Cyprus

though belonging to Turkey, has since 1878 been administered by Great Britain. In Africa Great Britain owns Cape Colony, gradually developed since its final acquirement in 18(6, and including Walfisch bay; Basutoland (British since 1868); the Bechuanaland Protectorate (acquired in 1884); Natal (proclaimed British in 1843), to which are now annexed Zululand, and Tonga- Jand (acquired in 1887); Rhodesia, including Mat abele land, Mash on a land, Barotseland, ete., recently begun to be developed by the British South Africa Company; the Central Africa Pro tec i to rate Calaytined in 1889-1890, and proclaimed a protectorate in 1891); ithe West African Colonies; namely, ‘Gambia {recognized as British in 11783), the Gold Coast (partly acquired in the 17th century), Sierra Leone (ceded 1787), and Tagos, with dependencies (occupied in 1861); Nigeria, including the Niger Coast Protectorate (1884) and the territories pag administered by the Royal Niger Company (chartered in 1886); the East Africa Protectorate, proclaimed in 1895 over territories previously under the Imperial British East Africa Company (chartered 1888); the Uganda Protectorate, now including also Unyoro, Usoga, etc. (proclaimed in 1894); the Zanzibar Protectorate, consisting of the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba (under the protection of Great Britain since 1890); the Somali Coast Protectorate (acquired in 1884); the islands of Mauritius (taken from France in 1810), with its dependencies the Seychelles, ete.; the island of Socotra (1886); and the Atlantic islands, St. Helena (1651), Ascension (1815), and Tristan d’Acunha (1816). Besides Great Britain virtually rules Egypt and the reconquered Egyptian Sudan (1898), though the former is nominally part of the Ottoman empire; and, since the South African War, the former territories of the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal. Her po e ions in the New World comprise the Dominion of Canada, most of which was obtained from France by conquest and treaty between 1713 and 1768; the island of Newfoundland, the oldest English colony (discovered by John Cabot in 1497), with its dependency Labrador; British Honduras (1783); the Bermudas Islands. (1609); the West Indian Islands, namely, Jamaica (1655), the Bahamas (1629), several of the Leeward Islands (Antigua, St. Christopher, Dominica, etc.), the Windward Islands (Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, the Grenadines, Tobago, ete.), and Trinidad (1797); British Guiana (1814); and_ the Falkland Islands (organized 1833) and South Georgia. The British empire in Austral asia includes Australia (explored and settled from the latter part of the 18th century onward); Tasmania (settled by English men in 1803); New Zealand (begun to be colonized in 18389); a portion of New Guinea (1884); the Fiji Islands (1874); and many small islands in the Pacific, The British Empire rules or controls rearly one-fifth of the land surface of the globe, and more than one fourth of the world’s population. Its territories cover 11,000,000 square Pe and its people number 400,000,- British Museum, the great national museum in London, owes its foundation to Sir Hans Sloane, who, in 1753, bequeathed his various collections, including 50,000 books and MSS., to the nation, on condition of $100,000 being paid to his heirs. This offer was agreed to by Parliament. The British Museum is under the management of 48 trustees, among the chief ad the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord-Chancellor, and the Speaker of the House of Commons. In all the staff of the institution numbers over 320 persons. The museum is open daily, free of charge. Admi ion to the reading-room as a regular reader is by ticket, procurable on application to the chief librarian, there being certain simple conditions attached. The institution contains something like 2,000,000 volumes in the department of printed books. A copy of. every book, pamphlet, newspaper, piece of music, ete., published anywhere in.