of 1881 they numbered 44,097; but like the Australian aborigines they appear to be decreasing in number, for the census of 1886 enumerated only 41,432; that of 1891, 41,993; and that of 1896, 39,854, namely, 21,673 males and 18,181 females. In the 1896 figures are included 3,503 half-castes living as members of Maori tribes (1,944 males and 1,559 females), and 20 Morioris at Chatham Islands (11 males and 9 females). Half-castes to the number of 2,259 (1,123 males and 1,136 females), living with Europeans at the time of the census, were enumerated as Europeans. It is said that when the colonists first landed in New Zealand the number of Maoris was fully 120,000, but this, like all other estimates of aboriginal population, is founded on very imperfect information. ALIEN RACES. At the census of 1891 the Chinese and half-caste Chinese in the whole group of colonies numbered 42,521, distributed as follows: Since 1880 it has been deemed expedient by the Governments of the colonies to enact prohibitive laws against the immigration of Chinese, and their migration from one colony to another. For several years a poll-tax of £10 was imposed, but now, in New South Wales, in accordance with the most recent legislation on the subject, masters of vessels are forbidden under a heavy penalty to bring more than one Chinese to every 300 tons, and a poll-tax of £100 is charged on landing. In Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia no poll-tax is imposed, but masters of vessels may only bring one Chinese to every 500 tons burden. The Western Australian Act was similar to that in the three last-named colonies until recently, but has now been superseded by the Coloured Immigrants Restriction Act. Tasmania allows one Chinese passenger to every 100 tons, and imposes a poll-tax of £10. In New Zealand an Act similar to the Tasmanian Act was in force until 1896, when the poll-tax was raised to £100, and the number of passengers restricted to one for every 200 tons burden. These stringent regulations have had the effect of greatly restricting the influx of this undesirable class of immigrants; but it is to be feared that the census of 1901 will disclose the fact that the Restriction Acts have not been so effectual in shutting out the Chinese from Australasia as the shipping returns of the colonies would lead one to suppose. The only other alien race which the census of 1891 disclosed to be present in large numbers in Australasia were the Polynesians in Queensland, where they numbered 9,428. Since that time, however, there has been an influx of Hindoos and other eastern races sufficiently large to cause a feeling of uneasiness amongst the colonists, and in some of the colonies Parliament dealt with the evil by passing legislation which, in the main, meted out to these immigrants the treatment accorded to the Chinese. But a very large proportion of the Asiatics whose entrance into the colonies it was desired to stop were British subjects, and the Imperial Government refused to sanction any measure directly prohibiting in plain terms the movement of British subjects from one part of the empire to another. Eventually, the difficulty was overcome by the application of an educational test to the coloured races seeking admission to the colonies, whereby they are required to write out in some European language an application to the Colonial Secretary. This provision is taken from an Act in operation in Natal, which is said to have been effectual in that colony. An Act applying the educational test has been in force in Western Australia since the beginning of 1898; a similar Act has been passed in New South Wales, and will come into operation on the 1st December of the same year; while the Tasmanian Parliament is at present considering a measure of the same kind; and no doubt the other colonies will move in the same direction at an early date. NATURALISATION. The number of persons naturalised in Australasia during 1896 was 1,137; of these, nearly one-third took out papers of naturalisation in New Zealand, one-fourth in Queensland, and nearly one-sixth in each of the two colonies of New South Wales and Victoria. The figures for Western Australia and Tasmania are small. The following are the returns for each colony :— CITIES AND Towns. The progress of the chief cities of Australasia has been no less remarkable than that of the colonies themselves, and has no parallel among the cities of the old world. Even in America the rise of the great cities has been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the rural population, but in these colonies, perhaps for the first time in history, is presented the spectacle of magnificent cities growing with marvellous rapidity, and embracing within their limits one-third of the population of the colonies of which they are the seat of government. The abnormal aggregation of the population into their capital cities is a most unfortunate element in the progress of the colonies, and one which seems to become every year more marked. The increase in the population of the chief cities of Australasia and the estimated numbers of their inhabitants at the various census periods are shown in the following table, which illustrates the remarkable progress referred to: The aggregation of population is most marked in the case of Melbourne, but Adelaide and Sydney are also conspicuous. The proportion of population in each capital compared with that of the whole colony is shown below for the three years 1871, 1881 and 1891 :— - The percentage of New Zealand population resident in Wellington is small, but though it is the capital of the colony that city is exceeded in population by Auckland, as well as by Dunedin and Christchurch. Still, even in the largest of these cities-Auckland--the population is not more than 8.18 per cent. of that of the whole colony. The following is a list of the cities and towns of Australasia with a population exceeding 5,000 at the census of 1891; in all cases the suburbs are included : The estimated population of the capitals of the Australasian colonies on the 31st December, 1897, was as follows: One of the subjects of inquiry at the census of 1891, as at previous enumerations, was the birthplaces of the population. The result of the tabulation shows that while there are differences in the component parts of the population in the several colonies, these differences are slight, and the great majority of the people-to the extent, indeed, of fully 95 per cent.-are of British origin. Probably the population of Australasia is more homogeneous than that of most European countries; for even in Queensland, where people of foreign descent are proportionately more numerous than in any of the other colonies, they do not amount to more than 10 per cent. of the total population. The subjoined table shows in a condensed form the results of the tabulation of the birthplaces of the population of each colony, the figures being exclusive of aborigines, and inclusive, in the case of European countries, of their colonies and possessions : Australasia 1,004 722 108 107,901 2,629 134,612 567 182 963 366,716 390,586 England and Wales Scotland Ireland United Kingdom 266,101 298,881 142,623 809,002 31,075 115,195 382,659 2,561,865 26,975 218,834 1,040,000 At sea All others and unspecified 1,960 1,973 1,123,954 1,139,840 393,718 320,431 49,782 146,667 626,658 3,801,050 A glance at this table will show that natives of the Australasian colonies formed fully two-thirds of the population, and that the great |