Page:1902 Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 26 - AUS-CHI.pdf/437

BRITISH EMPIRE, THE 393 The populations of the West Indies are very various, The native races of Australia and the Polynesian groups being made up largely of imported African negroes. In of islands are divided into two main types known as the Jamaica these contribute four-fifths of the population. dark and light Polynesian. The dark type, which is black, There are also in the islands a considerable number of is of a very low order, and in some of the islands still imported East Indian coolies and some Chinese. The retains its cannibal habits. The aboriginal tribes of aboriginal races include American Indians of the mainland Australia are of a low-class black tribe, but generally and Caribs. With these there has been intermixture of peaceful and inoffensive in their habits. The white PolySpanish and Portuguese blood, and many mixed types nesian races are of a very superior type, and exhibit, as have appeared. The total European population of this m the Maoris of New Zealand, characteristics of a high group of colonies amounts to upwards of 80,000, to which nab ves °!.c . ‘ i of New Guinea are in a very low state 15,000 on account of Bermuda may be added. o civilization. The estimate given of their numbers is approximate, as no census has been taken. Africa. 5,000,000 Chiefl black Canada. Central} y { 3,000,000 Indians Brown • . . . 100 000 The aboriginal races of South Africa were the Hottentots The only coloured native races of Canada are the Red and Bushmen. The Hottentots are a yellow-skinned race Indians, many in tribal variety, but few in numbers. with crisp light hair. The Bushmen, who appear to have Summary. been a lower order of the same race, are believed to be the Native Populations of Principal Divisions of the aboriginal type of the Abatwa or pigmy race of Central Empire. Africa. Both these races are rapidly diminishing in India ..... . 294,874,411 numbers, and in British South Africa it is expected that Ceylon and Eastern Colonies 4,298,974 West Indies .... they will in the course of the twentieth century become 1,650,000 South Africa .... extinct. Besides these primitive races there are the dark5,000,000 British Central Africa 3,000,000 skinned negroids of Bantu stock, commonly known in East Africa .... 6,550,000 their tribal groups as Kaffirs, Zulus, Makalakas, Bechuanas, West Africa .... 40,000,000 Australasia and Islands . and Damaras, which are again subdivided into many lesser 661,000 Canada groups. The Bantu compose the greater part of the 100,000 native population. There are also in South Africa Malays and Indians and others, who during the last two hundred White populations 52,454’578 years have been introduced from Java, Ceylon, Madagascar, Giving a total of . . . 408,588,963 Mozambique, and British India, and by intermarriage with each other and with the natives have produced a hybrid This is without taking into account the population of the population generally classed together under the heading of lessei Ciown colonies or allowing for the increase likely to the Mixed Kaces. These are of all colours, varying from be shown by a later census. Throughout the empire, and yellow to dark brown. The tribes of Central Africa are as notably in the United Kingdom, there is among the white yet less known. Many of them exhibit racial character- races a considerable sprinkling of Jewish blood. The latest calculation of the entire population of the istics allied to those of the tribes of South Africa, but with in some cases an admixture of Arab blood. world, including a liberal estimate of 650,000,000 for peoples not brought under any census, gives a total of East Africa. something over 1,500,000,000. The population of the 2,485,000 Protectorate—Black and brown/^hitivcs empire may therefore be calculated as amounting to someAsiatics 15,000 thing more than one - fourth of the population of the Zanzibar—Black and brown . 250,000 Uganda—Estimated in 1899 . ' world. 3,800,000 It is a matter of first importance in the geographical dis6,550,000 tribution of the empire that the five principal divisions, the West Africa. United Kingdom, South Africa, India, Australia, _. Bla k a d Nigeria| J w ° |Estimated in 1900 . 35,000,000 and Canada are separated from each other by the IV's^ons‘ three great oceans of the world. The distance as usually Lagos 1 i . 3,000,000 calculated in nautical miles: from an English port to the Gold Coast Chiefly | . 1,500,000 Sierra Leone j black I Cape of Good Hope is 5840 miles; from the Cape of Good 260,000 Gambia j 14,000 t0 Bomba „ y is 4610 ; from Bombay to Melbourne is o630 ; from Melbourne to Auckland is 1830 ; from Auck4,774,000 From east to west across Africa the aboriginal nations are land to Vancouver 6210; from Halifax to Liverpool is mostly of the black negroid type, their varieties being only 2744. From a British port direct to Bombay by way of the Mediterranean it is 6272; from a British port by the imperfectly known. The tendency of some of the lower same route to Sydney 11,548 miles. These great distances negroid types has been to drift towards the west coast, have necessitated the acquisition of intermediate ports where they still practise cannibalistic and fetish rites. On suitable for coaling stations on the trade routes, and have the east coast are found much higher types approaching to the Christian races of Abyssinia, and from east to west there determined the position' of many of the lesser Crown las been a wide admixture of Arab blood producing a light colonies which are held simply for military and commercial >rown type. In Uganda and Nigeria a large proportion of purposes. Such are the Bermudas, Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, Labuan, Honghe population is Arab and relatively light-skinned. Kong, which complete the chain of connexion on the eastern Australasia. loute, and such on other routes are the lesser West African Australia—Black, very low type stations, Ascension, St Helena, the Mauritius, and Sey200,000 50,000 chelles, the I alklands, Tristan d’Acunha, and the groups of Tvr rj Chinese andbrown half castes, yellow INew Zealand—Maoris, . 40,000 the Western Pacific. Some of the latest annexations of UjC-Polynesian, black and brown . 121,700 JNew Guinea—Polynesian, black and brown the British empire have been rocky islets of the Northern 250,000 Pacific required for the purpose of telegraph stations in 661,700 connexion with an all-British cable. S. II. — 50