Revenues:

The various European states in receipt of revenues may be divided into seven classes:

I. Whose revenues do not exceed 2,5007.

II. Whose revenues are from 10,000l. to 100,000%.

III. Whose revenues are from 100,000l. to 2,500,000/.

IV. Whose revenues are from 2,500,000l. to 5,000,000l.

V. Whose revenue is from 5,000,000l. to 10,000,000%.

Netherlands.

VI. Whose revenues are from 10,000,000l. to 50,000,0007.

Prussia
Russia

VII. Whose revenues are over 50,000,0007.

Great Britain

Austria
Spain.

France.

Taking the average rate of interest paid annually on the whole of the European debt to be at 4 per cent., it would require 70,131,1257. to cover annually the above interest, or nearly one-third of the whole of the annual revenues of Europe.

San Marino stands lowest, and France highest; England and France produce more than one-half of the whole European revenue; whilst that of Great Britain alone exceeds those of Prussia, Russia, and Austria combined; the five powers, Prussia, Russia, Austria, Great

Britain, and France, produce three-fourths of the whole European

revenue.

Russia, whose territory is about thirty-three times the extent of Austria, has, nevertheless, 2,000,000l. less revenue; while Prussia, whose territory is but one-eightieth of that of the czar, has a revenue nearly equal.

The Central States of Europe possess a revenue amounting to 157,544,3477., of which sum 54,426,9767. is required for interest on the national debt, being about one-third of their revenue.

The Northern States of Europe possess a revenue amounting to 17,116,852%., of which sum 4,470,2657. is required for interest on the national debt, being about one-fourth of their revenue.

The Southern States of Europe possess a revenue amounting to 32,642,5517., of which sum 11,217,8847. is required for interest on the national debt, one third of their revenue.

Of the total revenue of the European states, 53,386,2937. is derived from the republics, and 153,915,4597. (three-fourths of the whole) from the monarchies.

Of all the states, Spain appears to hold the worst position, as regards the amount of revenue to meet the interest of the national debt; and passing over the fact, that Spain promised at the time of contracting its debt to pay 6 or even 9 per cent. interest, I suppose that she pays 5 per cent., which would nearly consume the whole

revenue.

With all the other European states, the case is different; even Hamburgh, with its vast amount of debt, does not require the third part of its revenue to cover its interest; France, again, only requires a fifth of its revenue to cover its annual interests; but Great Britain applies more than half its revenue to that purpose; Prussia stands at the head of this list, requiring only one-fourteenth part of its revenue to be so applied.

Taking the average rate of interest paid annually on the whole of the European debt to be at 4 per cent., it would require 70,131,1257. to cover annually the above interest, or nearly one-third of the whole annual revenue.

The following table gives the amount of debt and revenue of each state, in alphabetical order :

A Statistical Account of Auckland, New Zealand, as it was observed during the year 1848. By ARTHUR S. THOMSON, M.D., Surgeon of the 58th Regiment.

[Read before the Statistical Society of London, 17th February, 1851.]

AUCKLAND, the seat of the Colonial Government, is situated on the eastern side of the North Island, in south latitude 36° 51', and east longitude 174° 45', about fifty miles from the mouth of the Gulf of Hauraki.

The island at this place is but six miles broad; and at one point the seas on the eastern and western coasts are only three-quarters of a mile from each other, owing to the proximity of two navigable creeks.

The harbour of Auckland is deep and well protected, and the rise and fall of the tide average about nine feet.

Situation of the Town.

Auckland lies in a narrow valley formed by two hills, which rise abruptly from the sea to the height of seventy feet. The distance from the ridge of one hill to that of the other is less than half a mile; but this distance gradually lessens as the hills approach each other. The valley in which the town stands is, at one extremity, open to the water, and extends inwards and upwards about half a mile, till it is lost in the surrounding features.

The country on both sides of Auckland is made up of similar valleys, which afford some beautiful sites for the erection of houses. The soil is a soft, clayey, conglomerated sandstone, under which are beds of scoria ashes in some places. In the immediate vicinity of the town several dormant volcanic craters can be traced, around the bases of which are strewn large blocks of scoria. The highest and nearest to the town is Mount Eden (named after Lord Auckland), which rises about 500 feet above the level of the sea. Although the entrance to the harbour is picturesque, yet the aspect of the country around Auckland is not at present agreeable; the wood having all been destroyed, nothing meets the eye but dark ferns and short tea shrubs.

Population of the Town and Settlements around.

The presence of a regiment, a few artillery and sappers, with a considerable government and commissariat expenditure, have collected at Auckland a large town population. Many who came out to cultivate the soil, found that keeping a shop was a more lucrative concern. According to the census of 1848, the population of the different localities in the neighbourhood of the town* is as follows:

* This census, to which I shall often refer, was made by Captain Atkyns, Inspector of the Armed Police, and published in the Government Gazette.

It will be observed that the whole European population in Auckland and the neighbouring localities is 7003 souls. Part of them came direct from Great Britain, but a large proportion are emigrants from different parts of New Zealand, or from some of the Australian colonies; among the latter are to be found several time-expired

convicts.

Description of Auckland.

The town is almost entirely built of wood. It will be seen from the foregoing table that in the town and suburbs there are 17 stone houses, 25 brick, 814 wood, and 41 huts constructed of a dry reed, called raupo (Typha angustifolia). The only stone or brick buildings of any size in the place are the military hospital, the commissariat stores, the Roman Catholic, Wesleyan, and Protestant churches, and a few merchants' stores. Other stone and brick buildings are, however, rapidly springing up. The principal streets in the town are Shortland Crescent (named after the former Colonial Secretary), Queen's Street, and Princes Street: the first extends down the hill, the second is at right angles to it at the bottom of the valley; Princes Street is on the ridge of the hill, and may be called the Bond Street of the settlement. In Princes Street the Bank is the only brick building; in Queen's Street there is only one stone building.

There are two very good hotels, (the Exchange and Masonic,) and many others equally respectable, but not so well got up. Although the climate is not hot, most of the dwelling-houses have small verandahs round them. A great proportion of the houses are only one story high; but in Shortland Crescent several are of two stories. The chimneys of all the wooden houses are built of brick. The style of the buildings is more useful than ornamental-a remark equally ap