HANDY GUIDE AUSTRALASIA THE HANDY G^IpE- ••-T /'-V AUSTEALASIA, mCLOTINQ [NEW ZEALAND, FIJI AND NEW GUINEA.] fts $fsmrrte«, Igjjgsual Jeatarts, anir fnklrttittuss, WITH THE TARIFFS OF THE VARIOUS COLONIES, AND A COMPLETE LIST OF BRITISH FIRMS TRANSACTING BUSINESS WITH AUSTEALASIA. GEORGE COLLINS JjEVEY, COMPANION OP BT. MICHAEL AND ST. GEORGE; OPPICER (>P THE CROWN OP ITALY CHEVALIEE OP THE LEGION OP HONOUR, ETC. AUTHOR OP "THE HANDY GUIDE TO THE EIVER PLATE," ETC. LONDON; HUTCHINSON & CO., 25, PATERNOSTER SQUARE. [All rights reserved.} PKEFACE. In compiling this work I have had access to sources of information similar to those which have so largely been made available by my predecessors, to all of whom I make my grateful acknowledgments. But my statements about the climate, resources, and financial position of Australasia are based upon a residence there of thirty years, during which I visited every portion of the colonies which I describe, except the northern districts of Western Australia and the Island of New Guinea. George Collins Levey. January, 1891. TABLE OF CONTENTS. . Ikteodtjction. PAGE Outfit 7 How to react Australasia, and Who Should Emigrate . 10 Advice to Tourists .... 12 Lines of Steamers to Aus- tralasia . 13 The Red Sea Routes ... 17 The Mediterranean ... 18 Malta- 19 Brindisi 20 Naples 21 Venice 22 Marseilles 23 Genoa 24 The Suez-Canal .... 25 Port Said 28 Ismaila 30 Suez 30 Alexandria 31 Cairo 32 Aden ....... 33 Mahe 34 Colombo 35 Fremantle 36 King George's Sound . . 36 Adelaide 37 Melbourne 38 Sydney 39 Bat a via 41 Thursday-Island .... 42 Cooktown 42 Townsville 42 Bowen 42 Mackay 43 Rockhampton .... 43 Brisbane 43 The Cape Routes .... 44 Madeira 44 Canary Islands .... 45 Rio de Janeiro .... 45 Cape of Good Hope . . 47 Hobart 48 Dunedin 49 Lyttelton 49 Wellington 50 The Route vii America . . 61 Honolulu 53 Tutuika 54 Auckland 54 Australasia. The History of Australasia . 56 Prior to the Discovery of Gold 55 After the Gold Discovery 61 The Aborigines 63 Physical Geography of Aus- tralasia 66 Geology and Mineralogy . 68 The Animal Kingdom «. . 73 The Vegetable Kingdom. . 74 iv CONTENTS. PAGE Climate 75 Irrigation and Irrigation Co- lonies 77 The Financial Position of Australasia 84 The Resources of Australasia 98 Australasian Railways . .104 Australasian Defence . . .105 Australasian Federation . . 106 The Public Lands of Austral- asia 109 New South Wales. History 114 Physical Features . . . .117 Fauna. 120 Pastoral 121 Agriculture 121 Geological Formation. . .122 Minerals 123 Railways 126 Principal Cities and Towns . 128 Constitution and Government 133 Local Government . . . .134 Area and Population . . .135 Religion 136 Public Instruction . . . .137 Justice and Crime . . . .138 Finance 138 Production and Industry. . 140 Agriculture 140 Miscellaneous . . . .141 Commerce 142 Shipping and Navigation . 143 Internal Communication . .143 Banking 144 Tariff 145 Tasmania. History and Settlement . . 148 Geographical Features . . 150 Climate 151 Aborigines 152 Fauna and Flora .... 153 PAOB Mines and Minerals . . .153 Geological Formation. . . 154 Railways 155 City and Towns . . . .156 Constitution and Government 157 Population 158 Religion 159 Instruction 159 Justice and Crime .... 159 Pauperism 160 Revenue and Expenditure . 160 Defence 161 Production and Industry. .161 Commerce 162 Shipping and Navigation . 163 Internal Communication. .163 Banking 163 Tariff 163 Westebn Australia. History and Settlement . .171 Geographical Features . .173 Land Divisions 174 Eucla 174 Eastern . . . . . .175 Gascoyne 175 North-West . . . . .176 Kimberley 177 South-Western .... 178 Climate 180 Mineral Resources. . . .180 Fauna and Flora . . . .180 Railways 181 City and Towns . . . .182 Government 183 Population 183 Religion 183 Instruction 183 Justice and Crime . . . .184 Pauperism 184 Finances 184 Defence 185 Commerce 185 Shipping and Communica- tion 185 Production and Industry . 186 CONTENTS. V PAGE Banking 187 West Australian Land Com- pany 187 Tariff . 190 South Australia. History 194 Physical Features and Cli- mate 197 Fauna and Flora . . . .201 Pastoral and Agricultural . 201 Geology and Minerals . .201 Railways 203 City and Towns 204 Constitution and Government 205 Local Government .... 207 Population 207 Religion 207 Instruction 208 Justice and Crime .... 208 Defence 208 Finance 209 Production and Industry . 209 Commerce 210 Communications . . . .211 211 The Northern Territory 212 Agriculture and Stock 213 214 Harbours and Rivers . . 214 Flora and Fauna . . . 215 Intercommunication . . 215 Population and Revenue. 216 216 'Tariff of South Australia . 217 Tariff of Northern Territory 225 New Zealand. History—the Maoris . . .226 Physical Features and Cli- mate 232 Scenery and Health Resorts 237 PAGE Fauna and Flora .... 237 Pastoral 239 Agriculture 240 Geological Formation . .241 Minerals 241 Manufactures 242 Railways 244 Cities and Towns .... 247 Constitution and Government 248 Local Government.... 249 Religion 250 Instruction . . 8 ... 251 Justice and Crime .... 252 Pauperism 252 Finance . 252 Local Finances 253 Defence 254 Commerce 254 Shipping and Navigation . 255 Post and Telegraphs . . . 255 Banking 256 Tariff 256 Victoria. History 270 Physical Features and Cli- mate 273 Fauna and Flora .... 277 Agriculture and Grazing . 277 Geological Formation . . 278 Minerals 278 Railways 279 Cities and Towns . . . .283 Constitution and Government 285 Local Government .... 286 Population 287 Religion 288 Instruction 288 Finance 290 Justice 290 Defence 291 Production and Industries . 291 Commerce 292 Shipping and Navigation . 293 Internal Communication . . 293 Money, Credit, &c ... 294 Tariff 295 CONTENTS. PAGE Queensland. History 324 Physical Features and Cli- mate 327 Flora and Fauna . . . .331 Geological Formation . .331 Minerals 333 Railways 335 Cities and Towns .... 337 Constitution and Government 340 Population 341 Religion 342 Instruction 342 Justice and Crime .... 343 Pauperism 343 Friendly Societies .... 343 Finance 343 Defence 344 Production 344 Commerce 345 tram Shipping and Navigation . 346 Internal Communication . . 346 Banks 346 Tariff 347 Fin. Area and Population . . .355 Finance 355 Commerce 356 Production and Industry . 356 Religion 367 Instruction 357 Towns 357 New Guinea 359 Commercial Charges . . . 361 List of Shippers to Austral- asia 363 INTKODTJCTIOK Outfit. Persons contemplating a voyage to any portion of Austral- asia must, before deciding upon their outfit, consider well whether they propose to make a lengthened stay at the place of their destination, and make some inquiries about the climate of the locality to which they are proceeding. Residents in the colonies of Victoria, Tasmania, New Zealand, and some portions of New South Wales, and South Australia wear clothes very similar to those in which persons of the same class in the United Kingdom would appear. In the northern portions of New South Wales and South Australia and Queensland lighter clothing will be found necessary. We should recommend passengers of both sexes to take with them every garment in their possession. As regards new purchases and any clothing necessary for the voyage, they cannot do better than con- sult a respectable outfitter. As regards the voyage out, passengers will do well to recollect that the passage by a steamer from any English to any Australian port, except Western Australia, occupies about six weeks, and by a sailing-vessel, three months. During the voyage very hot weather is sure to be encoun- tered, and in the case of voyages round the Cape of Good Hope very cold weather may be expected. The seasons in Australia are exactly opposite to those in England. Summer commences on the longest day, Decem- ber 21st, autumn on March 21st, winter on the shortest day, June 21st, and spring on September 2Ist. July is the coldest month, and January the hottest. 8 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. The following remarks, from the "P. and O. Pocket- book," are especially applicable to the Red Sea Route:— "For tropical use nothing equals suits of thin flannel, or the specially-made gossamer cloth, which is far superior to clothing made of white drill or duck as they greatly lessen the chance of a chill being caught. Shirts for the voyage should also be of flannel, and it will be found desirable to have these made for studs throughout, buttons being soon destroyed in the rigours of Indian washing. Pyjama, or sleeping suits, are usually worn, and these are recom- mended to be of flannel or silk and wool material. A sun helmet, or Terai hat, is the best sort of headgear for the tropics, and on other parts of the voyage a tweed helmet or any of the infinite variety of hats and caps now in use can be worn, care being taken that the shape selected is one that will not easily be blown off the head by the wind. A mackintosh coat is a very necessary article of equipment for a sea voyage; and amongst other little matters a sun umbrella, or silk one with white cover, anti-cholera belts of flannel or woven, a money belt for the safe carrying of coin, and a good warm rug may be mentioned as desirable items to include in the outfit list. A few words should be said on the important subject of trunks and packages; without doubt the best trunk that can be taken either by a lady or a gentleman is the air-tight tin trunk in outer wooden box, which is absolutely air-tight, water-tight, and insect-proof. The regulation P. and O. trunk is well known, and will be found most convenient and handy. '' The general remarks already made in reference to the preparations for a voyage and residence abroad, desirable for a gentleman, apply in most part to ladies also, and it is unnecessary now to do more than mention a few speciali- ties of equipment which will materially add to the comfort of a lady undertaking a voyage. The question of dresses, bonnets, and suchlike for any one contemplating residence in India or the Colonies is entirely one that must be left to individual taste, regard being always had to the nature of the climate in which the wearer will live. For the voyage, good blue serge as a dress material cannot be sur- passed, and an ample supply of coloured cambric or muslin morning dresses should be provided. Either a 'Terai' OUTFIT. 9 hat, a large straw hat and puggaree, or a pith hat should be worn. The underclothing for hot climates should of course be of the lightest description and several specialities in suit- able materials are now made. A flannel dressing-gown should also be taken, and such little matters as a veil, smelling salts, scent, and the like, are such obvious neces- saries as hardly to need mention. "A clothes bag, deck chair, marine binoculars, &c, are all useful." The following extract from the circular published by the Emigrants' Information Office, 31, Broadway, West- minster, S.W., will be found useful for the poorer class of passengers. "No large outfit is necessary, nor need it be new. Emigrants having knives, forks, spoons, bed and table linen, kitchen utensils, sewing machine, light tools, and other small articles or ornaments should take them, but not heavy furniture, or rough common tools, as free lug- gage is limited. Emigrants should take all the clothes they have, but not less, if possible, than the following for the voyage and subsequent use—(1) For men: two pairs boots, one strong suit, two pairs of white or light tweed trousers, and one jacket of similar cool material, one cloth cap and one broad-brimmed straw hat, one pair slippers or canvas shoes, and one overcoat, and six articles of each kind of underclothing. (2) For women: two pairs strong shoes, one warm and two cotton gowns, one broad-brimmed straw hat, and one close-fitting hat, one pair slippers, one cloak or shawl, six articles of each kind of underclothing, and sewing materials. (3) For children: one warm cloak or greatcoat, two pairs strong shoes, two warm suits, and six or nine articles of each kind of underclothing. Two or three coloured serge suits for men and an extra supply of flannel for women and children will be very useful. If the emigrant is going by sailing-ship extra warm clothing will be required. Emigrants' goods are generally admitted into the colonies free of duty. N.B.—There are not many opportunities for washing clothes on board. "Anytime of the year is suitable for arriving; Septem- ber to November for preference in New South Wales, Vic- toria, Western Australia, and Tasmania; September to 10 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. January inclusive in New Zealand; April to October in Queensland; May to October in South Australia. Speak- ing generally the emigrant would do well to settle down before the hot weather comes on, and the shearing and harvest begin. December to February are the summer months, the seasons being nearly opposite to what they are in England." How to Reach Australasia, and Who Should Emigrate. Several lines of steamers and sailing-vessels sail from British ports to Australia and New Zealand in addition to the Messageries Maritimes from Marseilles to Sydney, and the North German Lloyd from Bremen to Sydney, touching at Southampton. The most important lines are the fol- lowing :— Steamers. P. and 0. Company. Orient Steam Navigation Com- pany. Queensland Royal Mail Steamers. New Zealand Shipping Company. Shaw, Savill & Albion Co. North German Lloyds. Messageries Maritimes. Houlder Brothers. Union Steamship Company of New Zealand. Anglo-Australian Steam Naviga- tion Company. London Line—C. Bethell & Co. Sailing-Vessels. Gray, Dawes & Co. Allport & Hughes. Gefiatley, Hawkes, Sewell & Co. Devitt & Moore. P. Green & Co. Potter, J. & Co. Bethell, C, & Co. Thompson, G., & Co. J. Gavin, Birt & Co. M'Uwraith, McEachern & Co. Milburn, W., & Co. Gracie, W., & Co. Trinder, Anderson & Co. Money, Wigram & Sons. The average cost of passage to Australia is:—Sailing- ship, first cabin, £45 to £50; second cabin, £18 18s. to £30 ; steerage, £12 to £15. Steamer, first cabin, £52 10s. to £70; second cabin, £30 to £47; steerage, £14 14s. to £21. Return tickets at about a fare and a half, available from nine to twelve months, are issued to first and second-class pas- sengers. Half-fares are usually charged for children be- tween three and twelve. Passengers and tourists leaving England for Australia at any date between May 15 and September 15 are reeomi HOW TO BEACH AUSTRALIA. 11 mended, if possible, to avoid passing through the Red Sea, and to travel either by way of the Cape of Good Hope, or else to cross the Atlantic and the American Continent, and reach Australia by way of San Francisco, Honolulu, and New Zealand. First-class passengers are invariably supplied with at- tendance, and usually with bedding and bed-linen, except in the case of sailing-ships, which only carry a few pas- sengers. Second-class passengers are usually supplied with attendance, and with bedding and bed-linen. Steerage pas- sengers, both in sailing-ships and steamers, have to supply their own bedding and mess utensils. Wines, spirits, and beer can be obtained on board at moderate rates. No assistance whatever is given to intending emigrants by New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, or Tas- mania. Western Australia gives free passages to a limited number of artisans, farmers, agricultural labourers, vine dressers, miners, shepherds, gardeners, and female domes- tic servants. Apply Emigration Agency of Western Aus- tralia, Crown Agent's Office, London, S.W. Queensland pays the passages of a limited number of farm labourers and female domestic servants. Persons with small capital who intend to become bona-fide settlers may obtain assist- ance towards paying their passage-money by applying to the Agent-General for Queensland, 1, Westminster Cham- bers, Victoria Street, London, S.W. New Zealand does not assist ordinary emigrants, but persons resident in the colony can obtain passages for their wives and families. All the colonies publish elaborate statements of wages, price of provisions, clothes, &c But these vary so much from time to time that they are not of much assistance to intending emigrants. It may be said generally that wages throughout Australia vary from half as much again to double the English rate; that the actual cost of food is rather less, meat being especially cheap; that rent and clothing are more expensive. The condition of the work- ing class in Australia is far better than in England, and an industrious and sober workman is sure to obtain employ- ment, and eventually competence. There is, however, no opening whatever for clerks, and the condition of the educated poor in Australia is, on the 12 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. "whole, worse than in the United Kingdom. Persons ad- dicted to drunkenness, and of dissipated habits, are not wanted in any part of Australia, and British families who send their ne'er-do-wells to the colonies are inflicting a great wrong both upon their relatives themselves and upon the people of Australia. Agricultural labourers, builders, blacksmiths, miners, carpenters, stonemasons, and female domestic servants will, as a general rule, find employment at excellent wages in any part of Australia. Melbourne, and to a large extent Sydney, Adelaide, Geelong, and Ballarat are manufac- turing centres, and there is a limited amount of employment for tradesmen and artificers. Almost every description of manufacture is carried on in some portion of Australia, with the exception of those connected with cotton and silk. A limited number of shopmen and professional men will find openings in Australia; but unless they have friends upon the spot persons of this class are always liable to find the market for their particular kind of labour overstocked. It must not be forgotten that there is a large population of persons born in the colonies, well educated and with con- siderable local influence, and the best, most easy, and most lucrative positions are as a general rule occupied by the native-born youth. Australia, with the adjacent islands, is nearly. as large as Europe; and while the climate of New Zealand, Tas- mania, Victoria, and large sections of New South Wales, South Australia, West Australia, and even Queensland, are well adapted to persons from the British Isles, that part of Australia which is north of 30° South is intensely warm, and large districts are too hot for labourers from the north of Europe at certain seasons of the year. Vide chapter on Climate of Australasia. Advice to Tourists. Persons in the pursuit of health and pleasure should leave England in the latter end of September, travel by the Red Sea, and reach Adelaide early in November, spend November and December in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, and January and Feb- ruary in New Zealand and Tasmania. If the time be limited, ADVICE TO TOURISTS. 13 they can return to Victoria in March, and arrive in England by the latter end of April, and travelling by the Red Sea* Should they have more leisure at their disposal, an agree- able variety may be obtained by crossing the Pacific to San Francisco, and returning to Europe by way of the United States, by travelling in the direct steamers from New Zea- land to England, touching at Rio Janeiro and Teneriffe, or by the steamers from Sydney to Hong Kong, and thence to Japan and San Francisco. We should recommend tour- ists to arrange their travels in such a manner as not to be in the Red Sea between May 15 and September 15, and not to be in any portion of the mainland of Australia, ex- cept perhaps the mountains of New South Wales and Vic- toria, and the sea-side resorts of the latter colony, during any portion of January or February. Persons recommended by their physicians to take a long sea voyage will find a first-class sailing-ship extremely comfortable, although the time occupied in the voyage may seem unduly long in these days of rapid travelling. Lines of Steamers to Australasia. The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.—The steamers of this line leave the Royal Albert Dock at Tilbury every alternate Friday. Heavy baggage must be at the West-end branch, 25, Cockspur Street, S.W., not later than 3 p.m. the previous Wednesday, and only hand baggage is taken on board by the special train which leaves Liverpool Street on the day of departure. Corresponding steamers leave Venice eight days later, and occasionally from Naples nine days later, and proceed to Alexandria, whence passengers travel on the Egyptian railway by way of Cairo to Ismaila. The direct steamer touches at Gibral- tar, Malta, and Brindisi, where it receives the mails and those passengers who prefer that route. From Brindisi the direct steamer touches at Port Said, at the Mediterra- nean entrance to the Canal, Ismaila, near Cairo, Aden (Arabia), Colombo (Ceylon), King George's Sound (West- ern Australia), and Adelaide, at which port it is due on the forty-third day from London by direct steamer and the thirty-fifth day by way of railway to Brindisi, and thence by steamer. From Adelaide the steamer sails to Melbourne 14 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. and Sydney, but passengers can if they choose proceed by railway to Melbourne at the reduced rate of £2 10s. for first, and £1 10s. second class, and from Melbourne and Sydney for £2 14s. first class, and £2 0s. 6d. second class. For full particulars see advertisement. The Orient Line.—These steamers leave the Tilbury Docks every alternate Friday. Baggage must be sent to Tilbury three days before the steamer sails. A special train conveys passengers on board. The steamer touches at Plymouth, Gibraltar, and Naples, which is reached nine days after leaving London, and then proceeds by Port Said, Ismaila, and Aden to Colombo, King George's Sound, and Adelaide, which is reached on the forty-second day from London, and the thirty-second day from Naples. The railway arrangements from Adelaide are the same as will be found described under the P. and O. Company. For full particulars, see advertisement. North German Lloyd.—This line runs under a mail contract with the German Government, and its schedule time is as nearly as possible the same as that of the English mail lines. 'Its fleet includes one or two steamers of unusual size and power, and it is in all respects a first-class pas- senger line. The route taken is the same as the English mail route, except that Genoa is the Mediterranean port of call, and that the run from Colombo is direct to Adelaide, King George's Sound being omitted. Starting from Bremer Haven, and completing their cargo at Antwerp, the steamers receive the English cabin passengers and their baggage at Southampton, a well-known port about two hours from London by rail. The steamer can be overtaken at Genoa (31 hours by rail) by leaving London six days later, and the voyage to Australia is thus reduced to about thirty-eight days from the English capital. For railway arrangements from Adelaide, see P. an! O. Company. For further particulars, see advertisement. The Messageries Maritimes.—These steamers leave Marseilles on the 1st of each month. Baggage must be sent some time before sailing to the Royal Albert Dock, London. Tickets at reduced rates for the journey across France can be obtained at the office of the company. The steamers touch at Port Said, Suez, Aden, Mahe, in the 16 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. (about £4 10s.). The steamers between San Francisco and Sydney are the "Zealandia" (British) and the "Alameda" and '' Mariposa" (American). For full particulars, see advertisement. Houudeb. Brothers.—The steamers of this line sail for Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney via the Cape of Good Hope. The vessels sail from the South West India .Docks, and book passengers to all Australian and New Zealand ports. For full particulars, see advertisement. London Line or Steamers to Western Australia (Fre- mantle and Albany), also to Melbourne and Sydney, start from London (Royal Albert Docks), call at Canary Islands, Las Palmas, and thence to Fremantle, Albany, Melbourne and Sydney. North-West Australia.—Monthly dispatches from London and from Liverpool of Steamers connecting at Singapore with s.s. "Australind" and s.s. "Saladin" for Wyndham, Derby, Broome (Roebuck Bay), Cossack Ground, Onslow (Ashburton), Gascoyne (Carnarvon), Shark's Bay, Geraldton (Champion Bay), and Fremantle. THE KED SEA KOTJTES. Passengers sailing by the steamers of the P. and 0. Company, the Orient, the Messageries Maritimes, the North German Lloyd, and the Queensland Royal Mail follow almost the same route as far as Aden, near the entrance to the Arabian Sea. After leaving the Channel, the steamer enters the Bay of Biscay, a sea which has a worse reputation than it deserves, passes near the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and makes its first halting-place at Gibraltar. Postage to England, 2£d.; telegrams to England, 4Jd. per word; boat hire, one peseta each way, but make a bargain; cabs for two people, 2 pesetas an hour. Currency—100 centavos equal 1 peseta; 25 pesetas, 1 sovereign. Hotels—Calpe, Royal, Europa. Popula- tion—civilian, 19,000; military, 6,000. Distance from London, 1,300 miles; time occupied, 4£days. The rock of Gibraltar was taken from the Spaniards by a British fleet commanded by Sir George Rooke on July 24, 1702, and has remained in the possession of this country from that date, although repeated attempts have been made by the French and Spaniards to recapture it, the most impor- tant being during the great siege which lasted from July 11, 1779, to March 12, 1783. The rock forms a peninsula running due north and south; three miles in length, greatest breadth three-quarters of a mile, and is seven miles in circumference. The north, south, and east sides are very steep and precipitous; but on the western side, B 18 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. where the town is built, the rock slopes down to a fine bay. Gibraltar is joined to the mainland on the north by a low saoidy isthmus, 1,500 yards long, and from 950 to 1,800 yards broad, called the Neutral Ground. The mountain at the northern side rises almost perpendicularly to a height of about 1,400 feet. The highest peaks are on the north, the Rock Gun or Wolf's Crag, 1,250 feet high; in the centre, the Upper Signal Station, 1,294 feet high; at the south, Sugar Loaf Hill or O'Hara's Tower, 1,361 feet. The greatest height is between the Signal Station and O'Hara's Tower. Gibraltar is divided into two distinct parts, known as the North and South Town. The North is the commercial part, and consists mainly of two parallel streets, Waterport Street and Irish Town. The slopes at the back of the town are thickly covered with houses, built tier above tier to a height of 250 feet above the sea. At the northern extremity stands the Moorish castle. The South Town is divided from the North by the Alameda Parade and public gardens, and stands on the slope of the hill below O'Hara's Tower. The only houses on the east side of the rock are those of the village of Catalan Bay, the inhabitants of which are chiefly fishermen. The general character of the climate is very agreeable from November to May, but the remaining five months are hot, with prevailing Levanters or east winds. The mean tem- perature is 62°, the maximum heat being in July 92°, and the minimum in February 32°. The prevailing winds are east and west, the former in summer and the latter in winter. Europa Lighthouse, the Alameda Garden, the Signal Station, the galleries and fortifications, should if possible be visited. The short stay of the steamers here does not allow more than a stroll or drive through the town, or a hasty look at the fortifications; but the neigh- bourhood, and the charming trips that can be made into Spain, and over to the African continent, will repay those who have leisure to remain for a while in the vicinity of Gibraltar. The Mediterraitean. After entering the Strait of Gibraltar the African coast is seen on the right hand, and the steamer passes near the MALTA. 19 shores of Spain, the mountains of the Sierra Nevada being in sight for some distance. The Mediterranean is said to be a tideless sea, but there is a rise and fall at Gibraltar at spring tide of four feet, at Venice of two feet, and near Tunis of five feet. Heavy gales are frequently experienced during the winter months. The steamers of the P. and O. and Orient touch first at Malta, Postage to England, 2£d.; telegrams, 7d. per word. Boat hire, Is. each way, but make a bargain. Currency as in England. Hotels—Grand, d'Angleterre, Morrell's, Dunsford's. Population, civilian, 155,000 ; military, 7,000. Distance from London, 2,280 miles; time of transit, 7£ days. Licensed guides, fee 2s. first hour; Is. second and succeeding hours. Malta, which is the name given to the three islands of Malta, Comino, and Gozo, has played a part in the history of the world quite out of proportion to its size. Malta is mentioned in the New Testament as Melita, and was visited by the Apostle Paul. Successively held by Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, and Normans, it became the property of the Knights of St. John in 1530 by the gift of the Emperor Charles V. In 1798 it was sur- rendered to Napoleon, but in 1800 the French capitulated to a British fleet, and Malta has formed a portion of the British empire to the present time. As a coaling-station, depot and strategetical position, Malta is one of the most important of our military posts. The majority of the inha- bitants are of mixed Arabic and Sicilian origin, and the languages spoken are a dialect of Arabic and Italian. There are many noble families in the island. The capital, Valetta, stands on the promontory or tongue of land which separates the Grand and Quarantine Harbours of Malta, and is sur- rounded by fortifications on the land side, which torminate seawards in the Point of St. Elmo, with its fort and light- house. The mail steamers use the Quarantine Harbour, the entrance of which lies between Fort Tigne and Fort St. Elmo, the ordinary merchant shipping frequenting the port and men-of-war using the larger or Grand Harbour on the opposite side. Valetta presents several objects of interest to the traveller, and, with the aid of a guide, the principal 20 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. sights may be visited during the stay of the steamer, as most of them are within easy driving distance, such as St. John's Church; the Governor's Palace, with its ancient armoury and tapestry; the Barraca, giving a fine view of the Grand Harbour; the Auberges, de Castile, de Pro- vence, d'Auvergne, the palaces of the Knights of Malta, the Opera House, numerous churches, &c, &c Good shops will be found in Strada Reale, and Maltese lace and filagree work are unique of their kind. Landing for the day makes a pleasant break in the voyage, but it is also a place where an invalid can winter with a delicious climate, with plenty of English society, and abundance of English comforts. The steamers usually He alongside the wharf. The direct P. and O. steamer sails from Malta to Brindisi. Postage to England, 2Jd.; telegrams, 4£d. per word. Currency—liras and eentessimis: 100 centessimis = 1 lira, 25 liras = to 1 sovereign. Boat hire, 1 lira, but the steamer usually lies alongside. Hotels—Oriental, Bag- lioni's Grand Hotel. Railway, vid Dover and Calais or Folkestone and Boulogne, first class, £12 8s. 6d.; second class, £9 Is. Time occupied, first class, 74 hours; second class, 86 hours; passengers proceeding by the mail train leaving London on Friday evening and reaching Brindisi on Monday morning at 1 a.m. must pay £16 17s. 9d., and can only take with them rugs and hand-bags. The allow- ance of baggage on the French railways is 56 lbs., and on the Italian lines all baggage that cannot be taken in the carriage has to be paid for. The rate per 20 lbs. between Chiasso on the St. Gothard line and Brindisi is 3s. 9d., and between Modane, near Mont Cenis, and Brindisi, 4s. 4d. per 20 lbs. Brindisi, the ancient Brundusium, the terminus of the Appian Way, is the nearest Italian port to the East, and is now, as it was two thousand years ago, the starting-point to the Levant and the East. Here Caesar besieged Pompey, and here Virgil died. The modern town is an aggregation of slums through which one good street has been cut from the railway-station to the principal wharf. Since 1866 two quays, 1,600 feet long, have been made in the inner harbour; a boundary wall in the Canal NAPLES. 21 d'lngresso, the channel which connects the outer and inner harbour; a breakwater between the islands of Santo Andrea and the mainland, and a mole 920 feet long. As a port Brindisi has many advantages. The principal objects of interest in the town are the castle, built by Frederick Barbarossa, used as a prison, some Greek antiquities on a hill, and the cathedral. The steamers of the Orient line sail direct from Gibral- tar to Naples. Postage to England, 2£d.; telegrams, 4£d. per word. Currency—liras and centessimi:"!100 centessimi = 1 lira; 25 liras, 1 sovereign. Boat hire, 1 lira; return fare by steam tender, half-a-crown. Hotels—Bristol, Grand, Grand Hotel Nobile, Geneve, Rome, Royal, and Victoria. Cabs, 1 horse, per course, 70 cents; per hour, 1.50; second and subsequent hours, 1 lira 10 cents; 2-horse cabs, about double. Railway fares —London to Naples, vid Mont Cenis tunnel and Genoa, £11 l1s. 6d.; second class, £8 9s. ; vid St. Gothard and Milan, £11 17s. 6d. and £8 12s. Naples, the chief city of the south of Italy and the largest of the Peninsula, has with its suburbs a population of about 600,000, and was the capital of the former kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The city is divided into two divisions by the main street, the Toledo. The palace most worthy a visit is the Palazzo Reale; the Palazzo Gravina is now the Post- office. From the Camaldoli Convent, 1,415 feet above the level of the sea, a fine view over the city is obtained. There are 200 churches in the city, the most noteworthy being the Gesu Nuovo, S. Severo, and S. Francesco di Paolo. The Museo Nazoniale contains some interesting Roman antiquities from the excavations at Pompeii and Her- culaneum, open every day except Monday. Palazzo Capo- dimonte, near the entrance to the catacombs, possesses some fine paintings, porcelain, &c There are several theatres, the San Carlo being one of the largest, if not the largest, in Europe. The glory of Naples is in its environs, which are of sur- passing beauty and interest. The tomb of Virgil, the grotto of Posillipo, Lake Avernus, and Pozzuoli may be 22 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. reached in a short time; the excursion to Herculaneum and back may be managed in a few hours, or, combined with the ascent of Vesuvius, in one day. The railway from the observatory to within a reasonable distance of the mountain top simplifies matters wonderfully; the charge up' and down is 28 lire, and the carriage will hold six per- sons; the same charge is made for one person. Pompeii requires one long day. A visit to Capri by way of Sorrento may be managed in a day. Much time is saved by employ- ing a guide. The railway from Naples to Pompeii occupies about 50 minutes; return, 4 lire 45 cents, first class; 3 lire 10 cents, second. The branch steamers of the P. and O. leave Venice once a fortnight, eight days after the direct steamer has left London, and proceed by way of Brindisi, which is reached on the third day, and Alexandria on the sixth. The railway faro to Venice by way of Calais, Laon, Bale, Lucerne, St. Gothard, Milan, and Verona is £8 15s., and the time occupied in transit from London is 46 hours; second class, £6 8s., time occupied 58 hours; vid New- haven, Dieppe, and Rouen, first class, £7 14s. 7d; second class, £5 13s. 2d.; third class, £3 17s. 8d.; time occupied, 60 hours first and second class; third class, 72 hours. Venice. Postage to England, 2^d.; telegrams, 4Jd. per word. Currency—liras and oentessimi: 100 centessimi = 1 lira; 25 liras, 1 sovereign. Gondola hire—1 lira the first hour, from the railway terminus to the boat; 1 boatman, 2 liras; 2 boatmen, 3 liras; without luggage, for which make a bar- gain. Hotels—Britannia, De Bome, Grand, d'ltalie and Bauer, Grand Hotel de l'Europe, Danielo. Venice is one of the most interesting cities in Europe. It is built on a salt lagoon on piles, and although it con- tains a population of 150,000, does not possess a single horse; nearly all the intercommunication is by gondolas or boats. The city is intersected by the Grand Canal, which is the principal artery of traffic, and the only large piece of dry land is the Piazza de San Marco. A rapid view of Venice may be obtained by taking a gondola down the Grand Canal, and then going over the Cathedral of San MARSEILLES. 23 Marco, the Royal Palace, and the Doge's Palace, all of which abut on the Piazza. The Doge's Palace on the east side was built by the Doge Marino Faliero, immortalised by Byron. Here are the Giant's Stairs, the Lion's Mouth, the dungeons, the torture chambers, the Bridge of Sighs, the Library, and many interesting objects. Amongst the churches worthy a visit are the Cathedral, the Jesuits' Church, S% Maria della Salute, built by Palladio, SS. John and Paul, S. Sebastian, S. Eocco. All are remarkable for rich marbles, or contain works of the great Venetian painters Titian, Tintoretto, &c Among the palaces are the Foscari, Grimani, Giustiniani, now Hotel de l'Europe. The Rialto, mentioned in the " Merchant of Venice" is near the Fish Market. The principal theatre is La Fenice. The steamers of the Messageries Maritimes leave Marseilles. Postage to England, 2£d.; telegrams, 2d. per word. Currency—francs and centimes: 100 centimes = 1 franc; 25 francs, 1 sovereign. Boat hire, 1 franc; per hour, 3 francs. Hotels—Grand Hotel du Louvre et de la Paix, Noailles, Grand Hotel de Marseille, Terminus, English, &c Cabs, francs per course or hour. Railway tickets from London to Marseilles can be obtained at the offices of the company in London for £5 first class, and £4 second class. The steamers sail from Marseilles punctually at 4 p.m., and passengers should leave London not later than 8.40 a.m. the previous day vid Dover and Calais. The luggage allowance on the French railways is 56 lbs. Marseilles has a population of 400,000, and is the third if not the second city of France, its rival being Lyons. The city boasts a very respectable antiquity, having been founded 600 b.o. by a colony of Greeks who built their settlement on the site of the old town. The new town con- sists of handsome houses and regular streets south and east of the port. The old harbour is filthy and unwholesome, but the new, Port Napoleon, formed by large embank- ments built in the sea, is a fine expanse of water. Mar- seilles is the largest port in the Mediterranean, and is the starting-point for ships and steamers for all parts of the world. The Cannebiere, the street leading to the old port, 24 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. is one of the broadest and handsomest thoroughfares in Europe. Marseilles contains some handsome churches, cafes, and theatres, but it is rather a commercial than a show city. The Corniche road between the city and the sea is a fine drive, and the Chateau d'lf, where Monte Cristo is supposed to have been confined, an island at the sea entrance to the port, are worth a visit if time will allow. The steamers of the North German Lloyd make their final departure in Europe from Genoa. Passengers should arrive at that port not later than the morning of the eighth day from Southampton. The overland journey from Lon- don to Genoa occupies about thirty-one hours, and the fares vid Mont Cenis or San Gothard are £7 16s. first class, and £5 16s. second class. Baggage regulations are the same as at the other Italian ports, except that as the distance from the frontier is shorter any excess costs less. Passen- gers should communicate with the Company's agents, Messrs. Leopold, immediately after arrival at Genoa. Postage to England, 2Jd.; telegrams, 4£d. per word. Currency—liras and centessimi: 100 centessimi equal 1 lira; 25 liras, 1 sovereign; boat-hire, 1 lira. Hotels— Grand Hotel Isotta, Grand Hotel de Genes, Grand Hotel de la Ville, Du Parc, de Londres et Pension Anglaise. Genoa—population with suburbs, 250,000—is the principal port of Italy, and is the terminus of lines to South America, India and the East, and all the ports of the Mediterranean and the Levant. The city is called La Superba, the magnificent, and it deserves its name. In the middle of the Riviera, with an excellent geographical position, it was the rival of Venice when both were republics. The view on entering or leaving the harbour of the city and the hills at the back is unequalled. Most of the palaces abut upon the streets called Balbi, Nuova, and Nuovissima. The Palazzo del Municipio, Spinola, Pallavicini, Doria, Durazzo, the Ducale, and the Royal are the finest. The churches, although poor outside, are magnificent within. The principal theatre is the Carlo Felice, and the cemetery is filled with fine monuments. A handsome monument to Columbus, who was born near Genoa, has been erected THE SUEZ CANAL. 25 near the railway-station. Pegli, near Genoa, is a beautiful suburb. The steamers of the P. and O. usually sight the Ionian Islands, Greece, and part of Candia on their way to Egypt. The steamers of the Orient and North German Lloyd pass through the Straits of Messina between Italy and Sicily. The Messageries Maritimes traverse the Straits of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia, as well as the Straits of Messina. The low land of Egypt is not visible for any great distance before the steamer enters the Suez Canal, or anchors in the port of Alexandria. The Suez Canal. The direct steamers proceed to Port Said, the Mediter- ranean outlet of the Suez Canal, a town with a population of 17,000, and distant from London 3,213 miles. The Suez Canal was first conceived by Ferdinand de Lesseps when he was French consular agent in Egypt between the years 1831 and 1838, and in 1849 he commenced the pre- liminary negotiations, which resulted in 1854 in an inter- view with Said Pacha, the then Pacha of Egypt, who granted the necessary authorisation. But the Sultan of Turkey, principally through the influence of the British ambassador, opposed the project, and M. de Lesseps did not obtain authority to construct the canal until May, 1855. The firman confirming the concession of the Viceroy of Egypt was not finally granted until March 19, 1866. Half the capital, eight millions sterling, was subscribed in France, the other half was taken up by the Viceroy of Egypt, Mohammed Said. The first blow of the pick was given at Port Said on April 25, 1859. The opposition of the British and Turkish Governments still continued, and in the following October a high functionary left Constanti- nople, bringing a letter enjoining the Viceroy to command the cessation of the work. But the influence of M. de Lesseps and the Emperor Napoleon overcame this oppo- sition, and the work was proceeded with. In February, 1862, a canal of fresh water was brought from the Nile to the centre of the isthmus. In 1863 Mohammed Said died, and was succeeded by Ismail Pacha. The new Viceroy was as favourable to the progress of the works as his pre- 26 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. decessor had been. Another attempt to interfere -with the arrangements between the Government of Egypt and the Canal Company was made in 1863, but a compromise was finally agreed to. Lord Palmerston, the most resolute adversary of the Canal, died in October, 1865, and with his death all opposition ceased. The Canal was finally opened on November 17, 1869, under circumstances which made the ceremony one of the most remarkable events of the century. The saving effected by the Canal is very great, as is shown by the following table of distances :— Suez Canal. London to Bombay .... 6,274 n.m. London to Calcutta .... 7,974 ,, London to Hong Kong .. 9,730 ,, London to Shanghai .... 10,466 ,, London to Yokohama.... 11,651 ,, Via Cape of Good Hope. Saving. . 10,719 n.m. .. 4,445 n.m. . 11,606 ,, .. 3,632 „ . 13,149 ,, .. 3,419 ,, . 13,805 „ .. 3,339 „ . 14,497 „ .. 2,846 „ The Canal was opened in the end of 1869. The traffic through it in 1870 was only 476,609 tons. In 1880 it had grown to 3,057,421, in 1885 to 6,335,753, and it has since steadily increased. The gross revenue of the Canal, which in 1870 was only 6,387,205 francs, was 40,737,438 in 1880, 63,509,377 in 1885, and has gone on increasing. The shareholders received from the contractor a dividend of 5 per cent. during construction, but no dividends were paid for three years after the Canal was opened, and the expenditure exceeded the income. In 1872 the dues were increased by the charge per ton being levied on the gross instead of the net tonnage of the vessels passing through. Disputes arose, and a compromise was effected, by the terms of which the company was allowed to charge thirteen francs per ton on the net tonnage instead of ten as previously. Since that date the Canal has been a great financial success, and the dividend, which in 1874 was 5 per cent., steadily grew, until in 1885 it was 17 per cent., on one occasion, 1883, being nearly 18, after paying interest upon the debenture debt, which was nearly £8,000,000, and paying about £100,000 per annum to- wards a sinking fund. The total cost of the Canal was about £20,000,000, and another £4,000,000 has been expended in enlarging and deepening the Canal. THE SUEZ CANAL. 27 In 1876, Lord Beaconsfield purchased the shares belong- ing to the Egyptian Government for £4,000,000 sterling. They only receive 5 per cent. till 1894, when they will secure full interest. At present these shares are worth £10,500,000, although the cost after writing down the capital of the excess interest received since 1876 is only £3,200,000. It is to be regretted that the negotiations between Lord Granville and the Canal company for the construction of another canal were not equally fortunate, and had to be abandoned. Eventually a compromise between the British shipowners, to whom 76 per cent. of the tonnage passing through the canal belong, and the company was effected, by which the pilotage dues were abolished, the Canal was to be deepened, and half the profit beyond 18 per cent. was to be applied to the reduc- tion of duties. At present the navigable portion of the Canal for large ships is a cutting 72 feet wide between sea and sea, intersected by lakes, which extend nearly 20 miles out of the whole 87 miles which constitute the length of its course. The greatest width on the surface is between Port Said and Kantara, where the Canal spreads out to nearly 400 feet. At the Suez end, and at other places where the cuttings above water are more or less deep, and the substance of the ground hard, the top level is little more than double the width at the bottom. The depth is uniformly 26 feet, which enables vessels of 24£ feet draught « to pass through. Every five miles there is a station or siding, to enable ships to be moored out of the main channel, so that other ships may pass. It is by this means that the traffic is conducted, as the width of 72 feet is, of course, insufficient to allow two ships when under weigh to pass each other. Several awkward turns still exist, but more than a million sterling has been expended in rectify- ing these curves. The traffic is regulated by telegraph, and the employment of electric light on board the ships has made it possible to proceed by night as well as day. The average transit from'one end of the Canal to the other, which in 1882 was 53 hours 46 minutes, was reduced in 1887 to 34 hours 3 minutes, and in 1890 rarely exceeds 24 hours. 28 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. The statistics of the trade through the Canal show that more than three-fourths of the traffic is conducted under the British flag. The figures for 1887 were :— 1887. Ships. Gross Tonnage. Net Tonnage. United Kingdom .. 2,330 .. 6,372,586 .. 4,516,772 France 185 .. 567,004 .. 384,124 Italy 138 .. 379,061 .. 252,408 Germany 159 .. 364,214 .. 219,763 Holland 123 .. 300,943 .. 221,618 Austro-Hungary .. 82 .. 197,674 .. 141,370 Spain 26 .. 92,612 .. 64,580 Russia 22 .. 57,847 .. 34,319 Norway 28 .. 48,489 .. 35,554 Ottoman Empire .... 19 .. 23,093 .. 16,768 -China 7 .. 10,370 .. 5,798 Portugal 7 .. 5,677 .. 3,389 Japan 2 .. 3,807 .. 2,689 Egypt 5 .. 3,609 .. 2,226 America 3 .. 2,111 .. 1,051 Belgium 1 .. 876 .. 587 3,137 .. 8,430,043 .. 5,903,024 Percentage of areatHain [^StST Port Said. Distance from London, 3,213 miles; population, 25,000; postage to England, 2£d. ; telegrams, Is. 10d. per word. Hotels—De France et du Louvre, de Paris and Continen- tal. Currency—Egyptian: 10 dimes ' equal 1 piastre; 100 piastres equal 1 Egyptian pound, worth about £1 0s. 6d. English money and French are also in circulation. This town owes its existence to the Suez Canal; its port forms its northern or Mediterranean entrance. It presents little or no special interest to the traveller, although it is a brisk and lively place. Owing to its position Port Said offers many facilities to tourists desirous of visiting Syria, the Holy Land, and the ports of the Levant. Port Said offers advantages to Egyptian travellers coming direct from England by sea, or by the shorter continental routes, there being a daily communication vid Ismaila for Cairo and the Nile, by an excellent service of postal boats and trains. In the history of the Suez Canal, by Mr. Thomas Suther- land, the Chairman of the P. and O. Company, there occurs POET SAID. 29 the following passage, which is a very accurate and graphic description of the great work :— "Looked at from a merely graphic point of view, the Suez Canal may hardly present features of the most strik- ing kind. Even as a monument of engineering skill it might not be considered in the highest sense as impres- sive. It is not carried over high mountains nor through rock-bound tunnels. Its moderate currents have not to be confined by Titanic masonry. It impresses one, perhaps, chiefly as being the achievement of one persevering and indomitable mind, and an achievement pregnant with great residts and vaster possibilities. But the genius loci is also present in another and different shape. It is Egypt,.the most ancient historic land known to ue, and every mile of the canal passes through a region enriched by the memory of events of surpassing interest. We are on the border-land of the Delta, and across this plain 4,000 years ago Abraham wandered from far-away Ur of the Chaldees. Looking out on the Lake of Menzaleh we know that be- yond that sheet of water there he the ruins of Tanis, the ancient Zoan where Moses performed his miracles; and near the end of Timsah, or the Bitter Lakes, the host of Pharaoh perished through the sudden rising of a south- west gale. The Persian, Greek, and Roman conquerors swept across this Desert. Away on the other side of the Canal are the ruins of Pelusium, whence an ancient canal once joined the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, and by that waterway Cleopatra sought to retreat with her treasures after the defeat of Actium. Forty centuries look down upon a scene now steeped in the very essence of modern invention. The massive iron-clad, with its complicated artillery, the splen- did mail steamer, with powerful engines, sailing through the Desert, with the electric light serving as its pillar of fire, the numberless fleet of vessels laden with the produce of skilled invention, as well as the natural gifts of every clime—everything, in short, that the science of the present day can bring to bear on industry and commerce, now passes along a path which is, and ever must be, associated in the mind with an age so different and so remote. The Canal links together in sweeping contrast the great past and the greater present, pointing to a future which we are 30 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. as little able to divine, as were the Pharaohs or Ptolemies of old to forecast the wonders of the nineteenth century." Ismaila, Half-way between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, being about 42 miles from either, was named after the Viceroy Ismail, whose palace is close at hand. Ismaila forms the central depot of the works of the Suez Canal Company, and has a mosque, church, banks, hotels, theatres, and cafes, all built on land which a very few years ago formed portion of the Desert. The town is supplied with water by the Sweet or Fresh Water Canal which taps the Nile at Zagazig. This canal has a depthof 40 feet, supplies Suez with water, and is much used by small craft. Ismaila is the station from which passengers proceeding by the sea route to Cairo and passengers by the Venice and Alexan- dria lines arrive on board the steamer. From Ismaila to Cairo there is railway communication. Ismaila was occu- pied by the British Army on August 18th, 1882. Suez. Distance from London by sea, 3,352 miles; via Brindisi, 2,407 miles. Population, 11,000. Currency as at Port Said. Hotel—Suez Hotel. Boat-hire, Is. each person to the inner, and 2s. to the outer anchorage. The Suez Canal enters the Gulf of Suez 1£ mile south-east of the town, passing Port Tewfic and Port Ibrahim to the north- ward—the former has the Canal office, works, &c, and the latter the arsenal, the Government workshops, dry docks, &c Suez Roads or anchorage is immediately off the entrance of the Canal. The town stands in the middle of a sandy plain at the northern extremity of the Gulf, or end of the Red Sea. Beyond its vicinity to sacred localities it has no attractions. The Sweet Water Canal, constructed in connection with the works of the Suez Canal, terminates here in a large lock, and in its immediate neighbourhood a certain amount of vegetation has sprung up, but beyond this not a single tree or shrub is to be seen—nothing but an expanse of yellow stone and sand, except at what are termed Moses' wells, about 4 miles from the city. The heat of summer is great, but the winter climate is remark- ALEXANDH1A. 31 ably fine and dry, with bright sunny days and cold nights. Some invalids even prefer Suez to the other parts of Egypt, and find tolerable accommodation at the hotel. The moun- tains both to the east and west of Suez are most striking in outline, with a play of light and colour on them exceed- ingly beautiful. We will now return to the places visited by passengers landing at Alexandria, crossing Egypt by railway, and joining the steamer at Ismaila. Alexandria. Passengers by the Venice, Brindisi, and Alexandria line who propose to join the direct steamer at Ismaila land at Alexandria. Population, 130,000. Postage to England, 2Jd. Telegrams to England, Is. 7d. per word. Currency— 10 dimes = 1 piastre ; 100 piastres = one Egyptian pound. An Egyptian pound is worth £1 0s. 6d., so that a piastre is worth as nearly as possible 2Jd. English and French coins are current at about their value. Boat-hire, 4 piastres. Hotels—Abbat's, Khedivial, Canal de Suez. Nearly all the passenger steamers now run alongside the quay, whence passengers who intend to remain in the country are conducted to the Custom House. The exami- nation is easily managed, since the officials are courteous, and speak English and French. The road from the Custom House to the hotels passes along the Rue des Sceurs, which connects Minet-el-Bassal, the great produce-market, with the city. The square, Place Mehemet Ali, was burnt in 1882, but was rebuilt and surrounded by fine edifices, amongst others the Tribunal, the Exchange, St. Mark's BuUdings, the English Church, Okella Monferrato, Okella Zizinia. A statue of Mehemet Ali is in the middle of the square. The principal theatres are the Zizinia and the Politeama. Cafes d'Europe, De France, Du Louvre, Du Nil. Alexandria has three postal services, Egyptian, Austrian, and French. A drive to the. fortifications, the Palace, Pompey's Pillar, a block of red granite similar to Cleopatra's Needle now on the Thames Embankment, the Catacombs, and some of the remains of old Alexandria are interesting. The railway from Alexandria to Cairo is 130 miles long; 32 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. the express train performs the journey in 3£ hours, the ordinary train in 5 hours 40 minutes. Fare, about 20s. first class, and 13s. 6d. second class. Trains start from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.; the express leaves Alexandria at 4.15 p.m. Cairo. Postage to England, 2£d. Telegrams, Is. 10d. per word. Currency as at Alexandria. Hotels—Shepherd's, Grand, Continental, d'Orient, des Ambassadeurs. Population, 380,000. Dragoman or guide, whose services are almost indispensable if it is desired to see anything of the city, 6s. per diem inclusive. The climate is pure, dry, and agree- able; no rain from May to September and very little at other times. Cairo is the headquarters for tourists in Egypt, and is the point of departure for the Nile as well as for the desert journey. It is the emporium for the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the Desert, and its bazaars are rich in the produce of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The city is situated on a plain at the foot of a hill. Mean temperature, 58£ degrees. Pounded in 966, it became the residence of the Caliphs and the capital of Egypt. It con- tains to-day 240 principal streets, 46 squares, 11 bazaars, 140 schools, 360 public cisterns, 1,166 coffee-houses, 65 public baths, and 400 mosques ; is supplied with water and lighted with gas. The principal gardens are theEsbekiyeh, Place Sultan Hassan, Place Mehemet Ali, a handsome theatre at which "Aida" was first produced, and several cafes. The principal objects of interest to tourists at and near Cairo are the Citadel, Mosque of Mehemet Ali, Joseph's Well, Mosques El Hazar and Sultan Hassan, the Egyptian Museum, Mosque of Amr, tombs of the Mamelukes and Caliphs, the palaces of Sakkara, Abdin, and Gezireh, the Nilometer, the Shoubra Palace, Heliopolis and its obelisk, the site of Memphis, the Pyramids, the Virgin's tree, the Sphinx, &c, &c A fortnight may very easily, pleasantly, and advantageously be spent in Cairo. The railway journey from Cairo to Ismaila, a distance of 133 miles, occupies about 4£ hours; one train starts at 9 a.m., and another at 4.45 p.m. The railway fare is about 17s. 6d. first and 12s. second class. The site of the battle of Tel-el-kebir is passed about 13 miles from Ismaila. ADEN. 33 After leaving Suez the direct steamer passes down the Gulf of Suez, affords a fine view of the eastern slopes of the Mount Sinai range, although the actual peak is not visible, and in about seven hours enters the Red Sea. These waters, which fifty years ago were almost unknown, are to-day as well lighted as the British Channel. The heat upon entering the tropics, about thirty-six hours after leaving Suez, is intense during the summer months, espe- cially when the "wind, which is generally blowing from the" north, follows the ship. Gales are, however, almost unknown. All ships take the same course, and the traffic is so large that one is scarcely ever out of sight of somo vessel. Eighty miles from the entrance to the Red Sea is the lighthouse on the Brothers Rock. On the second day the steamer passes the lighthouse on the Dasdalus Shoal, and about 200 miles from the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, several small rocky islets, including the volcanic Jebel Tair, the Zebayer Islands, and Jebel Zukur are passed. The steamer usually passes through the narrow strait which separates the island of Perim, a British possession at the mouth of the Red Sea, from the mainland of Arabia, and finally anchors at Adex. 1,308 miles from Suez, 4,610 miles from London by sea, and 3,813 miles vid Brindisi. Postage to England, 5d.; telegrams, 3s. 9d. per word. Currency—rupees and annas: 16 annas equal 1 rupee; 1 rupee worth usually about Is. 6d., but its value varies with the rate of exchange. Hotel—Hotel de l'Europe. Boat-hire, half a rupee. Aden is a high rocky promontory, bearing much resem- blance to the Rock of Gibraltar, although more elevated, and with peaks more sharply defined. Aden is strongly fortified, and is garrisoned by European troops and Sepoys. It is administered from Bombay. Aden extends 5 miles from east to west by 3 miles in breadth, termin- ating seawards in the point of Eas (Cape) Marshag, marked by a lighthouse, showing a fixed light, visible 20 miles. Shum Shum, on which the signal-station is placed, is 1,700 feet above the sea-level, and is nearly the highest peak of the peninsula. c 34 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. The harbour is on the west side, and divided into the outer and inner anchorages—the mail steamers, as their stay is short, mostly using the former. If time permits, travellers will land at Steamer Point, where the Post Office, Telegraph, Hotel, and Parsee shops will be found. A drive to the town of Aden, with a visit to the Tanks— ancient reservoirs in remarkable preservation — distant 5 miles, will be interesting, but four hours of daylight are required, and enquiry as to the exact time of the steamer starting should be made before leaving. In returning homewards the driver can take the traveller past the cantonments, and by the gate through which travellers from Arabia enter into Aden. The climate of Aden is not unhealthy, but the heat is intense, not only from the sun's rays, but from the radia- tion produced by the colour of the rock; strangers should, therefore, take every precaution against unnecessary expo- sure. Passengers should beware of "the vendors of ostrich feathers, who frequently demand ridiculous prices for very worthless feathers. The ordinary fare to the town and back for a carriage holding four persons is 4 rupees, about 6s. After leaving Aden the steamer proceeds down the Gulf of Aden and passes near Cape Gardafui, the north-eastern point of Africa. The steamers of the Messageries Mari- times sail in a southerly direction to Mahe, in the Seychelles, whence they steam direct to King George's Sound. All other lines pass the island of Socotra, which is generally sighted, and cross the Arabian Sea to Ceylon, occasionally passing near the island of Minicoy. Mah£. The port touched at by the Messageries Maritimes is one of the Seychelles group of islands, which are depen- dencies of the Government of Mauritius. Mahe, the largest island, is 16 miles long and 4 broad. It is moun- tainous but fertile. Currency as at Aden. From Mahe there is a branch steamer to Mauritius and Reunion. The port of Mauritius is St. Louis. Principal hotels—Oriental, Temperance, and Masse; Grand Uni- COLOMBO. 35 versal at Curepipe in the hills, 1,800 feet above the level of the sea. Frequent communication by railway. Boat- hire, half a rupee. Colombo. Population, 112,000; distance from London by sea, 6,703 miles, vid Brindisi 5,890 miles; postage to England, 5d.; telegrams, 4s. 3d. per word. Currency—rupees and annas: 16 annas, 1 rupee; 1 rupee equals Is. 6d. approximately. Boat-hire, half a rupee, but may be higher according to the weather. Hotels—Grand Hotel, Oriental, Galle Face Hotel. Colombo, which has taken the place of Point de Galle as the port of call for the various lines of mail steamers touching at Ceylon, formerly an open roadstead, is now rendered a secure harbour by the construction of a mag- nificent breakwater, commenced in 1872 and finished in 1882. The view approaching Colombo from sea is exceed- ingly picturesque, and Adam's Peak, although not the highest point in the island, is very conspicuous. The town is of considerable extent, the drives in the neighbourhood varied and interesting, and the traveller will find full occupation for the time that the steamer remains. The hotel accommodation is very good, while the shops and the itinerant vendors of precious stones, both real and imitation, of jewellery and filagree work, Cingalese and other curios, must be dealt with cautiously. Good stones may occasionally be purchased, but the majority of the stuff offered by the peddler is glass, or if stone, is valueless. The seasons are divided into the south-west monsoon from June to October, and the north- east monsoon from November to May. The hot months are February, March, and April, but .it never is very hot in Ceylon, although the dampness of the climate makes a moderate degree of heat very oppressive. A railway runs from Colombo to Kandy, the ancient capital of the island, and thence .to Newera Eliya. The scenery on the journey is magnificent, and the temperature of Kandy is comparatively cool. The return fare from Colombo to Kandy is 9 rupees, about 13s. 6d. The drive to the botanical gardens is beautiful, and the gardens are 36 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. very fine. At Kandy there is one of the most celebrated temples to Buddha in the whole world, and the shrine contains a relic, said to be one of Buddha's teeth. The view of the lake, or tank, the native town, and the bazaar, will well repay a visit, and the mountain scenery in the neighbourhood is very fine. Hotel—the Queen's. After leaving Colombo, the steamer rarely sights any land until Cape Leeuwin, the south-west point of Australia, is reached, about 3,200 miles from Colombo. Ships sailing to Western Australia sight Frejiantle. Population, 5,000; distance from London by sea, 9,800 miles. The port of Perth, the capital of West Australia. Boat-hire, 2s. 6d.; postage to England, 2£d; telegrams, 9s. 4d. per word to England. Hotels—Eremantle, Federal, and Cleopatra. From Cape Leeuwin, the steamer keeps in sight of the West Australian coast, and after rounding Eclipse Island, the lighthouse at Breaksea Island is passed, and the steamer enters the outer anchorage of King George's Sound. Population, 1,000; distance from London by sea, 10,093 miles, via Brindisi 9,286 miles, Colombo 3,390 miles; Postage to England, 2Jd.; telegrams, 9s. 4d. per word; boat-hire, one shilling. Hotels—Weld Arms, London, and Freemasons'. Currency as in Great Britain, except that £1 notes of the West Australian banks are current. Albany is situated on the northern side of Princess Eoyal Harbour, one of the most convenient inner estuaries of King George's Sound, and is the port of call for the mail steamers to Western Australia. The entrance, be- tween Points King and Possession, is narrow, barely a quarter of a mile wide; the harbour, which is 4 \ miles long—north-west and south-east—and two miles wide, is very shoal at its west and southern sides; the available por- tion for vessels of heavy draught is of limited extent. The town is prettily placed at the feet of Mounts Clarence and Melville, on the lower rising ground, and to the traveller landing for the first time in the Colonies, 10,000 miles ADELAIDE. 37 from England, has a home-like appearance. Its chief importance is in being the point of communication with Perth, the capital of Western Australia, distant 256 miles. A railway is now open between the two towns, fare, 36s. There is little of interest in Albany for the passing tra- veller, but he will be repaid for the ascent of Mount Clarence by the magnificent view he will obtain of the Sound, its approaches and surroundings. The wild flowers of the district are unsurpassed in their beauty and profusion, and a ramble through the bush on the outskirts of the settlement will make the European botanist acquainted with many new antipodean friends in the floral world. Albany is placed in one of the most healthy parts of Australia, being open to the breezes of the Southern Ocean. The thermometer is seldom below 60" or above 85°. This evenness of temperature is remarkable, and renders the spot especially salubrious. Adelaide. Population, 82,000. Distance from London by sea, 11,110 miles; vid Brindisi, 10,293 miles. Postage to Eng- land, 2Jd.; telegrams, 9s. 4d. per word. Boat-hire, Is. to the pier, from whence a railway runs to Adelaide, 6 miles distant. Currency as in England, except that notes of the local banks are in circulation. Hotels—York, Globe, &c Adelaide, the capital of South Australia and the seat of government, is on the River Torrens, a stream which loses itself in the Beed Beds, near the sea. The city is divided by the river into North and South Adelaide, and is plea- santly situated at the foot of a range of hills, the most important of which is called Mount Lofty. The city is well laid out with straight, broad streets planted with trees and spacious squares; the principal thoroughfares are traversed by tramways which ply in the suburbs. The public buildings are large and handsome. The climate of Adelaide resembles that of Sicily and Naples: the summers are intensely hot, and hot winds are frequent during the months of January, February, and March. The mails are landed at Adelaide and sent by railway to their destina- tion, inasmuch as all the Australian cities and towns are 38 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. connected by railway with the capital of South Australia. Vide chapter on South Australia. Melbourne. Population, 460,000. Distance from London by sea, 11,585 miles; vid Brindisi, 10,778 miles. Postage to Eng- land, 2Jd.; telegrams, 9s. 4d. per word. Boat-hire, Is.; but steamers lie alongside Williamstown pier, from which there is railway communication to Melbourne, 12 miles dis- tant. Currency as in England, but notes of the local banks are in circulation. Hotels—Scott's, Menzies' Oriental, Grand, White Hart. Good hotels are to be found at St. Kilda, a pleasant suburb by the seaside. Melbourne is at the head of Port Phillip, a natural harbour situated in a deep bight of the coast of Victoria, with Cape Otway to the westward and Wilson's Promontory to the eastward; the entrance between Lonsdale and Nepean Points is l| miles wide, but the navigable channel is contracted to three- quarters of a mile by rocks and reefs on either hand— these and the irregular nature of the bottom cause the well- known race or "Bip," which, with north-westerly gales, breaks furiously with a strong current. There are leading lights on Shortlands Bluff, inside of which is the town of Queenscliffe, 32 miles south of Melbourne. The southern part of Port Phillip Bay is cumbered with sandbanks; there are two channels leading into clear water—the west channel extending 5 miles, with 3J to 5 fathoms, and the south or big ship channel, with an increased distance of 10 miles, but much deeper water. By the former, from Queenscliffe to Gellibrand Lightship, Hobson's Bay is 26J miles, and by the latter 39 miles. The entrance of Port Phillip is fortified on either side with an arrangement of mines and torpedoes. After clearing either channel, there is a clear run up the bay, until Hobson's Bay, as the northern portion is called, is reached. This forms the port or anchorage of Melbourne, having on the south-western side, Williamstown, connected by rail with the city, distant 6£ miles. On the opposite side of the bay is Port Melbourne (formerly called Sandridge), where two large piers con- nected with the Hobson's Bay and Melbourne Railway accommodate most of the magnificent fleet of sailing-ships SYDNEY. 39 using the port. The distance to the terminus at Mel- bourne is 2 miles. The mouth of the River Yarra is at the north-western corner of Hobson's Bay, immediately above Williamstown, forming a tortuous, narrow channel, carry- ing 15 feet of water to the wharves at Melbourne. Melbourne, the capital of Victoria and the seat of government, is the most important city in the colonial empire of Great Britain, and is the second city in the southern hemisphere in population and commerce, Buenos Ayres being the first, Sydney the third, and Rio de Janeiro the fourth. The site of Melbourne, with lofty hills on the east, south-east, and north-east, is very fine, and if proper attention had been paid to sanitation, Melbourne would have been the healthiest as it is the largest city in Aus- tralia. Unfortunately much of the city and suburbs has been built upon what were originally marshes and swamps, and the proper mode of draining them has not yet been discovered. The streets are straight and wide, the public buildings are large and well built, the shops are handsome and well stocked. Tramways traverse the principal thoroughfares, and there is a good supply of cabs, trams and omnibuses at moderate fares. Melbourne is the coolest of all the capitals of the mainland of Australia, and the climate, except in January and February, is most agree- able. Melbourne is the centre of the railway system of Victoria, and is connected by the iron road with the other Australian capitals. Lines of steamers run from the port to the various outports of Victoria, the neighbouring colonies, and all parts of the world. Vide chapter on Victoria. Sydney. Population, 357,000. Distance from London by sea, 12,145 miles; vid Brindisi, 11,338 miles. Postage to Eng- land, 2£d.; telegrams, 9s. 6d. per word. Boat-hire, Is., but steamers lie alongside the wharf. Hotels—Petty's, Royal, Exchange. Currency as in England, except that notes of the local banks are in circulation. Port Jackson, the harbour of Sydney, and one of the most secure and picturesque ports in the world, has its entrance from the Pacific Ocean, If miles wide, between 40 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. the Outer North and South Heads, narrowing to three- quarters of a mile between the cliffs of the Inner Heads. The Outer South Head is marked by a lighthouse showing a powerful electric revolving light, visible 30 miles, and the Inner South Head by a fixed bright light, visible 14 miles. The harbour is perfectly landlocked, having in addition to what may be called the main harbour and channel to the city, numerous indentations forming harbours in themselves, and presenting a bay line of 165 miles of coves and inlets. Sydney, the capital and seat of government of New South Wales, is situated 6 miles from the entrance of Port Jackson, and with its suburbs occupies a section of land somewhat the shape of the human hand, the promontories representing the fingers, and the bays the spaces between them, thereby giving special facilities for shipping, the deep and extensive water-frontages allowing the largest vessels to come up alongside the warehouses in the centre of the city. Sydney was founded on January 26th, 1788, and has consequently just completed its centenary, and this comparative antiquity endows it with most of the characteristics of an old.English town. The older streets, however, are gradually disappearing, and the modern city, most of which is built on hilly ground, bears ample testi- mony to the skill of the architect. Nearly all the new buildings are of sandstone obtained in the neighbourhood. The city and suburbs are connected by steam trams, sup- plemented by hansom cabs and omnibuses. Steam ferries join the city to those suburbs which are on the shores of the harbour, and steamers ply to those villages in the neighbourhood of Sydney which are situated on the shores of the harbour, and on the banks of the Parramatta River. Lines of steamers sailing from Sydney bring it into connection with the various ports of Australia and New Zealand, and with all parts of the world. Sydney is very warm from December to March, and the heat is moister than in most parts of Australia. But the climate from May to October is delicious, and even in the hottest days of summer cool breezes may be obtained by a railway trip to the Blue Mountains, which rise to an elevation of from 4,000 to 6,000 feet, about 40 miles from the city. For a fuller description of Sydney, vide chapter on New South Wales. BATAVIA. 41 The steamships of the Queensland Mail steam direct across the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal to Batatia, Situated on the Island of Java, the capital of the Dutch possessions in the East. Population, 180,000. Distance from London by sea, 8,716 miles, reached on thirty-ninth day. Postage to England, 25 cents; telegrams, 6s. 10d. per word. Currency—guilders and cents: 100 cents, one guilder (worth about Is. 8d.). Boat-hire, 50 cents, but steamers lie alongside the jetty at Tanjong Priok, from whence trains run at short intervals into the city. Passen- gers desiring to remain any time will do well to be pro- vided with a passport, vised by the Consul-General for Holland, as they may have to show that they are pos- sessed of sufficient means to pay their expenses during their stay. This does not apply to persons going on by the same steamer. Hotels—Des Indes, Der Nederlanden, Java, Marine. Batavia is built on marshy ground, and is intersected by canals, is defended by a citadel, has a large garrison, and is the seat of an arsenal. Batavia was for- merly very unhealthy, but has been much improved by drainage. It has a stadthouse, Chinese and orphan hos- pitals, Chinese temples, a club-house, and a botanic garden. It is the seat of a supreme commission of public instruction for the Dutch East Indies, has a school of arts and sciences, and publishes several newspapers. The Jaccatra River, on which the city is built, is navigable for a few miles inland for small craft. A railway connects Batavia with the interior of Java. Batavia is the commercial em- porium for the Asiatic Archipelago, and absorbs by far the greater proportion of the trade of Java and Sumatra. It exports coffee, sugar, pepper, indigo, hides, cloves, nut- megs, mace, tea, rice, rattans, and arrack, and imports all descriptions of produce and manufactures. Batavia has a bank, with branches at Samarang and Sourabaya. It was founded by the Dutch in 1619, taken by the English in 1811, and occupied by them till 1816. The residency of Batavia has a generally level surface, with a rich soil and an equable although warm climate. Seasons—November to April, west or wet monsoons; May to October, east or 42 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. dry monsoon. Cargo and passengers by these steamers, for Java ports, tranship at Batavia. From Batavia the steamers of the Queensland Mail service coast along the islands of Java, Flores, and Timur, pass to the south of Timur Laut, the south of New Guinea, Torres Straits, and make the first point of Australia at Thursday Island in Torres Straits, near Cape York, the most easterly point of the Island Continent. Thursday Island. North-west of Cape York in Torres Straits; population, 2,000. Distance from London by sea, 10,881 miles; is in latitude 10° 33' and 142° 10'" east. The tempera- ture is tropical, and the weather from September to March is extremely hot; from March to September the south- western monsoon blows and heavy rains fall. Postage to England, 6d.; telegrams, 9s. 9d. per word. Boat- hire, 2s. Currency as in England, except that local notes circulate. Thursday Island is reached on the forty-ninth day. COOKTOWN. Population, 3,000. Distance from London, 11,311 miles; is reached on the fiftieth day. Postage, telegrams, and currency as in Thursday Island. Hotels—Sovereign, Great Northern. Boat-hire, 4s. each person. Cooktown is the port for the Palmer Gold Fields. ToWNSVILLE. Population, 12,000. Distance from London, 11,569 miles; is reached on the fifty-first day. Postage, cur- rency, and telegrams as at Thursday Island. Hotels— Buchanan's, Imperial, Queen. Boat-hire, 4s. each person. See chapter on Queensland. Bowen. Population, 982. Distance from London, 11,672 miles; is reached on the fifty-second day. Postage, telegrams, and currency as at Thursday Island. Hotels—North Australian and Cook's. Boat-hire, 4s. Anchorage one mile from pier. BRISBANE. 43 Mackay. Population, 15,182. Distance from London, 11,790miles; is reached on the fifty-second day. Postage, currency, and telegrams as at Thursday Island. Anchorage is at Flat Top Island, 6 miles from the town, and passengers and mails are conveyed by the steam tender. Mackay is the capital of the sugar district. ROCKHAMPTON, On the Fitzroy River. Population, 10,793. Distance from London, 11,983 miles; is reached on the fifty- third day. The Tropic of Capricorn passes through the town. Postage, currency, and telegrams as at Thursday Island. Hotels—Criterion, Leichhardt, Queen's, Railway. The anchorage at Keppel's Bay, 50 miles from Rockhampton, and passengers are conveyed to and fro by the steam tender. See chapter on Queensland. Brisbane, The capital of Queensland, and the seat of government, is the terminus of the voyage. Latitude 27° 30' south; population, 73,649. Distance from London, 12,314 miles; is reached on the fifty-fifth day. Postage, currency, and telegrams as at Thursday Island. Seasons—September to March, hot; March to September, cool and bright; nights cold. Hotels—Metropolitan, Lennon's, Queen's, Royal Imperial, and Long. The steamers lie alongside the wharf. See chapter on Queensland. THE CAPE KOUTES. The New Zealand steamers and some of the Australian sail via the Cape of Good Hope. This route is, as pre- viously stated, preferable during the intense heats in the Bed Sea which prevail throughout the summer months. The ports touched at may be some of the following, either in going or in returning, as some Australian steamers, and all the New Zealand, make the passage home by way of Cape Horn. Madeira Is distant from London 1,560 miles, and from Lisbon 535 miles. The climate is mild and genial, the mean winter temperature is 60°, and the average for the whole year 65°. The island is strongly recommended as a place of residence for invalids, who reside either in boarding-houses at Fun- chal or in villas in the country. Madeira is very moun- tainous, Ruivo Peak being 6,250 feet high, and many of the cliffs rise from the sea to a height of from 1,000 to 2,000 feet. The climate is warm enough for coffee and sugar ; all the subtropical, and many of the tropical, fruits are grown. The population of the island is 130,585, that of Funchal, 80,000. The principal buildings in the city, close to which the steamers anchor, are the Governor's House, near the beach; Fort, near Praca Walk; Cathedral, Town-hall and Library, Hospital, Cossart's Wine Store, Theatre, &c Currency—l,000reis = 1 milrei; a milrei is worth about 4s. 6d., but varies somewhat according to the exchange. Boat-hire to and fro, 500 reis. Postage, 50 reis ; telegraph CANARY ISLANDS. 4S to United Kingdom, Is. 7d. per word. Hotels—Reid's Royal Edinburgh, Santa Clara, German Hotel, &c Should the steamer remain any length of time, which is not usual, pleasant excursions can be made to S. Cruz, on the soutli coast, where there is a good hotel, and S. Anna and S. Vicente, on the north coast. Canary Islands. The group consists of thirteen islands, but only seven are inhabited, and of these the principal are Teneriffe, Grand Canary and Palma. The island of Teneriffe is 65 miles long, and contains the Peak of Teneriffe. The principal town and port of Teneriffe is Santa Cruz, population 16,900, and it was in the attack on this place in 1797 that Nelson lost his arm. The British flags taken by the Spaniards on this occasion are still shown in the Church of the Concepcion. Hotels—Camacho (English) and Durvan's (Spanish). The town of Orotava—Hotels, Grand and Hesperides—is at the foot of the Peak of Teneriffe, which can be easily reached on horseback; and there are two quaint old towns in the neighbourhood, Garachico and Realejo. Teneriffe pro- duces all tropical fruits and vegetables, and, owing to its high mountains, possesses every variety of climate and scenery. The islands usually touched at by the steamers are Grand Canary and Teneriffe. The port oi Las Palmas is on the island of Grand Canary (population, 20,000). Here are the Law Courts of the islands and the residences of the Civil and Ecclesiastical Government. Currency—100 centavos= 1 peseta; 25 pesetas are equiva- lent to a sovereign. Accounts are frequently kept in reals, worth five centavos, or 2£d. Boat-hire, 1 peseta each way. Hotels^Quiney (English), Fonda de Europa (Spanish). Rxo de Janeiro. Population, 350,000 ; postage, 4d.; telegraph to England, 6s. per word. Currency—reis and milreis: 1,000 reis = 1 milrei; average value of milrei, 2s. Boat-hire, 1 milrei. Hotels—Strangers in the Catete, Carson's for families, Hotel de France for bachelors; restaurant, "Globo."—The capital of Brazil, and disputes with Buenos Ayres for the honour 46 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. of being the largest city in South America, as it is unques- tionably the most beautiful. The city is built amongst hills, and its back are the Organ and Tijuca mountains, which rise to an elevation of from 2,000 to 4,000 feet. The entrance to the bay is very narrow, but it opens out into a large sheet of water 110 miles in circumference. The approaches are protected by two fortresses—Villegar- guon, near the Sugar-loaf Rock (which marks the entrance), and Santa Cruz, the latter mounting a hundred guns. On the western side of the bay is the city of Rio Janeiro, and on the eastern Praia Grande or Nitherohy—the capital of the province of Rio Janeiro—the fort of Santa Cruz, and the hospital of Jurujuba. The bay is dotted with islands, some of great extent, and is crowded with the shipping of all the maritime nations of Europe and America, in addi- tion to being the headquarters of the navy of Brazil, which boasts of a powerful fleet of fifty-nine ships, including nine ironclads. The city of Rio de Janeiro contains some handsome public buildings and fine streets, especially in the newer quarters and along the road to Botafogo. The older por- tion of the city is, however, dirty and badly drained, and the streets are narrow. An excellent service of trams— "bonds," as they are called locally—will conduct the tra- veller to all points of interest at a very cheap rate. There are several theatres, some of them very tine, large and handsome Botanical Gardens, and many places of out-door amusement. But although Rio is abundantly supplied with pure water, it has the reputation of being a most un- healthy city; it has on several occasions suffered severely from epidemics of yellow fever, and the mortality in 1889 was very high. The drainage makes its way into the bay, and as there is very little rise or fall of tide, it stops there. Visitors during the spring, summer, and autumn months are recommended to sleep out of the city, amongst some of the many mountain resorts. The nearest is the hotel at Paneiras, on the Corcovada Railway. The station at Larangeiras is reached by the tramcars from the corner of the Rua do Ouvidor (the Regent Street of Rio) and the Rua de Gongaloes Dias. A splendid drive throHgh the RIO DE JANEIRO. 47 best part of the city takes the traveller in about thirty-five minutes to Larangeiras, and the trams, which start at 6.30 and8.30 a.m., and 3 and 5 p.m., occupyabout twenty minutes in their ascent to the hotel. From the hotel, which is about 1,700 feet above the sea level, the journey to the summit, 600 feet higher, occupies about five minutes. The summit commands a magnificent view over the bay, the city, and the surrounding country. The price by the tram is 200 reis each way; a return ticket on the railway costs 2 milreis. Tijuca, another favourite resort, is reached by a tramcar from the end of the Rua do Ouvidor, which passes through the city and suburbs, and reaches the foot of the hill in about forty minutes, the charge being 400 reis. From that point a diligence conducts the traveller to White's Hotel, which is about 800 feet above the level of the sea, for one milrei. The scenery about Tijuca, like that around Corco- vada, is very grand. The late emperor had a palace, the Boa Vista, at Tijuca. The finest and most elevated health resort near Rio is Petropolis, which is 2,000 feet above sea level; the only drawback is that it is somewhat difficult of access. A steamer crosses the bay every evening at 4 p.m., and connects with the railway-station at Maua, reaching Petropolis in about two hours and a half, or the traveller can go by a train leaving the Dom Pedro II. station at 5 p.m., and arriving by the Northern and Maua Railways at Petropolis at 7.22 p.m. The hours for leaving Petropolis are 6 a.m. in the morning, or 7 a.m. by the tram which leaves in combination with the steamboat. The hotels at Petropolis are Mills', Bercsford's and the Hotel Braganza. Cape of Good Hope. Population, 42,000, with suburbs, 70,000; distance from London, 5,979 miles; postage, 6d. vid Lisbon, 4d. direct; telegrams to London, 8s. l1d. per word; currency as in England, except that the banks issue notes of various denominations; cabs, Is. a mile or hali'-a-crown an hour. Cape Town is the capital and the seat of govern- ment for all the British South African colonies and terri- tories except Natal. The city is picturesquely situated at the foot of Table Mountain, which is 3,600 feet high. The 48 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. town is quaint and old-fashioned,''but contains some fine public buildings, and is the terminus of the western system of South African railways, which extend to Kimberley, a distance of 647 miles. The city is well supplied with tram- cars, which connect it with the suburb of Sea Point. The docks are 10 acres in extent, and have a depth of 22 feet at low tide. The graving docking is 530 feet long, 90 feet wide, and has a depth of 26 feet. The drive to Wynberg is extremely pleasant, and there is a very fine avenue of oaks which is not to be excelled in any part of the world. The mixture of races—British, Dutch, Malay, Hottentot, Kaffir, and Zulu—makes a visit to Cape Town extremely interesting to passengers. Hobart. Population, 36,000; distance from London, 12,000 miles; postage to England, 2Jd. ; telegrams to London, 9s. lid. per word. Currency as in England, except that notes are issued by the local banks. Hotels—Orient, Club, Carlton, Criterion, and Ship. Boat-hire, according to the distance the ship lies from the shore. Hobart, the capital of Tasmania and the seat of government, is one of the most picturesquely-situated cities in the whole world. Situated on the estuary of the River Derwent, with Mount Wellington, 4,166 feet high, immediately behind, and with other mountains in close proximity, there are few places which command such views of wood, water, mountain, plain, cultivated land, and city as can be seen from Mount Nelson, 1,191 feet high, which is close to the city. The harbour is easy of access, well sheltered, and with sufficient depth of water for vessels of any size. The city contains some fine build- ings, including Government House in the Domain, a handsome castellated pile of white freestone, the Govern- ment offices, the Houses of Parliament, and the Hospital, St. David's Cathedral, and St. Mary's Cathedral. Passengers will only have a few hours to spend ashore, but they should visit the Botanical Gardens, and, if possible, Brown's River, and the Eern-treo Bower, on the road to Mount Wellington. Good pedestrians will find their walk and climb amply repaid by the view from the DTWEDIN. 49 top of Mount Nelson. Tourists remaining a few days can visit New Norfolk on the Derwent, in the midst of fine mountain scenery, Hamilton, the Ouse Bridge, and Bothwell. The scenery on the Huon is extremely fine. Tasman's Peninsula is well worth a visit for its scenery and associations. Amongst the wonderful sights there are the Blow Hole, Tasman's Arch, the Tessellated Pave- ment, and Eagle Hawk's Nest, a narrow strip of land joining the peninsula to the mainland, which was guarded in the convict times by ferocious dogs. Prom Hobart there is daily railway communication to Launceston, and thence to Melbourne, or the passenger can go direct from Hobart, to Melbourne or Sydney. See chapter on Tas- mania. _ Dtjnedin-. Population, 25,000, with neighbouring boroughs, 50,000; postage to England, 2jd.; telegrams to England, 10s. 6d. per word. Currency as in England, in addition to local bank- notes. Hotels—Grand, Wain's, City, Occidental, Prince of Wales, Criterion, &c Dunedin is pleasantly situated at the head of a deep inlet called Port Chalmers, with lofty hills on either side. The channel has been thoroughly dredged, and large vessels can now go alongside Dunedin Wharf. The city contains several handsome buildings and enjoys a good tram service, some of the suburbs in the hills being connected with Dunedin by cable-trams. The city is well supplied with water from a stream in the neighbouring hills. Railways connect Dunedin with the fort at the entrance of Port Chalmers, and run north to Christchurch, south to Invercargill and west to Lawrence, from which place there is communication by coach with the lakes. Mail steamers run regularly from Dunedin to Melbourne and the various New Zealand ports, and the city is the headquarters of the Union Steamship Company. Dunedin is the see of an Anglican and Roman Catholic bishop. Number of houses in city and suburbs, 5,443; annual rateable value of property, £291,808. IiYTTELTOir. Population, 4,000. Postage, telegrams, and currency aa at Dunedin. Hotels—Albion, British, Royal, Mitre, Can- D 50 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. terbury, Empire, &c This town is the port of Christchurch, a city with a population of 46.000, with which it is connected by a tunnel, which passes through a range of lofty hills. Lyttelton is a busy shipping place for the wheat and wool produced in the plains of Canterbury, Las a graving dock, with well-fitted machinery shops, and wharves alongside which ships drawing 25 feet of water can lie. One wharf, the Gladstone, is 1,318 feet long. The harbour was some- what exposed to the sea rolling in from the heads in south- west breezes, but is now protected by two breakwaters, which enclose an area of 112 acres. From Christchurch, 8 miles distant, there is railway communication to most parts of the Middle Island, and a good coach road to Hoki- tika, on the west coast, by way of the Otira Gorge. The number of dwellings is 759, and the annual value of rateable property, £25,259. Wellington. Population, 28,000. Postage, telegrams, and currency as at Dunedin. Hotels—Occidental, Empire, Royal Oak, Club, Albert, and Oxford. "Wellington, the terminus of many direct steamers, the capital of the colony, and the seat of government, is situated on the shores of Port Nicholson, in a land-locked harbour in Cook's Straits. There is deep water close in shore. Wellington is renowned all over New Zealand for its high winds and its frequent earth- quakes, none of which, however, do any mischief. The city runs along the foot and on the sides of lofty hills to the Te Aro Flat, near which there is a considerable quan- tity of level land. Wellington is in railway communication with the west coast to Taranaki and with the east coast to Napier. Some of the public buildings are very fine, and the land around the city, more especially in the valley of the Hutt, is extremely fertile. Wellington is the see of an Anglican bishop and of a Roman Catholic archbishop. Number of dwellings, 5,442 ; annual rateable value of pro- perty, £289,098. THE KOUTE via AMEEICA. This route, although slightly more expensive, possesses many advantages, especially during the months of the English summer, from May 15th to September 15th, since it avoids the heats of the Red Sea and the cold weather which during that season is invariably found between the Cape of Good Hope and the Australian and New Zealand coasts. The time occupied by the mail from London to Sydney is forty-one days, and the cost, if the traveller proceeds straight through and does not indulge in any sightseeing on the route, would be about £ 10 more than by the P. and O., Orient, or other first-class direct services. This additional expenditure is in effect the cost of the journey through America from New York to San Francisco, including hotels, transport of baggage, sleeping-cars, and moderate tips to the porter of the sleeper car. The route across the Atlantic may be taken by the steamers of any line which may be arranged for with the agents, and the price paid for the passage will vary accord- ing to the steamer selected from £62 10s. to £75. If time be a consideration, there are many advantages in crossing the Atlantic by the same steamer as that which conveys the mail. On landing at,New York, the first difficulty is with the customs. Passengers are supplied with forms on which they are required to enter all particulars of their baggage. Personal effects, wearing apparel, and a moderate supply of jewellery if in actual use are allowed free. Travellers are also permitted one watch and one gun of foreign manufacture. Postage in the United States to England, 2-Jd. ; telegrams, Is. a word. Currency— dollars and cents: 100 cents equals one dollar; one dollar worth as nearly as possible 4s. l£d. Passengers from Europe are met at New York by the agents of the railway companies and of Thomas Cook & Son, who will give all information. The baggage can be 52 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. registered (checked is the local term) to the railway-station from which the traveller intends to start, which will pro- bably be the New York Central in New York, or the ter- minus of the Erie or Pennsylvania Railroads in Jersey City. Passengers are allowed 250 lbs. of baggage on the American railroads. Between New York and San Fran- cisco the cost for sleeping-cars by the most direct lines would be 22 dollars, or about £4 10s. The cost of eating in the dining-cars or at wayside stations varies from 75 cents to one dollar, or 3s. to 4s. per meal. In the day the sleepers are converted into palace day coaches, are ex- tremely comfortable, and are supplied with smoking, toilet rooms, lavatories, &c The usual inclusive charge for hotels throughout the United States varies from 3 dollars to 5 dollars a day. Passengers have the choice of the following routes from New York to San Francisco :— Via Niagara, Chicago, Omaha, Ogden (Salt Lake City), and the Union and Central Pacific Railroads. Via. Omaha or Plattsmouth and the Burlington and Mis- souri River, Denver, and Rio Grande, and Central Pacific Railroads (via, Denver and Ogden). Via, Kansas City and the Burlington and Missouri River, Denver and Rio Grande, and Central Pacific Railroads (via Denver and Ogden). Via Kansas City and the Union and Central Pacific Rail- roads (via Denver, Cheyenne, and Ogden)'. Via, Kansas City and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroads (via Doming). Via Kansas City and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe, Denver and Rio Grande, and Central Pacific Railroads (via Pueblo and Ogden). Via Kansas City and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, Atlantic and Pacific, and Southern Pacific Railroads (via Albuquerque andMojave). Via St. Louis and the Texas and Pacific and Southern Pacific (via El Paso). Via St. Louis and the St. Louis and San Francisco, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, Atlantic and Pacific, and Southern Pacific Railroads (via Halstead, Albuquerque, and Mojave). HONOLULU. 53 Via New Orleans and the Southern Pacific Railway sys- tem (via. Houston and El Paso). Via New Orleans and the Texas and Pacific and Southern Pacific Kailways (via Shreveport, Fort Worth, and El Paso). Via. Montreal and the Canadian Pacific Railway via Van- couver and "Shasta" route to San Francisco. Passengers have the option of reaching San Francisco from Vancouver by steamer. Trains leave New York for San Francisco daily. First- class passengers from New York can make the journey under five days. First-class passengers are at liberty to break their journey at any points en route and resume same at their pleasure, the conductor of the train furnishing the stop-over coupon when necessary. The trip from San Francisco to Sydney occupies 26 days. On the seventh day Honolulu, The capital of the Sandwich Islands, is reached; the steamer goes alongside the wharf. Population, 20,000; postage, Britain, 4d. ; no telegraphic communication. Pas- sengers have the option of stopping over for a month, and proceeding by the following steamer. The town of Hono- lulu has an excellent hotel, and there are in the vicinity several agreeable rides, one along the sea-shore, and another past the Royal Mausoleum to the Pali; the road ascends very gradually, and passes through a very well- cultivated country. But at the top of the hill there is a precipice, down which tradition says the warriors of Oahu, the island on which Honolulu is situated, were driven by Kamehaha, the sovereign of Hawaiia, when he conquered the whole group. Tourists remaining for a month can visit nearly all the islands on the group, and especially the two great volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, each of which rises to a height of 14,000 feet. The former is still active now; its eruption in 1881 threatened to destroy the town of Hilo. The Sandwich Islands have a population of 86,647, of whom about one-half are native Polynesians, 23,000 Chinamen, and about 20,000 whites of European GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. and American descent. The country is independent, forms one of the great family of nations, and is fertile and pros- perous, although the native population appears to be dying out. Tutuika, In the Samoan Islands, is reached about seven days from Honolulu. The islands have an area of 1,076 square miles, and a population of 36,240. The country is now in a more satisfactory position than at any previous period in its history, and there seems every prospect of its re- sources being thoroughly developed. Auckland. Population with suburbs, 57,048; postage to England, 2Jd.; telegrams to England, 10s. 6d. per word. Currency as in England, except that the local banks issue notes. Hotels —Prince Arthur, Star, Grand, Albert, Imperial. Auckland, the oldest city in New Zealand, and former capital, is on the shores of the Waitemata, a fine sheet of water branching from the Hauraki Gulf, and crowded with islands, some of which are extremely beautiful. The northern island of New Zealand is at one part only 7 miles wide, and a railway of that length connects it with Onehunga, on the west coast. Auckland is a well-built city, and its suburbs are attractive. The neighbourhood is all volcanic, and abounds in extinct cones. One of them, Mount Eden, 644 feet high and only two miles from the Post Office, contains a crater perfect in shape and splendid in preservation. Auckland contains some fine public buildings, is the terminus of an important railway system, and is the starting-point for the Hot Springs which, notwithstanding the catastrophe of 1886 which overwhelmed the pink and white terraces, are still well worth a visit, both for travellers who admire grand and romantic scenery, and those who wish to visit these natural baths in search of health. Eor description of Auckland, see chapter on New Zealand. Sydney, The terminus of the line, has been previously described. AUSTRALASIA. THE HISTORT OF AUSTEALIA May conveniently be divided into two epochs—the first prior to the discovery of gold, the second after that great event. Most of the questions which now agitate colonial society, such as federation, Imperial and Australian, free trade and protection, and the policy of dealing with the public lands, have arisen since 1851, the date at which Australia commenced its national life. But some of them have to a certain extent been affected by events which occurred at a much earlier period in Australian history. Australia before the Discovert of Gold. The existence of a Great South Land appears to have been known to the ancients. The tradition of a vast island to which birds of passage migrated, and near the shores of which the savages of the Malay Archipelago caught strange fishes and marine monsters, appears to have been current in China and India from a very early period in the existence of the world. Spoken about throughout India at the time of Alexander the Great's invasion, the knowledge was brought to Europe by the soldiers who returned to Mace- donia and Greece. Allusions to a Great South Land are met with in Strabo (b.c 50), Pliny (a.d. 77), and Ptolemy (a.d. 150). So that even supposing the modern theories about an Icelandic and Viking discovery of America are correct, Australia was known to the civilised world at an earlier date than was the Western Continent. But for all practical purposes, the first European to behold the great 56 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. Southern Continent was a Provenqal navigator, hailing from the city of Grasse, named Guillaume le Testu, who appears to have visited its northern shores about 1531. In 1605 a Spanish navigator, named Fernandez de Quiros, set out from Peru on a voyage of discovery with three ships. He sighted the New Hebrides, which he termed Tierra Austral del Espiritu Santo. His crew mutinied and would proceed no further, but his consorts passed through Torres Straits, which were named after their commander. In the. same year a Dutch ship, called the Duyffhen, landed near the north-west point of the Gulf of Carpentaria. During the seventeenth century the west and north-west coasts of Australia were visited by several Dutch and by at least one English navigator, the buccaneer Dampier, and in 1642 Abel Jansen Tasman discovered Tasmania and New Zea- land. But the examinations of the early navigators were confined exclusively to the coast now forming portion of Western Australia, and the first discovery of practical importance was that made by Captain Cook, who first sighted the Australian coast in Gipps Land, near Cape Everard, which he named Point Hicks. Cook sailed all along the east coast of Australia, and, landing at Botany Bay, near Sydney, took possession of the continent on behalf of his Majesty King George III. The favourable reports made by Captain Cook of the fertility of the country around Botany Bay induced the British Government, which had just lost the North American colonies, to found a penal settlement in the south-east por- tion of what was then known as New Holland. An expe- dition, consisting of H.M.S. Sirius, of 20 guns, the armed - trader Supply, three store ships, and six transports, left England on May 17th, 17 8 7, and after touching at Teneriffe, Rio de Janeiro, and the Cape of Good Hope, arrived at Botany Bay on January 20th, 1788, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, R.N., with Captain John Hunter as second in command. The persons on board the fleet included 757 convicts, of whom 192 were women, and a detachment of marines, consisting of Major Ross, com- mandant, 16 officers, 24 non-commissioned officers, an ad- jutant and quartermaster, 8 drummers, 160 rank and file, and 40 women. The live-stock were one bull and four • AUSTRALIA BEFORE THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 57 cows, a stallion and three mares, some sheep, goats, pigs, and a quantity of fowls. The party was well provided with seeds. The shores of Botany Bay were found to be unsuitable for settlement, and the expedition was trans- ferred to Port Jackson, half a dozen miles away, on the site of the present city of Sydney. For many years the annals of the infant colony were those of a vast gaol; the attempts made to cultivate the soil at what is now known as Farm Cove, Sydney, and near Parramatta, were only par- tially successful; and upon many occasions the residents in the settlements were badly off for food. However, by degrees the difficulties inseparable from a new colony so far remote from the civilised portion of the world were surmounted; several additional convict ships landed their living freight on the shores of Port Jackson; and in 1793 an emigrant ship with free settlers arrived, the new arrivals being fur- nished with provisions and presented with land grants. At the end of the century there were 5,000 persons in Sydney and its neighbourhood. Immediately after the settlement at Port Jackson surveys of the adjacent coast were regularly made. Western Port, in Victoria, was entered by Surgeon Bass, and the existence of a strait be- tween Australia and Tasmania was proved by the same officer, accompanied by Midshipman Flinders, in 1798. Port Phillip was discovered in 1802 by Lieutenant Murray, and the south coast of Australia was surveyed by Com- mander Flinders during the same year. In fact, before the retirement of Governor King in 1806, the coastline of Australia was fairly well known. The explorations land- wards were, however, not so successful, and for many years the Blue Mountains, which rise at the back of Sydney, formed an impenetrable barrier to the progress of settle- ment and colonisation. During the governorship of Cap- tain King, which lasted from 1800 to 1806, branch penal settlements were formed at Newcastle, at the mouth of the Hunter River, at Hobartown and Launceston, in Van Diemen's Land, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to colonise Port Phillip. In 1806 Captain Bligh, the naval officer identified with the mutiny of the Bounty, immortalised by Byron in his well-known poem, "The Island," became Governor of New South Wales. He quarrelled with the 58 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. free colonists, and especially with the officers of the New South Wales Corps, a body of troops which had been raised ,to do duty in the colony, and he was deposed and shipped to England, the government being administered after his departure by the senior officer of the local regiment. In 1809 Bligh was formally reinstated, but he was imme- diately afterwards removed and succeeded by Colonel Mac- quarie, who assumed the governorship on January Ist, 1810, and retained it for eleven years. Prior to his arrival, schools and churches had been erected, a newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, had been commenced, and there had been some attempts at acclima- tizing the drama. But the transformation from a penal settlement to a colony was not made till the regime of Governor Macquarie, who erected permanent buildings at Sydney and Parramatta, formed roads and built bridges in the districts along the coast, and commenced the track across the Blue Mountains, which had been crossed in 1813 by Wentworth and others, and thus opened up the rich interior to the inhabitants of Sydney and the settlements in its immediate neighbourhood. During the administra- tion of Governor Macquarie the first banking institution, the Bank of New South Wales, was founded. The final fall of Napoleon in 1815, and the cessation of the war which had lasted with very little intermission from the first establishment of New South Wales, gave the people of Great Britain leisure to think about their posses- sions in the Antipodes. Captain M'Arthur, an officer in the New South Wales Corps, had introduced into New South Wales some merino sheep which he had obtained from a small flock belonging to King George III., and the capabilities of the south-eastern portion of Australia for the growth of wool were soon recognised. Early in 1817 free settlers commenced to arrive, and to occupy land under the favourable terms which were granted them by the Government. But their material prosperity did not prevent the new arrivals from being dissatisfied with the administra- tion of justice, the absence of a free press, and representative institutions, and they demanded permission to occupy the vast plains of the interior with their sheep and cattle without having to obtain by purchase or by grant the fee AUSTRALIA BEFORE THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 59 simple of the lands upon which their live-stock grazed. These demands were urged with more or less spirit during the governorships of Sir Thomas Brisbane from 1821 to 1825, and of General Darling, who ruled till 1831; but they were not finally granted till the time of Sir R. Bourke, who remained Governor till 1837. At the latter date the imports were £1,114,805, the exports £682,193, and the population had grown to 76,793 persons, of whom 25,254 were males, and 2,557 persons were convicts who had served their sentence. During the governorship of Sir Richard Bourke, the settlement of the interior progressed at a very rapid rate. Parramatta, Richmond, and Windsor had been built within the first decade of the colony's existence; Newcastle and the towns of Maitland and Morpeth date from the early years of the present century, but the larger towns of the interior—Goulbourne, Bathurst, and others, were not commenced till about 1835, in which year the site of Melbourne was first occupied by Bateman and Fawkner. The explorations which followed the passage of the Blue Mountains opened up a large portion of south-eastern Australia. Western Australia was first visited in 1826 by troops and convicts who left Sydney for Albany, Swan River was colonised from England in 1829, and the penal settlements at Hobarton and Launceston grew into the separate colony of Van Diemen's Land, which was declared independent of New South Wales in 1823. New Zealand, long regarded as a dependency of New South Wales, became a separate colony in 1839. The expeditions of Oxley, the Surveyor-General of New South Wales, in 1817, and of Hume and Hovell, in 1824, gradually made known the great resources of the interior of Australia; Captain Sturt traced the Macquarie River to the Darling, and the Murrumbidgee to the Murray, and their reports induced the Hentys, Bateman, and Hume to colonise Port Phillip and Victoria from Tasmania, and resulted in the foundation of the colony of South Australia by an English company. In the year 1836 Australasia was divided into four governments, each with a separate executive, legisla- ture, and judiciary:—New South Wales (capital, Sydney) included the two colonies which are now known as Victoria 60 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. and Queensland, South Australia (Adelaide), Van Die- men's Land (Hobarton), and Western Australia (Perth). New Zealand (Auckland) was founded in 1840. The press was free everywhere; the administration of justice included trial by jury; every colony had a legislature, although to none of them except New South Wales had the principle of representation been conceded, and in that country only to a very partial extent. To two of the colonies—New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land—transportation was continued; the others had been entirely peopled by free settlers. The system of granting land without payment, originally in force in New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, and Western Australia, was abandoned in favour of sales of the public lands by auction at the upset price of twenty shillings per acre, and the system of squatting licences was instituted, under which colonists were allowed to occupy the waste lands on payment of a small annual licence. Exploration was continued in the northern portions of Australia, and Leichardt lost his life in an expedition due westward from Moreton Bay in 1847. Immigration was encouraged, one-half the revenue from the crown lands being devoted to that purpose; and under the squatting system the number of sheep, cattle, and horses, and the consequent export of wool and tallow, gradually increased. In 1846 a new colony was founded at Port Essington, in North Australia, but it was very soon abandoned. In 1851, when separate autonomy was granted to Victoria, and when a semi-representative legislature was instituted in South Australia, Tasmania, and New Zea- land, the parent colony had a population of 187,243; the imports were £2,078,338, and the exports £2,399,580; the revenue was £575,794, and there were in the colony 13,059,324 sheep, 1,738,965 horned cattle, and 132,437 horses. Victoria had a population at the time of its sepa- ration from New South "Wales of 77,345, its other statistics being included with those of the parent colony. South Australia had a population of 63,700; Tasmania had a population of about 70,000, of whom about 18,000 were convicts; Western Australia had a population of about 12,000, and New Zealand of 40,000. It is quite certain that in 1851, the year in which Victoria commenced its AUSTRALASIA AFTER THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 61 separate existence, and in which gold was discovered, the total population of Australia did not exceed 450,000. Gold was discovered at Lewis Pond Creek, near Bathurst, in March, 1851, and at Clunes and Ballarat, in Victoria, during the months of July and August of the same year. The history of Australia will henceforth be more intelli- gible if it be given under the head of each separate colony, although there are a few events which belong to the history of Australia as a whole. Australasia after the Gold Discoveby. Transportation to New South Wales finally ceased in 1849, but it was continued to Van Diemen's Land till 1853. The discovery of gold in New South Wales, followed as it was by the discovery of richer gold-fields in Victoria three or four months later, attracted a large immigration from all parts of the globe, but more especially from the United Kingdom, and it was thought inadvisable to continue the transportation system, the more especially as it was in- tensely unpopular. Western Australia became a penal colony in 1850; but in 1868, at the earnest wishes of the other Australian colonies, transportation to any part of Australasia finally ceased. For several years after 1851 unassisted emigration to Australia was almost confined to Victoria, the arrivals in the other colonies being for the most part emigrants whose passages had been paid by the local governments. But by degrees the population of the other colonies increased as fast as that of Victoria. In the original Constitution Acts of the various Australasian colonies, power was given to the local legislature to frame constitutions for themselves. Every colony took advantage of this provision, and framed a constitution under which it enjoyed entire local self-government, possessed full authority over the public lands within its boundaries, while the Executive Council, instead of being responsible to the Crown or its local representative, was made respon- sible to the local legislature. The qualifications for elector and elected, the fiscal policy, and the regulations under which the public lands can be alienated or occupied, differ in each colony, but the same system of government pre- vails throughout, excepting in Western Australia, which 62 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. did not become a constitutional colony until after the pas- sage through the Imperial Parliament of the Western Australia Constitution Bill, which received the royal assent in August last. Queensland, formerly the Moreton Bay district of New South Wales, became a separate colony in 1859, and the Fiji Islands, to which a large number of Europeans, Aus- tralians, and Americans had emigrated, were ceded to the British Crown in 1874 by the native ruler, King Thakom- bau, and was constituted into a Crown colony. The northern territory of South Australia (capital, Port Darwin) was first settled in 1863. New Guinea, lying off the north-eastern coast of Aus- tralia, at a distance of sixty miles from it, was annexed to Queensland in 1883, but the step was not approved by the Imperial Government. In November, 1884, the southern coasts, to the eastward of 141° east longitude, were pro- claimed under British protectorate; and in September, 1888, the British sovereignty of the eastern half of New Guinea was formally proclaimed. The first railway in New South Wales—that from Sydney to Parramatta—was opened on September 26, 1855. The Hobson's Bay line—from Melbourne to Sandridge, in Vic- toria—was used for traffic in 1856. Since that period the railway system has been extended to all the Australasian colonies, and at the end of 1888 there were 10,137 miles actually open, and about 7,000 miles in actual construction. The population of Australia has increased by leaps and bounds since 1851, and at the present time amounts to nearly 4,000,000. Since 1851 exploration has been actively continued, until at the present moment there is no portion of the island continent which is entirely unknown. The more important of the many expeditions were those of Gregory in north and north-western Australia; Stuart, who explored the country north of Adelaide; Burke and Wills, who, starting from Melbourne, crossed the continent to the Gulf of Car- pentaria, and lost their lives in the return journey, there being only one survivor. Various important discoveries were made by Major Warburton, W. O. Hodgkinson, Ernest Giles, John Forrest, and others. THE ABORIGINES. 63 Efforts are now being made to federate Australasia, under the provisions of the "Federal Council Act of Aus- tralasia, 1885." A council, representing Victoria, Queens- land, Tasmania, Western Australia, met in 1886 and 1888. In 1889 South Australia joined the other colonies. In 1890 all the Australian colonies, including New South Wales and New Zealand, which had hitherto kept aloof, sent representatives to a conference, which met at Mel- bourne in February, 1890, and agreed to the following resolutions:—(1) That members of the conference should take the steps necessary to induce the legislatures of their respective colonies to appoint during the present year dele- gates to a national Australian convention, empowered to consider and report upon an adequate scheme for the Federal Constitution. (2) That this convention should consist of not more than seven members from each self- governing colony, and not more than four from each Crown colony. Under the provisions of the Australasian Naval Force Act, a fleet of five fast cruisers, each of 2,575 tons of dis- placement and 7,500 horse-power, and two torpedo boats of the most improved modern build, each of 735 tons and 4,500 horse-power, are to be equipped for the Australian seas. These vessels are to be built by the British Govern- ment, the Australasian colonies paying jointly interest at the rate of 5 per cent. on the original cost, and all costs of maintenance. All the colonies, except Queensland, are parties to this agreement. The Aborigines. The present is perhaps a convenient place to refer to the aborigines, and their relations to the colonies and the colonial governments. The aborigines of Australia are Papuans, or Austral Negroes, and belong to the lowest family of the human race. It is computed that at the time of the first settlement of Australia they numbered about 150,000. They had no fixed habitations, lived in the open air during the summer, and in huts made of boughs and bark during the winter. They were unacquainted with the art of agriculture, or with the use of metals. They lived upon animals, birds and fishes, insects, roots, and 64 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. wild fruits. Their rights to the soil over -which they hunted were never recognised by the British Government, and they were treated with very little consideration by the colonists, and especially by the convicts, who formed the servants of the original settlers. No organised attempts were ever made by the aborigines to repel the European invaders, but there were many isolated attacks by the natives upon the colonists, and many settlers were from time to time murdered. These outrag es provoked reprisals, in which hundreds of the aborigines were shot down, some- times by soldiers, sometimes by armed constables, but most frequently by the colonists. Intermittent efforts were made to civilise and Christianise the aborigines, but these were rarely successful until the number of the unfortunate creatures had been reduced to a mere remnant, and until the full-blooded blacks had been succeeded by a race in which there was a certain admixture of white blood. The census of 1881 showed that the number of aborigines had dwindled to 31,700, of which the greater proportion resided in the unsettled districts of Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia. The aborigines of Tasmania were extinct, and there were only 780 in Victoria, of whom the larger number were half-castes. The relations between the natives and the colonists form a series of chapters in Australian^history of which the Europeans have no reason to be proud. The rights of the Maoris, as the tribes who inhabited New Zealand at the time of its settlement are termed, were recognised by the treaty of Waitangi. Provision was made that these lands could only be sold through the medium of the Government, so that a Crown title was given for all lands purchased by the colonists. The Maoris are a warlike people, and have on several occasions commenced hostilities against the Europeans. In 1845 there were skirmishes at the Bay of Islands, when Heki defeated the 99th Regiment, and there was a long war in the Northern Island from 1860 to 1864. At one period there were 15,000 British and local troops employed against the Maoris, who were not decisively defeated till after the battle of Te Ranga in 1864. Since that date there have been outbreaks in 1868 and 1869. In the latter year the power of PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF AUSTRALASIA. 65 the tribes was thoroughly broken, and their ability to maintain regular warfare against any European force no longer exists. The Maoris are brave and intelligent. have been Christianised; many of them are well educated, and some of them wealthy. But they are especially subject to pulmonary and zymotic disease, and the race seems to be dying out, notwithstanding its fine physique, and the efforts made by many earnest and distinguished men, such as the late Bishop Selwyn, Sir George Grey, and others, to preserve the noblest race of savages the world has ever seen. The last Maori census, taken in 1886, gave their numbers at 41,069, of whom 22,840 were males and 19,129 females. Of these, 1,227 males and 1,027 females were half-castes, and 201 Maori women were living with Euro- pean husbands. Physical Geography of Australasia. Australia is the largest island in the world, about one- fifth less than Europe, and about as large as the United States excluding Alaska. It is about twenty-six times as large as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and fifteen times as large as France. Australia lies to the south-east of Asia between the parallels of 10° 39' and 39° 11' soutli latitude, and between tho meridians of 113° 5' and 153° 16' east longitude. Its greatest length from north to south is from Cape York to Wilson's Promontory, in Victoria, a distance of 1,971 miles; and its greatest width from west to east is from Steep Point, opposite Dirk Hartog's Island, in West Australia, to Point Oartwright in Queensland, and is 2,400 miles. Its coastline is about 7,750 miles in length, and its extent is computed at about 2,994,628 square miles, or 1,884,561,920 statute acres, or, including Tasmania and New Zealand, 3,124,300 square miles, or 1,999,552,000 statute acres. The northern shores of Australia are washed by the waters of Torres Strait, which separates it from New Guinea, the Arafura Sea, and the Indian Ocean. It is bounded on the south by Bass's Straits, which divide it from Tasmania, and by the South Pacific Ocean, on the east by the South Pacific Ocean, and on the west by the Indian Ocean. E 66 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. Australia may be divided into three great divisions— West, Central, and East. The western is occupied by Western Australia, the central by South Australia and its Northern Territory, and the east by Queensland on the north, New South Wales in the middle, and Victoria on the south. Tasmania is an island south of Victoria; New Zealand consists of two large and one small island, about 1,200 miles south-east of Victoria; and the Fijian Islands are about 1,000 miles east of northern Queensland. If con- tinental Australia were divided into 100 parts, Victoria would occupy 3, New South Wales 10, Queensland 23, South Australia 30, and West Australia 34. But Victoria and New South Wales, although covering not more than one-eighth the area, contain three-fourths the population of continental Australia. Australia being nearly as large as Europe, the climate varies very considerably. The whole island is an immense plateau, rising gradually from west to east, and in the east and south-east a narrow piece of land intervenes between this plateau and the ocean. On the west side of the continent the land is rarely more than 1,000 feet above the level of the ocean; on the east coast the elevation is frequently as much as 2,000 feet. The south side is either level witli the ocean, or abuts upon the sea in cliffs of from 300 to 600 feet in height. On the south and south-east, commencing with the Grampians in Victoria, mountains commence which extend eastwards to the Australian Alps, and then go northwards the whole length of the continent to Cape York. The highest peak, Mount Kosciusko, near the point at which the range begins to trend northwards, is about 7,000 feet high. Scattered all over the continent are detached ranges of hills, the most important being that which lies at the back of Adelaide, in South Australia, and extends from Cape Jervis about 600 miles in a northerly direction. The longest and most considerable rivers in Australia rise on the western slopes of the main chain and fall into the ocean east of this Cape Jervis range. But there are many rivers which, rising to the east and south-east of the main chain, make directly to the sea. The most important of the former group are the Murray, which separates Vic- toria from New South Wales, and falls into the ocean in PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF AUSTRALASIA. 67 South Australia; the Murrumbidgee, in New South Wales; the Darling and its tributaries, in New South Wales and Queensland. Amongst the latter group are the Glenelg and Yarra, in Victoria; the Hawkesbury, Hunter, and Clarence, in New South Wales; the Brisbane, the Fitzroy, the Mary, and others, in Queensland. The rivers in South Australia proper, except the Murray, are unimportant, but there are large rivers in the northern territory of South Australia and in Western Australia. On the east coast of Australia, from Cape York to Wil- son's Promontory, there is a considerable although irregular rainfall, and the supply between the mountains and the ocean in Victoria and South Australia is as a rule sufficient. A considerable quantity of rain falls in the mountains and feeds the rivers which rise in them. But the rainfall gra- dually diminishes so soon as the influence of these moun- tains ceases to be felt, with the result that a verv large portion of the continent is at present unfit for settlement, or even occupation by stock. Great efforts are made to preserve the water by dams; wells are sunk wherever prac- ticable, and irrigation is being attempted. At present the annual rainfall in some portions of the coast districts of tropical Australia exceeds 50 inches per annum, and in no part of the coast line of tropical Australia is it less than from 20 to 30 inches per annum. In the country east and south- east of the mountains, and in the mountains themselves, a stretch of country which includes a considerable proportion of Queensland outside the tropics, of New South Wales, and the greater portion of Victoria, the rainfall is between 20 and 30 inches. The same condition of affairs exists in the south-western districts of Western Australia. In the southern portion of South Australia, the north of Victoria, the western slopes of the New South Wales and Queens- land mountains, and on the west coast of Western Australia the annual rainfall is not more than from 10 to 20 inches. In the interior of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia the annual rainfall is less than 10 inches. With so small a rainfall cultivation is impossible unless with the aid of irrigation, and even pastoral occupation is excessively precarious, as the rain- 68 fiUIDE TO AUSTKALASIA. fall in addition to being slight is irregular, and rain some- times does not fall for two years. Tasmania, -which is a little smaller than Ireland, and has an area of 24,330 square miles, is a very mountainous coun- try, although no peak has a much greater altitude than 5,000 feet. The annual rainfall exceeds 40 inches on the west coast, and is between 20 and 30 inches in tbe other portions of the island. Tasmania is well watered, the princi- pal rivers being the Derwent, which flows into the South Pacific Ocean, the Tamar, which flows into Bass's Straits, and their tributaries. New Zealand has an area of 105,342 square miles, and a coastline from north to south of 1,000 miles, extending from 33° to 47° 30' south latitude. The North is divided from the Middle Island by Cook's Strait, and Foveaux Strait divides the Middle from the South, or Stewart Island. New Zealand is extremely mountainous, and a chain runs from north to south, being separated "by Cook's Strait. Many of the mountains are volcanic, some are still active. Amongst them are Tongariro, in the North Island, 7,515 feet, and Tarawera, which broke out in 1886 with terrific violence. Buapehu is 9,195 feet above the sea level and Mount Egmont 8,300. The principal range in the Middle Island is called the Southern Alps. The highest peak— Mount Cook, in the province of Canterbury—is 12,349 feet high. Mount Hochstetter is 11,200 feet in height. and there are several peaks with an altitude of from 6,000 to 9,000 feet. The largest lake is Taupo, in the district of Auckland, in the northern island. The principal river is in the North Island, the Waikato, about 170 miles long, which rises near Lake Taupo and empties itself into the sea on the west coast near Aucldand. Geology and Mineralogy. The basis of the Australian table-land is granitic Isolated mountains of granite crop out through all the southern and western deserts. It forms the axis of the Australian Alps, and a great portion of the table-land on the east and west coasts. The following description is from the GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 69 pen of the late Rev. Julian Tenison Woods, F.G.S., F.L.S. :— '' There are also considerable tracts in which the granite is replaced by upturned palaeozoic strata, mostly slates and schists, with an almost vertical dip. It cannot be said that the granite is the cause of this' uplifting, for it has been mostly derived from the same slates, and bears marks in some cases of stratification, inclined at various angles. The inclination of the palceozoic rocks is of a very ancient origin, and has no connection with the present outline of Australia. Above the older palaeozoic rocks and granite, and lying unconformably upon them, are certain basins of coal-bearing rocks, belonging to both the mesozoic and palseozoic periods. These are found mostly on the eastern and southern end of the table-land, but there is good reason for believing that they are only thinly covered else- where, and that a most extensive coal-bearing area may be looked for in eastern Australia. Over the coal measures all round the continent there is a sandstone with oblique laminations. This formation is also seen in the interior, and I regard it as an eolian or fluviatile deposit. The great central depression or basin of Australia is like the Sahara desert, of cretaceous age. Its limits are unknown, but abundant fossils in blue marl are found on the very summit of the watershed on the east side of Australia north of latitude 20° 8' south, nearly to Cape York, and all round the Gulf of Carpentaria. The western limits of this great cretaceous basin are unknown. Fossils belonging to it have been collected considerably west of the overland telegraph line. On the south side of Australia, from the commencement of the Great Australian Bight, the land is, with little interruption, a series of tertiary rocks repre- senting all the European deposits, from the eocene up- wards. It is not known how far they may extend inland. They extend some 300 or 400 miles at the least, but they are not seen at any height above about 600 feet. On the Australian Bight the miocene beds of limestone, full of fossils, abound on the sea in cliffs of from 300 to 600 feet in height. On other parts of the coast, raised beaches with recent shells are common, notably round the colony of Victoria. In the interior all these deposits are overlaid 70 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. by either volcanic tertiary lavas, or by sands, clays, and marls, which have been derived from the sub-aerial wea- thering of the granite and other rocks. The highest por- tions of all the edge of the table-land, and consequently the sources of all the rivers, are in recent volcanic emana- tions. This is true for the whole extent of Australia. These volcanic emanations are tertiary, and they are all near the edge of the table-land. They sweep round the eastern side from north to south, curving round the south side. As far as the Australian Alps they maintain a very uniform age, which appears to be miocene or later. West of Melbourne they change their character, and become much more modern. Distinct ash cones of craters are pre- served, and ash beds, with remains of the existing fauna and flora. The extreme western limit of this volcanic activity is about 100 miles S.S.B. of the mouth of the River Murray, and here it would seem that the volcanic forces in Australia died out. The raised beaches are found near these craters, and have been, doubtless, elevated in connection with the volcanic outbreaks. "Two formations of granite have been recognised in Australia, and there may be more. That which forms the central axis of the table-land has a peculiarity which differs from the outer parts in this, that it is rich in mineral veins. It is in such formations that the valuable deposits of tin are found. They also contain veins of silver, lead, and copper. Gold has also been found in granite, but this metal is more common in a formation to be mentioned pre- sently. The most of the Australian tin deposits are stream tin, that is to say, tin washed out of granite by streams and found in their beds. But veins of tin have also been found in Herberton (Queensland) and in North Australia as rich as any in the world. '' Earlier palaeozoic rock—in connection with the granites, slates, and schists of the Cambrian, and probably Lauren- tian periods—are found. In these are veins containing gold and other metals. As a rule, the veins consist more of felspar than any other mineral, and their direction is more often meridional than otherwise. It appears that the auriferous veins in the Cambrian formation of the colony GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 71 of Victoria are much more nearly north and south than those of the Silurian.* '1 The gold veins in Cambrian rocks of the same colony are probably eight times more numerous than the Silurian. As a rule, the greater number of veins run parallel with the strata in which they are enclosed, and the greater number of the richest veins strike west of north. In Cali- fornia and Brazil, veins run parallel to the mountain chains. In Australia they do so on the eastern side of the conti- nent, but where the edge of the table-land bends round to the north-west the veins still keep their north and south direction. They are therefore independent of the present configuration of the land. East and west veins are usually poorer than the meridional ones, which is not the experi- ence of other countries. It would appear also that, as a rule, gold is not embedded in the quartz, but occurs in the comparatively loose state in the midst of cavities and lami- nations. Very rich copper veins have been found in rocks of probably Cambrian age in South and North Australia. The ore is sulphide. As a rule, deposits of carbonates of copper in Australia have not proved permanent. Man- ganese, antimony, bismuth, and graphite are also found in the Cambrian rocks, but are not worked. Characteristic Cambrian graptolites are found in connection with gold- bearing veins. The species are identical with those found in Sweden, Bohemia, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and the United States of America. Rocks which, by their included fossils, are seen to be the equivalents of the Silurian of Europe and America are found in Victoria (Kilmore), New South Wales (Yass, &c), Queensland (Bockhampton), and Tasmania. Fossils identical with species of the Wenlock and Ludlow beds, and such forms of Silurian life as Phacope {Portlockia)fecundus, Barrande, are equally abundant * The terms used in the Geological Survey of Victoria are those of Murchison, and his divisions of Upper and Lower Silurian followed. But this system and nomenclature does injustice to Sedgwick's prior investigations. Following the example of many geologists, I (the Rev. J. T. Wood) restrict the term Silurian to Murchison's Upper Silurian (Ludlow rocks, Wenlock, May Hill, or Upper Llandovery). The Bala or Caradoc are Siluru-Cambrian, and all the rest of Mur- chison's Lower Silurian are Cambrian. 72 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. in the Yering beds, near Melbourne. Devonian rocks, with characteristic fossils, often identical with those of Europe, are found very extensively developed in Victoria (North Gipps Land), in New South "Wales (Mount Lambie, Sofala, Lachlan River), in Queensland (Gympie, Burdekin, Mount Wyatt). In connection with Upper Devonian rocks we have metalliferous veins of gold, silver, and copper. The mines in Gympie are of great richness. Devonian copper veins have not hitherto proved very productive. "It has been noticed that the actual amount of the rainfall on the interior slopes must be largely in excess of the drainage to the rivers, and that therefore a great por- tion soaks into the ground and drains along the incline towards the interior. On this account and the structure of the rocks, the central basin must be especially favourable for the formation of artesian wells. This was drawn atten- tion to in a paper read for me by Sir Roderick Murchison, at the meeting of the British Association at Newcastle- upon-Tyne, in 1863. In 1866, in a series of papers fur- nished to the Australasian, I have advocated the same view. But it did not receive much attention until recently, when the subject has been revived with most beneficial results to the settlers of the interior. One fact in the physical struc- ture of the continent indicates such stores of water in the interior. In the central depression of the continent, and in North Australia, there is a line of groups of thermal and cold springs covering several hundred square miles. These send forth water from great depths, and are, no doubt, derived from a central underground reservoir whose sources are on the slopes of the table-land." Australasia is very prolific in minerals. Gold is found in all the colonies, but the production is principally confined to Victoria and Queensland. Since its first discovery the yield of the precious metal in Australasia has exceeded eighty-five million ounces, of which Victoria has yielded about two-thirds. Coal is found in New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, and New Zealand. The coalfield of the former colony is believed to be the largest in the world. Copper is found in South Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales; tin in Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Victoria; iron is found all over Australasia, THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 73 and silver in New South Wales and Victoria. All these metals are, or have been, actually worked, and large quan- tities exported. The mineral resources of Australasia are practically inexhaustible, and are certainly not exceeded by those of any other country in the world. In addition to those metals which are worked commercially, there is scarcely any mineral substance which does not exist in some portion of the great island-continent, and in the neighbouring islands. A fine display of the mineral re- sources of New South Wales and South Australia was made at the Mining and Metallurgical Exhibition held in August, September, and October last at the Crystal Palace. The Animal Kingdom. The indigenous fauna of Australia was almost confined to marsupials, of which there are 110 varieties, the prin- cipal being the various species of the kangaroo, wallaby, opossum, wombat, native bear, dingo or wild dog, Tasma- nian tiger and devil, bats, seals, &c There are, besides, the ant-eater and the duck-billed platypus, which are not marsupial. In New Zealand there was originally no quadruped except the native rat, and it is even believed that this animal was introduced by some ship that touched at the island. The birds of Australasia are very numerous, and include the emu, the black swan, the lyre-bird, the brush-turkey, quail, wild ducks, snipe, parrots, cockatoos, and others. In New Zealand there were several species of wingless birds, and until very recently one of enormous size, the moa, something like the ostrich, but four times as large. This species is now extinct. The waters of Austral- asia are well supplied with edible fish, including oysters and cray-fish; and the varieties of reptile and insect life are very numerous. Australia and Tasmania contain several species of poisonous snakes, but there are none in New Zealand. The imported animals include horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, and all descriptions of poultry and game. Rabbits and hares are so numerous that they have become a nuisance. Trout, perch, and a species of salmon have been introduced into some of the rivers. The number of live stock in Austral- 74 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. asia in 1889 was as follows: — Horses, 1,542,957; cattle, 9,497,665; sheep, 101,267,084. The value of animal pro- ducts exported was almost £25,000,000 per annum, the wool alone exceeding £20,000,000. The Vegetable Kingdom. The indigenous trees of temperate Australia and Tas- mania consisted for the most part of the various varieties of the eucalyptus, many of which grow to enormous size, and are of great strength and durability. These include the various varieties of gums, blue, red, and white, stringy- bark, ironbark, and messmate. A blue gum, 480 feet high, was felled near Healesville, in Victoria. Pines are found in many localities, but the supply of soft wood is generally small, and large quantities of deals have to be imported. For railway sleepers, and piles for bridges and piers, the jarrah and karri of Western Australia and the red gum of South-Eastern Australia are unrivalled, and both these varieties are well adapted for ship-building and for cabinetwork. There are several species of acacia, known locally as wattle, of little value for timber, but their gum is exported in large quantities, and their bark is highly prized for tanning purposes. The wood of the myall and boree have a sweet scent which makes them valuable for the manufacture of pipes, and the leaves of the casuarina, locally termed shea-oak, are eaten by cattle. The white beech, red cedar, native plum, and blackwood are useful for cabinet-making. Australia is, as a rule, well grassed, and in many parts of the interior where there is no grass, the country is covered with a saline vegetation which is eaten greedily by all descriptions of live stock, and is extremely nutritious. Throughout temperate Australia the area devoted to forests is gradually diminishing, owing partly to settlement and cultivation, but principally through the habit of destroying, by " ring-barking," the vitality of trees in order to increase the growth of grass, and their destruction by tho leaf-eating native animals, which have greatly increased in number since the virtual extirpation of all beasts and birds of prey by the colonists. This same destruction of the native carnivora has largely increased the CLIMATE. 75 number of marsupials, which have in some districts in- creased so largely that legislation has been directed against them. In many parts of temperate Australia palms and fern- trees abound, and in Southern Queensland there are several species of non-edible fig-trees. The vegetation of tropical Australia consists largely of eucalypts and acacias, and there are many handsome flowering shrubs. The forest trees are not so large as in temperate Australia, and the grass is less nutritious. We regret that the space at our disposal does not allow us to devote greater space to this division of our subject. The vegetation of New Zealand differs in every respect from that of Australia. The fern-tree grows in great variety; the wild flax, which abounds in many localities, is largely used in the manufacture of hemp; and the toitoi and raupo are suitable for paper-making. There are about 120 indigenous forest-trees, the most valuable being the kauri-pine, which produces a very useful building wood, in addition to the well-known kauri-gum, the puriri, the matai or black pine, the rimu or red pine, the kahikatea or white pine, and many others. The native grasses are succulent and nourishing. Temperate Australia grows every vegetable product known to Europe or America—wheat, oats, barley, maizes, rye, and potatoes. Hay is made from the native and European grasses—from the oat, barley, lucerne, and clover. All the culinary and edible vegetables known to Europe thrive; and the northern districts produce every fruit found in the tropics except the cocoa-nut, the growth of which is confined to Fiji. Cotton can be grown through- out that group of islands and in Queensland. Sugar is produced in the last-mentioned colony, and tobacco of fair quality is grown in most of the colonies. In no part of the world are the markets better supplied with fruit and vegetables at a very moderate price. Climate. The climate of Australasia, taken as a whole, is healthy and well suited to Europeans, except in, the extreme north 76 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. of Queensland, Western and South Australia; and even inside the tropics the elevated plains are not too hot for European labourers, although these are not suited to the low-lying lands near the coast. The mainland is generally dry and free from malaria. It is, however, subject in summer to hot winds and periodic droughts, and in winter to heavy rains. These hot winds, although disagreeable, are useful, inasmuch as they destroy malaria. The atmo- sphere of Australia is generally dry and the air bracing, so that a higher temperature than could be borne in any other part of the world is not only endurable but enjoyable. The colony of Victoria, the hilly districts of South Australia, the elevated plains of New South Wales and Southern Queens- land, possessa delicious climate throughout the year, with the exception of an occasional hot wind. Adelaide is intensely hot in the summer. Sydney and Brisbane are, during the same season, hot and humid, as a large amount of moisture exists in the atmosphere of the east coast between the mountains and the sea. The whole of Australasia is in the southern hemisphere, and the seasons are the exact oppo- site of those in Europe. January is the hottest month and July the coldest. In Queensland, as will be seen under the head of that colony, the seasons are modified by the tropical rains. Throughout Australasia the atmosphere is cooler than in similar latitudes on the continent of Europe. Melbourne has a climate similar to that of Bordeaux or Florence ; that of Sydney more resembles Naples, while Brisbane may be compared with Sicily. All over Australia the changes in temperature are very sudden, and the range of the ther- mometer very considerable. The question of rainfall has been touched upon in the chapter on Physical Geography. In the northern portions of New Zealand there are regular wet and dry seasons, as in the tropics; the middle portion of New Zealand possesses a mild climate, but the southern provinces—Otago and Southland—are in winter intensely cold. Tasmania possesses an almost perfect climate. IRRIGATION AND IRRIGATION COLONIES. 77 Irrigation and Irrigation Colonies. The deficient rainfall throughout the greater portion of the mainland of Australia has made the various colonies direct much attention to irrigation, but the only one in which the Government has,',up to the present time, taken active steps to supplement the rainfall by storing the water which has fallen during the rainy season, and by tapping the various rivers into which this water flows, has been Victoria. New South Wales and South Australia are now studying the question, and, as will be seen in the course of this chapter, private enterprise has commenced irrigation works in the latter colony. The Parliament of Victoria passed an Irrigation Act in 1886, under the provisions of which the right to use the waters of the rivers and streams of the colony is vested in the Crown. Provision is also made for the construction of National Works from the State, and works of lesser importance by Irrigation and Water Supply Trusts, which may be assisted by State funds. At the present time the following works are declared "National":—the dam in the Goulbourn river, near Murchison, which will irrigate 300,000 acres of land in the winter, and 150,000 acres in the summer; and the works in the Broken River, the Campaspo, Loddon, and East and West Wimmera, Werribee, andtheKow Swamp. The number of Irrigation Trusts is twenty, and the Govern- ment has agreed to advance to them about one million sterling. An area of rather less than 25,000 acres is under irrigation, principally in the northern and north- western districts of the colony, in which the rainfall is much less than in localities nearer the sea. The re- sults of irrigation have been extremely satisfactory, except in the case of land cropped with beet and hops, inasmuch as the yield of grain has been increased from 25 to 100 per cent. The area of land irrigated in Victoria during 1883-4 was 6,935 acres; during 1884-5, 7,046 acres; 1885-6, 13,479 acres; 1886-7, 21,342 acres; 1887-8, 8,993 acres; and 1888-9, 24,574 acres. The reason why so small an area was irrigated in 1887-8 was that an unusual quan- tity of rain fell. The most important irrigation works in Victoria owe 78 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. their inception to the enterprise of Messrs. George and W. B. Chaffey, by birth Canadians, who have had con- siderable experience of irrigation in the United States. These gentlemen made certain proposals to the Govern- ments of Victoria and South Australia for the irrigation of large tracts of land on the banks of the Murray, -which in their original condition were almost without value, since they were situated in an arid district, and were covered with a worthless variety of eucalyptus, called mallee scrub. The propositions of Messrs. Chaffey were thoroughly investi- gated by the two Governments with which they negotiated. Some thirteen years previously the Chaffeys had formed a number of colonies in California. The expense was very heavy, but complete success rewarded their energy, and 40,000 acres were irrigated in the Calif ornian "colonies, "the population of which numbers about 10,000 persons. Land previously worth 16s. to 20s. an acre when irrigated realised £40 to £60 and even £100 per acre, and £200 has been given for an acre with fruit trees upon it. The Australian Commission on Water Supply, sent by the Victorian Government to California, visited the irrigation colonies, and the result was that the Brothers Chaffey, who have since formed a limited company to carry on the work, entered into negotiations with the Victorian Government. They secured 200,000 acres of land, on condition of spending £300,000 in improvements in twenty years and of paying £200,000 in that time if they purchased the whole area; and 50,000 acres additional were given for expenditure of money only. The agreement was to make an outlay of £55,000 in the first five years; but £170,000 has been disbursed in two and a-half years. Seeing that the Government was renting the land at one penny for four- teen acres because of the lack of water, and that the Irrigation Company was to create the whole value of its ground, Victoria can hardly be said to have made a bad bargain. The settlement, which is called Mildura, is on the banks of the river Murray, some miles above its junction with the Darling. Seventy miles from Mildura in a direct line, but 246 miles by the river, is the sister colony of Renmark, which has been established on a similar tract of land obtained on like terms from the IRRIGATION AND IRRIGATION COLONIES. 79 South Australian Government. It is on the north bank of the river, and except that it was not started so early as Mildura, and is consequently not so advanced, the same description applies. As it is important that persons in this country should know the exact state of affairs in the irrigation colonies, wo extract the following article from the " Victorian Year Book," an official publication issued under the authority of the Local Government of Victoria : — Briefly stated, the agreement in effect embraces the grant of 250,000 acres of land and the authority to use the Mur- ray waters in irrigating the same for the purposes of cul- tivation, and includes all necessary enabling powers for the carrying out of an extensive scheme of colonization, the intention of Messrs. Chaffey being to lay out the land for such cultivation, and to construct the necessary works, selling the land as they proceed in blocks of from five acres and upwards, each purchaser securing a propor- tionate share and interest in the irrigating works and par- ticipating in the privileges with respect to the use of the water, &c, under the agreement in question. The chief cultivation which it i» intended to carry on is that of fruit and vines, but a large area will be devoted to the purposes of general agricultural production. There are certain stipu- lations in the agreement securing the non-disturbance of the beneficial flow of the river below the points of diver- sion, &c; but as there is a similar diversion to be made lower down the river with respect to the South Australian scheme, and the Government of Victoria reserve the right to grant further diversions for irrigation purposes in addi- tion to that which will be made under their agreement with Messrs. Chaffey, it is to be justly inferred that the re- sources of the Murray are amply sufficient for these two diversions and others that may follow. The water right which will be secured to owners and cultivators of the land under the Chaffey scheme is practically, therefore, a per- petual one. The licence under which it is conferred is granted for a period of twenty-five years "with the right of renewal of the same from time to time for succes- sive similar periods of twenty-five years." Messrs. Chaffey Bros, undertake to expend £10,000 during the first twelve 80 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. months, £35,000 during the first five years, £140,000 during the second five years, £75,000 during the third five years, and £50,000 during the fourth five years—a total of £300,000 in twenty years in irrigation works, agriculture and horticulture, and the establishment of a fruit-preserv- ing industry, &c Any serious breach of the conditions on the part of the Messrs. Chaffey Bros, involves the annul- ment of the agreement on the payment by the Government, of 80 per cent. on the value of the irrigation works and substantial and permanent improvements then existing upon the land resumed; but any land granted in fee-simple to Messrs. Chaffey Bros-. and sold by them bond fide, or con- veyed in trust for the agricultural school or college which the Chaffey Bros. undertake to establish, is exempted from resumption by the Crown. The improvements referred to are stated to include the construction and machinery of the irrigation works ; the making of roads, railways, tramways, canals, water-races, drains, bridges; making and laying pipes or other conduits; clearing fencing, preparing the ground, planting with trees and vines, and the erection of substantial buildings. The carrying out of so extensive a scheme of colonization will involve the settlement upon the land of a very large number of cultivators, it hot being the intention of Messrs. Chaffey to cultivate on their own account and for purposes of direct profit, but only, and to a limited extent, for experimental purposes, their work being generally to co-operate in the successful and rapid development of the colony, and to improve lands for sale. Neither is it contemplated to create a class of tenant culti- vators; the lands are to .be sold outright at the prices of £20 per acre for fruit growing, and £15 per acre for general agricultural purposes. Terms of payment extending over ten years, when desired, are allowed, 5 per cent. interest being added to the purchase money as above. As the fruit lands will take a few years to bring to profitable results, purchasers of same are offered irrigated agricultural land which will afford speedy returns, on lease, with the option of purchase, on a produce rental of one-third of the gross return; seed and water for irrigation being supplied free by the company. It is confidently anticipated, from Messrs. Chaffeys' Californian experience, and having regard also to 82 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. town is being established, and on all sides palatial build- ings and snug cottages are springing up into view. Four brickmaking establishments, with an aggregate output of about 22,000 per day, are at work, but up to the present they have barely sufficed to keep pace with the demand. Iiimestone and builders' sand of excellent quality are pro- curable in abundance, and two timber yards are doing a thriving trade. New public buildings, including a Custom house, State school, and post office, have been promised, and their erection is to be at once undertaken by the Government. A movement is on foot to erect a large public institute, to include a free library and horticultural museum, and already about £1,000 has been locally collected to- wards that object. The Settlers' Association, which in- cludes nearly all the landowners of Mildura, is a most powerful and progressive body, and one of its principal objects is the diffusion of knowledge of the Mildura industries by lectures, debates, and horticultural com- petitions. Plans for the Chaffey College of Agriculture have been approved, and the building, which is to cost £20,000, will be the finest of its kind in the colonies. The State school is being temporarily conducted in two rented buildings, but the accommodation is altogether inadequate for the 200 children of school age on the settlement. The Mildura Cultivator Journal, published on the settlement, deals with irrigation and intense cul- ture, and it has secured wide circulation. An extensive foundry and engineering establishment is one of the fea- tures of the place, and the manufacture of steam boilers and water mains and the refitting of steamboats are carried on there. The Mildura Coffee Palace Company is erecting a large and handsome edifice, which will be completed in September next; the contract price for the building alone considerably exceeds £4,000. The money spent in works in Mildura, exclusive of the improvements effected by the settlers themselves, totals £120,000, and Crown grants have been issued for upwards of 13,000 acres. The irrigation works include 33 miles of main canals, and 60 miles of subsidiary channels, supplied by eight pumping plants with an aggregate water-raising power of over 50,000 gallons per minute. Two of the IRRIGATION AND IRRIGATION COLONIES. 83 pumping plants are the largest in the world (as far as irrigation appliances are concerned), and the waterworks generally were pronounced by Mr. Stuart Murray, engi- neer-in-ehief of the Victorian Water Supply Department, who visited Mildura in June last, to be of a most sub- stantial and permanent kind. In fact, he said that the Chaffey Bros. works, carried out with private capital only, excelled those that were being executed by the Irrigation Trusts with the assistance of Government funds. The provision for supplying that part of the territory first entered upon—some 24,000 acres—is practically com- plete, and abundance of water is available. The orchards and vineyards have made splendid growth, and it has been ascertained that with the assistance of irrigation the plant- ing season can be greatly extended. Experiments with maize, wheat, and other cereals show that the soil and climate are eminently adapted for their culture : two or more crops can readily be raised from the same land in the year. An evidence of the extraordinary productiveness of Mil- dura soil is afforded by the fact that in five months a field of sorghum yielded fifty-five tons of green forage per acre. This phenomenal yield was obtained without resort to any fertilizer other than irrigation. The rabbit nuisance, which it was at first feared would be a hindrance to the settle- ment's success, is found to be hardly an element in the calculation. The various holders in a section combine and erect a ring-fence round the lots and they have no further trouble. The promoters have also made provision against rabbit incursion by the erection of vermin-proof fences, and at the present time there are about 150 miles com- pleted. Substantial bridges have been constructed at the inter- sections of the main thoroughfares with the channels, and the minor avenues and streets are being gradually cleared and formed. The settlers are contented and hopeful, and the enormous increase in the value of the earlier purchases, some of which have changed hands at double their original cost, is a most encouraging indication for the future. In churches, the Anglican, Presbyterian, and Wesleyan denominations are represented. Recreation is provided by 84 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. racing, football, cricket, and tennis clubs, and there is abundance of shooting and fishing in the vicinity. The survey of a line of railway to Mildura is in progress, and it is expected that its construction will shortly be entered upon. At present, traffic requirements are met to some extent by the lines of steamers from Echuca and Goolwa, S.A. The Messrs. Chaffey Bros, have already placed some fine boats on the river, and they are now pro- curing a light-draught steel steamer, with large carrying capacity and a speed of fifteen knots, for the Mildura ser- vice. This boat, it is anticipated, will run at all seasons of the year. During the present year (1889) the settlement has been visited by members of the Governments of Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia, and in each case they have given most favourable accounts of its capacities, pro- gress, and prospects. The Financial Position of Australasia. The financial growth of Australasia is very remarkable. At a very early period in the history of New South Wales, the colonists found that banking facilities of some sort were necessary. The Bank of New South Wales was founded in 1817, and subsequently reorganised on one or two occa- sions under local charters and Acts of Parliament. But it was not until 1835 that the banking transactions of Aus- tralasia were facilitated by foreign capital. In that year the Bank of Australasia obtained its charter. The coloni- sation of Port Phillip, now Victoria, South Australia, and New Zealand occurred within a comparatively short period of the foundation of the Bank of Australasia, and the Union Bank of Australia was established in 1837. Since that period the growth of the Australasian banks has been most mar- vellous, and at the present time there are, in addition to a large number of purely local institutions, eight banks with their headquarters in London, and an aggregate capital, in- cluding reserve funds, of about £10,060,000, which transact the whole of their business with Australasia, in addition to the British Bank, the Oriental, and one French, the Comptoir d'Escompte, which have branches there. But the large sum represented by the capital of these FINANCIAL POSITION OF AUSTRALASIA. 85 tanks is only a small portion of the sums invested by them, and similar institutions of colonial origin, in Australasia. All the Anglo-Australian banks receive money on deposit and lend it out to persons in Australasia at a much higher rate than is paid for the use of this money in England. This system has been extended of late years in a very ex- traordinary manner, and a large number of establishments of very unequal standing, position, and credit, with their headquarters in the colonial capitals, have opened branches in London, and in some instances in Edinburgh, for the purpose of obtaining money on deposit to be lent out again in Australasia. The ordinary circulating medium throughout Austral- asia is the bank-note issue of the various banks, which is always payable on demand in specie. These institutions are in many cases prohibited from lending money on the mortgage of land, either freehold or leasehold, and although this restriction may in some instances be evaded by dis- counting promissory notes, with the deposit of deeds and agreements to execute mortgages as collateral security, it was found that a profitable opening existed for another class of institution. Land mortgage banks were founded in Australasia for the purpose of lending money for fixed periods, usually from one to three years, on the security of land—either leasehold or freehold—live stock, wool, and growing crops, all of which may be tendered as security without delivery. The number of these institutions with headquarters in Great Britain is twenty-five, and the capi- tal invested by them in Australasia, including the sum of the debentures issued by them, is £31,570,436. A large number of similar institutions have been started in the Colonies, and have opened branches in Great Britain, where they have obtained deposits and issued debentures which are believed to amount to £13,960,593. For some time past many of the insurance companies transacting business in the United Kingdom have found it more and more difficult to obtain remunerative investments for their funds. For a large number of years mortgages on land in Great Britain and Ireland were a favourable form of security, but the recent shrinkage in values ren- dered directors less and less willing to regard this descrip- 86 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. tion of security with favour, and a system grew up of invest- ingfunds in British Colonies, where borrowers were prepared to pay a higher rate of interest than was procurable in the United Kingdom, while experience induced the insurance officials to believe that the tendency was for the value of the security rather to improve than to diminish in value. The amount of British capital invested in Australasia by the insurance offices has steadily increased, and the rate of in- terest obtained has gradually decreased, until at the present time the amount so invested has grown to £7,189,728. In addition to these vast sums, and the indebtedness of Government and municipalities, to which we shall pre- sently refer, large sums of money have been invested by private individuals in enterprises which are purely Australasian. British capital has been invested in the shares of colonial companies, some of which have an English share register; money has been lent by residents of this country on various securities to persons resident in Australasia; and there is a large colony in this country of persons who dwell in comfort, and some of them in splendour, upon the income derivable from investments made by them while they were residing in Australia, and from their shares in businesses which are now being carried on in the Colonies. It is estimated the sum invested in Australasia belonging to persons residing in Great Britain is about £80,000,000, and the interest payable thereon is, in round numbers, £3,000,000 per annum. No Australian Government borrowed money in London until after the discovery of gold, and if at any time a tem- porary advance were needed, it was obtained from the local banks. The only exception was during the administration of Colonel Gawler in South Australia, when at a period of great depression, shortly after the foundation of the colony, he, in order to relieve the existing distress, drew bills upon the Imperial Treasury. In 1854 a foreign financier named Gabrielli, in conjunction with the Bank of Australasia, negotiated a six per cent. loan of about £500,000 for the use of the municipalities of Melbourne and Geelong, which was guaranteed by the local Government and placed upon the London market; and New South Wales borrowed a few thousand pounds in 1855. The first large Australian FINANCIAL POSITION OF AUSTRALASIA. 87 loan was the six per cent. Victorian loan of £8,000,000 floated in 1858, which was paid off during 1883 and the following years. The facility with which the earlier loans were absorbed induced the other colonies to follow the ex- ample of Victoria, and loan after loan has been floated until the present amount of indebtedness is about £187,610,223, while the rate of interest paid has declined from six per cent. to three and a half, at which rate the stock is generally worth about par. During the last few years the various municipal bodies, harbour trusts, &c, have come to the British market for money, and the present amount of Australian indebtedness to British investors may be set down approximately as follows : — Public Debts £187,610,223 Municipal Debts, &c 12,479,950 Anglo-Australian Banks .... 10,060,000 English Share Register of Colonial Banks 1,304,190 Deposits in various Banks . . . 36,783,572 Investments by Insurance Companies . 7,189,728 British Trust Companies— Capital 11,269,199 Debentures . . _ . . . . 20,301,237 Colonial Trust Companies— Deposits and Debentures . . . 13,960,593 Land Companies 4,030,830 Shipping Companies .... 1,180,464 Railway Company 190,000 Mining Companies 11,415,027 Private Investments 80,000,000 £397,395,006 The advertisements of the principal banks and other financial institutions will be found in the appendix. The following are the details of this vast sum :— New South Wales. 1871 Railway Loans, &e £8,038,000 1868 „ Draw of 2 per cent 483,300 1881 ,, Loan Act, 1874, Non-inscribed . 7,201,000 1882 Railway and Public Works—1882 Bonds, In- ) scribed j 5,000,000 !883 ,, „ ,, ,, ) 1883 „ „ „ „ 3,000,000 1884-6 „ „ ,, „ 16,500,000 1888 „ „ „ „ 3,500,000 1889 „ „ „ „ 3,500,000 £47,222,300 88 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. In addition to this sum, the local Parliament has autho- rized an additional loan of £15,259,179, which has not yet been placed upon the market. 1870 1866 1876 1880 1882 1883 1834 1885 1886 1889 1890 1871 1881 1883 1888 1890 1870 1873 1880 1881 1883 1885 1889 1867 1871 1870 1881 1883 1889 VlCTOEIA. Railway Loans, 1868-9 . Water Supply Acts, 1866, &o. Railway Loans, &c „ 1878 . . ,, ,, 1881, Inscribable Redemption Loan, Inscribable Railway and Redemption Loan, Inscribable >> it i >> j) Railway Loan, Inscribed Queensland. Various Acts, 1866 and 1870 . ,, 1872-75-76-79 •7 „ 1882, Inscribed South Australia Various Acts, 1863 1871 . . „ 1873 and 1876-8 „ 1879 and 1880 . Railways and Public Works Acts, '81-2, Insc Tasmania. 29 Vict. No. 1 Consolidated Loan, 1867 Railway Loan, 1869 41 Vict. No. 3 . . _ . Public Works and Redemption of Debts £2,107,000 850,000 4,500,000 5,000,000 4,000,000 2,000,000 4,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 3,000,000 4,000,000 £41,457,382 £1,371,650 8,985,900 10,866,900 2,500,000 2,264,734 £20,989,184 £1,073,500 278,500 7,966,700 1,365,300 4,409,600 1,560,400 3,742,800 £20,392,800 £102,500 454,500 100,000 1,900,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 £4,657,000 FINANCIAL POSITION OF AUSTRALASIA. 89 The following are the particulars of some of the loans:— New Zealand. 1864 Part of War Loam, 1863 .... £378,800 1866 Loan of 1861 74,100 1867 „ 1866 154,800 1868 „ „ 262,200 1873 Consolidated Loan, yearly drawing . . 1,261,800 1878 Loan Acts, 1876-77 2,207,300 1879 „ 1879, Public Works . . . 388,000 1882-8 Inscribed 24,564,255 1889 „ 2,700,000 1867 Provincial Government (Auckland Loan Act, 1863) 38,750 1867 Provincial Government (Railway Loan) . 77,700 1867 „ >, Loan Ordinary, 1862 22,800 1865 Otago Provincial Loan 139,500 Grand Total £42,925,337 West Australia. 1879 Public Works, 1878-1879 .... £135,300 1883 „ „ 305,400 1884 Inscribed, 1882 ...... 94,500 1885 Inscribed 522,800 £1,058,000 Grand Total of Public Debts of Australasian Colonies— £187,610,223. Municipal, etc. 1879 Borough of Napier Consolidated Loan . . £70,000 1880 Borough of Pimaru Waterworks Loan . . 60,000 1878 City of Melbourne Loan of 1878 . . 125,000 1883 „ „ „ of 1883 . . . 200,000 1886 ,, „ >, of 1885 . . . 150,000 1890 „ ,, „ .... 450,000 1885 City of South Melbourne .... 80,000 1875 City of Brisbane Town and Bridge Bate . 84,050 1884 City of Sydney Loan 258,000 1887 „ „ 365,000 1880 City of Hobart (Interest guaranteed by Government) 100,000 1879 City of Auckland Town and Water Bate . 46,500 1880 ,, Consolidated Loan . . 182,300 1883 ,, „ 200,000 1879 City of Christchurch Drainage Loan . . 200,000 1875 City of Dunedin Town and Water Bate . 109,100 Carried over £2,709,950 90 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. Brought forward £2,709,950 1876 City of Dunedin Various Public Works Loans 91,600 1878 ,, „ Consolidated Loan . . 312,200 1886 City of Fitzroy Loan 60,000 1887 City of Wellington Consolidated Loan. . 200,000 1879 ,, „ Improvements Loan . 100,000 1880 „ ,, Waterworks Loan. . 130,000 1887 Town of Lanneeston Loan (Interest guaran- teed by Tasmanian Government) . . 150,000 1878 Oamaru Municipal Corporation Waterworks Loan 60,000 1880 I)o. Do. . . 50,000 1877 Auckland Harbour Board Loan . . . 130,000 1882 „ „ 150,000 1882 „ „ 100,000 1885 Gisborne Harbour „ . . . 200,000 1879 Lyttelton Harbour „ 200,000 1883-4 Melbourne Harbour „ ... 500,000 1885 „ „ ,, . . . 250,000 1888 „ „ „ . . . 250,000 1889 „ 500,000 1885 Napier Harbour „ . . . 350,000 1879 New Plymouth Harbour „ ... 190,500 1877 Oamaru Harbour Board Loan, First Mort- gage Begistered 55,300 1880 Oamaru Harbour Board Loan, 1881 . . 100,000 1884 „ „ ... 50,000 1877 Otago Harbour „ (First Mortgage) 118,700 1881 „ „ 1880 . . 96,800 1883 „ „ ... 107,800 1886 „ „ ... 363,300 1883 Timaru Harbour Board Loan . . . 100,000 1886 „ „ ... 100,000 1880 Wanganui Harbour „ ... 60,000 1886 Wellington Harbour „ ... 160,000 1886 WellingtonandManawatu Railway Company, Limited (First Issue) ... . 400,000 1887 Australian Gas Light Company of Sydney . 300,000 1883- 7 Metropolitan Gas Company of Melbourne Debentures 607,000 1889 Metropolitan Gas Company of Melbourne Debentures 50,000 1884- 7 Melbourne Tramways Trust Debentures . 1,450,000 Melbourne and Hobson's Bay U. Railway Company's Bonds 100,800 1872 Tasmanian Main Line Railway Guaranteed 650,000 Town of Brunswick 45,000 CityofHobart 50,000 Carried over £11,649,950 BANKING INSTITUTIONS. 91 Brought forward £11,649,950 Bluff Harbour 50,000 Greymouth Harbour 100,000 Invercargil Harbour ..... 200,000 Palmerston Harbour 50,000 Westport 150,000 City of Collingwood 40,000 St. Kilda 100,000 Praluan 75,000 Richmond 65,000 £12,479,950 Banking Institutions. The following Anglo-Australian Banks, with their head- quarters in London, transact business in Australasia. In order to get at the amount of British money invested by them in the Colonies, the amount of the reserve fund is in every case added to the paid-up capital. Paid up. Reserve. Total. Australasia . £1,600,000 £800,000 £2,400,000 English, Scottish, and Australian 900,000 220,000 1,120,000 London Chartered Bank of Australia . 1,000,000 240,000 1,240,000 South Australia . 800,000 100,000 900,000 Union of Australia 1,500,000 1,000,000 National of New Zealand Debentures — 750,000 3,250,000 250,000 — 250,000 Bank of New Zealand 900,000 — 900,000 £6,950,000 £3,210,000 £10,060,000 The following Banks, with their headquarters in some part of Australasia, have stock registered in London as under: — Commercial Bank of Australia . . . £110,400 Land Mortgage of Victoria . . . 24,342 Mercantile Bank of Australia . . . 227,500 New South Wales 312,500 National of Australasia 107,188 Queensland National 213,880 Victoria 133,380 Standard Bank of Australasia . . . 175,000 £1,304,190 92 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. The New Oriental Bank has about £400,000 worth of capital invested in Melbourne and Sydney. The authorities of the Comptoir d'Escompte assert that no portion of their capital is permanently invested in their Australian branches. The following is an aggregate list of the deposits made by British capitalists in the British offices of Anglo-Austra- lian and Australian Banks, and invested in Australia, compiled from the sworn statements of these Banks: — Name of Bank. Amount Deposited. Australian Joint Stock .... £3,403,609 Bank of Australasia 2,403,380 New South Wales 1,970,561 New Zealand 3,537,900 South Australia 2,177,850 Victoria 600,000 City of Melbourne Bank .... 2,599,027 Colonial Bank of New Zealand . . . 610,000 Commercial Bank of Australia . . . 3,609,869 Commercial Banking Company of Sydney . 580,000 E. S. and A. C. Bank 1,016,685 Federal Bank of Australasia . . . 541,160 Mercantile Bank of Australia . . . 800,000 Mercantile Bank of Sydney . . . 494,891 National Bank of Australasia . . . 1,775,913 National Bank of New Zealand . . . 619,351 Queensland National Bank .... 4,051,624 Koyal Bank of Australia .... 140,508 Union Bank of Australia .... 2,942,563 London Chartered Bank of Australia . . 3,049,390 £36,783,572 The following sums are believed to have been invested by British Insurance Companies in the security of pro- perties in various parts of Australasia :— Scottish Widows £2,500,000 North British and Mercantile . . . 1,000,000 Scottish Provident 1,483,162 Scottish Equitable 339,557 The Standard 253,000 Liverpool, London and Globe . . . 622,222 Northern 202,248 Commercial Union 170,000 Star 267,648 Carried over £6,837,837 INVESTMENT, LOAN, AND AGENCY COMPANIES. 93 Brought forward £6,837,837 London and Lancashire .... 60,466 Crown 104,200 Edinburgh Life 30,000 Queen 157,145 £7,189,728 Investment, Loan, and Agency Companies. In the case of those Investment, Loan, and Agency Companies which have their headquarters in Great Britain, the total of paid-up capital and reserve fund is added to the amount of the debentures issued. In the case of the companies which have their headquarters in the Colonies the sum of the debentures and deposits is alone given. Beitish Companies. Paid up and Reserve. Debentures. Agency, Land and Finance of Australia . £100,000 £200,000 Australasian Mortgage and Agency . 500,000 1,150,344 Australasia Mortgage, Land and Finance 1,040,000 2,362,885 Australian and New Zealand Mortgage . 161,740 889,678 British and Australian Trust . . . 336,000 1,599,400 Caledonian and Australian Mortgage and Agency 151,000 443,745 Colonial & Australasian Mortgage and Agency 150,000 Colonists'Land and Loan Corporation . 84,345 95,000 Dalgety & Co 1,120,000 2,525,900 National Mortgage and Agency of N.Z. . 125,000 691,000 N.S.W. Mortgage, Loan and Agency . 116,770 420,761 N.Z. and Eiver Plate Land Mortgage . 225,000 963,558 N.Z. Land, Mortgage and Agency Co. . 1,152,767 3,048,030 N.Z. Thames Valley Loan . . . 301,105 N.Z. Trust and Loan .... 900,000 500,000 Otago and Southland Investment . . 215,000 830,080 R. Campbell & Sons .... 420,000 120,000 South Australian Land and Mortgage . 400,000 1,181,716 Scottish Australian Investment . . 1,125,000 489,040 Trust and Agency Co. of Australia . . 1,212,936 431,254 UnionMortgageandAgencyCo. of Australia 1,083,000 987,000 Freehold Trust Co. of Australia . . 50,000 380,000 Australian Investment .... 50,000 Land and Loan of New Zealand . . 35,000 133,420 Scottish and N.Z. Investment . . 147,536 383,121 Scottish Queensland Mortgage . . 31,400 84,665 West Australian Mortgage and Agency . 35,600 90,640 Australasian Property and Investment . 100,000 400,000 £11,269,199 £20,301,237 94 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. In the case of the following companies it has been found difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between the deposits in London and those in the colonies. But the following figures may be regarded as approximately cor- rect, and if the amounts should be over-estimated, they will not do much more than make up for the companies, such as the British Bank of Australasia, the Austral Banking and Land Proprietary, and some institutions with their headquarters at Edinburgh, about which it has been found impossible to obtain any particulars. Many of these figures were published in the early part of 1890, and since that date the tendency has been for the amounts to increase rather than to diminish. Colonial Companies. Deposits or Debentures. Goldsbrough, Mort, & Co. . . . £2,308,371 „ English Share Capital . 100,000 Australian Freehold Bank . . . 779,408 British and New Zealand . . . 87,006 Colonial Investment .... 367,292 Colonial Investment of New Zealand. . 400,000 English and Australian Mortgage Bank . 183,420 Freehold Investment and Banking Co. of Australia 1,250,000 Imperial Banking Co 228,717 Land Mortgage Co. of Australia . . 737,107 Land Mortgage Bank of Victoria . . 917,000 Modern Permanent Building Society . 559,693 Mortgage Co. of Australia . . . 77,442 Mortgage Co. of South Australia . . 501,505 New Zealand Agricultural . . . 583,627 New Zealand and Australian Land . . 1,028,825 New Zealand Mortgage and Investment . 70,834 North British and N.Z. Investment . 80,000 North Queensland Mortgage and Invest- ment 112,000 North Sydney Investment . . . 300,000 Northern Investment of New Zealand . 383,121 Victoria Freehold Bank .... 422,086 Waikate Land Association . . . 213,186 Anglo-Australian 557,238 Auckland Agricultural .... 264,200 Australian Deposit and Mortgage . . 947,515 Mercantile Finance and Agency of Australia 200,000 Real Estate Bank 500,000 £13,960,593 ANGLO-AUSTKALIAN MINING COMPANIES. 95 British Land Companies. Capital. Debentures. Australian Agricultural .... £430,000 £97,200 Freehold Trust Co. of Australia . . 50,000 261,945 Isis Investment Co. of Queensland . . 32,000 Land Corporation of West Australia . 14,176 North British Australasian . . . 210,983 Peel River Land and Mineral . . . 600,000 48,000 Queensland Investment and Land Mortgage 380,000 1,345,266 South Australian Land .... 333,770 Van Diemen's Land .... 227,500 £2,278,429 £1,752,411 Shipping Companies. Capital. New Zealand Shipping Co. £240,000 Ditto Debentures . . 200,000 Union Steam Shipping of N.Z. . . 490,464 Ditto Debentures . 250,000 £1,180,464 Kail-way Company. Emu Bay and Mount Bischoff . . . £60,000 Debentures 130,000 Anglo-Australian Mining Companies. Anglo-Saxon, Palmer, Queensland . . £40,800 Australia Gold Dredging, Otago . . 6,000 Australian Broken Hill Consols, N.S.W. 485,521 Australian Burra Burra . . . 5,200 Australian Exploration, Harrietville . 4,500 Australian Mines Investment . . . 15,060 Australian Mining Co., South Australia . 135,073 Bishop's Creek Gold Mining, Queensland . 66,667 Blue Spar and Gabriel's Gulley, Otago . 72,401 Bonnie Dundee Gold, Queensland . . 160,000 British Broken Hill, N.S.W. . . . 800,000 Broken Hill Consols, N.S.W. . . . 10,000 Bucknall's Gold Estate, "Victoria . . 15,516 Canadian Gold Mining, Queensland . . 90,000 Champion Gold and Silver, New Zealand . 34,526 Charter's Tower Syndicate, Queensland . 6,000 Charter's Tower South Gold Mining, Queensland 73,568 Cloncurry Copper Mines, Queensland . 150,000 Colonial Prospectus Co 2,000 Colville, N.Z 4,500 Carried over £2,177,332 96 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. Brought forward £2,177,332 Consolidated Broken Hill, N.S.W. . . 300,000 Cornelian Gold, N.S.W 60,000 Coromandel Gold, N.Z 65,000 Cromwell Gold, N.Z 110,000 Cumberland Gold, Queensland . . . 210,000. Cumberland No. 1 Do. 70,000 DayDawn8&9 Do 5,375 Day Dawn P.C. Do. 470,000 Day Dawn and Wyndham, Do. . . 498,400 Disraeli . " Do. 146,784 Durham and Lord Byron Do. . . 100,000 Eaglehawk Consolidated, Victoria . . 120,000 Elektron, Queensland .... 90,000 English and Australian Copper, South Australia 131,250 Etheridge Gold Field, Queensland . . 70,000 Etheridge B«ef Do. . . 70,000 Etheridge United Do. . . 509,158 Fiery Cross United, New South Wales . 50,000 Fryers Creek Gold Mining, Victoria . . 12,500 Gilberton, Queensland .... 26,000 Gipps Land Syndicate, Victoria . . 3,000 Gold Fields of North Queensland . . 85,522 Great Eukaby Silver, South Australia . 20,000 Greymouth Gold Dredging, N.Z. . . 20,000 Gympie Golden Crown, Queensland . . 110,000 Gympie Great Eastern Do. . . 100,000 Harrietville, Victoria .... 150,000 Humphrey's Gulley United, N.Z. . . 139,984 Ironclad, Queensland .... 150,000 Island Block Gold Mining, New Zealand . 50,000 Kaboonga Mining, Queensland . . 125,000 Kaboonga Gold, Queensland . . . 246,800 Kangarilla Silver, South Australia . . 73,800 Kapanga Gold, New Zealand . . . 185,000 Kiama Association, New South Wales . 8,000 Kilkivan, Queensland .... 120,000 Livingstone Do. .... 75,000 Long Breach Dredging and Tin, Tasmania 10,000 Midas, Victoria 180,000 Mosman, Queensland .... 185,000 Mount Albion Do 133,334 Mount Britten Do 126,610 Mount Carrington, New South Wales . 50,000 Mount Leyshon, Queensland . . 150,000 Mount Morgan Extended Do. . . 45,000 Mount Perry Copper Do. . . 160,000 Carried over £7,983,849 ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN MINING COMPANIES. 97 Brought forward £7,983,849 Mount Shamrock, Queensland . . . 280,000 Native Dog Creek, New South Wales . 3,040 New Disraeli, Queensland . . . 113,085 New Livingstone Do. . . . 75,000 New Queen Do. . . . 152,000 New Zealand Antimony, New Zealand . 125,000 New Zealand Beeches Do. . 6,000 New Zealand Gold Dredging Do. . 11,250 New Zealand Gold Extraotion Do. . 90,000 New Zealand Bed Hill Do. . 112,600 North Myall, New South Wales . . 3,000 No. 2 Queen Gold, Queensland . . 160,000 North Australian, South Australia . . 100,000 North Kennedy, Queensland . . . 5,000' Otago Pioneer Quartz, New Zealand . 67,000 Oberlin Tin, Queensland . . . 170,000 Opal Mines of Queensland Do. . . 56,200' Palmerston Mining, South Australia . 140,035 Port Darwin, South Australia . . . 60,118 Port Phillip and Colonial, Victoria . . 50,000 Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand . 75,000 Queensland Minerals Exploration, Queens- land 50,000 Queensland Palmer, Queensland . . 20,000 Queensland Do. . . 361,966 Queensland Smelting Do. . , 80,000 Bavenscliffe, New Zealand . . . 35,165 Ravens wood, Queensland . . . 91,860 Bavenswood Silver, New South Wales . 32,888 Bed Bock Gold Do. . 40,000 Bockwell Silver Do. . 175,000 Boss United, New Zealand . . . 148,838 Scottish Australian Mining, Queensland . 160,000 South Australian Mining and Smelting, South Australia .... 48,933 Tasmanian Land and Exploration, Tas- mania 10,000 Thames Foreshore, New Zealand . . 60,000 Van Diemen's Laud Minerals . . . 25,050 Victoria, Australia .... 50,000 Wahi, New Zealand .... 85,150 WestTokatea Do. .... 150,000 Westland Gold Dredging, Do. . . . 20,000 £11,415,027 It may be feared that the dividends paid by these mines bear a very small proportion to the total amount invested. G THE RESOURCES OF AUSTRALASIA. 99 of 33,205,336 acres, but only 11,075,544 are leased for £204,104 per annum. It is difficult to form any opinion about the value of these Crown lands. Excluding the area which at the present moment is not leased or occupied in any way, and assuming that it possesses no value, there remains an acreage of 211,830,544 in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and New Zealand, which at the low average of 5s. an acre would produce £52,457,638, and of 689,476,080 in South Australia, Queensland, and Western Australia, which at the valuation of only 2s. 6d. per acre are worth £86,184,510. The total value of the Crown lands would therefore be £138,642,148, which at the present time are realising a rental of rather less than £2,000,000 per annum. It follows, therefore, that Austral- asian governments own property worth, including remunera- tive public works, equivalent to £238,642,148, against a public debt of less than £200,000,000, and private indivi- duals own property which, after supplying all the wants of the inhabitants of Australasia, produces an export of grain, wool, minerals, &c, worth £62,545,073 per annum, against private debts amounting to less than £200,000,000. Without taking into consideration the value of roads, buildings, and manufactures, the land under crop may be valued all round at £5, equivalent to £43,081,525; the horses, at £5 each, are worth £7,500,000 ; the cattle, at £3, are worth £28,492,995; and the sheep, at 10s., are worth £50,633,642, or in all £129,708,162. And these values are taken at a very low estimate. In a work recently published by Mr. T. A. Coghlan, the Government Statistician of New South Wales, he assumes that the value of the private and personal property of Aus- tralasia amounts to £1,015,000,000. He sets down the capital invested in pastoral pursuits at £373,000,000, which yields a return of £35,381,000 per annum, and he gives the 'annual return from agriculture at £26,850,000, which would give the amount of capital invested in that pursuit at about £250,000,000. The value of the public property is assumed by Mr. Coghlan to be £255,000,000, while our own estimate is £200,000,000. We are afraid that Mr. Coghlan's estimate is somewhat exaggerated; at any rate he assigns no reasons for his con- 100 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. elusions. What, for example, is the value of the land in Australasia held by private individuals? The only safe basis is the quantity of wool and grain which can be grown upon it, and their value in London. Any other valuation must be more or less fallacious. We should feel inclined to consider that the private property in Australasia, calcu- lating freehold, country, and unimproved suburban lands at their prairie value, and adding the value of all improve- ments on both private and public lands, and calculating the value of house property at ten years' purchase, that the private wealth of Australasia would be at least £600,000,000. This would make the total public wealth of Australasia £800,000,000, against a debt of about £400,000,000. The same authority (Mr. Coghlan) shows that the total amount of deposits in the Australasian Banks in the last quarter of 1888 was £102,062,034, of which £68,311,285 were not in current accounts, but in deposits bearing interest. At the same date the advances amounted to £128,139,297. The stock of coin in the Australasian banks and Treasury was £16,991,924. On the same date the sum in the various Savings Banks was £15,482,770, so that the total amount at the credit of colonial depositors was £117,544,804. The most important exports of Australasia are animal products, wool, hides, tallow, leather, and frozen meat. First in magnitude is, of course, wool. There is some difficulty in arriving at the exact value of the annual wool crop, since it appears under the heading of different Colonies, inasmuch as, for convenience of shipment, it is frequently finally exported from another colony than that in which it was grown. Thus, in 1888 the weight exported from Victoria was 118,453,968 lbs., while the weight pro- duced in that colony was only 54,143,961 lbs. But the production in 1888 was for Australasia 486,008,955 lbs., of which 6,705,517 lbs. were worked up in the Colonies, and the remainder shipped to other countries, principally Great Britain. Wool amounts to 38-61 per cent. of the whole exports of Australasia. As regards wool production, New South Wales headed the list with 236,638,426 lbs.; New Zealand was second, with 87,291,513 lbs.; Victoria third, with 54,143,961 lbs.; the remaining Colonies show- ing as follows:—Queensland, 50,675,289; South Aus- THE RESOURCES OF AUSTRALASIA. 101 tralia, 41,650,088; Western Australia, 8,475,240; and Tasmania, 7,134,438. The production of wool in Austral- asia has steadily increased during the last six years, the weight being :—1884, 410,430,807 lbs.; 1885, 405,261,460 lbs.; 1886, 405,541,828 lbs. ; 1887, 462,051,230 lbs. ; 1888, 486,008,955 lbs. The augmentation has, however, been principally confined to New South Wales, which produced 171,612,279 lbs. in 1884, and 236,638,426 lbs- in 1888. Queensland and Western Australia show substantial and New Zealand slight, increases, and the other Colonies are either stationary or slightly retrogressive. Australasia is now the largest producer of wool in the world, Russia coming second, the Argentine Republic third, the United States fourth, and the United Kingdom fifth. The value of the wool exported in 1888 was £19,330,868. The mineral wealth of Australasia is enormous, and up to the present time is only half developed. The most import- ant and valuable product is, of course, gold, of which, since the first discovery near Bathurst in 1851, up to the end of 1888, 83,918,133 ounces have been raised, valued at £328,720,115. Of this vast sum Victoria is responsible for 55,635,959 ounces, worth £222,543,836; New Zealand comes next with 11,421,817 ounces, valued at £44,843,633; the remaining colonies being New South Wales, 9,331,202 ounces and£36,779,130 ; Queensland, 6,088,785 ounces and £21,310,747; Tasmania, 532,889 ounces and £2,031,866; South Australia, 252,608 ounces and £991,411; and Western Australia, 54,873 ounces and £219,492. In 1888 Victoria still headed the list with 625,026 ounces. Queens- land yielded 481,643 ounces; New Zealand, 201,219 ounces; New South Wales, 85,205 ounces; Western Australia, 50,000 ounces (estimated), Tasmania, 39,610 ounces, and South Australia, 16,763 ounces. It would certainly appear as if the goldfields of Victoria, New South Wales and New Zealand showed signs of exhaustion, but that the other colonies have an important auriferous future. Next in im- portance to gold is coal, which has been found in paying quantities in New South Wales, Queensland, New Zealand and Tasmania, and is known to exist in Victoria, although up to the present the coalfields of that colony have not proved remunerative. The coalfield of the first-mentioned 102 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. colony is the largest and most accessible in the world. Up to the end of 1888 the quantity raised has been 43,096,305 tons, valued at £21,154,307. The values of the minerals raised in 1888 were: New South Wales : coal £1,455,193; gold, £308,221; silver, £995,545; copper, £275,034; tin, £639,572; lead, £200,000; total, £3,573,570. Victoria: gold, £2,500,104; other minerals, £14,900; total, £2,515,004. Queensland: gold, £1,685,750; copper, £9,248; tin, £200,019; coal, £127,947; silver, £44,015; total, £2,066,979. New Zealand: gold, £801,066; coal, £336,218; and kauri gum, which may be considered a mineral, although of vegetable origin, £380,993; total, £1,518,277. South Australia: copper and copper ore, £325,225; gold, £66,160; total, £391,385. Tasmania: gold, £124,434; tin, £426,821; coal, £37,420; total, £588,175. Western Australia, 50,000 ounces of gold, valued at £200,000. In previous years copper and lead have been exported from Western Australia. The total output of minerals in 1888 was for all Australasia, £10,853,390. The manufactures of Australia are not unimportant, although up to the present the products are all consumed in the continent itself and in the adjacent islands. The statistics of Victoria and New Zealand are very complete, but none of the other colonies give the value of the pro- ducts, and some of them do not give the amount of capital invested in manufacturing. Up to the present time, owing to its policy of protection, Victoria may be regarded as the leading manufacturing colony, but her neighbours are now following rapidly upon her footsteps. New South Wales has 3,106 works, 45,564 hands employed, and £15,093,558 capital invested. Victoria has 2,975 works, 54,418 hands, and £14,792,311 capital, the value of the products in 1888 being £13,370,836. New Zealand has 2,268 works, 25,655 hands, and £5,697,117 capital. South Australia has 646 works, and 9,302 hands; Queensland, 1,209 works, Tasmania 298, and Western Australia, 72. Australasia has altogether 10,572 works, and, reasoning by analogy, it may be assumed that the number of hands em- ployed is 117,539, thevalue of capital invested, £40,000,000 and the annual output £45,000,000. AUSTRALASIAN RAILWAYS. 103 The southern districts of Australasia are well adapted to the growth of the products of southern Europe, wine, oil and silk; the northern to the various crops of the tropics. Up to the present time the only southern industries of any commercial importance are the production of wine, of which several millions of gallons are grown annually, and a few hundred tons of tobacco; while in the north there is a production of sugar in Queensland alone of 35,000 tons, in addition to 722,162 gallons of molasses. As regards the future development of Australasia, there is no doubt that it would sustain in comfort and affluence a much larger population than at present. But unless the present experiments at irrigation turn out commercially successful, and some means is discovered for utilising large districts in the interior which at present owing to deficient rainfall are useless, the progress of Australasia and her capa- city for supporting population are limited. Water may be obtained almost everywhere by sinking, but not in sufficient quantities to permit its being employed for irrigation. A large area of land might be profitably cultivated and the mineral resources might be further developed. But so far as horses, sheep, and cattle depasturing on the natural grasses are concerned, the figures show that for some years past there has been little or no increase in Victoria, Tasmania, New Zealand or South Australia. New South Wales has shown more elasticity, and the numbers of her sheep have in- creased from 18,990,505 in 1873, to 46,503,469 in 1888. But the best judges are of opinion that New South Wales is now fully stocked. The number of live-stock in Queens- land has of late largely increased. In 1873 there were 1,343,093 cattle and 7,268,946 sheep; in 1888 the numbers were 4,654,932 cattle, and 13,444,005 sheep. In the same period the cattle of Western Australia have increased from 47,640 to 93,822, and the sheep from 748,536 to 2,112,393. In both these colonies there is room for great expansion. Statistics show the high standard of comfort attained by the population of Australasia. The average consumption per annum per head of articles of common diet are—wheat, 374 lbs.; rice, 13 lbs.; potatoes, 279 lbs.; sugar, 89 lbs.; tea, 7J lbs.; coffee, 14 ozs.; cheese, 5-2 lbs.; butter, 104 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. 16 lbs.; salt, 35 lbs.; beef, 175 lbs.; mutton, 89 lbs.; tobacco and cigars, 2-8 lbs. Comparing these figures with those of Great Britain and the United States, it will be seen that Australasia consumes 374 lbs. grain as against 330 and 305 lbs. respectively; 276 lbs. meat as against 105 and 120; 89 lbs. sugar as against 72 and 23; 16 lbs. butter as against 26 and 18; 279 lbs. potatoes as against 315 and 150; 120 ozs. tea as against 73 and 21; 14 ozs. of coffee as against 15 and 115. Contrary to the general belief the Australians are very temperate. The annual consumption of wine, spirit, and beer, reduced to its equivalent in alcohol, is equi- valent to 2-85 gallons per head in Australasia, as against 3-57 in the United Kingdom, 2 65 in the United States, 4-00 in Holland, 4-00 in Belgium, 3 08 in Germany, 3 40 in Italy, and 5-10 in France, where the working classes use wine habitually. Australasian Railways. The following table shows the results of the working of the railways of Australasia for the year 1888 :— • Capital Expenditure. Miles Work- ing. Under Con- struction. Results of Working. New South Wales . Victoria .... South Australia Queensland . West Australia . . Tasmania. . . . New Zealand . . £28,630,644 28,212,064 10,399,954 13,064,898 892,243 2,506,794 13,473,837 2,125 2,018 1,500 1,931 204 327 1,865 55 482 324 681 nil 114 163 -4- £930,937 -{- 1,003,030 4- 451,439 + 268,833 — 5,699 4- 13,293 + 350,570 £97,179,434 9,970 1,819 £3,012,503 These returns show an average return as interest on capital expended of as nearly as possible 3+ per cent. The railways of Victoria yield a profit of 3-89 per cent., those of New South Wales 3-06, of South Australia 3-23, while the net revenue in New Zealand is only 2-40 per cent. AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE. 105 The railways of Australia have not as a general rule been constructed on any system, and each colony has con- structed one and in some cases two gauges, which differ from those adopted by their neighbours. The only impor- tant intercolonial line is that which stretches from Adelaide in South Australia to Melbourne, Victoria, Sydney, New South Wales, and finally terminates at Brisbane, Queens- land. With a few exceptions, those of the railway from Moama to Deniliquin, from Silverton and Broken Hill to the South Australian border, and some short lines in the last-mentioned colony, all the railways in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland have either been constructed or have been purchased by the State, and the Government of Tasmania has recently arranged for the purchase of the only private line in that colony, which runs from Hobart to Launceston. Some of- the West Australian railways have been conducted on the land grant system; several small and one large railway in New Zealand have been constructed by private enterprise, but the greater number belong to the State. The railways of Victoria, New South Wales, South Aus- tralia, and Western Australia centre in their respective capitals. In New Zealand every port of any importance is a railway centre, and in Queensland the three principal ports are the termini of railways running into the interior. Fuller details of the various railways will be given under the head of the colony to which each system belongs. The length of railways open in 1889 was 11,216 miles, and nearly 3,000 miles were in course of construction. Australian Defence. Each Australian colony has made considerable efforts to place itself in a position of effectual defence against foreign aggression. Sydney, Port Phillip, and Auckland are thoroughly fortified, and most of the Australasian ports are fairly well defended. Sydney is a first-class naval station, the headquarters of the British fleet in Austral- asia. In 1889 there were eleven imperial war-vessels in the Australasian command. By the Australasian Naval Force Act a fleet of five fast cruisers, each of 2,575 tons 106 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. displacement, and 7,500 horse-power, and two torpedo- boats of the most improved modern build, each of 735 tons and 4,500 horse-power, are to be equipped for the Austral- asian seas. An agreement which has been entered into for a period of ten years, afterwards terminable by two years' notice, provides that the vessels shall be built by the British Government, and that those of the Australian colonies which are parties to the agreement shall pay interest at the rate of 5 per cent. on the original cost and all costs of maintenance. Upon the termination of the agreement the vessels will remain the property of the British Government. One of these vessels was launched during 1890. Victoria has a small fleet of her own, consisting of nine ships and torpedo-boats, manned by 238 sailors, and a naval reserve of 382 officers and men, with eighty-eight guns. New South Wales has a naval force of 300 paid men and 220 volunteers. Queensland has five armed vessels, carrying eight guns. The land forces of the Austra- lian colonies are as follows, embracing all arms of the service:—New South Wales—regulars, 573; volunteers, 6,618; total, 7,191. Victoria—regulars, 329; militia, 3,340; volunteers, 5,591; total, 9,260, with 174 guns. South Australia—regulars, 43; militia, 1,577; volunteers, 1,482; total, 3,042. New Zealand—regulars, 340; volun- teers, 8,064; total, 8,404. Queensland—regulars, 192; militia, 2,440; volunteers, 3,764; total, 6,396. Tasmania —volunteers, 1,459. Western Australia—volunteers, 580. Grand total, 36,332 officers and men. Australasian Federation. By the "Federal Council Act of Australasia, 1885" (48 & 49 Vict. cap. 69), a Federal Council of Australasia was constituted for the purpose of dealing with such mat- ters of common Australasian interest, in respect to which united action is desirable, as can be dealt with without unduly interfering with the management of the internal affairs of the several colonies by their respective Legisla- tures. The Council was to have legislative authority in respect to the several matters following:— AUSTRALASIAN FEDERATION. 107 (a) The relations of Australasia with. the islands of the Pacific: (i) Prevention of the influx of criminals: (c) Fisheries in Australasian waters beyond territorial limits: (d) The service of civil process of the courts of any colony within Her Majesty's possessions in Australasia, out of the jurisdiction of the colony in which it is issued: (e) The enforcement of judgments of courts of law of any colony beyond the limits of the colony: (/) The enforcement of criminal process beyond the limits of the colony in which it is issued, and the extradition of offenders (including de- serters of wives and children and deserters from the Impe- rial or colonial naval or military forces): (y) The custody of offenders on board ships belonging to Her Majesty's Colonial Government beyond territorial limits: (h) Any matter which at the request of the Legislatures of the Co- lonies Her Majesty by Order in Council shall think fit to refer to the Council: (i) Such of the following matters as might be referred to the Council by the Legislatures of any two or more colonies, that is to say—general defences, quarantine, patents of invention and discovery, copyright, bills of exchange and promissory notes, uniformity of weights and measures, recognition in other colonies of any marriage or divorce duly solemnized or decreed in any colony, naturalisation of aliens, status of corporations and joint stock companies in other colonies than that in which they have been constituted; and any other matter of ge- neral Australasian interest with respect to which the Legis- latures of the several colonies could legislate within their own limits and as to which it would be deemed desirable that there should be a law of general application: Pro- vided that in such cases the Acts of the Council shall extend only to the colonies by whose Legislatures the matter shall have been so referred to it, and such other colonies as may afterwards adopt the same. Every Bill in respect of the matters marked (a) (b) or (c) had, unless previously approved by Her Majesty through one of Her Principal Secretaries of State, to be reserved for the signification of Her Majesty's pleasure. "The Governors of any two or more of the colonies may, upon an address of the Legislatures of such colonies, refer for the consideration and determination of the Council any 108 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. questions relating to those colonies or their relations with one another, and the Council shall thereupon have authority to consider and determine by Act of Council the matters so referred to it. "Every Bill passed by the Council shall be presented for Her Majesty's assent to the Governor of the colony in which the Council shall be sitting, who shall declare, according to his discretion, but subject to the provisions of this Act and to Her Majesty's instructions, either that he assents thereto in Her Majesty's name, or that he with- holds such assent, or that he reserves the Bill for the sig- nification of Her Majesty's pleasure, or that he will be prepared to assent thereto subject to certain amendments to be specified by him." The federal union of the Australasian Colonies was only partially accomplished by the appointment of a Council, representing the colonies of Victoria, Queensland, South Australia (joined 1889), Tasmania, Western Australia, and Fiji; the colonies of New South Wales and New Zea- land having up to 1889 taken no steps to join the Union. The Council held meetings in 1886, 1888, and 1889. The Federal Council did not meet in 1890. Instead, a conference of representatives of the Australian Colonies met in Melbourne in February, 1890, for the purpose of considering a scheme of Australasian Federation and Fede- ral Defence. The colonies represented were Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, New Zealand, Tasmania, and Western Australia. A resolution was adopted, declaring that the time had come for the Union of the Australian Colonies under the Government. Pro- vision was made for the admission into the Union of the more remote Australasian Colonies, at such times and under such conditions as might thereafter be agreed upon. The following motions were adopted :— (1) That members of the Conference should take the steps necessary to induce the Legislatures of their respec- tive colonies to appoint, during the present year, delegates to a national Australasian Convention empowered to con- sider and report upon an adequate scheme for the Federal Constitution. (2) That this Convention should consist of not more than seven members from each self-governing THE PUBLIC LANDS OF AUSTRALASIA. 109 colony, and not more than four from each Crown colony. The Conference unanimously adopted the following address to the Queen :— "We, your Majesty's loyal and dutiful subjects, mem- bers of a Conference assembled at Melbourne to consider the question of creating for Australasia one Federal Government, and representing the Australasian colonies, desire to approach your Most Gracious Majesty with renewed expressions of our devoted attachment to your Majesty's throne and person. On behalf of your Majesty's subjects throughout Australasia, we beg to express our fervent hope that your Majesty's life may be long spared to reign over a prosperous and happy people. We most respectfully inform your Majesty that after mature delibe- ration we have unanimously agreed to the following resolutions." (Here follow the above resolutions.) The Conference then resolved that the Premier of Vic- toria should be empowered to convene a Convention, which will probably meet early this year. The Public Lands of Australasia. The following abstract is from Mr. Hayfcer's "Handbook of Victoria" for 1889 :— "The laws and regulations under which land for agri- cultural purposes passes from the Crown into the hands of private individuals differ in the various Australasian colo- nies. In almost all, however, provision is made for any person of eighteen years of age or over, and not a married woman, desirous of settling on the land to select a certain limited area, and to pay the purchase-money by instal- ments, the compliance with certain conditions of residence and improvement being also required before the selector becomes entitled to a Crown grant. The principal features of this portion of each system, corrected to date, is detailed under nine heads in the following table:— 110 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. Conditions of Laud Selection in Australasian Colonies, 1888-9. Queensland. alia. outh M A 'a ealani Conditions of selections. ■ to .Western Australia. .2 13 a < Victor New S Wales O South. Tasma NewZ 1. Maximum area allowed wl Other selecti Acres .... 320 640 & 160 320 to 1,000 320 640 2,560 1,280 2. Price per acre . £1 £1 2s. 6d. £1 10s. £1 10s. to 3. Time over which purchase upwards £2 may extend . Years 20 33 5 20 14 14 4. Minimum time in which fee-simple may be acquired Years 6 5 5 10 6 5 .any time 6 5. Annual payment per acre G. Value of necessary im- Is. Is. 63. 63. 2s. 6d.to 4s. provements per acre. 20s. 10s. 10s. Fencing Fenc- 10s. & 20s. ing. Fenc- 7. Time allowed for making ing improvements . Years G 5 5 5 5 20 6 8. Acres in every 100 to be cultivated 10 20 9. Period of residence neces- sary . . . Years 5 5 5 5 14 6 "In Victoria the land is taken up in the first instance in blocks not exceeding 1,000 acres, underlease for a term not exceeding 14 years, at a rental of from 2d. to 4d. per acre, out of which leasehold a 'selection,' not exceeding 320 acres, may be taken up under the conditions named in the preceding table. "In New South Wales a territorial division of the colony is made into three zones, viz., the eastern, the central, and the western division. The maximum area allowed in the eastern division is 640, and in the central 2,560 acres. In addition to the selection, a leasehold of an additional area, limited to three times that of the selection (the area of the selection and lease together not to exceed 1,280 acres in the eastern, or 2,560 acres in the central division), may be granted to the selector at an annual rental of not less than 2d. per acre, with the right of conditional purchase after five years' tenure. The price per acre does not include nterest, for which 4 per cent. per annum is charged and collected out of the annual instalments paid. The first THE PUBLIC LANDS OF AUSTRALASIA. Ill payment is 2s. per acre in advance, with an interval of three years before the next instalment of Is. is payable. "In Queensland, within the limits named in the table, the maximum area allowed to be selected may be varied in any district by the Government. In that colony the system of leasing has partly supplanted that of alienating the fee- simple of the land by means of deferred payments. The selector first occupies the land under licence, at an annual rental of not less than 3d. per acre, and subsequently, if the condition as to fencing (or improvements of equal value) has been complied with, may obtain a lease for 50 years; the annual rental for the first 10 years being not less than 3d. per acre, but for every succeeding period of 5 years to be fixed by the Land Board. The selector has the right to purchase at not less than 20s. per acre, within 12 years from the date of granting of the lease, during the currency of which personal residence is compulsory. The foregoing remarks relate to agricultural farms; in the case of grazing farms, leases are granted for 30 years at a minimum rental of fd. per acre per annum for the first 10 years, but liable to be increased every subsequent 5 years. "In South Australia credit selection was abolished by the Crown Lands Act 1888, and in lieu thereof "leases with right to purchase" are now issued for periods of 21 years at certain gazetted rentals, with right of renewal for a further period of 21 years at freshly assessed rentals. The right to purchase may be exercised at any time after the first six years, at a price fixed by the Land Board of not less than 5s. per acre. The following account of the new system has been kindly furnished for this work by Mr. G. W. Wright, Secretary for Crown Lands, South Australia:— "'On the passing of the Crown Lands Act of 1888, the system of Credit Selection was abolished, and the follow- ing mode of obtaining land introduced. Crown Lands can be taken up on leases, with right of purchase or perpetual leases. Small blocks, not exceeding 20 acres in area, for working men, are also taken up on leases with right of purchase, or on perpetual leases. The province has been divided into four land districts, and a Land Board appointed for each, by which the lands are classified and allotted, and 112 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. the rents and prices fixed, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Crown Lands. Lands are gazetted open to lease at rents and prices fixed, and applications for same, accompanied by a deposit of 20 per cent. of the first year's rent, are made to the Commissioner, who refers them to the Land Boards for the districts in which the lands applied for are situated. Upon the successful applicants receiving their leases for signature, they are to forward the balance of the first year's rent and the lease fees to the Land Office. Leases with a right of purchase are allotted for a term of twenty-one years, with a right of renewal for a further term of twenty-one years, and with a right of purchase exercisable at any time after the first six years of the term, at the price fixed by the Land Board, the minimum price being 5s. per acre. The annual rent for the first term of twenty-one years is as gazetted, and the annual rent for the renewed term will be fixed by the Land Board at least twelve months before the expiration of the first term. Per- petual leases will be revalued every fourteen years. The rent for the first fourteen years is as gazetted, and for sub- sequent terms of fourteen years will be fixed by the Land Board at least twelve months before the expiration of every period of fourteen years. The lands allotted are to be fenced within five years from the date of lease, and in the case of working men's blocks the condition of personal residence by the lessee, or any member of his family, is enforced.' "In Western Australia, the particulars given in the table relate to the South-Western (or Home) District only. In the five other land divisions of the colony, land may be taken up in specially declared areas only by non-resident selectors in areas of from 100 to 5,000 acres at not less than 10s. per acre payable in ten yearly instalments, the condi- tions required being fencing and the expenditure on im- provements of an amount equal to purchase - money. Besides selections under the system of deferred payments, with residence, in the south-west division selections may be made, without residence, by paying double the amount of purchase-money, i.e., Is. per acre per annum, the other conditions remaining the same, and there is also a method of selecting land by direct payment under certain conditions, THE PUBLIC LANDS OF AUSTRALASIA. 113 the extent of a selection being limited to 1,000 acres in a declared area, and to 5,000 acres outside such area, at a price of not less than 10s. per acre; the conditions being fencing within three years, and an expenditure of 5s. per acre on improvements within seven years from date of sur- vey. Moreover, pastoral lessees, excepting those in the eastern division, have the privilege of selecting a certain proportion of their leasehold adjoining the homestead prior to the 1st March, 1892, under similar conditions, except in regard to residence, as in the case of other selectors in the respective districts; thus, in the south-western division the proportion allowed to be selected is 5 per cent. with a maxi- . mum of 3,000 acres, and in the other divisions, excepting the eastern, 1 per cent. with a maximum of 5,000 acres; pro- vided also, in the latter case, the runs are stocked with ten sheep or one head of large stock to every 1,000 acres leased. "In Tasmania 33J per cent. is added to the price named in the table (£1 per acre) as interest for the period of fourteen years. "In New Zealand, the price per acre varies with the quality of the land. There is besides a system of 'per- petual leasing' in that colony, under which as much as 640 acres may be leased at an annual rental equal to 5 per cent. of the value of the land. The first lease is for thirty years, with the option of renewal for succeeding periods of twenty-one years, the rent being assessed afresh at each renewal. The lessee may acquire the freehold at any time after the required improvements are effected, if the land is not within a proclaimed gold-field. The conditions as regards residence and improvement are the same as under the deferred payment system. The 'homestead system' is also in force throughout the colony to a limit of 30,000 acres in one year. Under this system no payment is made for the land. After five years' residence and the cultivation of one-third of the selection if open land, and one-fifth if bush land, the selector can claim his Crown grant. No family or household can hold more than 200 acres of first-class land or 300 acres of second-class land under this system. In the ease of bush land personal residence is not necessary." The various colonies will be described in the order of their settlement. H NEW SOUTH WALES. The history of New South Wales, up to the year 1850, in which year Victoria was separated from the mother- colony, is given under the head of "Australasia." Gold was first discovered by Edward Hammond Hargreaves in May, 1851, and at the end of June the first shipment of gold, to the value of £3,500, was made. This discovery made an important change in the position of the colony. The Order-in-Council making New South Wales a place to which convicts could be sent was revoked during the same year. The first mail steamer from England arrived in August, 1852, and in 1853 a branch of the Royal Mint was established at Sydney. The new Constitution Bill was passed during the same year, and provided for two deliberative chambers—the Assembly to be elective, the Council nominated—and for the responsibility of the Execu- tive to the Legislature. The Sydney University, founded in 1850, was enlarged in 1854. Sir Charles Fitzroy, who was Governor at the time of the discovery of gold, left in 1855, and was succeeded by Sir William Denison, under whose regime steady progress continued to be made, although for some years the superior richness of the gold- fields of Victoria somewhat overshadowed New South Wales. The first railway in New South Wales, from Syd- ney to Parramatta, was opened in September, 1855, and in 1856, the first responsible Government in Australia was formed, Mr. Stuart Alexander Donaldson being Chief Secretary and Premier. His administration was very short- lived, and the experiment of transporting responsible government, modelled upon the British plan, to the Anti- podes was not immediately successful. Ministry succeeded NEW SOUTH WALES. 115 ministry at very short intervals, and it was some years before constitutional 'government was firmly established. A census, taken at the end of 1857, showed that the popu- lation of Sydney, including the suburbs, was 81,327; the number of horses in the colony was 180,000; cattle, 2,148,700; and sheep, 8,139,000. The powers of the new Parliament were devoted to still further popularising repre- sentative institutions. Vote by ballot was introduced; the number of representatives in the Assembly was increased to 80; and the franchise was extended to every adult male of six months' residence in any electorate. Telegraphic communication was established between Sydney, Mel- bourne, Adelaide, and Tasmania in 185$, and in the fol- lowing year the Moreton Bay district separated from New South Wales and became the colony of Queensland. Sir William Denison left New South Wales in 1861, and was shortly afterwards succeeded by Sir John Young, afterwards Lord Lisgar. During the rigime of this Gover- nor several important events occurred. The land-policy of previous Governments was entirely reversed, and the Land Bill introduced by Mr., now Sir, John Robertson gave facilities for persons with small means settling upon the Crown lands. This Land Bill, passed with great difficulty, and only by bringing considerable pressure to bear upon the nominated Council, was the outcome of a lengthened agitation throughout the Australian colonies, and was fol- lowed by similar measures in all of them. It was also during the governorship of Sir John Young that the dis- tinction between the despendants of convicts and the descendants of free settlers, hitherto maintained with great jealousy, finally ceased. In 1862 the agitation against the Chinese assumed importance, and the attitude assumed by the miners at Lambing Plat was so threatening that a large force of military and police was dispatched to that gold-field in order to profect the Chinamen from ill- treatment by the miners. The railways were gradually extended, and the condition of the country roads Was im- proved. The only reverse to the general progress and prosperity of the country was the large increase in bush- ranging, or robbery accompanied with violence in the country districts. This crime, originally confined to run- 116 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. away convicts, was now practised by young men born in the colony, familiar with the mountains and forests, good horsemen and excellent shots. It was not until a large number of lives had bee n sacrificed on both sides, andmany bushrangers brought to the scaffold, that the offence was thoroughly stamped out in New South Wales, only to reappear some years afterwards in Victoria under somewhat similar circumstances. The imports for 1863 were valued at £8,319,576; the exports were, £6,936,839; the revenue, £1,550,047, and the expenditure, £2,064,299. The Earl of Belmore became Governor in 1868, and it was during his first year of office that H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh paid a visit to Sydney in command of the Galatea. An attempt upon his life, made during a picnic at Clontarf, caused great excitement throughout Australia. A measure which virtually threw primary education open to all classes, passed in 1866, was now in full operation. A census taken in 1871 showed that the population was 503,981. During the same year the revenue was £2,908,155; the expenditure, £3,006,576; value of imports, £9,609,508; exports £11,245,032. Before Lord Belmore left the colony ho opened the Great Northern Railway, which starting from Newcastle now extends to the Queensland Border, as far as Scone, a distance of 96 miles. Sir Hercules Robinson was sworn in as Governor in 1872. During his rule, which lasted till 1879, the Fiji Islands became portion of the British Empire; telegraphic communication with England and mail communication with the United States were established; and the long series of political struggles which prevented any adminis- tration remaining in office long enough to develop its policy was brought to an end by a coalition between Mr. Parkes and Mr. Robertson, both of whom were shortly afterwards raised to the dignity of K.C.M.G. Lord Augustus Loftus became Governor in 1879, in time to inaugurate the first International Exhibition ever held in Australia. The census taken the following year gave the population of the colony at 751,468, of which number 411,149 were males and 340,319 females. The railway to Melbourne was completed in 1880. In 1883 valuable deposits of silver were proved to exist on the PHYSICAL FEATURES. 117 .western frontier of New South Wales, but much neater Adelaide than Sydney. These discoveries at Silverton and Broken Hill have done much to increase the wealth of Australia. In 1885, the late Hon. W. B. Dalley, who was the acting Premier during the absence through ill-health of Sir Alexander Stuart, made the memorable offer of a contingent of the New South Wales armed forces to aid the Imperial troops in the Soudan. The offer was accepted, and the contingent left Sydney on March 3, 1885, on board the troopships Iberia and Australasian. In July of the same year Dr. Moran, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, became the first Australasian Cardinal. Lord Carrington was appointed Governor in December, 1885, and one of the events of his regime was opening rail- way communication to Queensland in 1888. The centenary of the colony was celebrated with great enthusiasm during the same year. The agitation against the influx of the Chinese became intense, and the Government, in order to prevent their ill treatment, prohibited the Chinese pas- sengers of four ships from landing. Subsequently laws were passed which have practically prohibited the immi- gration of Chinese. Towards the close of 1889, the Premier, Sir Henry Parkes, gave in his adhesion to the movement for Australasian federation, and New South Wales was represented at the Conference held at Melbourne in the beginning of 1890. Lord Jersey has been appointed Governor of New South Wales, and will assume office early in 1891. Physical Features. New South Wales, the oldest of the Australian colonies, and having a superficial area of 309,175 square miles, is bounded on the south by Victoria, the west by South Aus- tralia, the north by Queensland, and the east by the South Pacific Ocean. With a coast line of about 800 miles, from Point Danger in the north, in lat. 28° 7' S., extending south- wards to Cape Howe, in lat. 37° 28' S., and long. 150° 8' E., the colony is thence separated from Victoria by an imagi- nary line and by the River Murray as far west as the H1st 118 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. meridian, which latter then forms the western division from South Australia until the 29th parallel of latitude is reached. The northern frontier consists of the 29th parallel to the Macintyre River—this river, the River Dumaresq, and that spur of the Great Dividing Range which meets the coast in lat. 28° 7' S. The greatest length of the colony is 900 miles, the greatest breadth about 850 miles, the mean breadth being 600 miles. The principal ports arid harbours, commencing at the most northern, are the Tweed, Richmond, and Clarence Rivers, Port Macquarie, the Manning River, Port Stephens, Port Hunter, Broken Bay, Port Jackson, Port Hacking, Wollongong, Kiama, Shoalhaven, Jervis Bay, Bateman's Bay, and Twofold Bay. The more important capes are Point Danger, Cape Byron, Lennox Head, Smoky Cape, Cape Hawke, Sugarloaf Point, Point Stephens, Crocodile Head, Cape St. George, Green Cape, and Cape Howe. The Great Dividing Range of mountains runs parallel to the coast at a varying distance of 30 to 100 miles, and furnishes the sources of almost all the rivers watering the colony, besides dividing it into three distinct parts: the coast districts, or all the country to the eastward of the range; the mountain district, consisting of rich and fertile table-lands of red and chocolate-coloured loam; and the Great Western districts, vast rolling plains of saltbush— the soil of which is also of a loamy nature. The loftiest elevation of this range is Mount Kosciusko, 7,176 feet. Besides this chain of mountains, there are the coast ranges, of which Mount Coolungera, 3,712 feet, is the highest point, the interior ranges (highest elevation, Mount Arrow- smith, 2,000 feet), and solitary mountains, the loftiest of which rears its head 2,900 feet. All the rivers of any importance flow from the western watershed, trending southward and westward in their course. The Murray River rises in the south-eastern corner of the colony, and has a length of 1,120 miles in New South Wales, finally emptying itself into the ocean on the South Australian coast. The Murrumbidgee River, rising some little distance north of the source of the Murray, is about 1,350 miles in length, and flows into the latter near PHYSICAL FEATURES. 119 Balranald, after union with theLachlan River, which rises in the Dividing Range between lat.34° and 35° S., and is 700 miles long. The Darling River, springing from the moun- tains in Queensland, joins the Murray at Went worth, after a south-westerly course of 1,160 miles. The principal affluents of the Darling are the Mclntyre, the Gwydir, the Naomi, the Oastlereagh, the Macquarie, and the Bogan. The coast districts are watered by fourteen rivers from the main range, the principal of which are the Clarence, 240 miles in length; the Manning, 100 miles ; the Hunter, 300 miles; the Hawkesbury, or Nepean, 330 miles, from which the water supply to Sydney is now obtained; and the Shoal- haven, 260 miles. Of lakes. the largest in the Colony is Lake George, 25 miles long by 8 miles in width, situate about 25 miles south- west of Goulburn, and the next in size, Lake Bathurst, 8 miles square in area, is about 10 miles distant from the larger lake. The waters of both are saline. Owing to the vast extent and diversity of elevation of the Colony, the temperature varies from the coldest to be met with in the British Isles, to the genial warmth of the Mediterranean, and choice may be made of a climate— either dry or moist, hot or cold. Whilst the mountains during the winter are clothed with snow, which occasionally carpets the highlands of the elevated plains, Sydney has not been visited with a fall of snow since 1836, although slight frosts are usual in the winter at nights; while the neighbourhood of the Clarence enjoys a moist and balmy atmosphere, suggestive of tropic lands. Speaking generally, it may be said that the country be- tween the Dividing Range and the sea is warm and humid, that the country in the neighbourhood of the mountains is cool and supplied with a sufficient rainfall, and that the plains of the interior and the banks of the great rivers are warm and dry. The mean temperature of Sydney on the coast is 63° 6', the mean temperature of the hottest month being 79° and of the coldest 47° 3'. Newcastle, also on the coast, is slightly warmer, while at Grafton, on the Clarence River, the mean of the highest month is 96° 4', and of the coldest 42° 5'. At Mount Victoria, in the Blue Mountains, the mean of the highest month is 85° 5' and of the lowest 120 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. 35°. At Bathurst, which has an elevation of 2,153 feet above sea-level, the highest point reached is 92° and the lowest 33°. At Wentworth, on the junction of the Murray and the Darling, the figures are 93° and 37° 4', while at Bourke, on the Darling, the mean of the hottest month is 104° and of the coldest month 41°. The annual rainfall, which at Sydney is 57 inches and at Port Macquarie 58-50, is at Wentworth and Port Bourke 19-7, and at Wileannia only 14 inches. Fauna. The fauna of New South Wales, as represented by the kangaroo and platypus, has excited the. attention of the scientific world from the time of Captain Cook, these and many other forms of Australian animal life being quite different from those found in other parts of the world. The kangaroo is found in most parts of the colony, and in many places in such numbers as to cause serious losses to squatters, by their eating the herbage, to the disadvantage of the sheep and cattle. Wallabies, paddy-melons, and kangaroo rats are smaller members of the family, and—with the bandicoot, native bear, native cat, opossum, and wombat —have their habitat in the country districts. The ornitho- rhynchus paradoxus, or platypus, is met with principally by the banks of rivers and streams. Scientists have experi- enced difficulty in classifying several of the Australian animals, and the species to which some of them belong were thought by geologists to have become extinct long ago. Many of the birds are as strange and interesting as are the' animals. An eminent naturalist has reckoned that there are 690 distinct species of birds in Australia, being more than the number found in Europe, and nearly as many as inhabit and visit North America. In Gould's work on the " Birds of Australia " are figured many of the most beautiful kinds inhabiting the continent, such as the para- dise-bird, lyre-bird, mound-builder, and a large number of parrots and pigeons. The latter are extremely numerous in the woods, many of the parrots having an exceedingly beautiful plumage, whilst members of the eagle family are to be seen in different parts of the interior. The emu, the PASTORAL. 121 largest feathered biped in the colony, is now only to be found on the western plains. The lyre and the bower birds, the great kingfisher or laughing jackass, and many others, are also natives of the colony. There are great numbers of snakes (the death-adder being the most dan- gerous to human life) and lizards—the iguana being the largest of the species. Fatal injury from snakebite is, however, seldom reported, these reptiles being of a timid nature, and using their fangs only when attacked or injured. The coast and mouths of the rivers swarm with many varieties of edible fish, the principal of which are the bream, mullet, jewfish, kingfisn, whiting, schnapper, tara- glin, flathead, mackerel, and garfish; whilst the oyster- beds of the Hunter, Clarence, Cook's, Clyde, and other rivers offer a plentiful supply of the succulent bivalves. Prawns, lobsters, crabs, and other kinds of shell-fish are also abundant. Pastoral. The immense inland districts, stretching from the various mountain ranges to the western and north-western limit, are those in which the great pastoral runs are for the most part found, those being specially favoured which are watered by the River Darling and its tributaries. This saltbush country consists of red, loamy plains, destitute of timber, except in those parts which are liable to floods in winter. These plains are the feeding grounds of millions of sheep and other live-stock, and during the shearing season enormous quantities of wool are sent to Sydney and other ports for shipment to Europe and elsewhere. Agrictjltttoe. Por agricultural purposes the soil of New South Wales cannot be surpassed. The district forming the northern portion of the colony is watered by three rivers—the Tweed, Richmond, and Clarence—with an area approach- ing 4,000,000 acres, and is pronounced by competent authorities to be generally suitable for the cultivation of maize, sugar, the vine, silk, cotton, arrowroot, coffee, tea, and 122 GUIDE TO AUSTRALASIA. semi-tropical fruits of nearly every kind. Maize and sugar are very largely grown. Proceeding southwards we have the districts watered by the Bellinger, Macleay, Hastings, and Manning, the whole forming an area of 3,000,000 acres adapted for maize and sugar. Lower down is the Hunter River. On the lower portion corn and lucerne hay are grown in large quantities, while on the upper the vine and most cereals thrive. In the county of Cumber- land, on the alluvial flats of the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers, the principal crops are hay and corn. Once wheat was the chief crop, but in this, the metropolitan county, dairying has naturally become more profitable. From the Hlawarra district, great in dairy produce, down to the southern boundary, a length of about 200 miles, the coast may be said to abound in fertile land adapted for dairy farms. Turning to the mountainous country, in the Great Dividing Range, are found the high lands of Monaro, Braid- wood, Bungendore, Yass, and Goulburn, with an area of about 15,000,000 acres, in a climate with a temperature resembling that of England. Over this wide surface, wheat and all English cereals, fruits, and vegetables thrive. On the table-lands of New England and Tenterfield, about 3,000 feet above the sea, the English climate, shorn of its severity, is again met with. Here there is an area of about 14,000,000 acres, suited to English cereals and fruits. The western slopes of this Great Dividing Range, for a breadth of from 100 to 150 miles, are suitable for wheat and the vine. A very large part of the territory is splendidly adapted for the vine and the silk industry, the mulberry- tree thriving everywhere throughout the colony, some parts of which favour the growth of the olive, cinchona, indigo, and rice. Geological Formation. The mountain ridges and table-lands of the colony con- sist mainly of the older palaeozoic formations, pierced and rent by intrusive igneous rocks of various ages. The older settled districts of the east coast lie mostly on rocks of the carboniferous formations, or on newer deposits of the mesozoic age; while the great western plains and MINERALS. 123 valleys are almost wholly of tertiary sandstone or more recent deposits, with intervening areas covered by over- flows of igneous trap rock. The oldest sedimentary rocks are silurian, consisting of crystalline sandstones and lime- stones. Granite rocks of various kinds are abundant, while syenite forms the summit of Kosciusko, the highest mountain in Australia. Gold occurs iu granite, and the tin of New England is all derived from the same stone. The carboniferous rocks cover an immense area, and are largely coal-bearing, so that the coal-fields of the colony are among the most extensive in the world. Petroleum oil and cannel coal are also obtained from the carboniferous rocks. The secondary formation is scantily represented by small patches of trias at the Clarence River, and by small coal-bearing beds near Parramatta. Tertiary deposits are almost unknown in the east, while to the west of the Divid- ing Range, they cover enormous areas. There are also immense deposits of sands, gravels, marls, and clays, of late tertiary or post-tertiary age, whilst, more recent still, are the deposits of drifts and boulders, with the red earth deposited in caves. Igneous rocks occur abundantly, and of all ages, from the basalt of the palaeozoic formation to the product of volcanoes of post-tertiary age. In the southern part of the Dividing Range columnar basalt is abundant, and is found as high as 500 feet above the sea. Greenstone dykes cut through granite at Naas Valley, and alter sandstone to quartzite at Mount Tennant. Trachyte crowns the summit of Mount Lindesay. Igneous dykes at Illawarra, Murrurundi, and other places have changed coal into coke. Great outflows of basalt occur at most of the gold-fields. Minerals. Almost every description of mineral wealth is to be found in the colony, and, indeed, some kinds seem to be practically inexhaustible. The late Rev. W. B. Clarke, one of the highest of mineralogical authorities, wrote respecting the mineral wealth of New South Wales :—"It is not too much to say that no sooner are we off the carbo- niferous areas rich in coal and its associated minerals, than we are in a region in which are tracts where gold, copper, 124 GUIDE TO AT7STBALASIA. and lead abound. And, passing from the sedimentary to plutonic rocks, we can discover granites which, however barren externally, are within frequently charged with the valuable ore of tin. So that the three great geological divisions of our colony are replete