, travelled once a month; 1741-2, "Negro plot" and yellow fever; 1765, a colonial congress assembled here; 1776-83, Revolution; 1776, September 21, a few days after the city had fallen into the hands of the British, a conflagration, destroying from one-eighth to one-fourth of the whole city; 1783, November 25, evacuation by British army.

American period.—1789, April 30, Washington inaugurated first president of the United States at Federal Hall, on site of present custom-house; 1798, 2086 deaths by yellow fever, which returned in 1803, 1805, and 1822; 1807, Fulton's steamboat on Hudson River; 1811, great fire; 1812, war with Great Britain, which suspended commerce; 1126, Erie Canal completed and great celebration; 1832, Asiatic cholera, 4360 deaths; 1835, December 16, 17, conflagration of 648 buildings, loss £1,200,000; 1837, commercial revulsion; 1842, October 14, celebration of completion of Croton Aqueduct; 1845, conflagration of 546 buildings, loss £1,250,000; 1849, cholera; 1850, Collins' steamers to Liverpool; 1851, May, Erie Railroad completed to Dunkirk; 1852, avenue railroads; 1853, World's Fair at Crystal Palace; 1854-5 (winter of), temporary depression of business, and suffering among the poorer classes; 1857, May 1, new city charter partially carried into effect; June 16, culmination of the riot resulting from opposition to the reorganization of the police department, followed through the summer by disturbances about municipal affairs; September and October, a terrible financial panic, which increased daily to 14th October, when the banks suspended specie payment; 1858, January 4, new city charter carried into full effect, with installation of new officers.

The foregoing enumeration of the principal occurrences in the annals of the city does not constitute or comprehend a correct outline of its real history. For a correct understanding of this, we must compare the progress of the city with the outline history of the domestic and foreign commerce of the United States; and by so doing it is readily New York apparent that the remarkable prosperity of the former has resulted from the general prosperity of the latter.

Commercial interests originated the settlement of New York, developed its rapid growth, have always directly influenced its changes of fortune, and are now the main support of its greatness. With the fluctuations of the course of events, in regard to general commerce, there has always been a corresponding change in the ratio of increase of the population of the city and its general prosperity. After the close of the Revolution, an activity in business was everywhere apparent; and the citizens, by their persevering industry, were ultimately enabled not only to materially advance their own private interests, but also to promote the prosperity of the community at large. During the ten years from 1790 to 1800, the population of the city increased from 33,131 to 60,489, or at a ratio of 82:16 per cent. During this period the old world, involved in wars, was making constant demand upon the productivity and industry of the new world. In the latter, the produce of New York and the Western States was pressing to the Atlantic, whence the shipping of the port of New York carried it abroad, returning again with goods for distribution, both in its own and neighbouring markets. Thus the business of the city increased wonderfully, and its attendant advantages drew thither capital and men to participate in the profits from the large investments there made. During the next decade, 1800 to 1810, there was a falling off of the ratio of increase of both population and wealth, and business enterprise was greatly depressed. Though the increase of population during this period was at a ratio of 53½ per cent., viz., from 60,489 in 1800 to 96,783 in 1810, the increase in wealth was but 8 per cent.; viz., from L.5,101,323 to L.5,407,572. In the first half of the succeeding 10 years, 1810-20, the foreign commerce of the city was entirely suspended for 3 years by the war of 1812-14 with Great Britain; after which, from 1815 to 1820, it again revived, and greatly promoted the prosperity of the city and nation. During this period, 1810-20, the increase in valuation was from L.5,407,572 to L.14,485,568, or 163 per cent.; while the increase in population was from 96,373 to 123,706, or only 28½ per cent.; which ratio is less than that of any other decade, and clearly illustrates the connection of the city's growth with commerce, since, during this same period, the increase of the population of the state was more rapid than ever before. From 1820 commerce steadily increased until 1825, in which year it reached a climax that was not again attained until 1831. In 1826 the completion of the Erie Canal opened a new avenue for trade and commerce, and assisted in the formation of the great speculations which soon characterized the financial career of the city. The reaction that followed this unnatural prosperity for a time prostrated all branches of business, and most seriously affected the commercial interests of the city. Since its recovery from that reverse of fortune, its commercial prosperity has, for the most part, been steadily augmenting, though of course somewhat affected by the changes in the tariffs of the national government, and by the changing relations of the nations with which it has had intercourse.

### Progress of Population of the City Proper

| Year | Population | |------|------------| | 1673 | 2,500 | | 1698 | 4,937 | | 1731 | 8,628 | | 1754 | 10,381 | | 1773 | 21,876 | | 1786 | 25,614 | | 1790 | 33,131 | | 1800 | 50,489 | | 1805 | 76,770 | | 1808 | 83,530 | | 1810 | 90,373 |

The census of 1855 (June and July), is known to have been very defectively taken, and it is highly probable that a correct enumeration would have shown a permanent population of above 700,000. The population of the immediate suburbs should also be considered in this account, since these are, in fact, parts of the metropolis.

On the East River side is the city of Brooklyn, which, since 1854, has comprised the former cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburg, and the town of Bushwick. The following table states the progress of population from 1840, in each of its divisions and in the whole of King's county, which consists of the city and several towns:

| Years | Brooklyn | Williamsburg | Bushwick | Total | King's County Total | |-------|----------|--------------|----------|-------|---------------------| | 1840 | 36,233 | 5,094 | 1,295 | 42,622| 47,613 | | 1845 | 59,574 | 11,338 | 1,857 | 72,759| 78,691 | | 1850 | 96,838 | 30,780 | 3,739 | 131,357| 138,882 | | 1855 | 148,774 | 48,267 | 8,169 | 205,250| 216,355 |

On the New Jersey side of the Hudson, opposite the lower part of the city, are Jersey city and Hoboken. The population of the former, in its present area, was 11,473, and in 1855, 21,715; that of the latter was, in 1850, 2638, and in 1855, 5842; and this growth was but a continuation of previous duplication. Newark, the largest city in the state of New Jersey, situated 8 miles west of Jersey city, in 1830 had 10,953 inhabitants; in 1840, 17,290; in 1850, 38,894; and in 1855, 53,440; and this growth was, in great part, owing to that of New York, since the greater part of the business consists in producing manufactures for the New York market. The manufacturing city of Paterson, 16 miles from Jersey city, had 7596 inhabitants in 1840, 11,334 in 1850, and 23,960 in 1855; and its business likewise centres in New York.

### Origin of Population of New York in 1845—50—55.

| Origin of Population | 1845 | 1850 | 1855 | |----------------------|------|------|------| | Born in the United States | 236,667 | 277,752 | 303,721 | | Born in foreign countries | 128,492 | 235,733 | 322,966 | | Born at sea | ... | ... | 103 | | Unknown | 6,164 | 2,062 | 3,620 | | Total population | 371,223 | 515,547 | 629,810 |

### Origin of those Born in the United States.

| Origin of Population | 1845 | 1850 | 1855 | |----------------------|------|------|------| | The state of New York | 194,916 | 234,843 | 262,156 | | The New England States (6) | 16,079 | 17,443 | 17,976 | | Other States of the Union | 25,372 | 25,366 | 23,589 | | Total United States | 236,667 | 277,752 | 303,721 |

### Summary of those Born in Foreign Countries.

| Country | 1845 | 1850 | |---------|------|------| | England | 23,671 | 22,713 | | Wales | 935 | 935 | | Scotland | 7,660 | 8,487 | | Ireland | 133,730 | 175,735 | | Germany | 55,476 | 95,988 | | Prussia | 665 | 1,586 | | Austria | 109 | 331 | | Italy | 708 | 968 | | Spain | 303 | 343 | | France | 4,990 | 6,321 | | Various other countries | 8,421 | 8,961 | | Total | 235,733 | 322,966 |

In 1850 the population comprised 13,815 free coloured persons, and we have the following statistics concerning them:— Sixty of this class were engaged in pursuits requiring education, of which one-third were Mulattoes.

The census of 1855 is the first that affords data for comparison of the number of single, married, and widowed in the population. In the city the percentages of these classes were—single, 60.78; married, 34.41; widowers, 10.41; and widows, 3.63.

The number and percentages of aliens and voters since 1821 in the city have been as follows:

| Year | Total Number | Percentage to Pop. | |------|--------------|--------------------| | | | | | 1825 | 18,283 | 11.10 | | 1835 | 43,091 | 15.95 | | 1845 | 63,927 | 17.22 | | 1855 | 88,877 | 14.11 |

Of adults (above 20 years) unable to read and write there were in the city in 1840, 7,775 whites. The same class in 1850 (also above 20 years) consisted of 17,140 whites, and 1,667 coloured; or a total of 18,807—of whom 2,358 were native, and 16,449 foreign born. In 1855 the total number, white and free coloured, above 21 years, was 25,858, originating as follows:

| Countries | Males | Females | |-----------|-------|---------| | Ireland | 6,383 | 14,995 | | England | 97 | 162 | | Scotland | 29 | 41 | | Germany | 597 | 856 | | France | 43 | 56 | | Switzerland | 3 | 6 | | Other European | 250 | 223 | | Countries | 25 | 8 | | Canada | 1,108 | | | United States | 955 | |

Returns of 1850 and 1855 on Families and Dwellings:

| Statements | Dwellings | 1850 | 1855 | |------------|-----------|------|------| | Number | 37,677 | 42,668 | 93,608 | | Persons in each | 13-60 | 14-79 | 5-47 |

In 1855 the total value of dwellings, including the value of their lots, was reported at L.56,975,391, being an average of L.1,333.

The number of all classes reported in 1855 as holding land by deed, contract, or perpetual lease, was 14,784, or 2.34 per cent. of the whole population. The total value of real and personal estate in the city and county of New York, for the year 1856, was L.106,612,599, of which L.70,935,849 was of real estate.

The valuation, as stated previously, is less than the real value of property assessed. In 1856 the total valuation of the "moneyed or stock corporations deriving an income from their capital" was L.19,648,062, consisting of L.17,363,539 personal estate, and L.2,284,523 real estate; on which the tax for city purposes was L.271,248.

The general plan of the city is regular. In the old or southern part, now devoted wholly to business, the principal streets were in part formed according to the shape of the island, and hence its plan is not continuously uniform, although each of its large divisions is by itself comparatively regular. The uniform plan of avenues and streets commences at Houston Street, 1 mile from the City Hall, and New York City, 1¾ miles from the Battery. Above this point the island is divided longitudinally by fourteen parallel Avenues, 100 feet wide, which are crossed at right angles by 156 streets, numerically designated, running directly from river to river, and 80 feet wide, excepting sixteen. The latter are 100 feet wide, of which Fourteenth Street is the first that extends entirely across the island. The principal street is Principal Broadway, especially that main portion of it which occupies streets, the central ridge of the island, extending in a straight line, and with uniform breadth of 80 feet, nearly 2¼ miles, from the Battery to Tenth Street (Grace Church). It is mainly occupied by stores, but it also contains the principal hotels and theatres, besides several banks and other prominent structures. Although a very large proportion of the buildings in this street are of costly construction, so that there is not a more splendid business thoroughfare in the world, yet its general aspect is impaired by a remarkable diversity of architecture, for almost every block comprises several fronts of marble, sandstone, and brick. The Bowery is the next most important of the thoroughfares; it is more plainly built, and is traversed by some of the city railroads. Fifth Avenue is the central street of the most elegant and fashionable portion of the city, and is wholly occupied by very costly private residences, which are chiefly constructed of brown sandstone; and several fine churches. Like all other large cities, however, New York has many streets which are lined with cheap, miserable, and densely-peopled tenements, which, with their inmates, afford a sad contrast to the display of wealth and magnificence in other sections.

Besides the great central park, the city has seventeen public squares and other areas, for the most part of small parks' extent, though varying in size, their aggregate area being 170 acres; they are generally inclosed with handsome iron fences, and ornamented with trees, fountains, &c., affording pleasant promenades. The new central park, designed in 1853, and not yet completed, extends from Fifty-ninth to One Hundred and Sixth Street, between Fifth and Eighth Avenues. It is 2½ miles long by half a mile wide, comprising 776 acres, including the present distributing reservoir (occupying a position nearly central), the ground taken for a new reservoir, and the Arsenal grounds belonging to the state, and valued, as first taken in its unimproved state, at L.1,076,947. Its surface is somewhat uneven, and its natural configuration is used as the basis of the improvements. There are two beautiful parks, each comprising a square, which are private property.

Owing to the natural shape of the island, to the fact that Movement it was first settled at its southern extremity, and to the of popu- eligibility of that section for the extension of trade and tion, commerce, it has resulted that the growth of the city has, with successive years, been manifested by an increase of houses and business buildings in a northward direction. In the southern and business section the number of dwellings has yearly decreased, the old houses being pulled down, and stores or other establishments erected. Therefore in that section the number of inhabitants, instead of increasing or remaining stationary, has rather diminished, and the absolute increase of population has been most apparent in the northern section. In the spring of 1853 the city was quite compactly built from the Battery to Forty-second Street, 4 miles. In that year, and somewhat before, a great impulse was given to the northward movement by the erection of the Crystal Palace; and also by the sale on the part of the city of large tracts of ground in that section. The increase, since 1853, of population in the northern sections has been very great, and in part attributable to the intro- duction and extension of city railroads.

The several sections of the city are characterized by con- Styles of siderable uniformity in their respective styles of building. In the upper parts many of the blocks consist of houses New York constructed precisely alike. Building lots are almost everywhere of equal width. In the older streets the buildings are almost wholly of brick, which is now by far the chief building material in all sections; though of late years the use of freestone, marble, granite, and iron, for the front of buildings, has become quite general.

The City Hall occupies the centre of the park, in the lower part of the city. It is a very large and handsome edifice, built, in combined Ionic and Corinthian orders, of white marble, except its north side, and surmounted by a cupola, which is crowned by a statue of Justice. It was constructed between the years 1803 and 1812, at a cost of L.112,232. It contains 28 apartments, used as the public offices of the mayor and other members of the city government. The principal apartment, called the Governor's Room, contains a fine collection of portraits of men celebrated in the civil, military, and naval history of the country. In the common council-room is the identical chair occupied by Washington when president of the first American Congress, which assembled in this city. In the rear of this edifice is another large building, occupied by the principal courts and some public offices; and east of it is the Hall of Records, in which are preserved all the records and public documents of the city.

The Merchants' Exchange, occupying an entire block, is built of Quincy granite, and cost about L.375,000. Its front has a recessed portico with 18 columns, each of which is a solid block of granite, 38 feet high, 4½ feet in diameter, and weighing over 40 tons. Its central rotunda is elaborately constructed of white marble, and lighted by a very lofty dome, which is in part supported by 8 Corinthian columns of Italian marble, 41 feet high.

The Custom-House (on the site of the old Federal Hall, where General Washington was inaugurated the first president) is built of white marble, in the Doric style, after the model of the Parthenon, with two grand porticos, each having 8 massive columns; its principal hall is circular, surmounted by a dome, supported by 16 Corinthian columns, 30 feet high, beautifully wrought with capitals of the most exquisite workmanship. Its construction occupied seven years (1834–41); and its cost, ground included, was L.248,900.

The Post-Office is not noteworthy for its architecture, though it is so for its history. It was formerly the Middle Dutch Church, and was erected before the Revolution. Much of its interior wood-work and its steeple were brought from Holland during the Revolutionary war; this church, in common with others used by the British, was much injured from its occupation as a prison, hospital, &c. In 1790 it was repaired, and continued to be used for public worship until rented by the United States government for the general post-office of the city.

The Hall of Justice, or city prison, is an extremely massive granite building of Egyptian architecture, and occupies an entire block. Its gloomy aspect has obtained for it the general name of "The Tombs." Its front has a recessed portico, supported by 14 huge columns. It is chiefly occupied as a prison, though in part by the criminal courts, and in part as a police station.

The Crystal Palace was erected in 1853 for the World's Fair, or "Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations," on Reservoir Square, 3 miles from the City Hall. Since the close of that exhibition it has been used only at intervals, and then for sundry fairs, exhibitions, and festive assemblages. It has a somewhat octagonal form; each main diameter is 365½ feet long, and the area of its flooring is 173,000 square feet. The dome is 100 feet in diameter, and 123 feet high. Excepting the floors, the building was constructed entirely of iron and glass,—requiring 1800 tons of iron, 55,000 square feet of glass, and 750,000 square feet of timber.

The State Arsenal, 4½ miles from the City Hall, is a large edifice, containing arms and munitions belonging to the state. It was erected in 1848, and is in the Gothic castellated style, presenting a massive and appropriate appearance.

The City Armoury, or Down-Town Arsenal, is a handsome structure in the Gothic style, two stories high, built of blue stone. It is constructed on the best plan for defense; so that in case of an attack it could be defended with success by fifty men. In January 1855 the citizen soldiery of the city (comprised in the First Division, New York State Militia, in four brigades) consisted of—infantry, 3906; cavalry, 1291; and artillery, 1589; total, 6786.

The hotels of New York are generally very large, and noted for their excellence; while a considerable number cost fully L.200,000, and are remarkable for their splendour. Upon Broadway alone there are about twenty-five, all elegant in their appointments, and severally accommodating from 200 to 800 guests. Prominent among these, as the oldest, and not surpassed in substantial excellence by any of the more recent establishments, is the Astor House, a rare example of popular favour, deservedly secured and long and surely retained. It was erected by John Jacob Astor, at a cost of L.165,000, and opened in May 1836. The building is constructed of Quincy granite, in the most substantial manner, and contains about 400 rooms. The St Nicholas Hotel, opened in 1853, and subsequently much enlarged, now constitutes the most capacious and costly hotel in the world. It is built of white marble and freestone, and is noted for the splendour of its apartments and its general magnificence. The Metropolitan Hotel, built of freestone, and a very imposing and attractive edifice, was opened in September 1852. Of similar character with these three are the Clarendon, Everett, Brevoort, St Germain, and Lafarge. To this list might be added others of nearly equal rank. The United States Hotel, built of marble, at a cost of L.72,000, containing about 250 rooms, was the first of the mammoth hotels. Many other hotels are very large, elegant, and well appointed; but their great number precludes particular mention. Hotelkeeping, as practised in New York by the best houses, is brought nearer perfection than in any other city in the world.

Until the summer of 1852 the omnibuses of the city afforded almost the only means of cheap and regular conveyance. Up to that time these were very extensively used by the people, as they yet are, except in certain thoroughfares, where they have been superseded by the railroads. The city cars of the Harlem Railroad commenced running in June 1833, and at the same rate of fare as the stages. In August 1852, notwithstanding the strenuous opposition of thousands against the establishment of railroads through the leading avenues of the city, the Sixth Avenue and the Eighth Avenue lines commenced operation; and in July 1853 the Second Avenue and the Third Avenue lines. These channels of travel are now better patronized than the stages ever were, or ever would have been, had the roads not been formed. On each line the fare is 2½d., without regard to the length of the routes, which vary from 2½ (Fourth Avenue) to 5½ miles (Third Avenue). The cars (which are drawn by horses or mules, and are about twice the length of an omnibus) run day and night, at intervals varying from two to thirty minutes, according to the public requirements. Their successful operation has resulted in their establishment in other cities.

There are thirty lines of omnibuses, having in all about Omnibus 600 in daily use. The routes of these lines vary in length lines and from three to five miles. The uniform fare is 3d. With hacks, &c., these Broadway is often completely blocked from morn till midnight, all efforts to remove or supersede them having proved ineffectual. The number of hacks is not propor- New York City.

The population of the city, owing mainly to the greater facilities afforded by the more popular conveyances, and somewhat to the extortionate demands of the hackmen, though their rates are duly prescribed by law. By census of 1855, 1741 persons were occupied as drivers; 5383 as carters and draymen; 3052 as porters; and 1004 as boatmen and watermen.

Between New York and its immediate suburbs across the rivers, steam ferry-boats are constantly plying. On the principal ferries these are run throughout the night as well as the day. From the populous part of the city there are, across the East River, fourteen ferries, and across the Hudson four; and from the upper part of the island there are others across each river. On the East River the ferriage is (excepting for the longest routes) 1d.; on the Hudson 1½d. The number of passengers, vehicles, &c., crossing daily is very great. In the morning and towards night the boats are often crowded. To many places near the city steamboats are run, especially in summer, at very low rates of fare.

In its manufactures, as well as commerce, New York is the first city in America. In 1850 the number of hands employed in manufactures, mining, or the mechanical arts (establishments producing annually to the amount of L.104), was 80,302; capital invested L6,126,615; product annually L1,882,958. The branches which are here most extensively prosecuted are those directly developed by the great trade and commerce.

Ship-building is carried to a high degree of perfection; and in speed, beauty of model, and internal convenience, the vessels built here are nowhere surpassed.

Table showing the number of vessels of all kinds built in the district of New York, with their aggregate measurement, from 1843 to 1857, compiled from the Treasury Reports:

| Fiscal Year | Ships & Barques | Brigs | Schooners | Sloops and Canoes | Steam-boats | Total Vessels | Total Tonnage | |-------------|-----------------|-------|-----------|------------------|------------|--------------|--------------| | 1843 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 102 | 5 | 122 | 13,179 | | 1844 | 11 | 6 | 16 | 89 | 14 | 136 | 18,026 | | 1845 | 18 | 2 | 25 | 130 | 17 | 192 | 26,621 | | 1846 | 11 | 3 | 37 | 160 | 23 | 234 | 29,655 | | 1847 | 16 | 2 | 43 | 117 | 15 | 193 | 37,591 | | 1848 | 26 | 3 | 39 | 206 | 19 | 304 | 47,577 | | 1849 | 15 | 7 | 44 | 145 | 17 | 228 | 37,933 | | 1850 | 26 | 2 | 42 | 104 | 28 | 202 | 55,225 | | 1851 | 23 | 1 | 41 | 91 | 47 | 208 | 77,214 | | 1852 | 24 | 2 | 46 | 38 | 43 | 153 | 69,054 | | 1853 | 18 | 5 | 66 | 97 | 58 | 244 | 68,454 | | 1854 | 40 | 7 | 63 | 81 | 49 | 240 | 93,496 | | 1855 | 40 | 5 | 76 | 219 | 41 | 381 | 92,697 | | 1856 | 24 | 7 | 35 | 168 | 17 | 191 | 49,317 | | 1857 | 23 | 5 | 37 | 73 | 21 | 164 | 43,118 |

The construction of splendid ocean steamers has, since 1846, formed a distinguishing feature in the business of the New York ship-yards. Of these there have been launched about 120, all of which have fully satisfied, and in fact exceeded, the expectations of their builders; while several have become celebrated throughout the world as superior to all, of every other nation, previously afloat. So great, however, has been the rivalry between American and British ship-builders, that, since 1850, the marine of each nation has been yearly increased with new steamers, constructed to surpass all their predecessors. This rivalry, still continued, promises to furnish both of these countries, and others also, with a vast number of steamers, which will greatly promote their respective interests, and aid in extending civilization over the globe.

The increase in the amount of the tonnage employed in steam navigation since 1848, and owned in the district, is exhibited in the following table:

| Years | Registered | Enrolled & Licensed | Total | |-------|------------|---------------------|-------| | 1848 | 6,623 | 73 | 64,229 | | 1849 | 10,642 | 76 | 71,818 | | 1850 | 55,148 | 47 | 58,967 | | 1851 | 52,392 | 68 | 52,151 | | 1852 | 63,850 | 33 | 64,024 | | 1853 | 76,851 | 78 | 165,163| | 1854 | 82,907 | 73 | 184,095| | 1855 | 89,105 | 9 | 186,798| | 1856 | 88,777 | 26 | 176,597| | 1857 | 69,651 | 67 | 180,578|

The following statement from the annual reports of the Secretary of the United States Treasury exhibits the registered, the enrolled and licensed, and the total tonnage belonging to the district of New York, in each decennial year from 1825:

| Years | Registered | Enrolled & Licensed | Total | |-------|------------|---------------------|-------| | 1825 | 156,728 | 14 | 304,484| | 1835 | 191,626 | 43 | 376,697| | 1845 | 243,717 | ... | 559,359| | 1855 | 373,509 | 37 | 1,288,234| | 1857 | 802,356 | 10 | 1,377,424|

Nearly all of the enrolled and licensed tonnage is employed in the coasting trade; but there are no complete official accounts of this trade. The law exonerates vessels engaged in it from entering or clearing at the custom-house, unless they have foreign goods or distilled spirits on board; and comparatively few vessels which arrive from a domestic port come within this exception. The record of clearances coastwise (as many such vessels take foreign goods or spirits) exceeds the number entered; but even this list is far from including all which are engaged in this trade.

The following summary, derived from the custom-house records, is for the calendar years mentioned:

| Years | Entered Coastwise | Cleared Coastwise | |-------|-------------------|------------------| | | Vessels | Tons. | Vessels | Tons. | | 1849 | 1855 | 484,976 | 2994 | 895,589| | 1851 | 1768 | 455,542 | 4803 | 1,214,942| | 1853 | 1733 | 507,531 | 4789 | 1,310,697| | 1855 | 1966 | 614,045 | 4563 | 1,378,889| | 1856 | 1669 | 539,461 | 4696 | 1,482,310|

The coastwise trade is carried on entirely by American vessels, built and owned within the United States, as foreign vessels are by law prohibited from engaging in it.

In addition to the foregoing, we give the following statement of coastwise arrivals for three years, collected from the returns of Mr James Thorne, boarding-officer, United States revenue department, Whitehall:

| Years | Steamer | Ship | Barque | Brig | Schooner | Total | |-------|---------|------|--------|------|----------|-------| | 1855 | 460 | 220 | 208 | 422 | 4992 | 6302 | | 1856 | 623 | 150 | 177 | 371 | 4888 | 6109 | | 1857 | 621 | 117 | 129 | 304 | 5025 | 6097 |

Note.—In the above no sloops are included. These, if added to the many schooners from Virginia and Philadelphia, with wood and coal, which, though consigned here, discharge their cargoes at Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Jersey City, and the adjacent towns on the Hudson, would be counted over as part of the coastwise trade; and general business would make the number much greater.

The officer estimates the schooners that arrive at the above places and are not reported, at eight per day; which he thinks is an estimate rather under than over the actual number. This would give for each year 2920 additional schooners to be added to the coasting trade, making the whole number of coastwise arrivals in 1855, 9222; in 1856, 9029; and in 1857, 9017. In the above statement the steamers arriving from New Orleans, via Havana, are included.

The trade of the city with the interior of the Union New York vastly exceeds its foreign commerce; but of this there are no full reports. The available data consist of the accounts of the articles brought to tide-water by the Erie Canal, and Trade with the statistics of freight-traffic on the railroads which centre in the city. Of the latter the most important is the Erie Railroad, which bears a relation to the entire southern portion of the state, and northern portion of Pennsylvania, very similar to that sustained by the Erie Canal to the northern part of the state. The eleven railroads leading from the city have an immense and ever-increasing traffic; and they directly connect the metropolis with every important section of the country. The receipts of the city from the Erie Canal are approximately known; because the greater part of the receipts at tide-water at Hudson, near Albany, from the same source, are directly sent to New York. The following statement shows the aggregate tonnage and value of the property which came to the Hudson River, on all the canals, during the year 1856:

| Fiscal Year | Tonnage | Value | |-------------|---------|-------| | Product of the Forests | 858,771 | L2,178,431 | | Agriculture | 1,023,417 | 10,379,644 | | Manufactures | 50,454 | 934,199 | | Merchandise | 14,073 | 1,103,685 | | Other articles | 176,754 | 882,355 |

Total | 2,123,469 | L15,476,324

Of the total tonnage, the amount from Western States and Canada, arriving by way of the Erie Canal, was 1,212,550. The amount of the produce of the state of New York, arriving by all the canals, was 374,580 tons. Number of barrels of flour by all the canals, 1,130,509; bushels of wheat, do., 11,776,332 (or 2,355,266 barrels of flour; total, 3,485,775 barrels wheat flour); bushels of corn, do., 9,587,714.

The property which went up the canals in 1855 was in tons 638,597, and in value L23,634,234; the same in 1856 was in tons 650,943, and in value L27,944,001. Aggregate of property brought and taken in 1855, L39,667,732; in 1856, L43,420,325.

In surveying the business of New York, and comparing it with that of other American cities, it is at once seen that the point in which it is relatively greatest is its foreign commerce. From this source, more than any other, New York derives its general pre-eminence. Compared with the other great seaports of the world, the ocean commerce of New York is more extensive than any, excepting perhaps London and Liverpool. For this branch of industry the city naturally possesses uncommon advantages; but its remarkable prosperity has been owing mainly to the enterprise of its merchants. The following table is a summary view of the percentage of New York in the entire foreign commerce of the United States, at intervals of five years from 1825:

| Fiscal Year | Tonnage entered | Tonnage cleared | Value of exports | Value of imports | Duties collected | |-------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------| | 1825 | 25,21 | 21,65 | 44,80 | 51,92 | 78,87 | | 1830 | 27,78 | 24,19 | 23,93 | 54,54 | 68,48 | | 1835 | 23,33 | 13,12 | 23,96 | 59,58 | 74,61 | | 1840 | 23,41 | 17,38 | 22,85 | 63,05 | 55,94 | | 1845 | 19,66 | 16,22 | 29,83 | 68,78 | 64,18 | | 1850 | 29,23 | 22,52 | 25,44 | 57,96 | 61,73 | | 1855 | 29,20 | 23,40 | 36,48 | 59,09 | 61,58 | | 1857 | 28,38 | 24,62 | 34,27 | 61,67 | |

The next two tabular statements, derived from the "United States Treasury Report on Commerce and Navigation," exhibit the number of vessels and amount of tonnage entered into and cleared from the district of New York for foreign ports, in each fifth year from 1826. The years end with September to 1840, thence with June:

### Vessels and Tonnage entered into District of New York

| Fiscal Year | American Vessels | American Tonnage | Foreign Vessels | Foreign Tonnage | Total Vessels | Total Tonnage | |-------------|------------------|------------------|----------------|----------------|---------------|--------------| | 1826 | | | | | | | | 1830 | | | | | | | | 1835 | | | | | | | | 1840 | | | | | | | | 1845 | | | | | | | | 1850 | | | | | | | | 1855 | | | | | | | | 1857 | | | | | | |

The number of arrivals from foreign ports entered at the custom-house is always greater than the official record of clearances, because many vessels entering from abroad clear for a coastwise port.

### Vessels and Tonnage cleared from District of New York

| Fiscal Year | American Vessels | American Tonnage | Foreign Vessels | Foreign Tonnage | Total Vessels | Total Tonnage | |-------------|------------------|------------------|----------------|----------------|---------------|--------------| | 1826 | | | | | | | | 1830 | | | | | | | | 1835 | | | | | | | | 1840 | | | | | | | | 1845 | | | | | | | | 1850 | | | | | | | | 1855 | | | | | | | | 1857 | | | | | | |

The next tabular statement exhibits the value of imports, ports, the duties collected thereon, and the value of exports, and ports in each fifth fiscal year from 1820. The years end with September 30th to 1840, and thereafter with June 30th:

| Fiscal Year | Value of Imports | Duties collected | Value of Exports | |-------------|-----------------|------------------|-----------------| | 1820 | | | | | 1825 | | | | | 1830 | | | | | 1835 | | | | | 1840 | | | | | 1845 | | | | | 1850 | | | | | 1855 | | | | | 1857 | | | |

The returns previous to 1852 are from a United States Treasury document, and those of subsequent years are from the statements published in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine. Imports and exports are classified as follows:

- Foreign imports - Entered for consumption - Entered for warehousing - Free goods - Specie and bullion

Total entered at the port: L41,294,718 Withdrawn from warehouse: 4,569,606

The imports in 1857, at New York, were even greater than the total imports into the whole United States in any fiscal year previous to 1853. Prior to 1855 about one-half of the imports at this port were dry goods, but since that date the enormous increase has been chiefly in general merchandise:

| Years | Dry Goods | General Merchandise | Total Imports | |-------|-----------|---------------------|--------------| | 1854 | | | | | 1855 | | | | | 1856 | | | | | 1857 | | | | New York City.

Description of Dry Goods Imported for Two Years.

| Articles | 1856 | 1857 | |---------------------------|------------|------------| | Manufactures of wool | Ls,178,249 | Ls,488,085 | | Manufactures of cotton | 3,173,270 | 4,082,083 | | Manufactures of silk | 6,242,410 | 6,185,393 | | Manufactures of flax | 1,706,205 | 1,893,034 | | Miscellaneous dry goods | 1,505,399 | 1,657,523 |

Total dry goods........... Ls,17,895,833 Ls,19,306,118

Which were disposed of as follows:

Entered for consumption...... Ls,16,243,806 Ls,15,990,337 Entered for warehousing..... 1,551,727 3,715,781

Under the inducement to await the operation of the new tariff, which provided for an important reduction in duties on 1st July 1857, the stock in bonded warehouses had on that day accumulated to the amount of Ls,17,695,466, against the corresponding value of Ls,2,928,627 one year previous.

The exports to foreign ports during the fiscal year 1857 were larger, both in specie and produce, than during any previous year. Classification for two fiscal years:

| Articles | 1856 | 1857 | |---------------------------|------------|------------| | Domestic produce | Ls,15,630,464 | Ls,15,819,526 | | Foreign merchandise, free | 894,354 | 999,350 | | Foreign merchandise, dutiable | 769,079 | 819,239 | | Specie and bullion | 5,379,018 | 9,239,200 |

Total exports............... Ls,22,042,915 Ls,26,376,376 Total, exclusive of specie.| 16,683,897 | 17,137,115 |

For a series of years the city of New York has proved to be the regulator of the policy adopted in financial affairs throughout the Union, and may now be considered as its financial centre. This has naturally resulted from its being the leading channel of imports and exports; and thus it has become the pivot upon which almost the whole business of the country has turned. Since 1849 this has especially been the case, by the constant influx of vast amounts of gold from California; which, being brought first of all into the city of New York, has materially aided in augmenting the number and capital of all classes of its moneysed institutions. Meanwhile, other causes have been producing a gradual and powerful concentration of capital at New York from all parts of the Union. During the same period the banks and private bankers of every state have increasingly made this city the depository of their surplus funds, and more particularly since the practice of allowing from 4 to 6 per cent. interest has prevailed. Hence, of late years, exchange on New York has been considered as equivalent to cash funds on hand by all engaged in the banking business. New York has for many years been a creditor of the whole Union. Thereby it has obtained a vast credit, and, consequently, the control of immense capital, belonging, in small and large sums, to remote parties. This rapid accumulation of capital has not only aided to build up New York, but it has at length been regarded as belonging permanently to the interests of the city. From 1849 to 1857 the imports of New York increased 133 per cent.; the bank capital 160 per cent.; the average bank loans 125 per cent.; and the average bank deposits about 225 per cent.

In 1830 the capital of the banks in the city was Ls,3,183,330; on 1st February 1834 (twenty-one banks) Ls,3,929,472; and on 1st January 1837 (twenty-four banks) Ls,4,346,080. The general banking law was passed by the legislature 18th April 1838. In 1845 the number of banks was twenty-four, and their capital Ls,4,809,184; and there was no increase until 1849. In that year the capital was raised to Ls,5,095,390; at the close of 1850 it was Ls,5,634,645; in July 1852 (forty banks), Ls,7,465,610; in January 1854 (fifty-seven banks), Ls,9,292,622; in July 1856, Ls,11,077,146; and in July 1857 (fifty-six banks), Ls,13,453,352.

Without presenting an account of the progress of the banks during a series of prosperous years, and their usual New York operations in such years, we shall briefly sketch the features of their condition through the year 1857, which opened favourably with a very buoyant stock market. The banks throughout January money was in good demand, and in 1857 moderate stringency existed. In February the rates gradually declined, and stock securities were pretty well sustained. In March there was more active movement, with an advance in prices. In April money was abundant, and the banks gradually increased their discount lines upon an increasing specie basis and a larger deposit account; and on the 11th of the month their loans were Ls,24,036,395, being a higher point than ever before known. The highest point in 1856 was 2d August, Ls,23,881,488; and the highest in 1855 was on 1st September, Ls,20,924,365. Through May the money market was easy, stocks were buoyant, and the banks maintained a very uniform movement in the discount and specie departments. On 6th June the loans and discounts were Ls,24,028,868, and for four weeks remained above Ls,24,000,000, and at about the same amount; but in that time the specie decreased from Ls,2,736,395 to Ls,2,271,058, owing to the active shipments. From 3d July the loans increased daily until 8th August (the highest point of the expansion), when they amounted to Ls,25,432,756, being an increase of Ls,1,454,796 in five weeks, or at an average of Ls,48,489 each business day. With this expansion in discounts there was a steady decrease in the specie reserve. During the last of the five weeks just mentioned the loans and discounts increased Ls,308,373, while the specie decreased Ls,245,965. Thus, on the 8th August, the loans and other chief items of the accounts of all the banks in the city were, in comparison with their condition on 3d January, as follows:

| Date | Loans | Specie | Circulation | Deposits | |----------|-------|--------|-------------|----------| | Aug. 8 | Ls,25,432,756 | Ls,2,445,281 | Ls,1,871,192 | Ls,19,674,249 | | Jan. 3 | Ls,22,739,402 | Ls,2,327,547 | Ls,1,752,104 | Ls,19,907,957 |

Increase... Ls,2,693,354 | Ls,117,734 | Ls,79,088 | Ls,293,708 |

Apprehensions of coming troubles were immediately excited in the minds of many financiers. Thenceforward the banks rapidly contracted their loans; at the same time their specie reserve ran down, and the money market daily became more stringent. The remarkable extent of this contraction is readily apparent from the following tables:

Increase of the Currency, &c., in Nineteen Weeks.

| Date | Loans | Specie | Circulation | Deposits | |----------|-------|--------|-------------|----------| | Aug. 8 | Ls,25,432,756 | Ls,2,445,281 | Ls,1,871,192 | Ls,19,674,249 | | Mar. 28 | Ls,23,617,602 | Ls,2,350,223 | Ls,1,765,378 | Ls,19,294,696 |

Increase... Ls,1,915,254 | Ls,85,758 | Ls,105,814 | Ls,379,553 |

Decrease of the Currency, &c., in Four Weeks.

| Date | Loans | Specie | Circulation | Deposits | |----------|-------|--------|-------------|----------| | Aug. 8 | Ls,25,432,756 | Ls,2,445,281 | Ls,1,871,192 | Ls,19,674,249 | | Sept. 5 | Ls,23,379,447 | Ls,2,131,239 | Ls,1,806,910 | Ls,16,560,687 |

Decrease... Ls,2,053,309 | Ls,314,042 | Ls,64,282 | Ls,3,113,562 |

The foregoing statements show that the contraction in four weeks after 8th August, was much greater than the expansion in nineteen weeks before that date.

The next table shows, on comparison with the first table, that the contraction in six weeks after 8th August was also much greater than the expansion during the thirty-one weeks before that date; viz., from 3d January:— On 26th September the banks in Philadelphia and Baltimore suspended specie payments; but the banks in New York city, and in part of New England, published that they were able to maintain themselves as specie-paying institutions. This announcement inspired hope; but the banks, instead of giving to their customers the expected (and in fact promised accommodation), continued to diminish their loans. The financial panic waxed more intense, surpassing description. Commencing in August, business of almost every kind was gradually brought to a stand. In almost every place the operations of manufactories, and shops and stores, were reduced; and thousands of operatives and employés were discharged. Through September the gloom deepened every day. Men were everywhere calling for aid, and in vain. Property seemed to have no fixed or certain value. In the fore part of October the number of mercantile suspensions and failures augmented rapidly over the corresponding daily announcements in September. The paper of many of the most prominent and reputable mercantile firms, of several of the largest private banking-houses, and of some great railroad corporations, was protested. The suspension of a few of the banks in the city, and of a score of those in the interior of the state, and perhaps a hundred in other states, aided in bringing about the general suspension by inducing a general run upon all other banks. On Tuesday, 13th October, nineteen banks ceased to pay specie to bill-holders and depositors; but to the latter either paid notes or closed their doors entirely. In the evening of that day all other banks resolved to suspend on the ensuing day. This course was immediately followed throughout the Union.

It is generally considered that the panic which brought on the crisis was owing chiefly, if not wholly, to the imprudent course of the banks in expanding their discounts, and then too suddenly contracting them. The actual suspension of the banks was owing to the disgust and indignation of the mercantile classes, who, having been injured by the banks, retaliated by using their own power. On this point, the London Times of 26th October remarked that—"The entire suspension of specie payments by the New York and Boston banks, reported this morning by the American mail, is the most satisfactory announcement that could have been looked for. Had the step been taken a fortnight earlier, an immense amount of ruin might have been averted. The banks, after having, by their mismanagement, brought about the state of affairs which rendered the panic possible, sought to save themselves by the sacrifice of the whole mercantile community; but the public, at last, took the matter in their own hands, and forced them to a stoppage, which placed them in the same condition with their victims, and thus terminated the struggle." The Times regarded the matter in its true bearing, attributing the blame to the proper parties.

The returns for the week of suspension, ending 17th October, being ten weeks from 8th August, are thus compared with the returns of that date:

| Date | Loans | Specie | Circulation | Deposits | |----------|---------|--------|-------------|----------| | Aug. 8 | 25,432,756 | 2,445,281 | 1,871,192 | 19,674,249 | | Sept. 19 | 22,661,960 | 2,824,200 | 1,682,039 | 15,785,991 | | Decrease | 2,770,796 | 189,143 | 3,888,258 | | | Increase in specie reserve | 378,919 | | | |

showing several still greater changes in each item, and particularly in the decrease of specie and deposits, these having been withdrawn by bill-holders and depositors.

After suspension the banks rapidly augmented their specie to a sum several millions above any previous total, gaining from 17th October (when L1,634,003) to 12th December (when L5,428,928) the sum of L3,794,925. But no ease in the money market was realized amongst business men for seven or eight weeks, and there was no important change in financial affairs until 11th December. On that day the specie in the banks had accumulated to L5,415,000, and it was then resolved to resume specie payments on the next day. In the first week after resumption the specie increased nearly L415,000, swelling the amount to L5,824,855, in the face of a very active shipment to foreign ports. At the close of the year the banks of Philadelphia, Baltimore, &c., had not resumed.

Although it is reasonable to suppose that another revolution may occur in an interval of twenty years, it is probable that this of 1857 will produce at least three beneficial results throughout most of the states, viz.—The abolition of small bank notes (under L1 or L2); the establishment of a specie basis of not less than 1 to 3 (or 4) of circulation; and the requirement of ample securities for bill-holders and depositors.

On 1st January 1857 there were sixteen savings-banks in the city, which had on deposit L6,760,879. Number of depositors' accounts, L151,559. During 1856 there were 193,317 deposits, amounting to L3,053,992; and 139,422 withdrawals, amounting to L2,412,978. Interest received on stocks and securities, L1,855,110. Interest received on bonds and mortgages, L181,854. Interest allowed to depositors, L286,973.

The daily newspapers, with many of the weeklies and other periodicals, are remarkable for their intrinsic merits, size, cheapness, and immense circulation. Each of the leading newspaper establishments employs a very large amount of capital, and is furnished with the best presses and other equipments known among printers. The earliest newspaper in New York was commenced on 16th October 1725, and printed weekly. Before the Revolution about 90 others had been in existence. In 1775 there were 4 newspapers. In 1832, 64 newspapers and periodicals. According to the census of 1855, there were in that year 145 newspapers and 78 other periodicals, published as follows—Daily, 19; tri-weekly, 1; semi-weekly, 8; weekly, 87; semi-monthly 10; monthly, 87; quarterly, 13; semi-annually, 2; annually, 3. Four of the daily papers are reputed to have each a circulation above 30,000 (their proprietors not unfrequently claim much more); and several of the weeklies circulate to regular subscribers each from 40,000 to 50,000 copies. One weekly, devoted to news and politics, has 175,000 of a regular circulation, almost wholly to subscribers; while another, devoted to tales and "light reading," is believed to have above 300,000. One of the popular monthly magazines has 170,000, and a religious monthly newspaper above 200,000.

The public and private provisions for the general education of children, youth, and adults, are upon a liberal scale. It is believed that less attention is given to education by the illiterate and poor classes than in most large cities of the Union; but these are chiefly of foreign birth, and feel compelled to make use of their children to gain a livelihood. By the census returns it appears that the greater number of the adults unable to read and write are of foreign birth.

The number of public schools under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education, in the year 1855, was 271, viz.—schools, Grammar, for boys, 47; grammar, for girls, 48; primary, 101; coloured, 14; corporate and asylum, 28; evening, 29; normal, 3; and the Free Academy. The whole num- New York her of teachers employed in the several schools was 1067, consisting of 187 males, and 880 females. The amount expended for purposes of education during the year was L191,217; of which the sum of L27,649 was received from the state funds, and L163,568 raised by tax on property in the city. In the grammar and primary schools (238) the whole number taught in 1855 was 137,874; the annual average attendance was 47,858; and the cost (total L112,507) per pupil was, on the whole number taught, 16s. 5d.; on average annual attendance, L2, 4s. 5d. The evening schools, for adults, &c., were attended by 12,762 persons, and their support cost L6796. The normal schools, with 782 pupils, cost L1256 for support. The Free Academy, established in 1848, crowns the system of public school education. In 1855 it had 696 pupils, and its support cost L7714. Its spacious edifice is built in the Gothic style, after the manner of the town-halls of the Netherlands, and cost, with site and fitting up, L22,811. It has 23 teachers, a library of 5000 volumes, besides 10,000 text-books, &c., excellent apparatus, laboratory, and cabinets.

Select schools and academies, conducted by individual and associated enterprise, are proportionately numerous. Some of the seminaries for young women are of very high reputation, and have each several hundred pupils.

Columbia College was founded in 1754 by royal charter as King's College, and received its present name in 1784. Its trustees and officers are of the Protestant Episcopal Church. It is richly endowed, possesses a valuable library, and has usually about 120 students in its collegiate department. It occupied its ancient position near the city-hall, in beautiful open grounds, shaded by venerable trees, until 1837, when it was removed to the upper part of the city, and its former site is now covered with warehouses. The university of the city of New York was founded in 1831, and is non-sectarian. Its edifice, fronting Washington Square, is one of the finest structures in the city, and the most costly collegiate building in the country. It is constructed of marble, in English Gothic architecture; and its central part, used as the principal chapel, is an imitation of the celebrated King's College chapel, Cambridge, England. There are three flourishing medical colleges, and several minor medical institutes. The College of Physicians and Surgeons was founded in 1807; medical department of the university in 1837; and New York medical college in 1851; each of which has an excellent edifice, and is well furnished with a library and cabinet. There are two theological seminaries,—the Episcopal, founded in 1817, and richly endowed; and the Union (Presbyterian), founded in 1836,—each possessing a large and very valuable library.

The Cooper Institute, or the "Union," devoted to science and art, is an important establishment, founded by Mr Peter Cooper, at a cost of L62,500, for the educational advancement of the youth and people of the city. Its handsome edifice, of freestone, six storeys high, and covering 20,000 square feet of ground, is unusually substantial, and fireproof. The American Institute, incorporated in 1829, for the encouragement of commerce, agriculture, and manufactures, has a building, containing a library of 8000 volumes and repository for models, in which weekly meetings are held for scientific objects; but this organization is especially noted for its annual exhibitions of national industry. The Mechanics' Institute has 5000 volumes, a good collection of philosophical and chemical apparatus, and regular courses of lectures. The Historical Society, founded in 1804, possesses an extremely valuable library of 25,000 volumes, and interesting collections, safely deposited in its fireproof edifice. It has published numerous volumes on American history. The Geographical and Statistical Society, founded in 1851, holds frequent meetings, and has about 3000 volumes. The total number of volumes in the public libraries and institutions in 1855 was 336,290; of which, in the Astor Library, 80,000; Mercantile, 47,000; Society, 40,000, &c. The Astor Library was founded by John Jacob Astor, by his bequest of L83,000, which directed that L15,600 should be expended for a building, L25,000 in a first outlay for books, and the residue, or over L42,000, invested as a fund for the maintenance and increase of the library. The Mercantile Library Association, formed in 1820 for merchants' clerks and others, is one of the most useful organizations in the city, has 5100 regular members, and an annual revenue of over L2000. Since 1854 it has occupied the building formerly known as the Astor Place Opera House.

The National Academy of Design, the chief art institution of America, was founded in 1826, since which time it societies, has steadily advanced in influence and usefulness. It galleries, numbers among its academicians and associates nearly all &c. the eminent artists of the city and vicinity. It supports free schools for the study of the antique and living models; possesses an extensive and valuable art library; makes annual exhibitions of original works by American and foreign painters and sculptors, &c. The New York Gallery of the Fine Arts is a permanent collection of American art, commenced a few years ago, containing many valuable works, but not yet accessible to the public, through want of a suitable and permanent gallery. The Dusseldorf Gallery is an admirable exhibition of the works of German painters, chiefly of the Dusseldorf school, in the building erected and formerly occupied by the late American Art Union. The Bryan Gallery of Christian Art is an extremely interesting and valuable collection of the works of the old masters. Several shops in Broadway, for the sale of oil-paintings, engravings, picture-frames, artists' materials, &c., keep up a rich display of works of art.

Theatres and other places of amusement are comparatively numerous and well patronized. Some of them are very large and elegant establishments. The building of the Academy of Music (or new opera house), completed in October 1854, has 4600 seats; it cost L57,000, and its site L12,500,—total, L69,500. Among other permanent amusements are several companies of Ethiopian minstrels; and the changing attractions include an endless number of panoramic exhibitions, concerts, balls, &c.

The benevolent or charitable institutions of a public Private nature, founded and sustained by special associations, are highly creditable to the citizens. These are numerous, benevolent and some of them very extensive. The list embraces 9 institutions, 3 infirmaries, 6 dispensaries, 7 homes for the sick, relief of certain unfortunate classes, 4 homes for the aged and indigent, 2 houses of industry, besides the missionary establishments, and very many aid societies. In the upper part of the city are the institutions for the blind, deaf-and-dumb, and insane, each having spacious buildings, with beautiful grounds. There are extensive institutions for seamen on Staten Island, 6 miles from the Battery.

Most of the public institutions maintained by the city Public government are situated on the islands in the East River, charities. The almshouse and its hospitals, lunatic asylum, workhouse, and city penitentiary, are on Blackwell's Island. The Nursery and various establishments for children, and the house of refuge, are on Randall's Island. Ward's Island is occupied with the hospitals, &c., under the charge of the Commissioners of Emigration.

New York contains many of the central offices and Religious publication establishments of those great religious societies and moral and denominations which embrace in their labours the whole country. Some of their printing-offices are among the largest in the city,—as those of the American Bible Society; American Tract Society; Methodist Book Concern; &c. In 1852 the Bible Society erected, at a cost of about L62,500, a new building, six storeys high, and comprising Synopsis of the census returns on churches:—Number of churches in 1850, 214; in 1855, 252; aggregate accommodation in 1850, 219,098; in 1855, 234,730; value of church property in 1850, L1,895,559; in 1855, L2,519,319, consisting of L2,270,916 as value of churches and lots, and L248,403 as value of other real estate. Twenty-seven sects were mentioned in returns of 1855, from which are taken the following statistics of the chief denominations:

| Religious Denominations | Church Edifices | Usual Attendance | Church Members | |-------------------------|----------------|------------------|---------------| | Baptist | 26 | 131,622 | 12,140 | 7,118 | | Congregational | 9 | 60,935 | 4,175 | 905 | | Jewish | 10 | 38,894 | 3,825 | 1,953 | | Methodist Episcopal | 33 | 121,414 | 15,090 | 8,878 | | Methodist African | 6 | 25,000 | 3,605 | 1,668 | | Presbyterian (Old & New School) | 33 | 242,810 | 17,675 | 10,643 | | Presbyterian, Associate | 6 | 78,748 | 3,700 | 1,708 | | Protestant Episcopal | 43 | 700,844 | 21,850 | 9,066 | | Reformed Dutch | 22 | 191,456 | 13,100 | 5,117 | | Roman Catholic | 24 | 335,415 | 100,500 | 78,488 |

The most costly and conspicuous ecclesiastical edifices are those of the Protestant Episcopal denomination. Of these Trinity Church, built entirely of freestone, including the tower and spire, 264 feet high, cost L83,000, and is the noblest building of Gothic architecture in America; and Grace Church, a very elaborate structure of white marble, cost L42,000.

The Croton Aqueduct is the greatest and most important public work, and is not only superior in grandeur and costliness to anything of the kind on the globe in modern times, but to any work ever executed by a comparatively small community. In April 1835 the plan for its construction was ratified by the electors by a vote of 17,330 for, to 5963 against it. In July ensuing the surveys were commenced; in the spring of 1837 the work was fairly begun; and on the 14th October 1842 its completion was celebrated. Its cost to 1843 was L2,386,158. The pond, now called Croton Lake, formed by the dam of Croton River, is 5 miles in length; the aqueduct from this dam to the distributing reservoir is 40½ miles; and the large mains from this reservoir, through the central part of the city to the Battery, add 4 miles, making the total length of the main conduit 50 miles. The aqueduct, built of stone, brick, and cement, has form and dimensions as follows:—The bottom is an inverted arch; the chord or span line is 6 feet 9 inches, and the versed sine 9 inches; the greatest interior width is 7 feet 5 inches; and the greatest depth 8 feet 5½ inches. For the first 5 miles the side walls have an extra height. It crosses Harlem River on a magnificent bridge, 1450 feet long, constructed of well-dressed granite, with 15 arches, the under side of which is 100 feet above high tide, completed in 1849, at a cost of L200,710. Its general declivity per mile is, in its upper part, 13½ inches, and in its lower part, 9 inches. The dam covers about 400 acres, and is available as a reservoir for 500,000,000 gallons above the level that would allow the aqueduct to discharge 35,000,000 gallons daily. The receiving reservoir, 5 miles from City Hall, contains an area of 35 acres, is divided into two equal parts, and has a capacity for 150,000,000 gallons. The distributing reservoir, 3 miles from City Hall, includes 4 acres, is also divided into two equal parts, and has capacity for 25,000,000 gallons. Its walls consist of an exterior and an interior wall, connected at every 10 feet by cross walls. At their base the thickness of the interior wall is 6 feet, of the exterior 4 feet, and the intermediate space is 14 feet; or 24 feet in all. Both walls are carried 5 feet beneath the ground, and the exterior New York City. have been witnessed by the present generation. (Forbes.) These centres of volcanic action are supposed to be—(1), at Otawa, near the Bay of Islands; (2,) the vicinity of Auckland; (3,) a range of country which may be defined by a line drawn from White or Sulphur Island to Rotorua, Lake Taupo, and Mount Tongariro, to Wanganui; (4,) the country around Wellington. (Taylor.) In the middle island the upheavement of the land is observable in a marked manner through the entire length of the western coast from Cape Farewell to Dusky Bay. Some of the most extraordinary changes in these regions have taken place within the last few years. More than half of the mountains of New Zealand are extinct volcanoes; a few are yet in partial action, as Waka-ari (White or Sulphur Island), Montohoro (Whale Island), Tongariro, and occasionally one of the Kaikora peaks. In the centre of the northern island, between Rotorua, Lake Taupo, and Mount Tongariro, the number of boiling mud pools, mud volcanoes, and openings emitting sulphureous steam, is astonishing. Some of them shoot up volumes of boiling water, like the geysers of Iceland, to which they are little, if at all, inferior. Earthquakes, as might be expected, occur occasionally; but their action appears now to be confined to the shores along Cook's Straits, and the western coasts of the middle island. The geological formation is simple, the rocks being erupted, metamorphic, trappean, and sedimentary, the latter all of them of tertiary origin, as proved by their imbedded fossils. (Forbes.)

New Zealand is eminently a mountainous country, level plains, though such there are of great extent, being the exception. The mountain ranges run parallel with the sea-coast, generally from N.E. to S.W. In the northern island these ranges vary from 500 to 1500 feet in height, until they reach the centre of the island near Mount Pirongia, where the great central Rangitoto chain commences, which, under the names of Ruahine and Tarahuna, extends as far as the southern extremity. "This central mountain range throws off spurs or ridges of a very difficult mountainous country in various directions to the coast; the valleys between these ridges, generally mere gorges at the hills, become fertile and extensive plains near the coast; and form the channels of the Thames, the Waikato, the Mokau, the Wanganui, the Rangitiki, and other minor streams. These subsidiary mountain ridges or spurs, thrown from the main range, are for the most part, where roads have not been constructed across them, impassable even for horses; so that no overland communication, except for foot-passengers, can be considered as yet existing between the several principal settlements." (Sir George Grey.) Some of these mountains are very elevated, and are covered with perpetual snow. Pirongia is only 2500 feet high; but Tongariro is 6200 feet, and Ruapahiu 9000 feet in height. Though not connected with any of the central or minor ranges, Mount Egmont or Taranaki stands about 30 miles from the sea, and rises to an elevation of nearly 9000 feet; it is distinguished by the perfect shape of its cone, covered with perpetual snow. The middle island has its northern shores skirted by a high crescent-shaped range of mountains, throwing out spurs towards the sea, and forming the sheltered harbours in which that locality abounds. This range unites with a great central range which runs through the island midway, and with another of yet greater elevation which skirts the western coast, and which approaches even to the very margin of the sea. Numerous streams subject to sudden floods flow from these ranges. The highest peak in New Zealand, Mount Cook, which rises to about 13,000 feet above the level of the sea, is one of the mountains of this western range.

The appearance of the country generally is singularly picturesque and attractive. "It may be called a wooded highland country, displaying some half dozen noble plains, and thousands of brook-watered valleys, dells, and dales. In combination of these great natural features which constitute the foundation of fine scenery, New Zealand is unsurpassed by any country in the world. She displays noble forests, snow-capped mountains, shooting up 10,000 feet from a sea of green, and wooded up to the line of snow; tracts of rolling champaign country, dells, valleys, rivers and rivulets innumerable; and 3000 miles of bay and ocean coast. The indigenous plants and trees being evergreen, there is no autumnal fall: the country is always verdant." (Hursthouse.) To the truth of this glowing picture we can bear testimony.

The soil is generally fertile: the swamps may be easily drained, and will afford the best land to reward the labours and enterprise of future capitalists. There is perhaps as large a proportion of available land for agricultural and pastoral purposes as in the British Islands; and it must be kept in mind, that the grazing capabilities, as well as the results of husbandry in general, are fully equal to a similar extent of land in Britain. "Every English grain, grass, fruit, and flower attains full development and perfection. Surface and subsoil are generally light and porous: wet rapidly drains and percolates away." (Hursthouse.)

The climate is undoubtedly one of the best in the world, and is peculiarly congenial to English constitutions and tastes. The summer is a little warmer than in England, and of longer duration; and winter, spring, and autumn, are much milder. Rain and heavy dews are frequent, but there are more fine days than in England; the high winds are perhaps the greatest inconvenience felt by strangers. Snow is never seen in the northern island, except on the mountain-tops; but there are occasional falls on the Canterbury and Otago plains in the middle island. Fogs and mists are rare, and thunder-storms less frequent than in England. As New Zealand is near our antipodes, the seasons are reversed, our summer months being winter months in the Southern Hemisphere. Some little difference of climate is caused by the difference of latitude between the northern and southern colonies; but this is less than might be expected. The mean temperature of the central part of New Zealand, as compared with that of London, is as follows:—New Zealand—spring 56°, summer 66°, autumn 58°, winter 52°; London—spring 49°, summer 62°, autumn 52°, winter 40°. (Swainson; Hursthouse.)

From the peculiar geological formation of the country, it is probable that coal, copper, gold, and other metals, will be found in abundance; already accident, rather than scientific research, has discovered that the most important and valuable exist. Coal has been found near the North Cape, on the banks of the Waikato, at Mokau, at Massacre Bay, and in the Canterbury and Otago settlements. Gold-diggings are being worked at Coromandel, near Auckland, and at Aorere, near Nelson; and it is reported that this precious metal has been discovered in the Mataura River in the Otago colony. Copper is found at Kawau, the Great Barrier Island, Monganui, and at the Dun Mountain, near Nelson. Iron, in the form of pyrites and magnetic iron-sand, abounds; the latter especially near New Plymouth, and covers the shores for miles, yielding 50 per cent. of iron of the finest quality. Some of the rocks are powerfully magnetic. Lead and manganese have been met with near Auckland. The purest sulphur is abundant. Alum and nitre are found at Wanganui and near the Rotorua lakes: rock-salt near Mercury Bay. Various useful earths—fire-clay, pipe-clay, ochres, &c.—are common. Slate, marble, granite, sandstone, and freestone, are found in various parts; and limestone exists in many localities, and is of great purity. (Hursthouse.)

The vegetation of New Zealand is remarkable. Six hundred and fifty distinct species of trees and plants are indigenous, of which scarcely twenty bear even a general resemblance to any of our English plants; there are few annuals and flower-bearing plants, but a large number of tree-creeping parasitical plants, and of the beautiful fern and palm-tree family. The mode of growth in a New Zealand forest is different from anything in the Old World. "Thousands of tall columnar trees, 100 to 200 feet high, struggle up through a wilderness of underwood, their leafy heads so loaded with tufts of rushy parasites, that the true foliage is almost lost; while innumerable creepers coil round every stem, run up every limb, glide from head to head, and entwine the topmost boughs of a dozen trees in fifty Gordian knots. The underwood consists of these creepers, and of an equally dense growth of young saplings mixed with forest shrubs; and such is the closeness of the growth, that sun and air scarcely can penetrate." (Hursthouse.) The Kauri pine supplies splendid spars and masts. Other pines are useful for building purposes, furniture, &c. A resinous gum is an article of export. The root of the fern was formerly the chief vegetable food of the natives; and the Phormium tenax furnishes the New Zealand flax, which at some future period may be an important export.

The quadrupeds of New Zealand, previous to the arrival of Europeans, were the rat and the dog. Pigs were introduced by Captain Cook, and other valuable quadrupeds followed. There are about fifty varieties of land birds, and about a dozen of coast birds, of which the kiwi is the largest. The gigantic moa, 12 feet in height, is probably extinct, unless existing in the western ranges of the middle island. The rivers abound in small fish resembling the eel, grayling, whitebait, &c., of our rivers. The sea fish are numerous, but inferior to those of Europe for culinary purposes. The black whale frequents the coast from June to October. Seals are found in the remote south. Sharks are common on the coast. Cray-fish, oysters, cockles, and mussels are abundant. The insects are similar to those in England. The sand-fly is annoying to travellers in the summer. (Hunburn.) (For the natural history of New Zealand we must refer to the able treatise of the Rev. Robert Taylor, Teika a Maui.)

By the New Zealand Constitution Act (1852), the three islands are divided into six provinces, three of which are in geography, viz., Auckland, New Plymouth, and Wellington; the remaining three are in the middle island, viz., Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago. The southern island forms an appendage to the latter colony. Although a very small portion of the island thus geographically appropriated is occupied by the European settlers, this division is a convenient one for the purpose of a more particular description of the present condition of the British colonies in New Zealand.

Auckland, the northern province, is about 400 miles in length, 200 in breadth, with a coast-line of 800 miles, and an area of about 16,000,000 acres. It possesses the only navigable rivers of any importance to be found in the island, namely, the Waikato, with its tributary the Waipa; the Thames; the Piako; the Kaipara, with its tributary the Wairoa; and the Hokianga. There are also several smaller streams, which at their mouths form suitable harbours for ships of from 400 to 500 tons, and are navigable for boats of 20 tons from 7 to 10 miles. Larger harbours are numerous. The Waitemata (upon which Auckland stands), on the east coast, nearly joins the Manukau harbour, on the west coast, from which a narrow isthmus of 6 miles separates it. The Waikato, Kawhia, Whaingaroa, Kaipara, Hokianga, Wanganui, Bay of Islands, Mercury Bay, Tauranga Bay, Maketu, Hicks Bay, Turanga or Poverty Bay, are also respectable harbours, with others of less note. This very extensive water communication, so important to infant settlements, especially in a country where roads are few, and carriage by land almost impossible without them, has led to the largest amount of European immigrants being... settled in this part of New Zealand, without any adventitious help from colonizing companies. About one-twelfth of the sixteen millions of acres has been purchased of the natives by the colonial government. The chief town, Auckland, situated on the south side of the Waitemata harbour, and, like another Corinth, commanding the narrow isthmus of Manukau, is one of the finest commercial sites in New Zealand, "the centre of a network of marine highways, a youthful antipodal Venice, surrounded by natural canals." (Hursthouse.) Being built upon hills, there are few level streets; but the houses are generally respectable. The public buildings, churches, chapels, &c., are equal to those in any town of the same size in the mother country. The Church of England and the Wesleyans have respectable schools for the education of the European population, and institutions for the training of the native youth in the vicinity. Two weekly English newspapers are published, and one in the native (Maori) language. The population is about 8000. Near to Auckland are the military pensioner villages of Panmure, Howick, Onehunga, and Otahuhu, all within a range of 6 or 10 miles, and connected with Auckland by well-made roads. Russell, in the Bay of Islands, which was once intended for the capital, is but a very small town. Besides, there are various coast settlements, such as Coromandel, Otea, Wangari, Wanganui, Monganui, Hokianga, Whangaroa, Kawhia, and Tauranga, which have from 50 to 100 pioneer settlers, the nucleus of future city populations. The principal lakes are Rotorua, Tarawera, Rotomahana, and Taupo, in the vicinity of which are found the hot springs, mud volcanoes, &c., to which reference has already been made. In the general fertility of the soil, and in the amount of available land for cultivation, Auckland is fully equal, if not superior, to the other provinces in the northern island, although in the peninsula north of the Waitemata there is much poor and swampy land. The gold field at Coromandel, and the copper-works at the Great Barrier Island and Kawau, are now partially abandoned for want of labour; but the mineral treasures of this province will at some future period contribute largely to its resources. The census of 1855 gave a population of 11,919 Europeans; but the estimate for 1857 is about 15,000, to which we must add 35,000 natives, who contribute their fair share to the industrial resources of the colony.

New Plymouth, called also Taranaki, is the smallest of the six provinces, and is situated on the west coast, between Auckland and Wellington. It has a coast-line of 150 miles, and is about 100 miles long by 50 broad, with an area of about 3,000,000 acres, of which not quite a fifth part is yet in the possession of the colonists. It has no navigable rivers, but many small streams, as the Mokau, Oneiro, Waitara, Manawatu, and Patea, which are occasionally entered by small vessels. The roadstead near the town of New Plymouth affords great facilities for the loading and unloading of the largest vessels, and there is no doubt but that by the outlay of a moderate sum of money a good harbour might be formed at this place, for which there are peculiar natural facilities. Around the town, or rather township, of New Plymouth, the European population is mainly concentrated within a radius of 10 miles. The soil is peculiarly fertile; so that this portion of the island is by common consent termed the "Garden of New Zealand." The country near the sea is open and undulating; beyond, at some distance, it is forest, containing excellent timber. Mount Egmont, covered with perpetual snow, gives a peculiar character to the scenery. The unwillingness of the natives to sell their lands has hitherto retarded the progress of this settlement, by preventing a larger accession of immigrants. In 1855 the European population was 2113, and the estimate for 1857 was 3000. This small community, intellectually and morally, is perhaps one of the most select and respectable in the world—not even excepting the most favoured portions of the mother country. The native population is about 8000. One weekly paper is published. When the colonial funds admit of the expense requisite for the formation of a harbour, and when the native title has been more extensively extinguished by purchase, this portion of New Zealand will offer irresistible attractions to settlers from the mother country.

Wellington is the southern province of the northern Wellington island, 200 miles long, 100 broad, with a coast-line of 500 miles, and an area of 12,000,000 acres, of which about one-third has been purchased of the natives for the purpose of European settlement. The land near and within 20 miles of the principal harbour (Port Nicholson) is mostly mountainous, densely timbered, broken by steep ravines, and most unfit for cultivation; but the valleys of the Hutt, Wairarapa, Wanganui, Rangatiki, Manawatu, and sundry adjacent portions, are admirably adapted for agricultural purposes. The vicinity of Hawkes Bay (Ahuriri) has also much good land; and from this point there is a communication across the island to Manawatu, and southerly to the Wairarapa valley. Three of the rivers may be called semi-navigable, as they may be entered by vessels of small tonnage—the Wanganui, the Rangatiki, and Manawatu. The harbour of Porirua is available for small vessels, and this harbour and the available country to the north, in the basins of the Manawatu, Rangatiki, and Wanganui rivers, are connected with the town of Wellington (Port Nicholson) and the Hutt River district by an excellent road, which winds round the spurs of the Tararua range. A good road along the bay connects Wellington with the Hutt River valley; and another road now forming will lay open the whole of the Wairarapa valley, and afford easy means of intercourse with the capital. In no part of New Zealand has so much been done to overcome formidable natural obstacles by means of good roads. Wellington, the capital, is situated on a beautiful bay opening into Cook's Straits, which forms the harbour of Port Nicholson, and which is 6 miles across, surrounded by hills of great elevation, and affording a shelter for large vessels. The town, built mainly of wood, stands on two level spaces on the west and south sides of the harbour, and rises in terraces from the margin of the bay, which gives it a most picturesque appearance from the sea. The bay and scenery around has been compared to that of Naples. Occasional earthquakes, which have, however, ceased to be dreaded since the houses have been built of wood, and high winds, are the main drawbacks to this locality. Its central position on the great marine highway of Cook's Straits is the greatest advantage of Wellington, which must secure for it an important rank among the future depots of New Zealand; especially as it possesses, next to Auckland, the best portion of the northern island. Its population in 1857 was probably 5000. The other townships are, a rural settlement in the Hutt valley, a small town at Wanganui, Port Napier at Ahuriri (Hawkes Bay), and the native mission village of the Church of England at Otaki, remarkable for its beautiful church, of native workmanship. The province probably contains 12,000 Europeans and 15,000 native inhabitants. Two weekly papers are published at Wellington.

Nelson is the northern province of the middle island, and Nelson is 150 miles long, 140 broad (with a coast-line of 500 miles), and an estimated area of 15,000,000 acres, all of which are virtually open for settlement, as the native population scarcely amounts to 1000. The climate is comparatively serene and dry, and more equable than in any of the other provinces. It possesses great mineral wealth in coal, copper, and gold. Between D'Urville Island and Cloudy Bay are a large number of noble harbours opening into Cook's Straits, of which Queen Charlotte's Sound and Pelorus Bay are the principal; but the wooded hills rise so abruptly that it has been stated, though perhaps with some exaggeration, that there is scarcely a thousand acres of land fit for the plough to be found along their margins. The valleys of the Waimoa and Motuaka, of Blind Bay, Massacre Bay, and Cloudy Bay (Wairau), afford, however, ample room for the agriculturist and grazier. The Grey and Butter rivers, on the west coast, are now found to be available as ports, and to possess in their vicinity much valuable land—a pleasing exception to the general disparaging character which has been given to the capabilities of the west coast of the middle island. Nelson, the only town, is situated at the bottom of Blind Bay, and possesses a small but safe harbour, 50 miles away from the turbulent winds of Cook's Straits. It is sheltered by a range of hills from the southern blasts, and enjoys a climate equable and serene beyond any other locality. The Dun Mountain, within a mile of Nelson, contains treasures of copper yet to be developed. The European population of the colony, which amounted in 1855 to about 6000, and which was supposed to be, in 1857, 9000, is mainly located around Nelson, or within a moderate distance. There is a weekly paper published at Nelson. A new township has been formed at the harbour of Waitohi or Newton Bay, a south-eastern branch of Queen Charlotte's Sound; this is intended to be a port for the produce of Wairau (Cloudy Bay), and of the Awatere plains, to which district a road is now being formed of 12 miles through a nearly level valley. Other paths are being discovered through the mountain-passes, by means of which communication will be facilitated with the various settlements in the Nelson province, and with those in the adjacent province of Canterbury. Two lakes are connected with the Butter River (Rotorua and Rotuiti); but as yet the interior of the middle island has not been explored.

The gold-diggings at Aorere (Motuaka River) are now exciting much attention, from their productiveness; but their main value to this province will be the additional incentive given to emigration to it.

Canterbury is the central province of the middle island, and is 200 miles long by 100 broad, with a coast-line of 500 miles, and an area of about 14,000,000 acres, all of which are available for settlement, as the native population is not above 500. The western portion of this province is probably rugged and scarcely accessible; the centre is occupied by mountainous ranges not yet explored. A vast elevated plain of 4,000,000 acres extends from the foot of these central ranges, gradually descending 40 miles to the heights above Port Victoria (called also Port Cooper). This plain is watered by more than twenty rivers. The portion nearest the west coast consists of a deep border of fine cattle-grazing and loamy agricultural land; but the great inland portion is a true pastoral country, covered with a perpetual herbage of grasses and dwarf shrubs, and admirably suited for the breeding and depasturage of sheep, horses, and cattle. The absence of wood is remarkable, but there is plenty in Banks' Peninsula and at the foot of the central highlands. About fifty small rivers discharge themselves into the sea on the east coast of this province, of which the mouths of the Ashley, Courtney, and Avon are navigable for a short distance by very small boats. A remarkable feature in this province is Banks' Peninsula, which protrudes from the east coast, and consists of a pile of densely-wooded volcanic hills, among which the principal harbours of the colony are found,—viz., Port Victoria (or Cooper), Port Levy, Pigeon Bay, and Akaroa Harbour. Lyttleton, the post-town of the colony, is situated upon Port Victoria, at the foot of the heights which lead to the great plain. Population from 2000 to 3000. A good road is being made up the heights, to connect Lyttleton with Christchurch, the capital, which stands on the Avon, on the border of the great plain. Population between 2000 and 3000. There are small settlements on the other harbours of the peninsula. Akaroa was the site of the French settlement formed in 1840, and yet retains many of its original settlers. This colony was originally designed for members of the Church of England, and possesses a large number of the clergy of that church, and educational institutions conducted by them. There are also Wesleyan and Presbyterian churches, as the exclusive principle has been wisely abandoned. Great facilities are offered to small farmers and graziers, and the tide of emigration is rapidly flowing in this direction. The European population in 1857 was supposed to be not less than 7000; who, as a matter of course, have their weekly journal.

Otago is the southern province of the middle island, and Otago includes the whole of the southern or Stewart's Island. It is 150 miles long, 200 broad (with a coast-line of 500 miles), and an area (including Stewart's Island) of about 18,000,000 acres, the whole of which is available for settlement, as the natives do not exceed 500 in number. The southwestern coast is remarkable for its thirteen harbours, like so many breaches in the sea-wall of this otherwise iron-bound coast, and which run in a N.N.E. and S.S.W. direction from six to twenty miles inland. The land around these harbours rises almost perpendicularly from the water's edge, and is covered with trees suitable for all purposes. The depth of water also is remarkable, as soundings can rarely be obtained under from 80 to 100 fathoms. The ports on the east coast are Moerangi, Otago, and Molyneux Bay. Stewart's Island is well wooded, contains many excellent harbours, of which Port Pegasus is the principal, and is partially colonized by various little communities of tens and twenties of old whalers, half-castes, and natives. The European population of the province, about 4000, chiefly Scotch, is settled on the east coast, in or near the following settlements:—Dunedin, the capital, stands at the head of an arm of the sea, which is only navigable for large ships as far as Port Chalmers; population about 2000. Port Chalmers is a rising seaport. Invercargill, the most recent settlement, is situated on the Bluff in Foveaux Straits, in a central position between the Bluff harbour and the New River, a fine stream, navigable for 20 miles. The lofty mountain ranges towards the west coast, and the three large lakes which are reported to exist in the interior, have not yet been explored. From these ranges to the sea-coast on the east the province consists for the most part of splendid plains diversified with hill and dale, as if to suit our notions of beauty, and available for all grazing and agricultural purposes. The climate is bracing and invigorating, yet temperate. This important province has the advantage of being a few days nearer England than any other part of New Zealand. Dunedin has, like the other colonial capitals, its weekly journal. It was originally the settlement of the Free Church of Scotland, and complaints are made of the somewhat exclusive tone of feeling prevalent in society, which is annoying to settlers from other countries and belonging to other churches; but this grievance, if it does exist at all, must vanish with the increase and spread of the population, while the industry, moral worth, and enterprise of the Scottish population must insure for this colony a high place among the political communities of New Zealand.

It will be seen from the above sketch of the various Emigrant colonies, that while there is ample room in the northern tier field, island for emigrants, the whole of the middle and southern islands are open for settlement, without any possible interference with native rights. And when we consider the climate, soil, harbours, and other available capabilities of these invaluable islands, which only require a large European population for their speedy and full development, we cannot but augur favourably as to the position which New Zealand will at some future period occupy in the history of the world.

The population of European race in New Zealand is estimated by Hursthouse, for the year 1857, at 50,000, which is perhaps somewhat beyond the actual number; add to these 60,000 natives, and the entire population will be found not to exceed 100,000—a scanty supply for population, a land which is as capable as the British Islands of supporting nearly thirty millions of people in all the comfort and luxury of civilized life.

| Districts | Europeans | Natives | Acres cultivated | Sheep | Cattle | Horses | Pigs | |-----------|-----------|---------|------------------|-------|--------|--------|-----| | Auckland | 35,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 | 25,000| 2,000 | 2,000 | 7,000| | New Plymouth | 3,000 | 8,000 | 15,000 | 24,000| 4,000 | 4,000 | 7,000| | Wellington | 12,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 12,000| 2,000 | 2,000 | 7,000| | Nelson | 7,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 12,000| 1,000 | 1,000 | 7,000| | Canterbury | 7,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 12,000| 1,000 | 1,000 | 7,000| | Otago | 4,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 | 12,000| 1,000 | 1,000 | 7,000| | Native population | — | 25,000 | — | — | — | — | — | | Total | 50,000 | 60,000 | 125,000 | 120,000| 10,000 | 10,000 | 100,000|

The exports of the New Zealand colonies consist of provisions and timber to the neighbouring Australian colonies, and of wool, tallow, spars, flax, gums, copper ore, &c., to the mother country. The estimated value of these exports for 1857 is £400,000, while the imports may be calculated at £600,000; part of the latter consisting of property belonging to emigrants from Europe, and forming part of their capital stock. The welfare of New Zealand depends mainly upon agricultural pursuits, as whaling stations have ceased to be profitable, and the copper mines have not succeeded, from the scarcity of labour. A taste for maritime pursuits seems to be rapidly developing, if we may judge from the statistics of the shipping the property of New Zealand, as well as that employed in the foreign trade. About 700 vessels of all sizes belong to the colonists, the tonnage of which is 20,000, and most of them are of colonial build. The foreign trade employs 400 vessels, with a tonnage of 250,000. Steam communication is maintained between Sydney and Auckland, and subordinate lines are soon to ply between Auckland and the principal ports of the islands. The adoption of the Panama route for the Australian mail service to and from England would bring New Zealand within forty days of the mother country.

The value of land varies in every colony, but the minimum price of wild land may be stated as ranging from 5s. to 6s. the acre. Large tracts of land, especially in the middle island, may be occupied, at fixed moderate rents, for grazing purposes.

The present constitution of New Zealand, adopted by Sir J. Pakington, the colonial secretary under Earl Derby's administration, received the sanction of the British Parliament in the session of 1852. A plan of government, on the principle of double election, framed by Earl Grey, the colonial secretary of a previous administration, had met with almost universal disapprobation, and had been withdrawn without having had a trial. The main provisions of the plan of government now in operation are as follows:

(1.) The six provinces were formed into distinct corporate bodies, with privileges far beyond those enjoyed by ordinary municipalities; so that the term "government" may be with propriety applied to them. Each of these was empowered to elect a superintendent and provincial council, the latter not to consist of fewer than nine members, but capable of being enlarged at the discretion of the governor-general. The superintendent and council are elected for a period of four years, by a suffrage which is almost universal, the qualifications being small, and the possession of property being a common thing in new colonies. The governor-general may disallow the election of any superintendent, and may dissolve the provincial council at pleasure, and may also disallow any bill passed by them within three months; but if allowed by him, it cannot be annulled by the imperial government in England. The superintendent may summon and prorogue his council; but there must be one session at least in each year. These provincial councils are prohibited from interfering with general legislation affecting the whole colony; as the customs, civil or common law, currency, weights and measures, post-office, bankruptcy, lighthouses, harbour dues, marriage, inheritance, &c.

(2.) The government of the whole colony of New Zealand to be vested in a governor appointed by the crown, with a moderate civil list, secured by act of Parliament; and also in a General Assembly, consisting of a Legislative Council and House of Representatives, meeting in annual session in Auckland and legislating for the entire colony, with the exception of matters of purely local interest, which are left to the provincial councils. The Legislative Council consists at present of 15 members, nominated for life by the governor. The House of Representatives consists of 36 members elected for five years, by a suffrage similar to that of the electors of the provincial councils. The House can be dismissed by the governor at pleasure.

(3.) In the general government, and also in the provincial superintendencies, the principles of responsible government are carried out as in England. The majorities create and turn out administrations, and each acceptance of office by a member is followed by a necessity of a re-election.

(4.) To avoid the interference of the British Colonial Office in the land question, the control of the public lands in each province has been since vested by the General Assembly in the respective provincial councils; the legislation of which minor bodies, if confirmed by the governor-general, is not liable to be disallowed by the government in England. This appears to be a palpable evasion of the plain meaning of the act of Parliament by which the new constitution was established in New Zealand.

Making due allowance for the natural and inevitable difficulties attendant upon the introduction of a new system of government into a new country, and among a scattered population, it must be admitted that the constitution (cumbersome and complex as it may appear for a population which, in 1853, scarcely exceeded 30,000, and which now, in 1857, does not amount to 50,000) on the whole works well. Local self-government is so desirable for young colonies, that any inconvenience and cost is a small price for the inhabitants to pay for the privilege of developing their own resources and managing their own affairs, unchecked by a distant executive and legislature, necessarily ill acquainted with their wants and capabilities. These provincial assemblies and administrations have called forth much local patriotism, and have developed much administrative talent; and it must be remarked that the colonists of New Zealand are, a large proportion of them, from the more educated and respectable classes of the mother country. A time may come when increased facilities of communication may render it desirable to consolidate the local superintendencies, and merge their powers in that of the general government; but this and other changes may be left to the colonists themselves, who are the best judges of their own legislative necessities.

It is difficult to ascertain the exact amount of the annual revenue and expenditure of the seven exclaves of New Zealand (viz., the six colonies and the general government), although Hursthouse gives the expenditure and revenue of 1856 at £270,000; one-half of the expenditure being for purchase of land and public works. The revenue for 1857 arising from land sales, customs, &c., is estimated by the same writer at £300,000. A loan of £500,000 has been guaranteed by the British Parliament for New Zealand, to enable the general government to pay off the debt claimed by the New Zealand Company, and for emigration and other purposes. The government claim the right of pre-emption in the case of land, so that no land can be sold by natives except to the crown; this land is sold again at a much higher price to the European settler. It is questioned whether this mode of purchase has not been on the whole injurious, as the natives are becoming more and more unwilling to part with land in large portions, but would be ready to sell in small parcels to individual purchasers.

Some account of the native population will be found in the article AUSTRALASIA, section vii., vol. iv. We may here add some further information respecting this interesting people, now rapidly progressing from savage life into civilization. It is obvious that the Maori belongs physically, and by the structure of his language, to the light-colored race of the Pacific Ocean, which is found spread over the islands for a distance of 6000 miles (from the Sandwich Islands to New Zealand). This race is supposed to be of Malayan origin by some; while others suppose the ancient Mexicans to have been the parent stock of the Pacific islanders. We require more perfect acquaintance with the languages of the Eastern Archipelago, in order to arrive at any definite conclusion respecting the ethnology of this part of the world. Certain it is that the progenitors of the Maori came from Hawaii and Tahiti, two of the Sandwich Islands, called in the New Zealand dialect Hawaiki and Tawai, about 500 years ago. The names of thirteen canoes of the leading chiefs, and of the articles brought in each canoe have been preserved, with the additional information, that the emigration came by the way of Tahiti and Easter Island (Waiho). "The New Zealanders are decidedly a mixed race; some have woolly hair, others brown or flaxen; some are many shades darker than others. The peculiar features of the Tartar are also very common; the oblique eye, the yellow countenance, the remarkable depression of the space between the eyes, so that there is no rise in the nose, seem clearly to indicate that some portion of the race is of Chinese or Japanese descent." (Taylor.) This view is confirmed by the fact of a bell, with characters similar to Japanese, being found in the district of Waingaro in 1839. It is supposed that, as a race, the Maori have degenerated from their ancestors, who, at Easter Island, have left monuments of bygone skill and art, and who, up to the discovery of the islands by Captain Cook, possessed desirable means of superior build to any now found among them. The superior house of the Maori, and the art of weaving, may have been introduced by these Chinese or Japanese emigrants accidentally thrown upon their coasts. Native traditions, mixed up with much fable, seem to indicate the existence of an aboriginal population, which was either destroyed or amalgamated with the Maori emigrants. It is remarkable that, like most colonists, while preserving the religious traditions of their ancestors, the political bond of union was broken among themselves. Split into innumerable families and tribes, each having its own head, and independent of the rest, the history of the Maori is one of discord, war, and blood. It is reported that once a large temple called the Whare-Kura existed, in which all the tribes met for worship, for council, and for the settlement of disputes. This sacred locality, at first a grand place of union, became the source of discord; the chiefs quarrelled, fought, and at last turned the building; and from that period there has been no union; one tribe has ever been opposed to the other. At present Taylor enumerates twenty-three principal tribes yet intact, besides fragments of originally erect ones. The power of the chiefs rests upon their birth and personal character. No great chief, like those found in the Polynesian islands, exercises real power. By the Tapu, which is a powerful engine of control, possessed by the chiefs in New Zealand, as well as in the other islands of the Pacific, the common people were effectually restrained, sometimes for good, and also for evil. It consisted in making any person, place, or thing sacred for a longer or shorter period, and was in fact a religious observance established for political purposes. (Taylor.)

With a philosophical cosmogony and a poetical mythology, they had no knowledge of a Supreme Being, but believed in a multitude of divine beings, the creators of various natural objects; and these were confused and mixed up with the spirits of their ancestors. Thus, like the Greek heroes of the mythical period, most distinguished persons among the Maori trace up their ancestry to a deity (Atua). One of these (Maui) is said to have fished up New Zealand (the universal tradition of the Polynesian races in reference to their several islands). Prayer, in our sense of the term, formed no part of the religion of the people; the karakia, which we translate "prayer," is rather a spell or incantation to compel the gods to be obedient to their wishes. These were accompanied by sacrifices and offerings. Image-worship was confined to one locality, and was offered to the deity, who was supposed to be present in the image. The high chiefs (Ariki) and priests (Takapau) were supposed at all times to be able to hold visible intercourse with the gods. The belief in the power of bewitching, as being possessed by every one, was universal, and kept the native mind in bondage. Great attention was paid to the burial of the dead, for the sake of the spirit which survived the dissolution of the body. "The prevailing idea of the abode of spirits was, that they went to the Reinga, which is another name for Po or Hades; the word Reinga literally means a 'leaping place.' The spirits were supposed to travel to the North Cape, or land's end, and there, passing along a long, narrow ledge of rock, they leaped down upon the sea-stone, and thence slinging themselves into the water by some long rope, they entered Po, the Reinga being the passage to it. It was supposed that there were several compartments in Hades, the lowest being the worst, having no light or food, and there the spirits were thought gradually to pine away, and to be finally annihilated." (Taylor.)

Before the general reception of Christianity the natives resided in large fortified stockades, commonly erected on the summit of a steep hill, or on a peninsula, &c.; these are called pahs. The strong high fences of these pahs presents no mean obstacle to foes not possessed of artillery. Within the pah are numerous subdivisions and lower enclosures, communicating with each other by means of stiles; in each court a house, cart-house, and store for food, the houses partly sunk in the ground, with a gable roof, and a portico or verandah, where the occupants generally sit. The pah is in middle of the house, which supports the ridge-pole, has its lower part formed into the form of a human figure representing the founder of the family; and the same figure is generally found to surmount the gable end of the house. The inner chamber or sleeping-place is heated like an oven, and is extremely so for Europeans; but the natives enjoy it the more, being obliged together almost naked for the whole night. Now, the pahs are generally deserted, especially those in inconvenient positions; the stockades are left to waste away; and the population is found in villages and solitary farms, as in our own country. Slavery scarcely exists now, having yielded to the power of Christianity; though the social distinction yet subsists, as it does even in more civilized communities. The pride of birth is found in perfection in New Zealand, for "very little is thought of a chief who cannot count back some twenty or thirty generations, and the high families carry their backs even to the beginning of all things." I was once very much amused, in obtaining a tradition of this kind, beginning with "from the nothing the something," which went on gradually introducing name after name, and at last terminating with that of the speaker." (Taylor.)

To assist the memory, each family has carved board, which serves as a sort of genealogical table, and the names come from this taught the names of their ancestors. Polygamy, especially among the chiefs, was common before the conversion of the natives to Christianity, which was unusual, and there was a great want of natural affection, with much show of it, if we may judge of the ceremonious salutations—the nose-rubbing, and the taapi, or weeping. War was carried on most barbarously; the defeated party, if not slain, were reduced to slavery. Cannibalism was universal, but was said to be but of recent origin, and arose, not from hunger, but from a deep feeling of revenge. Now the very mention of this horrid custom is hateful to the Maori; such a change has Christianity effected in public opinion, as well as in national usages, within the space of one short generation. A large number of songs, proverbs, and fables are known to the old men, and formed the oral literature of the people before the missionaries introduced letters and a new order of ideas. These have been preserved by Sir George Grey and by the Rev. Richard Taylor, just in time, as in another generation they would have been lost. The native dress, made of the flax plant, and the practice of tattooing, and many other peculiarities of the preceding ages, are now rapidly passing away; and future travellers will not be able to recognize the Maori described in the writings of visitants of twenty or thirty years ago. The land tenure of the Maori people throws some light upon their economical condition while comparatively savage, and uninfected by European civilization, and is also of importance in its bearing upon the future relationships of our colonial government with the native tribes. No one has so fully and satisfactorily described these as the Rev. Richard Taylor—"Land is held in three ways by the natives: either by the entire tribe, by some family of it, or by a single individual. The common rights of a tribe are often very extensive. These generally apply to waste lands or forests, and convey to each individual of the tribe the right of hunting and fishing over those parts. By intermarriage several tribes are sometimes thus entitled; but if such land be sold, it is nominally said to belong to the principal chief or chiefs of the tribe; they are the parties with whom the treaty is made, and to them the payment is given, which is, however, a nominal honour, the money being equitably divided amongst all who are entitled to a portion, the seller rarely retaining anything for himself. The same may be said of that which is claimed by families; private rights to land are very rare. The ed-cuts are held in the same way. There are drains made from lakes or swamps, with weirs at the outlet to catch the fish, which flow out in great quantities during the floods." It appears that all the descendants of the first possessors of a piece of land or cut possess a claim to a share of the property, and that the stones placed as landmarks are as sacred as the old terrains of the ancient Romans. The property of the native tribes in their lands having been acknowledged and strictly respected by the British government, the existence of the Maori is secured from the degradation which has befallen the natives of many of our colonial possessions. Yet for some time after the commencement of regular intercourse with Europeans, the population rapidly declined, owing, perhaps, in some measure, though not entirely, to the introduction of European diseases, and the evils attending the transition state of the population from their previous habits to those of Europeans. For instance, the warm flax dress, impervious to the rain, was abandoned for the shirt and habiliments of the Europeans. This mode of dress—worn in all weathers, and by night as well as by day, without a change, and when wet, dried upon the body of the wearer—was followed by a great increase in consumptive complaints; add to this the introduction of fire-arms, which was at first attended with a large increase in the number slaughtered in war, as their possession was confined to a few tribes who took advantage to revenge themselves upon their enemies. At present there is a great disparity in the number of the sexes—the women being few in number compared with the men; and the children are yet fewer in proportion, say 75 females and 45 children to every 100 adult males. We suspect that this diminution of population is incident to savage tribes on coming into contact with a more civilized people, and that after a time this diminution may cease, and a gradual increase take place. Indeed, it is the opinion of intelligent missionaries that the population is beginning to increase, and that in some parts of New Zealand—Tararaki, for instance—the number of births already exceeds the number of deaths.

The present advanced condition of the Maori population is owing mainly to the indefatigable and praiseworthy exertions of the missionaries. The Rev. Samuel Marsden, the colonial chaplain in New South Wales, established the first mission of the Church of England in New Zealand in December 1814; and in 1821 the first Wesleyan mission station was founded by the Rev. Samuel Leigh. For many years the field appeared the most unpromising, but no impression appeared to be made upon the natives until, by at least complete success has followed the efforts made, and now all the inhabitants of New Zealand are nominally Christian. Cannibalism, polygamy, slavery, and other abominations of heathenism have disappeared. Life and property are perhaps as safe in New Zealand as in any country in the world. The missionaries have introduced the plough and all the useful arts of civilized life; they have reduced the language to writing, compiled grammars and dictionaries, and translated the Word of God and other works into the language of the Maori population, most of whom can now read and write. The progress of the natives in civilization has far surpassed the most sanguine anticipations of those who are competent to estimate the obstacles which have to be overcome in the transition of a whole people from savage customs to the decencies and comforts of civilized life. As agriculturists and traders, the Maori people occupy respectable positions; some of their farms are highly creditable to them; and in bargain-making they manifest something of the caution and shrewdness of the Scottish character. Many of the chiefs are owners of steam flour-mills, and others possess small trading-vessels; some are shareholders in colonial banks; and many, both of the chiefs and people, after selling portions of their land to the colonial government, have shown their appreciation of the security of an English title, and their faith in the additional value which it will give to their properties. Many individuals have become purchasers of allotments for their own use. In addition to the European missionaries who labour among them, almost every village has its native teacher and common school; and there is an institution for training native teachers at Turanga. Among the special friends of the Maori race we may mention the late governor, Sir George Grey, and that remarkable man, Bishop Selwyn. The Wesleyans have an institution at the "Three Kings," near Auckland, for the training of Maori youths, which deservedly stands high, and, together with other kindred institutions, is exerting an important influence upon the more respectable class of the native population. There are other missions of minor importance carried on by the Roman Catholics and by a German society.

The future of the Maori population is contemplated by philanthropists with intense interest. If the legislation of the British colonies of New Zealand be in keeping with the general character of the colonists, and of the religion which they profess, the Maori will, in one or two generations, become thoroughly identified in interests, views, and feelings with the English population. It is, however, very desirable that means should be adopted at once to give the chiefs and more respectable wealthy and educated natives a definite political and social position in connection with the local and general legislatures. Much uneasiness is already felt by the more intelligent natives at the fact of their political nothingness; and one very large meeting was held last year (1837) to consider the propriety of electing a king as the representative of the Maori people. This proposal has for the present been negatived; but the feeling which prompted it remains, and must be grappled with. The Rev. Robert Taylor, an experienced missionary, and Charles Hursthouse, Esq., a well-known colonist and writer on New Zealand, contemplating this difficulty from very different points of view, agree in recommending that a certain number of the high chiefs should have seats in the General Assembly, and that they should be placed in the magistracy of their respective districts, with suitable salaries. We have no doubt that in all questions affecting the local interests of their respective districts, and people, they would be valuable senators, legislators, and magistrates. It is gratifying to know that the feeling among the European population of New Zealand towards the aborigines is most friendly; and no plans are so popular, or meet with more general support, than those which have the advancement of native interests for their object.

The history of the discovery of these islands, and of European intercourse up to the year 1809, will be found in the article AUSTRALASIA, § viii., vol. iv. The increase, intercourse of the whale fishery in the South Pacific Ocean led to the settlement of numerous deserters from whaling ships in various parts of New Zealand. This was followed by the establishment of whaling stations on the shores, which afforded opportunities for the introduction of many of the less reputable of the convict class from New South Wales. In the wake of these followed many reputable traders and settlers engaged in the timber trade, &c. A large European population was thus planted principally in the northern part of the northern island, uncontrolled by any legitimate authority, and amenable to no law. Besides these irregular settlements, there were a number of mission villages belonging to the Church of England and the Wesleyan missionary societies, exercising a measure of influence upon the natives and more respectable Europeans, and occasionally brought into trying circumstances through the conduct of the lawless portion of the European population, as well as from the violence and cupidity of the natives. The measures adopted at intervals by the imperial government, and by the colonial government of New South Wales, were not only partial and calculated rather to irritate than repress crime, but proceeded on assumptions of a contradictory character as to the right of interference, which afterwards caused much embarrassment to these authorities when compelled to take more decisive action. By the acknowledgment of the independence of the native chiefs in 1831, and again in 1835, and by the appointment of Mr Busby as consul and British resident, but with no means at his disposal to maintain his authority, the British government endeavoured to meet the necessities of the case, and to throw obstacles in the way of colonization. Other views influenced a large class of merchants and gentry in Great Britain; and the New Zealand Company was formed in 1837, which, in the year 1839, received a charter, and immediately proceeded to send out colonists to New Zealand. This movement obliged the British government to establish its authority in the islands; and in order to this, Captain Hobson was sent out in August 1839 as consul. The missionaries and respectable Europeans at once rallied around a legitimate authority; and in February 1840 a large council was held at Waitangi, when all the chiefs of that part of the island agreed to acknowledge the Queen's supremacy—"in giving up," as they said, "the shadow of the land, but retaining the substance." A second council was held at Hokianga, with similar results; and then Captain Hobson, as lieutenant-governor, proclaimed the British sovereignty over the Isles of New Zealand, 21st May 1840. The seat of government was at first established at Russell, in the Bay of Islands, but in 1841 was removed to Auckland, the present capital; and on the 3rd May 1841 the colony was relieved from all dependence upon New South Wales. Meanwhile, a French expedition, sent to occupy Banks' Peninsula, in the middle island, was forestalled by Captain Stanley, who had pro- ceeded there a few days previously, and had planted the British flag. The New Zealand Company, which, by taking measures to colonize direct from England, had compelled the assumption of British sovereignty, planted its first settlements at Wellington, in Port Nicholson, and at Nelson in 1839; the year following, Wanganui and New Plymouth were established. The difficulty in obtaining possession and satisfactory title to land purchased by them from the natives, and dissensions with the new government of New Zealand, retarded the progress of these infant settlements, and involved many respectable colonists in ruin. Some untoward events were attendant upon this rapid influx of emigrants. In 1843 a fatal affray occurred at Wairau (in the middle island), in which a large party of European gentlemen were murdered in a dispute with certain natives respecting property in land. Two years after, the chief Hekl raised the standard of rebellion in the northern island, and burned the town of Russell; and in 1846 there were disturbances in the Hutt River district. In 1847 there were petty disturbances in Wanganui, since the suppression of which there has been peace in New Zealand with the native tribes.

The example of the New Zealand Company was followed by an association of gentlemen connected with the Church of England, who, in 1848, formed the Canterbury settlement; and the same year the Otago settlement was planted by gentlemen in connection with the Free Church of Scotland. No other colonies separate and distinct from these six have been established in the islands. The proceedings of the New Zealand Company provoked much animadversion and controversy both in England and in the colonies which they had originated; but to enter into the discussion of the merits of the case would require more space than can be afforded to this article, and, besides, would lead to no profitable result. The company was finally broken up in 1851, and its debt of £200,000 has been thrown upon the land revenue of the New Zealand colony, much to the annoyance of the people of Auckland, whose province was beyond the sphere of the Company's operations. In order to reconcile the colony to this burden, a loan of £500,000 has been guaranteed by the imperial government for the purpose of local improvements, &c.