BRITISH COLONIES.

Wellington Independent, Volume II, Issue 105, 14 October 1846, Page 4

BRITISH COLONIES.

[From Khight's Political Dictionary.]

The word colony is not applicable to all the foreign possessions of Great Britain. Gibraltar, Malta, and Heligoland, may Be more correctly termed Possessions: Port Essington, on the northern coast of Australia, is a settlement: British India is a dependency, and so likewise are the Channel Islands and the Ide of Man ; Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, &c , are colonies. The seven lonian Islands are under the protection of Great Britain. Tenassarim, Singapore, Penang, Malacca, Aden, and some other places, are the dependencies of the East India Company. The Chitham Islands are dependencies of New Zealand, and Norfolk Island of Van Diemen's Lund. In the British colonies the waste lands belong to the British Crown, and they are nowTftspolelTbf by Tale only under one tolerably uniform system. DATE OF CAPTURE, CESSION, OR SETTLBMBNT. Canada, capitulation, 18th September, 1759. and Bth September, 1760, and cession by treaty, 1769. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cipe Breton, Prince Edward's Island, and Newfoundland—fisheries or settlement*, established soon after their discovery in 1497. Antigua, settlement, 1632. Barbadoes, settlement, 1605. Dominica and Grenada, ceded by France, 1763. Jamaica, capitulation, 1655. Montserrat, settlement, 1632. Nevis, settlement, 1628. St. Kitt's, settlement, 1623. St. Lucia, capitulation, 22nd June, 1803. St. Vincent and Tobago, ceded by France, 1763* Tortola and Angailla, settlement, 1666. Trinidad, capitulation, 18th February 1787. Feraando Po, taken possession of 1815. Ceylon, capitulation, 17ih Seprember, 1795. Miuritius, cumulation, 3rd December, 1810. New Sjuth Wales, settlement, 1787. Van Diemen's Land, settlement, 1803. Western Australia, settlement 1829. South Australia, settlement. 1834. New Zealand, settlement, 1839. Falkland Islands, taken possession of 1833. St. Helena, ceded by H»land, 1673. Hongkong, treaty, 1842. The immense territory in North America, which lies north of the British colonies, and extends to the Pacific, where it is bordered on the N.W. by the Russian possessions, and on the south by the territory of the United States, is administered by the Hudson's Bay Company under a charter. Another vsat territory in North America, which lies between the Rocsy mountains and the and is called the Oregon Territory, is cUimed by Great Britain as far south as the ColumHia River ; but is partly occupied by citizens of the United States, and partly by British subjects ; and there are conflicting claims between the two Governments as to the right of sovereignty. Bahamas, settlement, 1629. Bermudas, settlement, 1609. British Guiana, including Demerara, Esiequibo, and Berbice capitulation, Sept., 1803. Honduras, treaty, 1670. Gibraltar, capitulation, 4th August, 1704. Malta and Goza, capitulation. sdi Sept.. 1800. Cape of Good Hope, capitulation, loth Jan., 1806. Sierra Leone, settlement, 1787. Gambia, settlement, 1618. Gold Coast, African Forts, 1618. Ascension Island, takefu poisessioa of by permission of Spain, 1827.

The Fata Morgana, known to the inhabitants of Sicily, is a very curious and striking illusion. It is thus described :— " The spectacle consists in the images of men, cattle, houses, rocks, and sheep, pictured upon the surface of the water, and in tha air immediately over the water, as if called into existence by an enchanter's wand, the same object hiving frequently two images, ens in the natural and the other in an inverted position. A combination of circumstances must coocur to produce this novel panorama. The spectator, standing with his back to the east on an elevated plao«, commands a view of the strait. No wind must be abroad to ruffle the surface of the sea; and the waters must be pressed up by currents, which is occasionally the case, to a considerable height, in the middle of the strait, so that they may present a slight convex surface. When these conditions are fulfilled, and the sun has risen over the Calabriaa heights so as to make an angle of 45° with the horizon, the various objects on the shore at Reggio, opposite to Messina, are transferred to the middle of the strait, forming an immovable landscape of rocks, trees, and houses, and a movable one of m. j n, horses, and cattle, upon the surface of the water. If the atmosphere, at the same time, is highly charged with vapour, the phenomena apparent on the water will also be visible in the air, occupying a space which extends from the surface to the height of about twenty-five feet. Two kinds of morgana may therefore be discriminated ; the first, afc the surface of the sea, or the marine morgana ; the second, in the air, or the aerial. The term applied to this strange exhibition is of uncertain derivation, but supposed by some to rufer to the vulgor presumption of the. spectacle being produced by a fairy or magician. The populace are said to hail the vision with great exultation, calling every one abroad to partake of the sight, with the cry of« Morgaua, morgana !' " The Brocken or Giant Ghost of the Harts mountains is nothing but a reflection of the spectator, and practically proves the old saying, that, men 'are ofeaaV afraid of th«lr owni sbadbwaV'