In modern geography, the fifth great division of the earth's surface.

The learned and intelligent President de Brosses was the first writer who suggested that all the lands and islands in the Austral world should be divided into three portions, corresponding with the three great oceans, the Indian or Ethiopic, the Atlantic, and the Pacific; those in the Indian Ocean and to the south of Asia to be named Australasia; those in the two Pacifics, from the multitude of islands, Polynesia (a name first used, we believe, by De Barros); and those in the Atlantic to the south of Cape Horn, and the Cape of Good Hope, Magallanica. The last, however, became unnecessary, as soon as it was ascertained that the Terra Australis incognita had no existence.

The two divisions of Australasia and Polynesia will be found to comprehend, with sufficient convenience, all those islands that cannot with propriety be referred to any of the four continents of the globe. Nor is there any difficulty in drawing a line of separation between these two divisions; though it is not quite so easy to mark the distinct boundary between the Australasian and the Asiatic islands, where they melt into each other, about the equator, at the N.W. extremity of Papua or New Guinea. In a geographical view, the small islands of Waygion, Salwatty, Batanta, Mysol, and Timorlaut, ought strictly to belong to Australasia; but peopled as they are by Asiatics of the Malay tribe, and under the influence of the Dutch settlements, it may perhaps be more proper, in a moral and political point of view, to consider them as belonging to the Asiatic Islands; more particularly as we shall then have all the Australasian population with very few exceptions, marked with more or less of the African or Negro character. But, in fact, all geographical divisions are and must be to a certain degree arbitrary.

If, then, we take the equator as the northern boundary from the 132° to the 175° of east longitude; continue a line on the latter meridian to the 55th parallel (bending a little to take in New Zealand) for the eastern; another line along the same parallel to the 65th degree of east longitude for Plate C. the southern; and a slanting line to the point on the equator from which we set out, so as to include Kerguelen's Land, and pass on the eastern sides of Timorlaut, Ceram, Mysol, and Salwatty, for the western boundary; those lines will circumscribe the whole of the Australasian islands. We have included the uninhabited islands of Kerguelen and St Paul and Amsterdam, because they cannot properly be considered as African islands, though arranged, we believe, under that division by Pinkerton; they are of less importance to geography than to geology.

Australasia, then, may be subdivided into the following groups and islands:

1. Australia, or New Holland. 2. Van Diemen's Land, or Tasmania. 3. New Guinea, and the Louisiade Archipelago. 4. New Britain, New Ireland, and neighbouring islands. 5. Solomon's Islands. 6. New Hebrides. 7. New Caledonia. 8. New Zealand, and isles to the southward. 9. Kerguelen's Islands, or Islands of Desolation. 10. St Paul and Amsterdam. 11. Numerous reefs and islets of coral scattered over the Australasian Sea.

I. The first attempt to explore this island, which, from its size, may be considered as the fifth continent of the earth, is unquestionably due to the Dutch; for although some part of the northern coast may have been seen by the early navigators of Spain and Portugal, there is no direct testimony in favour of such a discovery. There are two charts in the British Museum which belonged to the Harleian Collection; one French, without date, which was probably the original; and the other English, apparently a copy: the latter is dedicated to the king of England, and bears date 1542. In both of these charts is marked down an extensive tract of country to the southward of the Moluccas, under the name of Great Java, agreeing more nearly with the position and extent of New Holland than any other land. The form given to the N.W. part of the coast in these charts approaches nearest to the truth; a part, indeed, which may have been seen by those early navigators who visited the Moluccas long before the date of the English chart. It is a singular coincidence in geographical nomenclature, that, on the east coast of the French chart, something like a Botany Bay should be designated under the name of Coste des Herbages. The Abbé Prévost, in his Histoire Générale des Voyages, and the President de Brosses, in his Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes, are not very happy in advancing a claim in favour of Paulovier de Gonville, a French captain, to the discovery of this Terra Australis in 1504. It was the coast of Madagascar upon which Gonville was driven, as is evident by their own accounts.

The best and most authentic abstract of the Dutch discoveries on the coasts of New Holland is contained in the instructions given by the governor-general of Batavia to Commodore Abel Jansen Tasman, and published by Mr Dalrymple in his Collection concerning Papua. From this document it appears that the Dutch government of Bantam in 1605 despatched the Duyfken yacht to explore the islands of New Guinea. Returning to the southward along the islands on the northern side of Torres Strait, she came to that part of the Great South Land which is now called Cape York; but all these lands were then thought to be connected, and to form the southern coast of New Guinea. "Thus," says Captain Flinders, "without being conscious of it, the commander of the Duyfken made the first authenticated discovery of any part of the Great South Land, about the month of March 1606." About the same place, and in the same year, Torres, a Spanish navigator, being second in command to Fernandez de Quiros, saw the Terra Australis, but had as little knowledge of the nature of his discovery as the commander of the Duyfken. He passed the strait, however, which divides this Terra Australis from New Guinea, whose existence was not generally known till 1770, when it was rediscovered and passed by our great circumnavigator Captain Cook. Of this, and his other discoveries, Torres addressed an account to the king of Spain, and, as it afterwards appeared, had taken the precaution to lodge a copy of it in the archives of Manila; for, when that city was surrendered to the British forces in 1762, Mr Dalrymple snatched from oblivion this interesting document of early discovery, and, as a just tribute to the enterprising Spanish navigator, he gave to this passage the name of Torres Strait, by which it is now universally known.

In 1617 the Dutch sent a second expedition, but "with little success;" the journals of which were lost. In 1623, the yachts Pera and Arnhem were despatched from Amboyna, under the command of Jan Carstens, who, with eight of the Arnhem's crew, was treacherously murdered by the natives of New Guinea; but the vessels prosecuted the voyage, and discovered the great islands Arnhem and the Spuit. The Arnhem returned to Amboyna; the Pera persisted, and ran along the west coast of New Guinea, as they thought, but in reality New Holland, to Cape Keer-veer or Turnagain, and from thence explored the coast farther southward, as far as 17°, to Staten River. "In this discovery were found everywhere shallow water and barren coasts, islands altogether thinly peopled by divers cruel, poor, and brutal nations; and of very little use to the (Dutch East India) Company."

The next expedition sent by the Dutch was from Banda in 1636, when Gerrit Tomaz Pool proceeded with the yachts Klein-Amsterdam and Wesel, and nearly at the same place, on the coast of New Guinea, met the same fate which had befallen Carstens; but the supercargo, Pieterson, continued the voyage, and discovered the coast of Arnhem, or Van Diemen's Land, in 11° S., and sailed along the shore 120 miles, but without seeing any inhabitants.

Abel Jansen Tasman sailed on a second voyage of discovery from Batavia in 1644; but no account of this voyage was ever made public, nor is it known to exist. No chart bearing his name is now known, but there is little doubt that the N.W. coast of New Holland was first explored by him; and it is singular enough that Dampier should say he had Tasman's chart of it. Tasman is also supposed to have sailed round the Gulf of Carpentaria; an opinion which Captain Flinders considers to be strengthened, from the names of Tasman, of the governor-general, and of two of the council, who signed his instructions, being applied to places at the head of the gulf, as well as that of Maria, the governor's daughter, to whom Tasman is said to have been attached. Tasman had sailed, on a former voyage, from Batavia in 1642, for the Mauritius; whence steering south and eastward upon discovery, he fell in with land, to which he gave the name of Anthony Van Diemen's Land, in honour of the governor-general, "our master," he adds, "who sent us out to make discoveries."

The last voyage undertaken by the Dutch for the discovery of Terra Australis was in 1705, when three Dutch vessels were sent from Timor, "with orders to explore the north coast of New Holland better than it had been done before." The account, however, given by the President de Brosses is so vague and imperfect that very little satisfactory information is to be obtained from it. It is on the west coast that the Dutch appear to have been most successful. In Tasman's instructions it is stated, that "in the years 1616, 1618, 1619, and 1622, the west coast of this great unknown south land, from 35° to 22° south latitude, was discovered by outward-bound ships, and among them, by the ship Endragt." Dirk Hartog commanded this ship, and seems to have made the coast in latitude about 26° 30' S., and to have sailed northward along it to about 23°, giving the name of Landt van Endragt to the coast so discovered; and that of Dirk Hartog's Road (called afterwards Shark's Bay by Dampier) to an inlet on the coast a little to the southward of 25°. A plate of tin was found in 1697, and again seen by Baudin in 1801, on one of the islands which forms the roadstead, bearing an inscription that the ship Endragt of Amsterdam arrived there on the 25th October 1616. After this several outward-bound ships fell in by accident with different parts of this coast.

The Dutch made little progress in any other part of the extensive coasts of New Holland. The instructions to Tasman say, "In the year 1627 the south coast of the Great South Land was accidentally discovered by the ship the Guldee Zeepard, outward bound from Fatherland for the space of 1000 miles." From the circumstance of this ship having on board Pieter Nyuys, who was sent from Batavia as ambassador to Japan, and afterwards appointed governor of Formosa, the name of Nyuys' Land was given to this long range of coast.

The first English navigator who appears to have seen any part of New Holland is the celebrated William Dampier, who, in his buccaneering voyage round the world, in January 1686, touched at the N.W. coast, for the purposes of careening his vessel and procuring refreshments. He made the land in latitude 16° 15', and ran along the shore to the N.E. till he came to a bay or opening fit for the purpose. In 1699 Dampier a second time visited the north-western coast of this Terra Australis, being now legitimately employed in making discovery in His Majesty's ship the Roachuck. Of this part of the coast little more is yet known than what has been described by Dampier, and that little is due to the exploration of Captain King.

It was left for our celebrated navigator Captain Cook to complete the grand outline of the fifth continent of the world. The reign of George III. will ever be distinguished for the liberal principles on which voyages of discovery were undertaken, and their results communicated to the world. The Endeavour was fitted out to observe, at Tahiti, the transit of Venus over the sun's disk; on her return, in 1770, Captain, then Lieutenant Cook, explored the whole E. coast of the Terra Australis Incognita, from Cape Howe to Cape York, not minutely entering into the details of every part, which would have been impossible, but laying down a correct general outline. "He reaped," says Captain Flinders, "the harvest of discovery; but the gleanings of the field remained to be gathered." In his passage through Endeavour Strait, between Cape York and the Prince of Wales' Islands, he not only cleared up the doubt which till then existed, of the actual separation of Terra Australis from New Guinea, but, by his accurate observations, enabled geographers to assign something like a true place to the former discoveries of the Dutch in these parts.

In 1777 Captain Cook, in the Resolution and Discovery, visited Van Diemen's Land; but as Captain Furneaux, in His Majesty's ship Adventure, had preceded him four years, and Tasman and Marion had examined the coast, little was here supposed to remain for discovery, except in detail. It was long subsequent, to Furneaux's visit that Van Diemen's Land was ascertained to be an island; a discovery which may have been retarded by that officer having given an opinion "that there is no strait between New Holland and Van Diemen's Land, but a very deep bay." The existence of such a strait was, however, suspected; but the various attempts to ascertain it, without success, by different navigators from both sides of the coast, seemed to have decided the question in the negative, when Mr Bass, surgeon of the Reliance, having observed, as he ran down the E. coast in an open whale boat, that a heavy swell rolled in from the westward, was satisfied in his own mind that such a swell could proceed only from the great Southern Ocean. To ascertain whether this was the fact, was a point of great importance to the new colony on the eastern coast; and for this purpose Mr Flinders, together with Mr Bass, was sent on this service in a small decked boat. At the end of three months they returned to Port Jackson, with an interesting account of the survey of the coasts of Van Diemen's Land, which they had completely circumnavigated, and thus confirmed the conjecture of Mr Bass, whose name the strait deservedly bears.

The French are entitled to the honour of some partial discoveries on Terra Australis. Captain Marion, in the year 1772, was despatched from the Isle of France with two ships, the Mascarin and Marquis de Castris, on a voyage of discovery, one of the objects of which was that of the supposed southern continent. He touched at Van Diemen's Land, quarrelled with the natives, and finding no fresh water, and the weather being stormy, he set sail for New Zealand, having added very little to the prior discoveries of Tasman.

In the year 1792, Rear-Admiral D'Entrecasteaux, having been sent out with two ships, La Recherche and L'Espérance, in search of the unfortunate La Pérouse, made the S. coast of New Holland, which he explored as far as the Termination Island of Vancouver; the deficiencies of whose chart he was able to supply, by the state of the weather permitting him to keep the coast closer on board than the English navigator had been able to do. Termination Island was found to be the first of a large group laid down by Nyuys, whose accuracy is praised by the Admiral, he having found "the latitude of Point Leeuwin and of the coast of Nyuys' Land laid down with an exactness surprising for the remote period in which they had been discovered." This liberal acknowledgment did not, however, prevent him from giving to the group of islands, which he only saw, but did not survey, the name of Archipel de la Recherche. But the most important discovery of D'Entrecasteaux was an inlet on the S. coast of Van Diemen's Land, which was found to be the entrance into a fine navigable channel, running more than thirty miles to the northward, and there communicating with Storm Bay; containing a series of excellent harbours, or rather one continued harbour the whole way, from beginning to end. "The charts," says Captain Flinders, "of the bays, ports, and arms of the sea, at the S.E. end of Van Diemen's Land, constructed in this expedition by Messieurs Beautemps, Beaupré, and assistants, appear to combine scientific accuracy and minuteness of detail with an uncommon degree of neatness in the execution. They contain some of the finest specimens of marine surveying, perhaps, ever made in a new country."

In 1800 Captain Baudin was sent out with two armed vessels, Le Géographe and Le Naturaliste, on a voyage of discovery nominally round the world, but actually, as appears from his instructions, to examine every part of the coasts of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land. The first volume of the account of this voyage was published by M. Péron, one of the naturalists, in 1807; the second never appeared. All the old names of the capes, bays, inlets, and islands, were unblushingly changed to those of Napoleon, his family, his marshals, and members of the Institute; and to 900 leagues of the southern coast, comprehending all the discoveries of Nyuys, Vancouver, D'Entrecasteaux, Flinders, Bass, and Grant, was given the general name of Terre Napoleon, while not 50 leagues of real discovery were effected which had not been anticipated by Captain Flinders, who, after losing his ship, and proceeding homewards, was scandalously detained as a prisoner in the Isle of France, "to give time for the previous publication of the voyage of M. Baudin, to possess the world that it was to the French nation only the complete discovery and examination of the south coast of Australia was due."

Flinders, however, ultimately triumphed. After an unjust and cruel captivity of seven years, he arrived in England in 1810, and in 1814 published his discoveries in two volumes, accompanied with an atlas of charts, which may be regarded as models in maritime surveying. At this time not a single chart of coast, bay, or island, of Captain Baudin's discoveries had appeared, though shortly afterwards an atlas was published by Freycinet, the first lieutenant, differing in their form and structure very little from those of Captain Flinders, but bearing the names recorded in M. Péron's first volume. The frontispiece to this atlas affords an instance of that almost impious adulation which Buonaparte was in the habit of receiving from his creatures. An eye, having an N within it, darts its rays through a dark cloud overshadowing a globe with the southern pole uppermost, on which is drawn the outline of New Holland, with this inscription, "Fulget et ipsa."

To Captain Flinders we owe the completion in detail of the survey of the coasts of New Holland, with the exception of the W. and N.W. coasts, which he was prevented from accomplishing by the loss of his ship. To him also, we are indebted for the very appropriate name of "Australia," which is now universally adopted to designate the entire island-continent, instead of the old Dutch name of New Holland. Dampier had said, in anchoring near the south end of De Witt's Land, behind Rosemary Island, which was one of an extensive cluster, "by the tides I met with a while afterwards, I had a strong suspicion that there might be a kind of archipelago of islands, and a passage possibly to the S. of New Holland and New Guinea, into the Great South Sea eastward;" but whether it might be a channel or strait, or the mouth of a large river, he seems not to have made up his mind. Vlaming saw an opening 12 miles wide near the same place, and could find no anchorage. It has now been ascertained that there is no outlet into the Great Ocean eastward, nor into the Gulf of Carpentaria, nor into Bass Strait; but the geographical problem yet remains to be solved, whether the opening in the coast behind Rosemary Island be not the mouth of a large river. Le Géographe and Le Naturaliste, under Baudin, stood along this coast, examined in a very slovenly manner some particular points, but assisted geography less than they perplexed it, by unwarrantably changing every old name for that of some of the upstarts created by the French revolution.

In 1829, when the settlement at Swan River was effected under the governorship of Captain Stirling, R.N., it was expected that our knowledge of the harbours and rivers on the W. coast of Australia would be considerably enlarged. In this expectation, however, geographers were much disappointed, no naval discoveries of any importance having been accomplished under the auspices of the government. It was not until 1837 that the anchorages and harbours in the immediate vicinity of the settlement were correctly laid down; in which year detailed charts of the coast from King George's Sound to Melville Harbour were furnished to the colonial government by J.C. Wickham, commander of H.M.S. Beagle. That excellent officer was intrusted with the duty of conducting a minute survey of all the Australian coast which Flinders had left unsurveyed. He was succeeded in 1839 by Mr Stokes, who continued zealously employed in this important duty until 1843; assisted by a staff of meritorious and scientific officers. The result of their investigations was not only a considerable addition to natural history, but a complete topography of the bays and harbours on the N.W. and northern coasts; besides the important discovery of four rivers of considerable magnitude. The largest of these, the Victoria, flows into Cambridge Gulf in Lat. 16°, which Stokes explored towards its source for a distance of 140 miles. He also discovered in Torres Strait a safe channel through the inner passage, at the extreme N. of this vast territory; while at the extreme S. he rendered the charts of Bass's Straits safe for the mariner to navigate by, as those of the English Channel. Having circumnavigated the island, he and his predecessor left no harbour or estuary unsurveyed, which previous navigators had passed over; and doubtful positions of capes and other headlands they finally assigned to their correct latitudes and meridians upon the map. The detailed outline of the Australian coasts may now therefore be considered as complete, so far as maritime discovery is concerned. It is from the interior that we must look for further explorations of the many streams which are known to flow into the bays on its extensive shores.

For 25 years after the settlement was effected at Sydney, the Blue Mountains, which are visible from the heights around Exploration Port Jackson, formed the barrier to the government surveyors in their explorations to the westward. And it is a fact interior, which serves to illustrate the difficulties which beset the progress of the Australian explorer, even at the present day, that during this period all the country beyond the inlets and their ramifications on the coast, and the course of the Hawkesbury River in the interior,—a semicircular section of land about 50 miles across, and comprised within the present county of Cumberland,—was a complete terra incognita to the settlers. This range of mountains, which forms a section of the great Australian Cordillera, was at last surmounted by Mr Evans, a government surveyor, and a path found through the forest in 1813. This discovery led to the occupation of the pastoral lands to the westward; since known to all the world as the Bathurst gold-fields. Three enterprising colonists named Wentworth, Lawson, and Blaxland, were the first to occupy that region with their flocks and herds. They ascertained that it was not only better watered, and had more permanent running streams than the country on the eastern flank of the main range, but possessed a cooler climate, with richer alluvial soils, and was altogether better adapted for agricultural operations than the poor lands and warm climate nearer the coast. Forty years have since then elapsed; and not only has that western country become densely peopled on every side, and a road carried over the mountains, but even in the trackless wilds of the interior, intrepid men, braving all hardship and peril, have explored the recesses of this vast continent.

Of these explorations it will be necessary to give a brief abstract. In 1813 Mr Evans prosecuted two successful journeys across the Blue Mountains, to the distance of about 300 miles W. from Sydney. As he ascended the range towards the sources of the eastern streams, he came upon the Fish River, to which he gave its name in consequence of the great number of fish his party caught in it; and descending on the western shed of waters he traced the course of the Macquarie River through the Bathurst plains. He was surprised also to find fish of a large size resembling trout in this river, some weighing as much as fifteen pounds. On the plains, unusually large herds of kangaroos were met with, besides numbers of emus. Some aboriginal women and children whom he encountered, were so terrified at the appearance of the white men, that they fell down with fright. Governor Macquarie, who subsequently visited the plains, considered them an eligible site for a township and the centre of a district. He accordingly planned out the present town of Bathurst, by the banks of the river.

In May 1815 Mr Evans was despatched a second time Evans, across the Blue Mountains to follow the course of the Macquarie River still further into the interior. On this occasion he traced it for about 115 miles from its source, and then returned; reporting as his opinion that the river crossed the entire breadth of the island to its north-western extremity, a distance of 2200 miles in a straight line. This is an instance of the erroneous speculations of surveyors as to the course of unexplored streams, of which another example was lately given by Sir T. L. Mitchell, with regard to the Victoria. Had Mr Evans pursued his survey about as far again as he had gone, he would have found that his supposed Australian Mississippi lost itself entirely in a marshy plain.

In 1816 Mr Oxley the surveyor-general of the colony, Oxley, in penetrating into the interior across the Bathurst plains, in a S.W. direction, came upon a fine flowing stream which he named the Lachlan; and which has since been found to be one of the great tributaries of the Murray. He followed its course down to 34° S. Lat., and 145° 20' E. Long., and traversed the undulating prairie lands to the southward; besides exploring the western flank of the Peel range, or Cocopara Mountains. On his return in January 1817, he recrossed the river in Long. 147° 15' E., and encamped in Wellington valley, through which the Macquarie runs. From thence he traced that river down its course for about 190 miles, where he found it disappear in what is now termed the marshes of the Macquarie; although scarcely 20 miles before it terminates it is a clear flowing river 50 yards wide, and from 7 to 16 feet deep. Retracing his steps, Oxley struck right across the country in an easterly direction from Mount Harris, Lat. 31° S., until he reached the sea-coast. In this journey he encountered many obstacles; and at one time his progress was arrested by the dense vegetation, when he entered the impenetrable country on the western side of the great dividing range. He succeeded, however, in crossing to the eastern waters, when he came upon the Hastings River, which he traced to its outlet at Port Macquarie, about 200 miles N. from Port Jackson.

That part of the Bathurst country traversed by Evans and Oxley was but thinly peopled. The natives were the same as those of Sydney, but more docile; they wore their kangaroo and possum-skin rugs with the fur inside, indicating a colder region at that altitude, which averages about 1800 feet above the level of the sea. They exhibited the usual terror of savages at seeing a man on horseback for the first time, imagining Mr Evans and his horse to be one animal. Beyond Bathurst plains, the country was even superior to that first explored. The grassy undulating downs showed a fertile soil; while the kangaroos and emus flocked in hundreds over the sward. A saccharine exudation from the trees, resembling manna, attracted Mr Evans's attention. He also passed mountains composed entirely of blue limestone, and picked up topazes, rock-crystals, and agates, on the very same streams and hills where the gold-fields are now worked.

In 1823 Mr Oxley was despatched to make a survey of Moreton Bay, 500 miles N. from Sydney. He found several considerable streams flowing into the bay; the largest he named the Brisbane, after the governor then in office. This river is navigable for 60 miles, and presents one of the finest deep-flowing streams on the eastern coast. Proceeding further N. he entered Hervey Bay, and explored Port Curtis, where he found a considerable stream, which he named the Boyne.

In 1824-5 explorations were actively pursued to a like distance southward. Messrs Hovell and Hume, two enterprising settlers, who had driven their live stock over the ranges to fresh pastures on the Yass Plains—through which the present road from Sydney to Melbourne passes—animated by the spirit of discovery, pushed on, single-handed, to explore the southern regions. During their journey they passed over a most extensive range of country from the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Yass Rivers to the western shore of Port Phillip. They were the first travellers who crossed the main branch of the greatest known Australian river, which was deservedly named by the colonists after Mr Hume. On its further exploration, however, by Captain Sturt in 1830, when he descended to its termination in a boat, that gallant officer named it the Murray, in compliment to Sir George Murray, who presided over the colonial office at that time.

In 1825 the indefatigable but unfortunate botanist, Allan Cunningham, prosecuted a successful exploration up the valley of the Hunter, and through a gap in the Liverpool ranges, which he called Pandora Pass; where he discovered a fine country, through which a western stream flowed in a northerly direction. In 1827 he crossed the same range of mountains at the source of the N. branch of the Hunter River, and travelled in a northerly direction over the beautiful table-land known as the Liverpool Plains. Continuing his course a little more to the eastward of that region, he traversed a fine grazing country at the elevation of 1500 feet above the level of the sea, which he called New England. Further N., still he discovered the verdant prairie-lands of Darling Downs, proceeding onwards until he reached the Lat. of 28° 10' S., having discovered a greater extent of grazing land in New South Wales than any explorer before or since. Making a detour to the eastward, he ascertained the direction of the great dividing range, and retraced his steps. During the following year, and in 1829, he proceeded to Moreton Bay, and prosecuted a successful journey to the source of the River Brisbane. He likewise discovered a pass on the E. side of the range which divides Darling Downs from Moreton Bay district.

In 1828-9 Captain Sturt travelled from Wellington Valley, along the banks of the Macquarie River, and skirted the marshes which absorb that stream—the same which Oxley had deemed interminable—until he found an open and verdant country to the N.W., with several small streams flowing in that direction. Continuing his course westward, he ascended "New Year's Range," and descried some high table-land and grassy plains to the N.W. His further researches were rewarded by the discovery of the Darling, the greatest tributary of the Murray; its source being within tropical Australia. Having ascertained the course of this important river, which he followed down as far as 30° 20' S. Lat. and 145° 40' E. Long., he returned, impressed with the idea that it, as well as all the western streams, flowed into an inland sea; a favourite hypothesis of geographers at the time.

With a view to determine this point, and the course of the Murrumbidgee River, or the outlet of its waters, this enterprising officer started a second time in January 1831; and the result has been, that instead of the Darling and the Lachlan, and other streams that run to the westward, falling into a great inland sea or extensive marsh, as was conjectured, their united waters constitute a large river, which, under the name of Murray, was found to turn to the southward, and empty itself into an extensive estuary, 60 miles in length, by 30 or 40 in width. The river, near the point where it fell into this lake or estuary, was about 400 yards wide and 20 feet deep. The whole country on both banks was composed of undulating and picturesque hills, at the bases of which extended plains and valleys, within sight of many thousand acres of the richest soils.

The mouth through which the waters of the estuary communicated with the sea was in Encounter Bay, in Long. 139° 40' E. and Lat. 35° 25' 15' S., a little to the eastward of the Gulf of St Vincent, and round the point named Cape Jervis. The river was well stocked with fish, and its banks more populous than any other part of the country that had been traversed. Some accounts state the total number of aborigines seen to have amounted to at least 40,000. They could scarcely be brought to believe that the discovering party were of the same genus as themselves; they placed their hands against those of the strangers, in order to ascertain if the number of fingers on each corresponded. Nothing surprised them more than the act of taking off the hat, believing, it would seem, that the superstructure of felt formed a part of the strange animal that had come into their country.

In 1831, while these explorations were opening up a Banister, knowledge of Eastern Australia, the government of the new colony of Swan River in Western Australia, despatched Captain Banister to explore the country between that settlement and King George's Sound. This journey he accomplished at the risk of death by starvation to himself and his party. He has represented the country he passed through as of the most inviting description for settlers, both for grazing and agriculture. Several other expeditions were subsequently prosecuted to the N.W. of that territory by Captain Grey and others, which added much information concerning the coasts and bays up to that time visited only by Tasman, Dampier, Baudin, and King.

In 1832 Major (now Sir Thomas L.) Mitchell, surveyor-general of the colony, was instructed by the government to proceed on a journey of discovery to the N.W. of Liverpool Plains, in search of a great stream reported by a captured bushranger to exist in that direction. No such river could be discovered. The party, however, explored a large tract of indifferent country on the upper branch of the Darling River, which, no doubt, was the great stream of the bushranger, called by him the Karulla. The ability and energy displayed by Major Mitchell in this expedition, induced the government to fit out an exploring party under his command upon an extensive scale, having for its object the thorough survey of the Darling and its tributaries. The expedition started from Bathurst in 1835, more fully equipped for the journey than any which had started previously in the colony. Major Mitchell was able seconded in his scientific arrangements by the assistance of the botanist Allan Cunningham. Within a few weeks, however, of their departure, that estimable man fell a sacrifice to his scientific enthusiasm. While the leader and his men were surveying the Bogan River in about Lat. 32° S., he was lost from the main body of the party in his ramblings for plants through the interminable wilderness; and from subsequent facts which came to light, there is every reason to believe that he was murdered by the natives. In memory of his sad fate and invaluable services to the colony, the government have erected an obelisk in the Botanic Garden at Sydney. Major Mitchell reluctantly left the spot where his companion had been missed, and traced the Bogan River down to its confluence with the Darling. Below this junction he erected a stockade which he called Fort Bourke, and from thence surveyed the Darling as far as Lat. 32° 34' S. The fort he found useful as a resting-place on his return homewards.

In 1836 Major Mitchell accomplished a still greater journey into the interior from Bathurst; he followed the course of the Lachlan along its northern bank. After surveying its junction with the Murrumbidgee, and tracing the latter stream to its confluence with the Murray, as previously explored by Sturt, he followed that river in its N.W. course till he found its clear waters mingling with the turbid stream of the Darling, in Lat. 34° 10'. From this point he traced the Murray River upwards, crossing the stream to its southern bank a short distance below its junction with the Murrumbidgee; after which he continued surveying upwards to Lat. 36° S. From this point he left the Murray and its tributaries, and journeyed in a S.W. direction across several small streams which he found flowing to the N. In Lat. 37° 10', he came upon a considerable stream flowing to the S. This river he navigated in a canvas boat down nearly to its outlet in the sea; and named it the Glenelg River (in honour of the colonial secretary, Lord Glenelg), which will be found on the map to be situated in Victoria, crossing the boundary between that colony and South Australia, and disemboguing itself into the sea a few miles farther to the west. After surveying this outlet he proceeded eastward towards Portland Bay; and was surprised on his journey thither to encounter two gentlemen driving "tandem" through the beautiful forest lands as leisurely as if they had been in Hyde Park, where he expected to meet with no inhabitants but hostile aborigines. These travellers belonged to a whaling station at Portland Bay, which had been established in 1834 by the enterprising Brothers Henty, merchants and bankers of Launceston, Van Diemen's Land. Since that period it has risen into a flourishing government town. Mitchell's further discoveries to the eastward were likewise forestalled by information he received, that a number of settlers from Van Diemen's Land had colonized the shores of Port Phillip during the previous year. On his journey back to Sydney, however, he explored that magnificent territory—the Exploration Garden of Australia, which he denominated Australia Felix, from its agreeable aspect and fertility. All this extensive country southwest from the River Murray to the coast is well watered; and the Snowy Mountains not only temper the climate, but they afford a supply of moisture throughout the summer to the large rivers to which they give birth; while the Great Southern Ocean on three sides throws up clouds of moisture, which descend in abundant rains. Extensive downs occur, which are covered with the best kind of grass, or are gracefully wooded. From Mount Macedon Major Mitchell says he reconnoitred Port Phillip at the distance of 60 miles. "In this region," he adds: "the party crossed ranges of granite, others of trap-rock; the woods forming open forests, which only partially covered the country. This, even in its present state, seems nearly all available for the purposes of agriculture and grazing; and being almost without any aboriginal inhabitants, it is consequently in the best state for the reception of British emigrants." The region described so graphically in this extract is the recently discovered gold region of Victoria; Mount Alexander being the Mount Byng of Mitchell.

In 1840 Count Strzelecki, an adventurous traveller of Strzelecki, great reputation in other lands, and devoted to geological pursuits, made a successful though harassing journey on foot from the Murrumbidgee River southwards through the Australian Alps, and across the Gipps' Land district to Alberton in Corner Inlet; from whence he penetrated through the densest and widest "scrub" or brushwood in Australia, which had hitherto baffled all the settlers and surveyors. His Physical Description of New South Wales is at once the most scientific work on Australian geology and mineralogy, and the most practical treatise on Australian agriculture which has hitherto been published.

In 1840 the government of the new colony of South Eyre, Australia despatched Edward John Eyre from Adelaide, overland to King George's Sound, through the territory denominated Nuyts' Land on the map. He and his party accomplished the journey, after encountering great privations and disasters, some of his party having sunk through sheer fatigue, and their aboriginal guide having been lost. In 1841 he likewise conducted an expedition of discovery towards the interior from Spencer's Gulf. From that point he found a shallow marshy lake, about 20 miles in breadth, extending, in a serpentine form, 400 miles into the interior. This substitute for "the great inland sea," so confidently expected by geographers, he named Lake Torrens. After reaching 29° S. Lat., he returned without crossing the Tropic of Capricorn, the main object of his expedition.

In 1844-5-6 the great purpose of inland exploration, to Sturt, ascertain the nature of the country in Central Australia, was determined by the "father of Australian discovery," Captain Sturt. From Adelaide he penetrated due north into the very centre of the island; and his account of the desolate stony region he found in the interior, proves beyond a doubt that the vast terra incognita of Central Australia is a desert, a second Sahara. He found it depressed in some places below the level of the sea, where, in the rainy season, extensive marshy lakes are formed, which, in the dry season, become parched up, and fringed with incrustations of salt; upon the surface of which vegetation is blasted and animal life is unknown. The sufferings which this undaunted old man encountered uncomplainingly, and the privations which he and his party endured from thirst and hunger under the rays of a sun which frequently raised

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1 See Account of Major Mitchell's Expedition into the Interior of Australasia. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, vol. vii. 1837. the temperature to 157°, and the scorching winds of the Austral simoon, are unparalleled, except in the history of the African expeditions of Park and Lander.

In 1843 an unobtrusive botanist of the name of Dr Ludwig Leichhardt arrived at Sydney from Moreton Bay—where he had been devoting himself to Australian botany and zoology—and solicited the public support to fit out an expedition for the purpose of crossing overland from Moreton Bay to Port Essington. A similar project had, a short time previously, been laid upon the table of the legislative council for the sanction of the governor, by Sir Thomas Mitchell. The legislative body approved of the undertaking, but Sir George Gipps, the governor, referred the matter to the home authorities before he would grant funds for such a purpose. Meanwhile Dr Leichhardt was successful in obtaining for his enterprise public subscriptions of sufficient amount to fit out himself, five Europeans, and an aboriginal native; which ultimately were increased by another volunteer, and a black man, making in all eight individuals; who with a most slender equipment started from the Darling Downs on the 30th September 1844, to prosecute this distant journey through an unknown country for 3000 miles. After hairbreadth escapes from perils "by flood and field," and no less dangerous savages, who killed one of the party, this gallant little band reached their destination on the 17th December 1845, after a journey of fifteen months. The briefest abstract of this indefatigable explorer's additions to Australian geography would extend the present article beyond its limits: they are to be found modestly recorded in his able written and scientific journal. The volume itself comprises the details of one of the most remarkable enterprizes ever planned by human sagacity and executed by courage and endurance.

In 1846, while the intrepid Leichhardt and his companions had been given up for lost by the people of New South Wales—who were not apprised of his success until his own return by sea on the 29th March of that year—the sanction of the home-government had been obtained to fit out the proposed expedition of Sir Thomas Mitchell, for the same purpose. Sir Thomas altered his plans upon learning the result of Leichhardt's expedition. Keeping to the westward of Leichhardt's route he came upon what appeared to be the source of a large river flowing in a north-westerly direction; which he felt convinced was the upper branch of the Victoria, discovered by Wickham and Stokes, flowing into Cambridge Gulf. After tracing this stream towards Central Australia for about 150 miles, our sanguine explorer left the further prosecution of this enterprize, on his return to Sydney, to his able and accomplished junior on the surveying staff, Edmund B. Kennedy. He shortly afterwards sailed for England, full of the conviction that he had discovered a great highway from Eastern Australia to India by an inland navigable river. Like his predecessor Evans, in his speculations on the course of the Macquarie, he was doomed to be disappointed; for soon after Mr Kennedy found that the supposed Victoria suddenly turned to the southward and became absorbed in the great Australian desert, in the same manner that Oxley found the Macquarie vanish among the marshes.

In 1847, after Mr Kennedy had returned from his fruitless survey of the Victoria River, the government acquiesced in the suggestions of that gentleman, and other members of the survey department, to prosecute short exploratory journeys into the interior and the northern parts of Australia, as a better method of completing the survey of the country than by long and hazardous expeditions. Mr Kennedy's plan was to survey that part of tropical Australia situated between Cape York in Lat. 10. 43. S., and Rockingham Bay in Lat. 18. 10., a distance by ordinary travelling of not more than 500 miles. But this country, within the influence of the tropical rains, is apparently of such an impassable nature from swamps and prickly scrubs, and so thickly inhabited by hostile aborigines, that this expedition proved to be the most perilous and calamitous of any hitherto attempted in Australia of which we have any record. Out of thirteen persons who started from Rockingham Bay on 5th June 1848, one man alone—Mr Kennedy's aboriginal servant, Jackey Jackey—reached Port Albany, after a six months' journey. At this harbour, a small schooner, the Ariel, commanded by Captain Dobson, was lying at anchor with stores on board, waiting the arrival of the party, to succour them and take them back to Sydney. Here this faithful creature related, in his broken English, his doleful tale. It had taken them a month to extricate themselves from the swamps and thickets of Rockingham Bay. Their sheep and horses could scarcely find any grass to eat. They journeyed along the coast ranges for four months through a frightfully-broken country, almost destitute of game and provender, which reduced both men and horses to the verge of starvation; insomuch that they had to kill twenty-four of the latter to sustain their own lives. Notwithstanding these attempts to support their strength, Mr Kennedy found his men so faint from inanition that he resolved upon leaving eight of them at Weymouth Bay, within about 150 miles of Port Albany, from whence he promised to return for them by sea. Fresh disasters were in the way of this intrepid traveller; one of the men accidentally shot himself, and was disabled. It was agreed that this man and his two mates should remain behind, while Mr Kennedy and his servant were to proceed onwards. Undismayed, he pursued his journey, attended by his faithful servant, and was almost within view of the harbour where he expected succour, when he was inhumanly murdered by a tribe of barbarous savages who speared him to death. The incident of his death, as related in the simple language of Jackey Jackey, is truly affecting. "He then said, 'Jackey, give me paper and I will write:' I gave him paper and pencil and he tried to write, and he then fell back and died. And I caught him as he fell back, and held him, and I then turned round myself and cried; I was crying a good while until I got well; that was about an hour, and then I buried him; I dugged up the ground with a tomahawk, and covered him over with logs, grass, and my shirt and trousers; that night I left him near dark." Without delay the vessel was brought round to Weymouth Bay, after a fruitless attempt to find the wounded man and his two companions; who there is little reason to doubt met with the same untimely fate as their leader. Here, alas! two living skeletons were all that remained alive of the eight men left at the bay; the other six "withered away, and died from sheer inanition and prostration of the physical energies," as described by one of the survivors, Mr Carron, the botanist to the expedition. His simple and unaffected narrative of their sufferings is the only existing document from which any account of the expedition can be gathered. For although the local government subsequently despatched a party to collect what papers and instruments of Mr Kennedy's might be found in the possession of the natives, scarcely anything of importance was recovered.

The latest, and greatest in contemplation, of these exploring expeditions, the melancholy result of which can scarcely be doubted, now a matter of doubt, was that led on by the zealous and indomitable Leichhardt. We have already mentioned his return from his successful expedition to Port Essington in March 1846. Not having then accomplished his original design of penetrating into Central Australia, he rested but a brief space in the settled districts until he was again rally- ing a band of adventurers round his Standard of Discovery.

His project was to penetrate to the westward, if practicable, across the great desert, to the settlement of Swan River, a distance little short of 3000 miles in a direct line; hoping to find by the way a succession of oases, like those in the African or Arabian deserts, which would enable him to recruit his party on the journey." After making a false start in 1847, when some of his volunteers, whose enthusiasm quailed before the privations in store for them, abandoned the expedition, he finally left the Darling Downs in the early part of 1848. Since that year no tidings have reached us from the gallant band of explorers, excepting some false rumours of their massacre brought in by the aborigines; which induced the government to despatch a party in July 1852, to make inquiry into the truth or falsehood of the report, but without any satisfactory result. Since the date of his last letter in April 1848, at the furthest white man's home in the interior, from Moreton Bay, five Australian springs have strewned their flowers on the far western shore, but no Leichhardt has revisited these objects of his ardent study: and the probability is, that if he and his companions have not been massacred by savages, their bodies are buried under the sands of the great desert.

It is a remarkable fact, that the most recent of these exploratory expeditions have been the most calamitous, notwithstanding the advantages of former experience, and of modern scientific invention. It is worthy of remark, also, that those unfortunate leaders whose untimely fates have been recorded, were all young men, while the veteran explorers have survived to witness the beneficial results of their discoveries. A new expedition under General Haug has been decided on by the British government. Its chief object will be the exploration of N.W. Australia, for which purpose the expedition is to start from the Victoria River, and reach the southern extremity of the Gulf of Carpentaria. General Haug hoped to leave England in Nov. 1853.

As the structure of the country is brought to light by those discoveries, we observe the broken fragments of its geography gradually pieced together, and at last united into one great whole. Before us on the map we have the grand outline of this island-continent completed, and its limits correctly ascertained; showing a supercifics on the earth's surface equal to about three-fourths of the continent of Europe. And although four-fifths of that area is a blank in geography, yet we have sufficient data to determine its principal geographical features. From Wilson Promontory, in 39.11S., the extreme south point, to Cape York in 10.43S. Lat., its extreme north, we know that there is a continuous chain of mountains, which, for want of a better name, Sir Roderick Murchison has called the Australian Cordilleras,—the backbone of Australia, stretching in one sinuous serrated ridge from S. to N., for 1708 geographical miles, in a straight line, at an average altitude of 1500 feet above the level of the sea; dividing the eastern and western waters of Eastern Australia: and that the water-shed is rapid on its eastern flank, where the sources of the streams are upon an average not more than eighty miles in a direct line from the coast where they disembogue into the South Pacific Ocean; while the western waters have a gradual descent to the great Murray River, flowing through the interior, for an average distance of 500 miles. On the western coast from Cape Leeuwin to N.W. Cape, similar features present themselves in the geographical direction of the rivers and mountain ranges, only on a smaller scale; while between these two mountain parallels exists the Great Australian Desert, a second Sahara; which Sturt has defined on its southern limit, and Mitchell and Kennedy to the eastward. It now remains for future explorers to approach it from the north and from the west to define its general area. At the same time, nothing new of much importance can be contributed to the great geographical problem of what the terra incognita Australis is; for we have now sufficient data to solve the question. And it is not unphilosophical to conclude from all that is known of General its geography, that the entire island, at some distant geological epoch, formed a vast archipelago, with those two mountain chains forming distinct groups of islands trending north and south, while the desolate region between was the bed of a shallow sea, studded with smaller islands.

Of the individuals belonging to the organic kingdoms of nature which inhabit this varied territory, we may observe in this place generally, that they are remarkable for their difference in structure from those of any other part of the world; still the inorganic substances which compose the rocks and minerals are much the same as those found upon other localities of the earth's crust. And although the recent discoveries of her mineral treasures have taken the world by surprise, it is evident that the convulsions of nature which produced these phenomena obeyed the same laws which upheaved the lands of the northern hemisphere. And we shall find, when treating of the gold-discovery, that the light of science in the hands of an eminent geologist guided him to foretell its existence. (For a more detailed view of its surface, geographical divisions, mountains, rivers, lakes, and coasts, see the article AUSTRALIA.)

The aborigines, wherever they have been met with, are of the Aborigines very lowest description of human beings. In the journal of the Duyfken, the N. coast is described as thinly "inhabited by wild, cruel, black savages, by whom some of the crew were murdered;" and the ship Vianen, touching off the western coast about 21° S., observed "a foul and barren shore, green fields, and very wild, black, barbarous Indians!" In 24° S., Polhert, who commanded the Batavia, met with natives, whom he describes as "wild, black, and altogether naked, not covering even those parts which almost all savages conceal." Tasman "found in Hellendam Noes, in Lat. 17.12. S., a naked black people, with curly hair, malicious and cruel, using for arms bows and arrows, haggaeyes, and kalasways." The S. coast is so barren, and the naked hillocks of sand so continuous, that there appears to be nothing for human inhabitants to exist upon.

"It is not surprising," says D'Entrecasteaux, "that New Holland gives no details of this barren coast; for its aspect so uniformly, that the most fruitful imagination could find nothing to say of it." None of our navigators, however, saw less than the coast line, which is either of rock or of hillsides of sand. But where the country begins to incline towards the eastward, in the neighbourhood of Kangaroo Island, Captain Flinders found not the least vestige of inhabitants; and, from the stupidity of the kangaroos on that island, "which," he observes, "not unfrequently appeared to consider us as seals," he concludes there either were no natives, or that they were ignorant of every kind of embarkation. Towards the northern part of the eastern coast, the same navigator thinks they are somewhat superior to those near Sydney, having "more flesh on the waist, and fillets about the head and upper parts of the arm, associating in greater numbers, and dwelling in huts of a superior construction." They also carry fish with nets, which he thinks is alone a feature of difference from those who only appear the fish, as a net requires more than one person to manage it, consumes much time in making, cannot easily be dragged about, and, in short, must occasion a sense of the advantage to be derived from mutual assistance, and suggest the necessity of a permanent residence.

Notwithstanding these evidences of social progression from the lowest depths of the savage state, and which may be accounted for amongst the tribes inhabiting the great York Peninsula, from their contiguity to the superior races of mankind peopling New Guinea and the Polynesian islands, the ethnological peculiarities or clear and distinctive characteristics in the Australian aboriginal people, to warrant him in classifying them as the farthest removed type of humanity from any other with whom we are acquainted. Their general appearance may be given them, according to European notions on the standard of humanity, as exemplified in the northern varieties of mankind. They are hideously ugly, with flat noses, having wide nostrils; eyes deeply sunk in the head, large and wide apart, overshadowed by bushy black eyebrows; the hair black and straight, clotted but not woolly, the males having long curly beards; the mouth is extravagantly wide, with thick prominent lips; and the colour of the skin varies from dark bronze... Australasia.

The skull and jaws, when stripped of the hair, integuments, and muscles, present still more distinct characteristics. The cranium is thick and spongy, the inner and outer plates being wide apart, the coronal region flattened. By external measurement the capacity of a male skull now in our possession—which was that of a native doctor who died about forty years of age, and furnishes us as a type of these Australian crania above the average—is 117 cubic inches; which, when compared with the average size of Anglo-Saxon crania—according to Mr Straton's tables—scarcely equals the measurement of a man now living aged thirty-five by him at 120 cubic inches. The facial angles, according to Count Strzelocki, is between 80° and 85°. The zygomatic process is widely arched; and the lower jaw, although unusually expanded at the base, is short, and forms a remarkably small chin. The molar teeth are flattened more than ordinarily, and sometimes so smoothly ground by friction in chewing that they frequently resemble the teeth of ruminating animals. Their stature is below the average of the most diminutive European race; and they are wretchedly thin and ill-made, with long lean arms and legs, and short wide feet, the great toe largely developed—which is strengthened by the use made by them of their youths, in placing that member in the notch of their tomahawk on the trees, when in search of animals for food.

To add to their natural deformity, they thrust a bone through the cartilage of the nose, and stick with gum to their hair, matted with moss, the teeth of men, sharks, or kangaroos, the tails of dogs, jaw-bones of fish, &c., and daub their faces and bodies with red and white clay, and scarify the skin in every part with sharp shells.

On the sea-coast they live principally upon fish, turtle, and shell-fish; the former are caught by nets, hooks, and spears by double and treble pronged spears. In the interior they hunt the kangaroo, wallaby, and emu, with their boomerangs, spears, and waddles; besides which they procure an uncertain supply of opossums, flying squirrels, slaters, storks, cranes, ducks, parrots, cockatoos, seals, lizards, snakes, grubs, roots, and their eggs, tuberous roots, wild berries, and honey; in fine, any description of food or plant from the animal or vegetable world which can supply any requirement, does not come amiss to the appetites of these attenuated savages. Nay more, although man be described specifically as a "cooking animal," the Australian, in his natural state, scarcely troubles himself with this process, beyond that of throwing a bird or beast on the burning embers of a fire, without skinning it or drawing the entrails; and when it is partially roasted, brushing the singed hair or feathers off, tearing a mouthful or two with his teeth, and throwing it up again to cook another portion of it; when this process of maceration is repeated until the bones are picked.

They have no fixed habitations, the climate generally allowing of their sleeping in the open air, in the crevices of rocks, or under the shelter of the bushes. Their temporary huts consist of the bark of a tree, or a few bushes interwoven in a semicircular form, tapering at the top, and raised upon a prop-stick, open in front, and forming merely a breakwater, occasionally large enough to shelter six persons from the rain, but most frequently for the accommodation of two. They seem to have no idea of the benefits arising from social life; their largest clans extend not beyond the family circle, of each of which the eldest is called by a name synonymous with that of father. They are totally without religion, paying no further the least respect nor adoration to any object or being, real or imaginary. Hence they have nothing to prompt them to a good action, nothing to deter them from a bad one; hence murder is not considered as any heinous crime, and women thinking nothing of destroying, by compression, the infant in the womb, would not trouble, if brought alive into the world, of carrying it about and feeding its subsistence. Should a woman die with an infant at the breast, the living child is inhumanly thrown into the same hole with the mother, and covered with stones, of which the brutal father throws the first. They are savage even in love, the very first act of courtship, on the part of the husband, being that of knocking down his intended bride with a club, and dragging her away from her friends bleeding and senseless, to the woods. The consequence is, that scarcely a female of the age of maturity is to be seen without her head full of scars, the unequivocal marks of her husband's affection.

To these details, generally acknowledged by all travellers, such as Collins, Flinders, Sturt, Mitchell, and others, we shall add some further observations based upon experience and scientific data which have escaped their notice, as illustrative of the ethnographic characteristics of this barbarous people. So various are the languages spoken by the entire radius of tribes located outside the great desert—which, we presume, is unanimated by human beings—that a subdivision of the east and west coasts into linguistic districts five miles in diameter for 300 miles inland, would give in each district not merely a distinct dialect, but in the majority of cases a different language from that of the adjacent tribes.

One universal affinity, however, which we have observed, these languages bear towards each other in that the letter S is never found in the construction of their words. No evidence of tillage, the ground, planting, sowing seed, and reaping the harvest, have been seen by travellers amongst them; which distinguishes them essentially from the Maori race in New Zealand, the races inhabiting the Polynesian Islands to the N.E., and the Malays to the N.W., excepting the tribes located on the extreme north coast. They do not trade or barter with each other or with strangers. Though tribe or tribe has a generally recognized boundary within which they hunt and consider their "sit-down" or territory, and beyond which they seldom stray, still they neither exchange, buy, nor sell land amongst each other; and when their territory was taken possession of by the British, they demanded no equivalent as the New Zealanders have done—they cannot conceive a right of claim to that which is fixed and immovable. Not having any private property beyond their spears, boomerangs, clubs, shields, opossum-skin rugs, and baskets, their wealth is less than that of the industrious bee, and their idea of property inferior to that of the beaver. These rudely-constructed articles of clothing, and weapons of offence and defence, they appear to divide promiscuously among each other, holding possession very much on the old lawless principle that "he may take who hath the will, and he may keep who can." Lunatics or idiots are rarely or never to be found amongst them. Slavery, as understood by the negro sense of the term, does not exist; the married females, however, are to all intents and purposes the slaves of their husbands; and the terms are terms to them, in their purely savage state, utterly unintelligible. Polygamy is recognized and adopted; but from their savage custom of murdering infant female children, the proportion of the sexes is kept nearly equal, and seldom permits of more than one of each cohabitating together. Cannibalism exists among them. The writer has had proofs of several instances; this horrible practice, however, was confined to the bodies of their enemies killed in fight, and of half-caste children of the female sex. They show very little affection for their offspring, especially the males; and we have frequently taxed their puerile-primitive feelings by offering a few pieces of tobacco or a blanket for a child, when we should have easily succeeded in bartering with the fathers, and with no great difficulty overcome the affection of the mothers. Their treatment of the aged is even worse than their neglect of their offspring. These wretched specimens of humanity look at the age of 50 or 60 like octogenarians; instead of being respected as elders of the tribe, as is the case among other savage races, they are considered as useless members who can no longer fight, hunt, or dig up roots. Hence the garbage of the game captured by the strong son or daughter is thrown with contempt to the father or mother; and they are even prohibited, like the children, from eating the best kinds of food, which the sturdy warriors of the tribe claim as theirs by the law of might. Rheumatism and disease of the skin are their most prevalent complaints; the result of continual exposure to the weather, and their filthy habits. In every group or tribe of families, there is a doctor-man who uses charms, decoctions of herbs, and other means to population to cure the afflicted. In all such services rendered for the general welfare of the whole, or even in any other matter of assistance given to each other, we have never known of any sort of remuneration being tendered, or any special expression of gratitude coming from the patient. That they are capable of being civilized in a measure is shown by the organized troops of black mounted police throughout the south-eastern colonies, and the general employment of them by the colonists as shepherds and mounted herdsmen; nay, so far as intellectual advancement is concerned, in a few instances they have been taught to read and write. But at the best they are uncertain retainers, and cannot be kept to constant labour, while they have a very faint conception of the relations between master and servant. We are confident, also, that the Australian aboriginal would pine and die under any attempts to civilize him by means of lash and fetters, which the passive African submits to. Like most other savages, however, they exhibit the extremes of indolence when their appetite is satiated, and of activity when hunger prompts them to hunt for food. Treachery and cunning among them are considered virtues; and it is no disparagement to designate them, morally speaking, a generation of liars. The truth is not in them; in their relations with the Europeans no faith can be placed in what they say, and the local governments take exception to their evidence as a court of justice, or at the utmost value it but slightly.

This unchangeable delineation of the general characteristics of the Australian race, before they have mingled with the European settlers, is one, however, which the natives of whom we can confidently challenge disproof. They have, on the other hand, their redeeming qualities. Expert in the capture of game and fish, they will cheerfully share their meals with an unsuccessful neighbour, and will seldom refuse the white man a share—from whom, however, they expect an equivalent. Like children, they are easily pleased, and when their appetites are satisfied they become a jocular and merry race, full of mirth and laughter. The sounds of hilarity are often heard ringing joyously through the echoing forests around their camping places, and the delight with which they enjoy the pleasures of the dance at their corroborees, is not exceeded by the most enthusiastic frequenters at Almacks. Their conceptions of harmony and melody are very low, and they have no instrument, however rude, to produce musical intonations. Their wild yells of glee, and monotonous crooning songs, are reduced to a barbarous kind of music by striking two pieces of wood together at long and short intervals.

As exceptional cases of a better nature (our previous remarks having strictly reference to the Australian aboriginal in his purely savage condition), we can speak of many instances where feelings of great tenderness have been shown by the females more especially, and Europeans life and property have been voluntarily rescued from fire and shipwreck. We can likewise testify to the fact of finding faithful and honest followers among them during our travels in the interior. We treated them as children, and they were obedient; had we resented supposed injuries they tried to inflict upon us, as if they were responsible men, as some have done, we should have exposed ourselves to their deadly enmity. In our transactions with them we dealt on the principle which they themselves considered just. The fidelity and devotion of Jackey Jackey towards the unfortunate explorer Kennedy, are sufficient in themselves to prove that the rudiments of a better nature than they ordinarily display are implanted in their minds.

The history of this race is comprehended within a small compass. Records they have none, and their traditions are as evanescent as their dwellings; and like the summer fires, which sweep every vestige of human structures from the face of the earth, so their history is buried in oblivion with each succeeding generation. To estimate their present population is likewise a matter of uncertainty. Some years ago the governments instituted a calculation which gave for New South Wales, including Port Phillip, 13,700, and for South Australia, 4500; taking this as a criterion of the other portions of Australia at an approximate census, there would in 1863 be some 210,000 aborigines on the entire island. In this estimate we have allowed for their rapid decrease before the colonizing races of Europe; which may, ere long, render them an extinct people. This subject is fraught with intense interest to the philanthropist. Some morbid philanthropists who have founded associations for the preservation of these races, and for their extinction to the aggressions by fire and sword upon them by the settlers, and the deadly diseases they introduced. Although to some extent this may be the case, still there is a more powerful influence at work, which ultimately will cause the inferior race to be swallowed up by the superior. Count Strzelecki, states his views in these terms:—“The aboriginal woman, after connection with a European male, loses the power of conception on a renewal of intercourse with the male of her own race, retaining that of only procreating with the white man.” From our own investigations, and the testimony of others whom we have consulted, we cannot adduce evidence sufficient to corroborate this statement.1 The facts are therefore, that the original inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land have dwindled down, from between 4000 and 5000, to 800 males and 10 females, who are calculated to die within 20 years, notwithstanding the efforts of the government to preserve them; whereas, in that time, the same number of their prolific countrymen in the neighbouring isle, would in all likelihood increase tenfold. The tribe also that inhabited the country around Port Jackson and Botany Bay, which Governor Phillip on his arrival found to number about 1600 individuals, is now extinct. The last of its members died in 1849, little more than 60 years after the occupation of their lands by the Anglo-Saxon. These facts are startling, and demand further investigation.

If the rocks and mountains, and the earths, resemble nearly the inorganic substances that are met with in other parts of the world, there is at least a very extraordinary and almost characteristic difference in the animal and vegetable part of the creation, which makes a considerable class of subjects in both these kingdoms peculiar to Australia. The fauna and flora of this acid region are so unique, so far removed in their nature and habits from the generality of species which exist in other parts of the world, so low in the scale of classified animals and plants, and bearing so close an affinity in their structure to the extinct tribes and genera whose fossil remains are found imbedded in European rocks of the eocene geological period, that some ethnologists are tempted to advance the hypothesis that Australia exhibits the most ancient surface-geology for our investigations of any portion of the terraqueous globe. In other words, that this great south land has existed upheaved from the ocean contemporary with the bygone epochs of the palaeozoic formation, which at a recent geological era was submerged below the sea; and that its groups of living creatures, and its vegetation, have been perpetuated throughout subsequent epochs which have extinguished whole genera of animals and plants in the northern hemisphere. The recent investigations of naturalists in Australia and the surrounding seas, have shown that certain forms of star-fishes and bivalve shells found petrified in the chalk formations of Europe, have existing types in the tropical seas of Australia, and that the Port Jackson shark is the only living example of the ancient group of Cetaceans. And while the superficial observer perceives, in the apparently anomalous modes of plants in the grasses and gum-trees—and animals in the kangaroo and duck-billed platypus, a mere collection of forms nature, when compared with the productions of other regions, the attentive student of natural history finds at every step some useful harmony between the individual parts of the organic kingdom, and the peculiar physical geography of this great southern land. Here he finds the grasses containing an unusual pith in their stems, from which they derive nourishment during the dry seasons which occur in this arid climate, when the hollow-stemmed grasses of Europe would perish. And when he examines the structure of that curious animal the duck-billed platypus (Ornithorhynchus paradoxus), he discovers that its organism is peculiar to the manner in which it secures food from the water insects, where, in its burrowings in the earth, scarcely any worms are to be found. These and other anomalous forms of the organic world in Australia, are doubtless reconcilable to the universally harmonious system of nature, and require only further investigation to be made evident.

The animals hitherto discovered, with very few exceptions, are Animals, of the numerous species of kangaroo or the various opossum type; the former having their hinder legs long out of all proportion when compared with the length of the forelegs, and both families being marsupial, that is, having a sack under the belly of the female for the reception of the young; of which families, though divided into different genera, there are at least a hundred distinct species. To these marsupial genera may be added another of a singular kind, classed by naturalists under the genus At, represented by the member of the natives, or the native bear of the colubriform, a herbivorous animal of the sloth kind. Of carnivorous animals, there are very few. The dingo or native dog has some resemblance to the English fox in its appearance and predatory habits, and is the dread of the sheep-farmer. It is supposed, however, not to be indigenous; and with the buffalo, which is found on the northern coast, has no doubt been brought by the Malays, who cross over to fish for trepang, from Sumatra, Timor, and other islands in the Indian Archipelago, it exhibits very little specific difference from the jackal of these countries. The feline tribe is represented by several species of yellow-spotted cats; and these pretty nearly complete the catalogue of Australian quadrupeds. One animal, however, deserves some specific notice, from the discussions that have arisen regarding the nature and uses of the unusual organic structure of its head; we allude to the duck-billed water-mole of the colubriform (Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, or Platypus emarginatus); “a quadruped,” says the late Dr White of the British Museum, “with the beak of a bird, which is contrary to known facts and approved opinions.” The investigations, however, of modern scientific men, have discovered that even this apparent paradox is true, “setting the bill of a bird upon the head of a quadruped,” is in harmony with her laws. This organ, although it has the same function as the bill of a duck, is not like that appendage, affixed to the skeleton, but merely attached to the skin. It was by Cuvier, along with a somewhat similar Australian animal, the Echidna, ranked among the Edentata; but now they are both more usually arranged as a distinct class of mammals termed Monotremata. They approach the marsupials in possessing the abdominal bones of that order, though they have not the pouch; and they approximate mammals to birds, in possessing a common cloaca. The echidna has also a bill-formed mouth, and spines like those of a hedgehog on its body. Australia at the present period is the great metropolis of the order. The flying phalangers (Pseudochirulus) are likewise an interesting and

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1 It may be remarked that the assertions of Strzelecki on this subject are more than doubtful, and are at variance with all analogy respecting sexual intercourse between other races of mankind. The same notion once prevailed regarding the negro and white varieties of the human species; but is not founded on fact. The barrenness of the aboriginal females, under such circumstances, will excite little surprise when we consider the well-known effect of promiscuous sexual intercourse in checking fecundity; while the rapid decrease of the Australian native population is further explicable by the frequent practice of infanticide, especially of female children, the excessive labour exacted from their women, the introduction of epidemic disorders by Europeans, and immoderate indulgence in intoxicating liquors.—Ed. beautiful group of marsupials. Crocodiles, turtles, and yangs, or dugong, one of the cetaceans, inhabit the rivers and harbours of tropical Australia; and in the southern, eastern, and western streams, large fish of the perch tribe abound. The seas swarm with scaled fish and crustaceans; many of them edible, others poisonous, and some of the most brilliant colours. Reptiles are frequently met with, but not abundant. There are several species of snakes; some are venomous, but the majority are harmless. Lizards are more plentiful, and all of them harmless; while a large species of iguana affords the only instance of a reptile of any size.

The birds are equally singular with the beasts, there being black swans and white eagles; the former everywhere in such multitudes as to spoil a proverb that had held good for two thousand years; and their song as described by Mr. Isaac, "exactly resembles the creaking of a rusty sign on a windy day." The *Menura superba*, with its scalloped tail feathers, is perhaps the most singular and beautiful of that graceful species known by the name of birds of paradise; ducks, pigeons, cockatoos, parrots, and parakeets, are innumerable, and of great variety and beauty. The mountain eagle is a magnificent creature, and the emu is, next to the ostrich, the tallest bird that exists; many of them standing full six feet high; and the inland creation possesses strange and brilliant forms.

The plants are no less singular than the animals; and these the distinguished botanist Mr. Brown has given a very curious and instructive account in his Geographical and Systematical Remarks, in the Appendix to Flinders's Voyage. He collected nearly 3900 species of Australasian plants, which, with those brought to England by Sir Joseph Banks and others, supplied him with the materials for a *Flora teres Australis*, consisting of 4200 species, referable to 120 natural orders; but he remarks that more than half the number of species belong to eleven only of those orders. Of the *Eucalyptus* tribe, or trees, the largest yet discovered, there are not fewer than 100 different species. "A *Eucalyptus phlooides* of Labillardière," says Mr. Brown, "and another of the persianian species of Van Diemen's Land, not unfrequently attain the height of 150 feet, with a girth near the base of from 25 to 40 feet." Of this magnificent genus there are 50 different species within the limits of the colony around Sydney. Of the beautiful and elegant *Melaleuca*, Mr. Brown collected upwards of 50 species, all of which, with the exception of the two species *Lauconcordia* and *Cajeput*, appear to be confined to Terra Australis. The tribe of *Stachyceae* is entirely peculiar to that country. Of the natural order of *Proteaceae*, consisting of about 4000 known species, more than 200 are natives of New Holland, and which they form one of its characteristic botanical features; the greatest number of them being peculiar to the peculiarities of the vegetable kingdom. The *Casuarinae*, of which 13 species have been discovered, is another characteristic feature of the woods and thickets of Australia. The most extensive genus, however, is the apetalous *Acacia*, of which there are more than 100 species; and this, with the *Eucalyptus*, "if taken together," says Mr. Brown, "and considered with respect to the mass of vegetable matter they contain, calculated from the size as well as from the number of individuals, are perhaps nearly equal to all the other plants of that country." The *Casuarinae* and the *Eucalyptus* are represented as furnishing excellent timber for ship-building, and for all the purposes of domestic furniture and agricultural implements; the gum of the *Eucalyptus* is medicinal, and that of one species might be employed as pitch. *Prycincet* says they prepared a resinous substance from the *Xanthorrhoea*, which served them to caulk their vessels. The bark of a tree (*Acacia dealbata*) is known to be more efficacious in tanning leather than the oak-bark; and a shrub (*Leptospermum scoparium*) was used by Captain Cook as a substitute for tea. Nutmegs were found by Flinders on the northern coast, but they were small, and had so little of an aromatic flavour, that Mr. Brown gave the plant the specific name of *insipida*. Among the curious productions of the vegetable world is the *Nuytsia floribunda*, or pitcher-plant, of which a very correct and detailed drawing is given in the Atlas of Flinders's Voyage. The pines of the genus *Arborvitae* have the double-dotted cellular tissue of the carboniferous *Conifers*. The *Eucalypti* or gum-trees shed their bark annually instead of their leaves; while the latter hang vertically from the branches, instead of horizontally, as in most English forest-trees; and the *Casuarinae* or she-oak trees have the jointed articulations of *Hippuris* instead of leaves. Altogether, the anomalous characters of Australian botany, though presenting organic phenomena distinct from those of the northern hemisphere, are in harmony with the branches of the animal kingdom already alluded to. Since Brown's *Prodromus* was published in 1810, very little has been added to that profound work; and it is a remarkable fact, that for centuries past, botany has been dormant since that eminent botanist and his patron Sir Joseph Banks first collected the plants of Botany Bay. Although Cunningham, Labillardière, and others, have added materially to the list of species, there is still a vast region open to botanical enterprise, especially in the unexplored mountain ranges of the great Australian Cordillera.

II. Having marked the progressive discovery of this fair and fertile island, until it was ascertained to be such by General Marion, Furneaux, Cook, D'Entrecasteaux, Bass, and view of Flinders, we shall not think it necessary to notice the minor discoveries of Bligh, Hunter, Cox, &c., but proceed to give a general account of its dimensions, surface, and natural productions. It is situated between the parallels of 41° O. and 43° S. Lat., and 144° 32. and 148° 25. E. Long.; its medial length from N. to S. being about 160, and breadth from E. to W. 145 geographical miles. Its surface possesses every variety of mountain, hill, and dale,—of forests and open meadows,—of inland lakes, rivers, and inlets of the sea, forming safe and commodious harbours,—that can render a country valuable or agreeable; and it enjoys a temperate climate, which is perhaps not very different from that of England, though less subject to violent changes. In May, corresponding to our November, Labillardière observed the mountains in the interior covered with snow. The western and southern coasts are bold, steep, and rocky; the latter terminating so abruptly as to appear as if it had been broken off, and the group of islands named De Witt's Isles, to the southward, twelve in number, formed out of the fragments. Cook found the cliffs on the eastern side composed of sandstone; but the vast buttresses that look towards the southern seas of ice are stated by Flinders to be composed of basaltic columns, appearing like so many stacks of chimneys. Labillardière found, near this southern extremity, a stratum of coal 3½ feet thick and 200 fathoms long, resting on sandstone.

The soil, in general, is represented as more productive than that of the E. side of Australia; and the island has the advantage of being intersected by two fine rivers, rising near the centre; the one named the Tamar, falling into Bass's Strait on the N., and forming Port Dalrymple; the other, the Derwent, which discharges itself into the sea on the S.E. extremity, spreading its waters, in the first instance, over the Great Storm Bay, which communicates with North Bay, Norfolk Bay, and Double Bay, on the E., and with D'Entrecasteaux's Channel on the W. The Tamar in its course receives three streams—the North Esk, the South Esk, and the Lake River; and the tide flows about 30 miles up the river, to the point where it is joined by the two Eskis. At this spot is situated the flourishing town of Launceston; having a population of about 6500. At the head of the western arm of Port Dalrymple is situated George Town, on the skirt of a beautiful, rich, and well-wooded country. There is also a town named Hobart Town, which is now the capital, on the right bank of the Derwent, about five miles inland, with a population, in 1821, of 14,000 inhabitants. The country between these two towns is everywhere rich and beautiful, abounding in grassy plains, marshes, and lakes, bounded on each side by hills, well clothed with wood, rising into high and rocky mountains. A turnpike road now bisects the island between Launceston and Hobart Town,—a distance of 130 miles, which is accomplished by stage-coaches within 12 hours.

The description given by D'Entrecasteaux of the channel that bears his name, and the surrounding shores, corresponds generally with the following animated account of it from M. Pérou, ten years afterwards. "Crowded on the surface of the soil are seen side by side those beautiful *Mimées*, those superb *Metrosideros*, those *Correa*, unknown till late to our country, but now become the pride of our shrubberies. From the shores of the ocean to the summits of the highest mountains may be observed the mighty *Eucalyptus*, those giant trees of Australasian forests, many of which measure from 162 to 180 feet in height, and from 25 to 30 and even 36 feet in circumference. *Banksia* of different species, the *Protos*, the *Embothria*, the *Leptospermum*, form an enchanting belt round the skirts of the forests. Here the *Casuarinae* exhibits its beautiful form; there the elegant *Eucorypha* throws into a hundred different places its negligent branches. Everywhere spring up the most delightful... thickets of Melaleuca, Thoreau, Cymbopogon, Eucalyptus, all equally interesting, either from their graceful shape, the lovely verdure of their foliage, the regularity of their corollas, or the form of their seeds." — *Voyage de Torres Australis.*

All the navigators who have visited the southern part of Van Diemen's Land describe the natives as a mild, affable, good-humoured, and inoffensive people; with the exception of Marion, the effect of whose fire-arms, Labillardière thinks, had made them afraid of Europeans. Subsequently the settlers found them a hostile and treacherous race, probably from the same cause. Flinders and Bass conceived that the natives of this island were sunk still lower in the scale of human existence than those in the neighbourhood of Port Jackson, though they saw but one man, and he is described as having "a countenance more expressive of benignity and intelligence than of that ferocity and stupidity which generally characterized the other natives." They are obviously the same people as those of New South Wales.

The women refused from Cook's people all presents, and rejected all their addresses, not so much from a sense of virtue, it was supposed, as from the fear of the men, of whom they stood in great awe. With the convicts and free settlers they had free intercourse. In some places were found miserable huts of twigs, and rude baskets made of a juncus or rush; but these were all the signs that appeared of civilization. Cook, D'Entrecasteaux, and Baudin, all observed many of the largest trees were thrown down out, apparently by means of fire; and in the hollow side invariably faced the E. and S.E., the lee-side of the prevailing winds, it was concluded they were intended as habitations.

In D'Entrecasteaux's Channel only were indications of huts made of the bark of the *Eucalyptus*, consisting of three rolls stitched together. Of the numerous tribes who peopled this island when it was first colonized by the British, only 18 men and women now remain. At the early settlement it was a penal colony, and the natives were considerably thinned by a war of extermination carried on by the convicts and settlers against them, which ended in their being conveyed to Flinders' Island in Bass's Strait, from whence the miserable remnants now at Brown's River, near Hobart Town, were brought to end their days in peace.—D'Entrecasteaux, Labillardière, Flinders, &c.

III. New Guinea, or Papua, is, after Australia, not only the first in point of magnitude, but claims a priority in discovery over that and every other island in the Australasian Sea. In the year 1526, when the Portuguese and the Spaniards were disputing their respective claims to the Spice Islands, Don Torge de Meneses, of the former nation, had, in his passage from Malacca to the Moluccas, by extraordinary and accidental circumstances, discovered the N. coast of Papua, so called, according to some, because the word signifies black, which was the colour of the natives, or curled hair, according to others. Meneses remained at a port called Versija till the change of the monsoon, and then returned to the Moluccas. The next navigator who touched at Papua was Alvarez de Saavedra, on his homeward voyage from the Moluccas in 1528, for New Spain; and from an idea that the country abounded in gold, he gave it the name of *Isla del Oro*. He stood a month, and obtained provisions; but some Portuguese deserted with the only boat the ship had, and were left behind. They found their way, however, to Gilolo, and reported that Saavedra had been wrecked; but on his subsequent arrival they were tried, condemned, and executed. He is supposed to have added about 50 leagues of discovery to that of Meneses. In 1529 Saavedra sailed a second time from New Spain, and, according to Galvano (or Galvano), followed the coast of Papua eastwards above 500 leagues.

In 1537 Gonzalez and Alvarado were despatched on discovery by the viceroy of Peru; but the former being killed in a mutiny, the crew chose another commander; and the first land they made was Papua. The ship was in so crazy a state that she was abandoned; the crew, only seven in number (the rest having died of hunger and fatigue), were made captives, and carried to an island called *Grosper* (curly-haired men), whence they were sent to the Moluccas and ransomed.

In 1543 Ynigo Ortiz de Retz, in his voyage from Tidore to New Spain, came to an archipelago of islands near the land of Papua; sailed 230 leagues along the N. coast; and not knowing it had been before visited by Europeans, he called it *Nuera Guinea*, from the resemblance of the natives to those of the coast of Guinea.

In 1606 Torres made the E. coast of New Guinea, in his way to the Moluccas, sailed westward 300 leagues, doubled the S.E. point, sailed along the southern coast, saw the northern coast of New Holland, and passed the strait which now bears his name. He describes the coast of New Guinea as inhabited by a dark people, naked, except a covering round the middle, of painted cloth made of the bark of a tree. They had arms of clubs and darts ornamented with feathers. He fell in with many large islands, ports, and rivers. Towards the northern extremity he met with Mahometans, who had swords and fire-arms.

In 1616 Schouten came in sight of a burning mountain on the coast of New Guinea, which he named Vulcan, and immediately after of the coast itself. The island was well inhabited, and abounded with cocoa-nuts; but no anchoring ground could be found. The natives were black, with short hair; but others appeared of a more tawny colour, with canoes of a different shape. Among the islands in sight to the northward, four small ones continually smoked. On approaching the main land, the natives, whom he calls real Papoos, came off, "a wild, strange, and ridiculous people, active as monkeys, having black curled hair, rings in their ears and noses, and necklaces of hogs' tusks." They had all some personal defect; one was blind, another had a great leg, a third a swelled arm; from which Schouten concluded that this part of the country was unhealthy, an inference which was confirmed by observing their houses built upon stakes eight or nine feet from the ground. At the two little islands of Moa and Insou, on the N.E. coast, the friendly natives supplied them with abundance of cocoa-nuts. At 28 leagues from Moa, Schouten fell in with a group of 14 small islands covered with wood, and apparently uninhabited; but sailing to the northward, they were followed by six large canoes, the people in which were armed with javelins. Those in some canoes from another island were of a tawny complexion, had long curly hair, and appeared by their persons and language to be a different race from the natives of Papua: they had rings of coloured glass, yellow beads, and vessels of porcelain, which were regarded as "evidences of their having communication with the East Indies,"—Schouten's Island is the largest of this group. Tasman visited all these islands and the coast of New Guinea in 1643, but made no discoveries in this part of his voyage.

Our countryman Dampier saw the coast in 1699, but did not land: the natives came off to his ship, and he speaks in admiration of their large and picturesque pros. He discovered, however, a strait unknown before, which divides New Guinea from New Britain, and is now called after his name. Bougainville was less fortunate, when, in 1758, he touched on the coast of what he considered a separate island, and to which he gave the name of Louisiade. D'Entrecasteaux, in 1792, passed along the northern coast of Louisiade, and through Dampier's Strait, but left the point of its identity with or separation from New Guinea undecided.

Sonnerat published *A Voyage to New Guinea*, though he evidently never was there, but describes the natives and productions from what he saw and from what he could collect at the island of Gibby, to the eastward of Gilolo.

Forrest, in 1775, anchored in the Bay of Dory, on the northern extremity of New Guinea, and collected some information respecting the inhabitants from a Mahometan Hadji, who accompanied him. Captain Cook, also, in his first voyage in 1770, made the coast in about 6° 30', S. Lat., a little to the northward of Cape Valscher, but did not bring his ship to anchor, on account of the hostility of the natives. A party landed near a grove of cocoa-nut trees, and not far from it found plantain and the bread-fruit tree. The breeze from the trees and shrubs is said to have been charged with a fragrance not unlike that of gum benjamin. Three Indians rushed out of the wood with a hideous shout, and ran towards the party; the foremost throwing something out of his hand which burnt like gunpowder, the other two hurling their lances at the same time. Before they reached the pinnacle, from 60 to 100 had collected, all stark naked; their appearance as to stature, colour, and crisped hair, resembling that of the New Hollanders. They let off fires by four or five at a time, but for what purpose could not be imagined. These fires appeared to be discharged from a piece of stick, probably a hollow cane; and the fire and smoke exactly resembled those of a musket, but without any report. Those who were on board ship, at a distance, concluded they had fire-arms; and even those in the boat might have supposed them firing volleys, had they not been so near as to ascertain that there was no report. Torres had observed something of the same kind in about 4° S. Lat. on the same coast, where, he says, the inhabitants were black, but better clothed than those southward; that among the weapons used by them were hollow bamboo sticks, which they filled with lime, and by throwing it out endeavoured to blind their enemies. This explanation, however, does not account for the fire. Forrest says that the Chinese from Tidore trade with Papua under Dutch colours; perhaps, therefore, gunpowder may be one of the articles carried by them in exchange for the slaves, ambergris, sea-shells (Siphonelus edulis), tortoise-shell, lories, birds of paradise, &c., which they carry back to China.

The S.E. coast of New Guinea was visited in June 1793 by Mr Bampton, master of the Hormuzeeer, and Mr Alt, master of the Chesterfield, two British merchant vessels, who, in their endeavours to find a passage to the N.W. while beating up the Great Bight of this island, added some valuable information to what was previously known of that part of the coast. Captain Bristow, also the discoverer of the Auckland Islands, visited in 1806 the northern shores of the smaller islands, which were described by D'Entrecasteaux in 1793. But the southern shores of the Louisiade remained unexplored from the period of Bougainville's voyage in 1768 until the year 1840, when a French navigator, Captain D'Urville, attempted a flying-survey of them in the Astrolabe during his voyage round the world. He was not sure, however, whether the land he observed belonged to New Guinea or the Louisiade, although he passed a multitude of islands with navigable channels between them.

In 1845 Captain Blackwood, in H.M.S. Fly, surveyed 140 miles of the S.E. coast of New Guinea within the Great Bight. Here he found a low muddy shore extending many miles inland of the same character, intersected by channels, which evidently are the estuaries of streams. One of these he ascended for a distance of 20 miles in the ship's boats, and saw numerous native villages built at intervals along the banks; but being confronted by the inhabitants, who appeared to be of warlike disposition, he considered it dangerous to attempt a landing. This partial survey was followed up in 1846 by Lieutenant Yule in H.M. schooner Bramble, who laid down the coast-line from where Blackwood's survey had terminated E. of Ain'd's River, along the S.E. shore of the bight. As he proceeded southerly, where the coast trends to the eastward, he found the country inland gradually improve in aspect from low mud banks to densely wooded hills; with a lofty range of mountains in the distance. At this point where he sighted a high peak of this mountain-chain—which now bears his name—he returned to Australia to await further orders.

On the 10th of June 1848, Captain Owen Stanley in H.M.S. Rattlesnake, accompanied by the Bramble, Lieutenant Yule, as tender, commenced a further survey of the doubtful S.E. peninsula of New Guinea, and Bougainville's Louisiade. During their combined indefatigable exertions for four months, they not only determined the fact that the latter island is separated from the mainland, but that it forms one of several groups of smaller islands, more or less surrounded by dangerous coral reefs, which extend for upwards of 200 miles E. by S. of the great Papuan Island, between 151° and 154° 30', E. Long., and the parallels of 11° and 12° S. Lat.; the entire assemblage of island and reefs, including the Calvados Group, being now denominated the Louisiade Archipelago.

Much valuable information has been added to the natural history and ethnography of those coral-bound isles which Captain Stanley has now determined upon the charts of Australasia, by Mr John Macgillivray, the naturalist who accompanied the expedition; and who has furnished us with the journal of the voyage, which the death of the captain prevented himself from publishing. In his graphic descriptions of these new and interesting islands, he thus describes their appearance: "From the anchorage we enjoyed an extensive view of the south-eastern portion of the Louisiade Archipelago. On the extreme right is the large S.E. island, with its sharp undulating outline, and Mount Rattlesnake clearly visible, although distant 45 miles. Next, after a gap partially filled up by Pig Island, Joannet Island succeeds, 10½ miles in length, not so high as South-east Island, but resembling it in dimness of outline: its highest point, Mount Asp, is 1104 feet in height. Next come the Calvados, of various aspect and size, some with the undulating outline of the larger islands, others rising more or less abruptly to the height of from four to upwards of nine hundred feet. They constitute a numerous group—upwards of 40—some of which, however, are mere rocks: they are delineated upon the Rattlesnake's chart, and there are others to the northward. Behind them, in two of the intervals, the large and distant island of St Aignan (so named after one of D'Entrecasteaux's lieutenants) fills up the background, falling low at its eastern extreme, but the western half is high and mountainous, with an elevation of 3279 feet. Further to the westward, the last of the Calvados in this view was seen to form a remarkable peak, 518 feet in height, to which the name of Edystone was applied; and still further to the left, le Real de D'Urville's chart shoots up to the height of 554 feet, as a solitary rocky island with a rugged outline and an abruptly peaked summit."

Leaving these islands, Captain Stanley proceeded on his general survey along the S.E. coast of New Guinea, until he reached that point of land where Lieutenant Yule in the Bramble had left off. On making the S.E. cape of the island, the land appeared of a mountainous character inland; and this continued increasing in elevation for 250 miles, until he came to Yule's Peak. It is evident that this great mountain-chain divided the watershed on each side of the peninsula. On determining the altitude of this range of mountains, it was found to average double that of the Australian Alps—the highest section of the great Cordillera of that island. Mount Owen Stanley is 13,205 feet in height, being more than double that of Mount Kosciusko (6510 feet)—the highest mountain in Australia. Of fifteen other peaks in the range, whose altitudes are laid down on the Rattlesnake's chart, eight are above 7000 feet. Doubtless there are rich fields for discovery to future naturalists on these tropical-alpine ranges. At present, however, the hostile disposition of its savage occupants renders it inaccessible to European explorers.

If we except the Louisiade Archipelago, New Guinea extends in General a S.E. by E. direction from the Cape of Good Hope, nearly under the view of equator, to South-East Cape, in 10° 35' S., being in length about 1200 New and nautical breadth, or 1250 geographical miles. The accounts of Guinea, all the navigators who have touched on the different parts of its coast, describe it as a rich and magnificent country, containing, in all human probability, from its situation and appearance, the most valuable vegetable products of the Melanesian and Polynesian islands. Forrest found the nutmeg-tree on Manasaway Island, in the Bay of Dery; and he learned that a people in the interior, called

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1 *Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Captain Owen Stanley.* By J. Macgillivray, vol. i. p. 241. Haroforas, cultivate the ground, and bring their produce down to the sea-coast; that they are very poor, and some of them have long hair; and that they live in trees, which they ascend by cutting notches in them. The people of New Guinea, in many parts of the coast, live in huts or cabins placed on stages which are erected on poles commonly in the water, and probably as a protection against snakes and other venomous creatures, though Forrest seems to think against the Haroforas. On these stages they haul up their prows or canoes. These people are invariably described as being hideously ugly. Their large eyes, flat noses, thick lips, woolly hair, and black shining skin, cultivated the early navigators with the idea that they were of African origin; but closer investigation has shown them to be a very mixed race indeed. Mr Macgillivray resolves them into several distinct types with intermediate gradations. Thus, occasionally he meets with strongly marked negro characteristics, but still more frequently with the Jewish cast of features; while, again, a child and then a face presented itself which struck him as Malayan. Although the hair of these aborigines was invariably frizzled out into a mop, and woolly, instances were met with in both sexes where it was black, soft, and curly, while in others it was red and frizzly, and the males mostly beardless. The colour of the skin varies from a light to a dark copper shade; and their stature does not average more than 5 feet 4 inches. Instead, therefore, of considering them a rare race, these late investigations would lead us to suppose that the races from all the neighbouring Polynesian and Malayan islands had their representatives in this beautiful and fertile group of islands, who have amalgamated and formed the most warlike race in the Australasian seas. Their habits, however, are much the same as their neighbours; and they show equal skill in the management of their canoes and weapons, and in the building of huts. The Papuans also increase their natural deformity by passing bones or pieces of stick through the cartilage of the nose, and as already mentioned, frizzling out their curly locks like a mop, sometimes to the enormous circumference of 3 feet. They appear, however, to be one degree farther removed from savage life than the Australian aborigines, having permanent houses, and both men and women wearing wrappers round the waist, which are among the articles brought to them by the Dutch and Malays.

The only quadrupeds known to exist on this island are dogs, rats, and wild hogs; but the feathered race are of great beauty and infinite variety. New Guinea is the native country of the bird of paradise. They are said to migrate in large flocks, in the dry monsoon, to the islands of Arroo, and other islands to the W. and N.W. of New Guinea. The great crown pigeons, parrots, lorises, and mizmas, are natives of Papua.

The whole of this great country is indented with deep bays on every side, some of which nearly intersect the island; and the coast is surrounded on every side by a multitude of small islands, all peopled with the same description of blacks, excepting those already mentioned on the N.W., near the mouth, most of which are under the government of Mahometan Malays, with whom both the Dutch and Chinese have long kept up intercourse.

IV. There can be little doubt that this extensive range of islands was partially seen by Le Maire and Schouten in 1616, who, after discovering the Groote Island and the Marques Islands, steered along the northern coast of New Ireland, as did Tasman also in 1642. Dampier, however, first ascertained New Britain to be an island distinct from New Guinea, by passing the strait which has since borne his name. He visited Port Montague on this island, and speaks of the black natives resembling the Papuans, their dexterity in managing their canoes, their woody hills, fertile valleys, and delightful rivulets. He also anchored in Slinger's Bay, on New Ireland, which he conceived to be the same land with New Britain; but Carteret, in 1727, discovered and passed through a strait which separates them, and to which he gave the name of St George's Channel. The Admiralty Islands of Carteret, to the north-westward of New Britain, had previously been discovered by Schouten, and named the Twenty-five Islands. New Britain was seen by Roggewein in 1722, and by Bougainville in 1768.

D'Entrecasteaux, we believe, was the last navigator who passed along the N. coast of New Britain, and through St George's Channel, which divides it from New Ireland, and from thence to the Admiralty Islands; and from his voyage, published by Rossel, together with Labillardière's and Carteret's, we shall extract a few gleanings.

The extent of New Britain and Ireland is not exactly known, nor have they been sufficiently explored to enable geographers to lay them down with accuracy, or even to state what number of islands the group consists of. One of considerable extent lies off the N.W. end of New Ireland, which has been named New Hanover, and is itself surrounded by low woody islands. The whole group occupies a space between 2° 30' and 6° of S. Lat., and 149° and 153° of E. Long., and may probably contain an area not less than 10,000 geographical square miles.

Carteret, in passing through the strait, saw but few natives on Natives, the S. coast of New Ireland. These showed marked signs of hostility, and were armed with lances headed with flint; they had also slings and good fishing-tackle. They were black, and had woolly hair, but their lips, he says, were very thin, nor their noses flat; their cheeks were streaked with white, and their hair and beards were covered with a white powder. Their canoes were long and narrow, and had generally outriggers; one of them measured 90 feet in length, and was formed out of a single tree. The two large islands, and the whole group, in fact, were nearly covered with wood; and thick cocoanut groves skirted all the low parts of the coast. Labillardière says that New Ireland produces nutmegs; and he also mentions a new species of the Areca palm, 108 feet high, the stem consisting of hard solid timber.

The natives of the Admiralty Islands, lying to the N.W., were found by Carteret to be less black than those of New Britain and Ireland, with agreeable countenances, unlike Europeans; their hair was curly, streaked with oil and red ochre, and their bodies and faces painted with the same material; the glans penis was covered with the shell called the bulla ovum, serving the same purpose as the wooden sheath of the Caffres in South Africa, whom, indeed, they seem to resemble as closely as the natives of New Guinea do those of the western coast of Africa. The women wear a bandage round the waist. The central island is tolerably large, and of a beautiful appearance, clothed with the most luxuriant verdure, and cultivated to the very summit. The numerous groves of cocoanut trees are numerous habitations, and the natives have evidently attained to a higher degree of civilization than their southern neighbours; they use earthen vessels, and chew the betel leaf with chunna or lime. This central island is surrounded by nearly 30 small reefs of coral, and reefs in the various stages of progress towards islands.

Proceeding to the westward and to the north-west, we meet with other little clusters of islands, as the Hermites, the Portland, the Echiquier (cheese-board), vulgarly called Exchequer Islands, all of which consist, like the Admiralty Archipelago, of a larger central island surrounded by a chain of islets and reefs, most of them covered with beautiful verdure. The natives of this group, as they approach the equator, gradually assume a lighter colour and longer hair, till they lose entirely the negro character, and merge into that of Malays and other Asiatic islanders.—See Schouten, Dampier, Carteret, Labillardière, &c.

V. This archipelago of islands was one of the first discoveries of the Spaniards in Australasia, though the credit of islands is given to Alonzo de Mendana, who was sent on an expedition of discovery in 1567 from Callao by the viceroy of Peru. He anchored in a port on the island of Santa Isabel, to which he gave the name of Porta de la Estrella; and he also built a brigantine to make further discoveries, in which she was particularly successful, having fallen in with no fewer than thirty-three islands, "of very fine prospect." Many of them were of considerable size, to which they gave particular names, as Galera, Buonavista, Florida, San German, Guadalcanar, San Christoval, Santa Catarina, and Santa Ana. Guadalcanar, however, was the most attractive, having a port which they named De la Cruz, and a river which they called Galileo. Of this island Mendana took possession for the king of Spain. When the voyage was published, the name of Solomon's Islands was given to the group, "to the end that the Spaniards, supposing them to be those isles from whence Solomon fetched gold to adorn the temple at Jerusalem, might be the more desirous to go and inhabit the same;" but it has been said that Mendana's advice was, that they should not be colonized, "that the English, or others, who pass the Strait of Magellan to go to the Moluccas, might have no succour there, but such as they get from the Indians." The truth, however, is, that Mendana, on a second voyage for the discovery of the Solomon Islands, returned without being able to find them, which gave occasion to the remark, that "what Mendana discovered in his first voyage he lost in his second." He discovered, however, in this second voyage, the great island of Santa Cruz, which is situated at the S.E. extremity of Solomon's Islands, and may very fairly be considered as one of the group. This island, which has an excellent harbour, La Graciosa, was first revisited after Mendana's discovery by Carteret, in 1767, who changed its name to that of Egmont, and made it the principal island of a group which he called Queen Charlotte's Islands. Here Mendana died, and Quiros succeeded to the command; but the search for Solomon's Islands was abandoned when they were not more than 40 leagues from Christoval. It is a singular fact that Solomon's Islands, whose name was sufficient to tempt adventurers, were lost to Europeans for two centuries after their discovery, and that we know at present little, if any, more than Mendana gave to the world after his first voyage. They were revisited by Bougainville in 1768; by M. Surville in 1769, who, from a ridiculous mistake, called them the Archipelago of the Arsaces, to mark the natives as assassins; by Lieutenant Shortland of the British navy, in 1788, who chose to call them New Georgia; and frequently, since that time, by various British and French navigators.

Santa Isabel says Mendana, was inhabited by people who had the complexion of mulattoes, with curly hair, and little covering to their bodies; who worshipped serpents, toads, and such like creatures; whose food was cocoa-nuts and roots; and who, when it was believed, ate human flesh. "For the chief sent to the general a present of a quarter of a boy, with the hand and arm." Bonavista is twelve leagues in extent, very fertile, and well peopled, the natives living in regular villages or towns. On Florida, twenty-five leagues in circuit, the natives dyed their hair red, collected together at the sound of the conch-shells, and ate human flesh. Sesagua was well inhabited, produced plenty of yams and bread-fruit, and here the Spaniards saw hogs. In the midst of the island was a volcano continually emitting smoke. There was a lake which measured five feet between the tips of the wings. At Guadalcanal, which they received in barter two hens and a cock, the first fowls that had been seen there. At San Christoval the natives were very numerous, and drew up to give battle to the Spaniards, their arms being darts, clubs, bows and arrows. The Spaniards dispersed by the fire of the muskets, which killed one Indian, and wounded others. In the neighbouring village was found a quantity of cocoa-nuts and almonds, sufficient to have loaded a ship. Santa Ana was well peopled and fertile. It has a good port on the E. side, where the Spaniards were attacked by the natives, who wounded three of the invaders, while a dart pierced through the target and arm of the Spanish commanding officer. The blacks had bought on their heads, and bands round their waists. The Spaniards observed here hogs and fowls.

VI. To the S.E. of Solomon's Islands, and between the parallels of 14° 30' and 20° S. Lat., are found a number of islands, some of very considerable magnitude, called the New Hebrides or Hebudes. They were first discovered in 1606 by Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, who, with Luis Vaca de Torres, was sent by the king of Spain from Lima with two ships and a zabra (launch) to establish a settlement at the island of Santa Cruz, and from thence to go in quest of the Tierra Austral or southern continent. This voyage has been considered, and justly so, among the most celebrated undertaken by the Spaniards since the time of Magellan. In April 1606 they discovered an island, to which they gave the name of Santa Maria, from whence they saw another island to the southward, "so large," says Torres, "that we sailed for it." On the 2d May they anchored in a bay large enough to hold a thousand ships, to which they gave the appropriate name of San Felipe y Santiago. Quiros at once determined that he had now discovered the long-sought-for southern continent, and in this conviction named it the Australia del Espiritu Santo. Two rivers fell into the bay, one the Jordan, the other the Salvador. The surrounding country was beautiful, and is thus described by the historian of the voyage: "The banks of the rivers were covered with odoriferous flowers and plants, particularly orange flowers and sweet basil, the perfumes of which were wafted to the ships by the morning and evening breezes; and at the early dawn was heard, from the neighbouring woods, the mixed melody of many different kinds of birds, some in appearance like nightingales, blackbirds, larks, and goldfinches. All the parts of the country in front of the sea were beautifully varied with fertile valleys, plains, winding rivers, and groves, which extend to the sides of the green mountains."—Torquemada, as quoted in Burney's Account of Discoveries in the South Sea.

Of this terrestrial paradise, which the Spaniards regarded as their own, it was intended to take immediate possession. They landed in great numbers; the islanders also were numerous, but became alarmed, made them presents, and signified a wish for them to return to their ships. They landed, however, from their boats, upon which the chief drew a line on the ground with the end of his bow, and made signs that the Spaniards must not pass that boundary. It is said that Torres, to show his contempt of the idea of being restrained by barbarians, immediately passed the line. A battle ensued, in which the chief was killed, and all the rest fled into the woods. This rash act, however, was fatal to the views of the Spaniards, who never afterwards could prevail on the islanders to have any friendly communication with them; and they left this country, after some ridiculous formalities of taking possession in the name of Philip III., and founding a city, dignified with the name of the New Jerusalem.

So anxious was Quiros of "adding the Australia del Espiritu Santo to the other possessions of the Spanish monarchy," that, after his return to Spain, he is said to have presented no less than fifty memorials to the king. One of these, which was printed at Seville, begins thus: "I, Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, say, that with this I have presented to your majesty eight memorials relative to the settlement which ought to be made in Australia Incognita." In these memorials he enumerates the many valuable productions of this supposed southern continent,—cocoa-nuts, plantains, sugar-canes, yams, batatas, oranges, lines, papas, pumpkins, almonds, nutmegs, mace, ginger, pepper in great quantities, and woods for "building any number of ships." The animals are hogs, goats, and dogs; fowls, and a variety of useful birds; various good fish, and pearl oysters. The climate is described as so fine, with such a freshness in the air, that neither by labour, exposure to the sun, or rain, or dews, nor by intemperance, did any of the Spaniards fall sick; and among the natives many aged people were seen. They wear a covering round the middle: Torres says they are all black and naked. They are described by Quiros as corpulent and strong, cleanly, cheerful, sensible, and grateful: their houses, built of wood and thatched, stood, not on posts, but on the ground. They weave nets, and make earthen vessels, have plantations inclosed with palisades, construct vessels which navigate to distant countries, and have places appropriated for burying the dead; and, he adds, as the last and decisive test of their progress in civilization, "they cut their hogs and make capons."

This archipelago of islands, like that of Solomon, was lost to the Description-world for a century and a half, when Bougainville revisited them in 1768. Except landing on the Isle of Leper, however, he did nothing more than discover that the land was not connected, but composed of islands, which he named the Great Cyclades; which, on being more accurately and extensively surveyed, by Cook in 1774, underwent another change to that of New Hebrides, which they now bear in all our charts. According to the survey of our greatest navigator, they consist of Tierra del Espiritu Santo, the largest of the whole, St Bartholomew, Mallicolo, the Isle of Leper, Aurora, Whitsundate, Ambrym, Apes, Paocou, Three-bills, Sandwich, Montague, Hinchinbrook, Shepherd's Isles, Erromango, Tanna, Immer, Anatom, and Erronan. The two which are more particularly described are Tanna and Tanna, the natives of which differ remarkably in their persons and language; those of the latter having curly but long hair, dark but not black, and without anything of the negro character in their features, which are regular and agreeable, their persons slender, active, and nimble. They were found to be hospitable, civil, and good-natured; but they displayed a great jealousy of their visitors seeing the interior of the island, which could only be equalled in Japan or China. All the plantations were fenced, and laid out in a line; they consisted of sugar-cane, yams, plantains, bread-fruit, &c. The yams were remarkably fine, one of them weighing 50 pounds, every ounce of which was good; and they had pigs and poultry. The juice of the cocoa-nut and water appeared to be their only beverage. Their canoes were clubs, darts, lances, and bows and arrows. Their canoes, clumsily sewed together, had outriggers, and were worked by paddles and by sails. The men wore a wrapper round the loins, and the women a sort of petticoat reaching to the knee.

The natives of Malicolo are called by Captain Cook "an ape-like nation," the most ugly, ill-proportioned people he ever met with, and different from all others, in their features, dark coloured, with black hair, short and curly, but not so weedy as a negro's; they had large eyes, flat noses, and monkey countenances; and a belly round the waist, pulled tight across the belly, made them look not unlike overgrown plumiers. The women were equally ugly; and the dress of both sexes was in other respects the same as that of Tanna, as were also the productions of the island. Their houses were low, and covered with palm thatch.—See Dalrymple, Burney, Cook, &c.

VII. This large island, surrounded with coral islets and reefs, was wholly unknown till Captain Cook in 1774 fell in with the north-western extremity in steering south-west from Malicolo, from which it is distant not more than about eighty leagues. He anchored within a small island called Baladé, and opposite to the district Baladé. This great island extends between latitude 20° 5' and 22° 30', in the direction of N.W. and S.E., about 250 miles long by 60 broad. The land bears a great resemblance to that of New South Wales, and many of its natural productions appeared to be the same, but the natives were different.

Natives. The inhabitants are represented as a strong, robust, active, well-made people, courteous and friendly, and not in the least addicted to pilfering, in which respect they differ from every other tribe of Australasia. They are nearly of the same colour as the natives of Tanna, and appeared to be a mixed race—between that people and those of the Friendly Isles, or of Tanna and New Zealand, their language being a mixture of them all. Of the same disposition as the natives of the Friendly Islands, they were found to excel them in affability and honesty; and the women, like those of Tanna, were chaster than the females of the most eastern islands. They wear a petticoat of the thickness of the thinnest tree, "at least six or eight inches thick," but not one inch longer than necessary for the use designed. They paint and puncture their bodies, and wear ear-rings, and necklaces, and bracelets, of tortoise and other shells. Both men and women have good features and agreeable countenances; and some of the men measure in height six feet four inches. Their hair is frizzled out like a mop, and is very black, coarse, and strong, but different from that of a negro. The rough mop-heads make use of "scratchers," composed of a number of sticks of hard wood, about the thickness of knitting-needles, fastened together at one end like a sort of comb; the women leave their hair cropped short. The men wear a wrapper round the loins, made of the bark of a tree. Their huts resemble bee-hives, with peaked roofs, and a hole in the top big enough to admit a man bent double. The sides are of spars and reeds, and both these and the roof well thatched with dry grass. They boil their roots and fish in earthen jars. They have nets made of plantain fibres, and the sails of their canoes are of the same material. These vessels consist of two trees fixed together by a platform. They have plantations of sugar-canes, plantains, bread-fruit, and cocoa-nut, but none of them very productive. The whole appearance of the country, indeed, is described as unable to support many inhabitants. The greater part of the visible surface consists of barren rocky mountains; and though the plains and valleys appear to be fertile, Captain Cook was of opinion that they had not been less fruitful than any other tropical island we know in this sea."

D'Entrecasteaux passed the opposite extremity of New Caledonia in 1792, when on his search after the unfortunate La Pérouse, but was prevented by a barrier reef of coral from approaching the coast; and, in the following year, he visited Baladé on the N.W. The account of the inhabitants, as given by Rossel and Labillardière, differs altogether from that of Cook. But their own account of their transactions there, the confidence with which they struggled over the country, and the readiness of the savages to serve them, by no means warrant the bad character they have thought fit to give them. Labillardière thinks the inhabitants, as well as the vegetable productions, resemble those of Van Diemen's Land. There was no want of different kinds of excellent plants, though a great scarcity prevailed from drought or other cause when they arrived.

The young shoots of the Hibiscus tiliaceus, the fruit of the Cordia sebestena, the Delosperma tuberosum, Helianthus tuberosus, Arum esculentum, and Marorrubium, Hypoecia, Aluterus, figs, oranges, plantains, sugar-canes, cocoanuts, and the bread-fruit, all afforded them articles of food. Yet Labillardière says they eat steatite, and that he saw one man devour a piece of this stone as large as his two fists. They also eat a species of spider. They had lost the hogs which Cook left them, but some half-dozen of cocks and hens were seen by the French.—See Cook, Labillardière, &c.

VIII. Though these islands geographically belong to New Zealand, Australasia, the natives are, in their physical character and land language, Polynesians. They were first discovered on the 13th December 1642, by Abel Jansen Tasman, on his voyage of discovery from the Mauritius; and, on the 18th, the Heemskirk yacht and the fly-boat Zeehaan came to anchor in a bay to which they afterwards gave the name of Moorendam's or Murderer's Bay, and to the island that of Staten Land, in honour of the states-general, and in the possibility that it might join the Staten Land to the east of the Tierra del Fuego. "It is a fine country," says Tasman, "and we hope it is part of the unknown S. continent." The expedition of Hendrik Brower to Chili the following year cut off the latter Staten Land from any continental connection, and the name of the former was then changed to that of New Zealand.

On the 19th a boat with thirteen natives came within a stone's throw of the Heemskirk. The language in which they hailed was unlike that of the Solomons' Islands, of which Tasman had a vocabulary. Their vessel consisted of two narrow canoes, joined together by boards, on which the people sat; their paddles, about a fathom long, were pointed at the end; their clothing appeared of mats or cotton, but their breasts were naked. They were invited on board, but in vain. The ships, however, were moved nearer inshore, upon which seven double vessels came off. A boat, despatched from one ship to the other, had previously been attacked. Three men belonging to the Zeehaan were killed, and one mortally wounded; one of the killed was dragged into the canoes. After this, despairing of getting water or provisions, they weighed and set sail, twenty-two of the native boats following them, eleven of which were full of people. The ships fired, and the canoes returned to the shore.

The next visitor, at the distant period of a hundred and twenty-seven years, was Captain Survive, who in 1769 put into a bay on the north-eastern extremity, and gave it the name of Lauriston Bay. In the same year Lieutenant (afterwards Captain) Cook of the Endeavour, made the land on the 6th of October, the enormous height of which became the subject of much conversation; and the general opinion was, that they had now discovered the Terra Australis Incognita. This voyage, however, and the circumnavigation of the islands of New Zealand, entirely subverted the theory of a great southern continent. In 1772 Captains Marion du Fresne and Crozet put into the Bay of Isles, where the former and some of the crew were murdered by the natives. In March 1773 Captain Cook in the Resolution, with Captain Furneaux in the Adventure, revisited New Zealand, where the latter had a whole boat's crew with a midshipman murdered by the inhabitants. In 1776 and 1777 a third visit was made to these islands by Captain Cook. In these several visits he was accompanied by men well versed in every branch of natural knowledge; and in the Voyages of Cook and Forster will be found every species of information that the ferocious disposition of the inhabitants made it practicable to collect.

The two great islands of New Zealand extend between Descrip- latitude 34° and 48° south, longitude 181° and 194° east; that to the northward, called Eäheinomawe, is about 400 geographical miles long by 90 in medial breadth. The name of the southern island is Tavai Poenamoo, which is about 450 geographical miles long by 95 broad. The former has a rich and fertile soil, well clothed with trees, some of them more than 20 feet in girth, and 90 feet high, without a branch. Some of them resembled spruce, and were "large enough for the mainmast of a 60-gun ship." The highest hills were covered with forests, the valleys with grass and shrubbery, and the plains were well irrigated with rills of clear water. The southern island is very mountainous; one peak, resembling that of Teneriffe, was estimated by Forster, but without sufficient data, at 14,000 feet in height; it was covered with snow in the middle of January. Both as to appearance and temperature, they may be considered as the British Isles of Australasia. Fahrenheit's thermometer in February was never higher than 66°, and was not lower in June than 48°.

A great part of the western side of these islands had, however, a desolate and inhospitable appearance; exhibiting ranges of yellow sandstone, or white sandhills, with scarcely a blade of verdure. It is worthy of remark, that this extraordinary difference prevails between the two coasts of South Africa, the two coasts of New Holland, and the two coasts of Van Diemen's Land.

The natives are stout and well-limbed, muscular, vigorous, and active, excelling in manual dexterity; their countenances intelligent and expressive, of an olive complexion, but not darker than a Spaniard. In the appearance of the women there is not much feminine delicacy; but on Cook's first visit they found them more modest and decent in their behaviour than those of the islanders he had met with. They were covered from the shoulders to the ankles with a sort of netted cloth made of the split leaves of the flax plant (Phormium tenax), the ends hanging down like fringes.

The black hair of the men is bound in a knot on the top of the head, that of the women is cropped; both sexes anoint their hair with rancid oil, and smear their bodies with grease and red ochre. The faces of the old men are covered with large furrowed black marks, generally spiral lines, and have a horrible appearance. The women wear, in their ears, pieces of cloth, feathers, sticks, bones, &c., and bracelets and anklets of bone, teeth, shells, &c. Captain Cook did not observe any disease among them, though complaint, or eruption on the skin, or marks of any kind; and the severe wounds healed most rapidly. Very old men, without hair or teeth, showed no signs of decrepitude, and were full of cheerfulness and vivacity. They are mild, gentle, and affectionate towards each other, but ferocious and implacable towards their enemies; and it unfortunately happens, that the little societies into which they appear to be divided, are in an almost perpetual state of hostility, which makes it necessary for them to dwell in haphas or villages, fortified with embankments, ditches, and pallisades. They give a quarter, and feast with apparent relish on the bodies of their enemies, which they cut up and broil in holes dug in the earth; they also eat the heads, and preserve the skulls as trophies. They make no hesitation in devouring human flesh in presence of the English officers, and their provisions basket had generally a head or a limb of a human subject.

The only quadrupeds on the islands are pigs, dogs, and rats, the former of which they eat; but their principal food consists of fish, potatoes, and the bruised roots of fern. They cultivate, however, and with great neatness, sweet potatoes, eddas, and gourds, all planted in regular rows; and Cook observed near the villages both privies and dumpheils. Their houses have a ridge-pole to the roof, which, with the sides, are built of sticks and grass, and lined with bark; the sleep on the floors covered with straw; and the furniture consists of a chair to hold their sole clothes, arms and feather, provision baskets, and receptacles to hold water, which is their only beverage; the New Zealanders being among the very few people, civilized or savage, who are ignorant of the means of intoxication.

Their double canoes or whale-boats are admirably constructed with planks from 60 to 70 feet in length, and their prows and sterns are tastefully and curiously carved and ornamented; all of which is performed by adzes and axes of a hard black stone, or green tale or jade, and with chisels of human bone or jasper. Of these materials, and their offensive weapons are made; these are lances fourteen feet long, tipped with clubs, of hard wood neatly carved; and a battle-axe of jade or bone about a foot long. Their war canoes carry from 60 to 70 men each; they keep exact time with their paddles, singing, with great volubility and distorted features, their savage war-song, when bound on any hostile expedition.

Their war-dances are conducted in the same furious and extravagant style: the only musical instrument, if it can be called one, which they use, is a triton shell, which sounds like a cow's horn.

They have, however, a taste for music, and the women are said to sing in a soft, slow, and mournful cadence, making use of semi-tones. When their husbands are slain in battle, they cut their legs, arms, and faces, with bone or sharp shells; and there are few of them who do not wear scars on their bodies as testimonials of their affliction and sorrow for their deceased friends.

The natives of New Zealand exhibit a strange mixture of civilized and savage life. It was hoped, from the state of their cultivated grounds, of which several hundred acres were seen, that presents of hogs, kids, and poultry, would have been most acceptable, and considerable numbers were left with them on the first unexpected visits of Captain Cook; but, excepting the cocks and hens, which had bred plentifully, and flew about wild in the woods, the others had been wantonly destroyed. In 1791 Vancouver touched at Dusky Bay, and remained there for some time, examining the bays and creeks in the neighbourhood; but he did not see one human being. And in 1793 D'Entrecasteaux passed between the Three Kings' Island and Cape Maria van Diemen, but had no other communication with the natives except in their canoes. Unlike in all respects to the Tahitians, they have evidently a common origin; their language not differing more than the language of the two New Zealand islands from each other. The few notions they have of superior beings also accord with those of Tahiti. (See Cook's Voyage.)

The following horrible transaction proves how well Captain Cook described the character of these cannibals. In December 1809, the ship Boyd, from Port Jackson, was at Wanganaro, in the Bay of Islands, and admitted, without due caution, too large a number of natives on board, when the crew were suddenly attacked, overpowered, and slaughtered. Captain Alexander Berry, of the ship Edinburgh Castle, being on the coast, was soon after apprised of this horrible event; and, proceeding to the bay, found the remains of the Boyd had been devoured by the savages. On landing, he discovered that the massacre had been directed by Tipapahoe, the old chief who had been so much cared for by Sydney. The bodies of the unfortunate men lay scattered on the ground where their bodies had been devoured by the savages. Sixteen were murdered and cut up on the deck of the vessel; five others, who had fled for safety upon the yards, were told by the old cannibal, that if they would come down their lives should be spared, which, after some hesitation, they consented to do. They were sent on shore, and in five minutes after their dead bodies lay on the beach. The only survivors which Captain Berry contrived to save, were a woman, a child, and a boy. Well might Captain Berry conclude the narrative of this horrid murder by an admonition, "Let no man trust a New Zealander."

The colonization of this group of islands by the British may well be considered an era in the history of Australasia. Little more than fifteen years has elapsed since the settlements of Auckland, Wellington, and other towns were established on the Waitamata, and the shores of Port Nicholson and other parts of the coast; and, though much bloodshed has followed the occupation of the lands of this warlike people—who are now known by their aboriginal name, Maori—the stranger may travel at the present day through their country, with as much security from robbery or violence as in civilized lands. We speak from experience, when we state that the stranger white man who has amongst them with a peaceful object has everywhere the hand of fellowship held out to him, and is invited to partake of their hospitality. Strange as it may seem, nevertheless true, the descendants of the old race of wild cannibals rarely speak of the practices of their fathers without horror, and exhibit the most pacific desire to trade with the Europeans, whom their predecessors never saw but to deceive and to devour. They have yielded to the all-powerful influence of Mammon; they love wealth; and they have become a subdued race by adopting the luxuries of the white man, which they cannot produce themselves. Where the missionaries failed in their attempts to bring them within the sphere of Christian civilization, and the strong arm of European warfare could not crush the formidable spirit of these brave people, the slow but sure progress of commerce has said that proud race submissively as the feet of the traveller Pakaha (foreigner).

The horrors of cannibalism are now becoming lost in the traditions of the past; for if the main cause of that practice was the desire for animal food, which could not otherwise be gratified in a region where no indigenous quadruped exists, the pigs, sheep, cattle, and vegetable produce of all kinds introduced by the settlers have now furnished them with abundance of the necessaries of life. A chief may, instead of leading his followers on to plunder and massacre the white man, may be seen walking into a banking office in Auckland or Wellington, and writing a cheque for a portion of his money deposited there; or sitting in a news-room perusing a newspaper. printed in his own language. The history of the British in New Zealand is replete with interest; but it does not admit of more than a brief notice in this place. For other details see New Zealand.

To the eastward of New Zealand is an island of considerable extent and well peopled, discovered by Mr Broughton in 1791, when on a voyage round the world with Vancouver. He called it Chatham Island. The people and the productions are the same as those of New Zealand. (See Vancouver's Voyages.)

The Auckland Islands, or Lord Auckland's Group, are in Lat. 50° 40' S. and Long. 166° 35' E., nearly 180 miles S. of New Zealand. They were so named by the discoverer, Captain Abram Bristow, master of a South Sea whaler belonging to Mr Samuel Enderby, in gratitude to the nobleman whose name they bear having thus cured him admission, when a boy, into Greenwich Hospital. This group was first seen on the 2nd of August 1806; and on the 20th of October 1807, Captain Bristow came to anchor with his ship the Sarah, which was then the largest island, which he quaintly named Sarah's Room. This harbour, sometimes called Laurie Harbour and Rendezvous Harbour, has been renamed Port Ross by Mr Chas. Enderby in honour of Sir James Clark Ross, who surveyed the port. These islands have subsequently been visited and briefly described by Captain Morell of the American merchant service in 1829; by Commodore Wilkes of the United States exploring expedition; and by Admiral D'Urville of the French, and Sir James Clark Ross of the English navy in 1840.

The group consists of one large and several smaller islands. The principal island, Auckland, is about 30 miles long and 15 broad, and contains about 100,000 acres of land. The smaller islands, of which the principal are Adams's and Enderby, contain together about 20,000 acres. They are all of volcanic formation, composed of basalt and greenstone, and present a wild and picturesque appearance. The highest hill (Mount Eden) rises about 1350 feet above the level of the sea. Crawley's Harbour in the south of Auckland is described by Captain Morell and others as even superior to Laurie's Harbour. This island is fertile and well watered. The hills, except a few of the highest, are thickly covered with lofty trees of most vigorous growth, while the plains and valleys are clothed with luxuriant vegetation. Dr Hooker, who, in his Flora Antarctica, has given an elaborate account of the botany of these islands, says, "The whole land seems covered with vegetation. A low forest skirts the coast, and is succeeded by a broad belt of brushwood, above which to the summit of the hills extend grassy slopes. On a closer inspection of the forest, it is found to be composed of a dense thicket of stag-headed trees, so gnarled and stunted by the violence of the gales, as to afford an excellent shelter for a luxuriant undergrowth of bright green feathery ferns, and several gay-flowered herbs. The climate is described by Captain Morell as "mild, temperate, and salubrious. I have been told," he adds, "by men of the first respectability and talent, who have visited the island in the months of July, the dead of winter on this island, that the mercury seldom sinks below 38° in the valleys, and the trees at their bases retained their verdure as if it was midsummer. At the time we were there the mercury seldom rose higher than 78°, although it answered to our July. The weather is generally good at all seasons of the year, notwithstanding there are occasional high winds, attended with heavy rain."

The domestic pig, introduced by Captain Bristow, is the only quadruped found in these islands. The woods abound with singing birds, and on the shores seals and seafood are plentiful. "The only game observed," says Dr Holmes of the United States expedition, "were a few gray ducks, snipes, cormorants, and the common shag. The land birds are excellent eating, especially the hawks." Some officers of the French expedition, who visited the E. coast between the two harbours, found the tanks full of fish, with a regular bottom varying from 15 to 20 fathoms.

The convenience of these islands as a station for the southern whale fishery was remarked by the various navigators who visited them, but has only recently been taken advantage of. Mr Charles Enderby, F.R.S., and his two brothers, sons of Captain Bristow's employer, having obtained a grant of these islands from the British Government, a company was incorporated in 1849 for the prosecution of this important object.

IX. Between the parallels of 40°, 30°, and 50° S., and longitude 60° E., lies the barren and uninhabited land of Kerguelen, so named from the French officer who first discovered it in 1772, and who, on a second visit in 1773, discovered some small islands near it, but on neither occasion was able once to bring his ships to an anchor upon any part of the coast. Captain Cook was more fortunate. He had heard of Kerguelen's discovery at the Cape of Good Hope, and wondered he should not have seen this land when he passed it so closely in 1770. In 1776, however, he fell in with these islands, and as no account of Kerguelen's voyage had been made public, he gave new names to each island. Speaking of the main island, "I should," says Cook, "from its sterility, with great propriety call it the Island of Desolation, but that I would not rob M. de Kerguelen of the honour of its bearing his name." He changed, however, the Baie de l'Oiseau of the French, where they had landed, in a boat and lodged a piece of parchment in a bottle, into Christmas Harbour; and called a round high rock Bligh's Cap, which had been named by M. de Kerguelen the Isle of Rendezvous—although, says Cook, "I know nothing that can rendezvous about it but fowls of the air; for it is certainly inaccessible to any other animal." Kerguelen thought he had discovered the Terra Australis Incognita, but Cook soon determined that it was of no great extent.

The hills were but of a moderate height, and yet in the middle of summer were covered with snow; not a shrub was found on this island, and not more than 17 or 18 different plants, one-half of which were either mosses or grasses. The chief verdure was occasioned by one plant not unlike a saxifrage, spreading in tufts, and forming a surface of a pretty extensive texture, over a kind of bog or rotten turf: the highest plant resembled a small cabbage when shot into seed, and was about two feet high. No land animals were met with, but great plenty of the ursine seal (Phoca ursina). Penguins were very abundant, as were also shags, cormorants, albatrosses, gulls, ducks, petrels, and sea-swallows. A few fish of the size of a haddock were taken with the line, and the only shell-fish were a few limpets and mussels.

The steep cliffs towards the sea are rent from the top downwards, but whether by rains, frost, or earthquakes, could not be determined. The productions of the hills were composed chiefly of a dark blue and pretty hard stone, intermixed with small particles of glimmer or quartz. Lumps of coloured sandstone, and of semi-transparent quartz, are also common. Nothing appeared like an ore or metal of any kind.—Cook's Third Voyage, vol. i.

X. These small uninhabited islands are interesting only St Paul in a geological point of view. Situated in the midst of the and Am- great Indian Ocean, at the distance of 2000 miles from the nearest land, and removed but 18 or 20 miles from each other, they have no common point of resemblance; the one being the product of a volcanic eruption scarcely yet cooled, with a few mosses and grasses on its surface; the other composed of horizontal and parallel strata of rock, covered with frutescent plants—an appearance which led the scientific gentlemen in D'Entrecasteaux's expedition to conclude that an organization so regular could not proceed from a volcanic origin. A French seal-catcher from the neighbour-ing island had set fire to the shrubbery, which continued to burn when the navigators passed the island; and imagining that they saw smoke issuing from the crevices between the strata, some of them were disposed to consider this circum-stance as infallible indications of subterranean fire. Perron, the seal-catcher above mentioned, with the gentlemen of Lord Macartney's embassy, who explored the southernmost island, Amsterdam, say that the shores of St Paul's abounded with pumice-stone.

Of the recent creation of Amsterdam there can be little doubt; indeed, it is scarcely yet cooled, and is altered considerably since its first discovery by Vlaming in 1696. From every part of the sloping sides of the crater, which is nearly 1000 yards in diameter, and into which the sea has forced its way, either smoke, or hot water, or hot mud, is seen to issue; and everywhere is felt a tremulous motion, and a noise heard like that of boiling water. In many parts of the crater, in the centre of which the water is 174 feet deep, the sea-water is tepid from the hot springs below; and numbers of these springs are found on the margin, below the high-water mark, of various temperatures, from 100° to the boiling-point. One very copious spring, slightly A chalybeate, flows in a copious stream into the crater, nearly on a level with the lowest state of the tide.

Another singularity which this island presents is in its mosses and grasses, which are all European. To these may be added the *Sowbus olivaceus*, or sow thistle; the *Apium petrosilenum*, or parsley; and the common *Lepidium*, or club-moss, which grows luxuriantly on the bleak heaths of North Britain, and seems to thrive equally well on the boggy soil of Amsterdam, heated, at the depth of a foot below the surface, to the temperature of 186° of Fahrenheit's scale.

The crater abounds with an excellent perch of a reddish colour, which is easily caught with the hook, and may then be dropped at once into one of the hot springs on the margin, and boiled. So caught and dressed, we are told it affords an excellent repast. The bar across the mouth of the crater is represented as one mass of cray-fish; and in the sea, outside the bar, the vast multitudes of whales, grampus, porpoises, seals, and sea-lions, render it dangerous for boats to pass. It was the same in Vlaming's time, who "found the sea so full of seals and sea-lions that they were obliged to kill them to get a passage through. When they steered from the shore there was also an astonishing number of fish."

XI. From the volcanic island of Amsterdam, we must now take a glance of those innumerable low islands and reefs of rocks which are scattered over the greater part of the Australasian Sea to the eastward and northward of New Holland, and which are produced by an operation of nature different from that which lifted up Amsterdam; less violent, indeed, in its character than that by which the latter emerged from the abyss, but affording a basis equally, if not more, solid and enduring. A volcanic island not unfrequently breaks down its supporters, and sinks back into the cavity out of which it was hurled, as was recently the case with the Sabrina Island, near St Michael's; but the island of coral, created by slow and imperceptible degrees, hardens with time, and becomes one solid mass from the summit to the base.

Throughout the whole range of the Polynesian and Australasian islands, there is scarcely a league of sea unoccupied by a coral reef or a coral island; the former springing up to the surface of the water perpendicularly from the fathomless bottom, "deeper than did ever plummet sound;" and the latter in various stages, from the low and naked rock with the water rippling over it, to an uninterrupted forest of tall trees. "I have seen," says Dalrymple, in his *Inquiry into the Formation of Islands*, "the coral banks in all their stages; some in deep water, others with a few rocks appearing above the surface; some just formed into islands, without the least appearance of vegetation; others with a few weeds on the highest part; and lastly, such as are covered with large timber, with a bottomless sea at a pistol-shot distance." In fact, as soon as the edge of the reef is high enough to lay hold of the floating sea-wreck, or for a bird to perch upon, the island may be said to commence. The dung of birds, feathers, wreck of all kinds, cocoa-nuts floating with the young plant out of the shell, are the first rudiments of the new island. With islands thus formed, and others in the several stages of their progressive formation, Torres Strait is nearly choked up; and Captain Flinders mentions one island in it covered with the *Casuarina*, and a variety of other trees and shrubs, which give food to parakeets, pigeons, and other birds, to whose ancestors it is probable the island was originally indebted for this vegetation. The time will come—however indefinite that period may appear—when New Holland, and New Guinea, and all the little groups of islets and reefs to the N. and N.W. of them, will either be united into one great continent, or be separated only by deep channels, in which the strength and velocity of the tide may obstruct the silent and unobserved agency of these insignificant but most efficacious labourers.

A barrier reef of coral runs along the whole of the eastern coast of New Holland, "among which," says Captain Flinders, "we sought 14 days, and sailed more than 500 miles, before a passage could be found through them out to sea." Captain Flinders paid some attention to the structure of these reefs, on one of which he suffered shipwreck. "Having landed on one of these creations," he says, "we had wheat-sheaves, mushrooms, stages' horns, cabbage leaves, and a variety of other forms, glowing under water, with vivid tints of every shade between green, purple, brown, and white." "It seems to me," he adds, "that when the animalculæ which form the coral at the bottom of the ocean cease to live, their structures adhere to each other, by virtue either of the glutinous remains within, or of some property in salt water; and the interspaces being gradually filled up with sand and broken pieces of coral washed by the sea, which also adhere, a mass of rock is at length formed. Future races of these animalculæ erect their habitation upon the rising bank, and die in their turn, to increase, but principally to elevate, this monument of their wonderful labours." He says that they not only work perpendicularly, but that this barrier wall is the highest part, and generally exposed to the open sea, and that the infant colonies find shelter within it. A bank is thus gradually formed, which is not long in being visited by sea birds; saline plants take root upon it, and a soil begins to be formed; a cocoa-nut, or the drupe of a pandanus, is thrown on shore; land birds visit it, and deposit the seeds of shrubs and trees; every high tide and gale of wind adds something to the bank; the form of an island is gradually assumed; and last of all comes man to take possession. If we should imagine one of these immense coral reefs to be lifted up by a submarine volcano, it would be converted into an insular or continental ridge of hills of limestone.

It is worthy of remark, that, in this great division of the globe, fully equal in extent to that of Europe, there is no quadruped larger than the kangaroo; that there is none of a ferocious character, and, in many of the islands, none of any description. Man only in Australasia is an animal of prey; and, more ferocious than the lynx, the leopard, or the hyena, he devours his own species, in countries too where nature has done everything for his comfort and subsistence. The time is not far distant, however, when these inferior races must disappear before those exterminating influences to which we have already alluded, or their characteristic peculiarities be absorbed in the overwhelming tide of civilization. The same depopulating effects to which we have pointed in speaking of the aboriginal tribes in Australia and Tasmania, may be traced among the Maori race in New Zealand—a race which, fifteen years ago, was calculated at its lowest estimate to number 80,000 individuals. In vain do they strive to multiply their children, and to perpetuate their families by the most tender care. During our travels through the Kaipara country on the North Island, we observed chiefs with five, and as many as ten, wives, and only three or four sons and daughters; and we have heard Tirauau, chief of the Wairoa, lament in the following strain:—"I see the white man with one wife have ten children, while I with ten wives have only one child." It was melancholy to hear such remarks from these intelligent people, who are conscious of the decrease of their race; and that their lands will become peopled by the "Pakehas" when they are no more, as they are aware is the case throughout America. At a moderate calculation they are fewer by 12,000 now than they were fifteen years ago, when colonization was begun to any extent by Anglo-Saxon settlers, who have ever since kept up an indiscriminate intercourse with the Maori women. It is also observed, that the number of deaths is greatly above that of the births, which are chiefly a half-caste progeny. See NEW ZEALAND. Australia, or New Holland, the largest island on the globe, is situated in the southern hemisphere; and, as described in the preceding article, forms the mainland around which are clustered those groups of islands which in modern geography constitute the fifth great division of the earth's surface. Wilson Promontory, its most southern angle, is in Lat. 39° 11' S., and Cape York, its northernmost headland, in Lat. 10° 43' S. Its greatest breadth from N. to S. is thus 1708 geographical miles, or 1965 statute miles. Cape Byron, the eastern limit, is in Long. 153° 37' E., and Cape Inscription, in 112° 55' E., forms its westernmost point; making the extreme length of the island from E. to W. about 2603 British miles, by an average breadth of 1200 miles—a tract of land well entitled to be called a continent, by which name it is frequently designated by geographers. Its superficies approximates to 2,690,810 square miles. That of the continent of Europe being 3,684,841 square miles, we can form some idea of its extent by comparison.

The nomenclature and geographical subdivisions of this island-continent have undergone many alterations from time to time, as the territory has become colonized. Before any settlement had been effected by the British Government upon its shores, the entire island was designated New Holland, not only by the Dutch—from whom it received its name—but on our own charts and maps. The E. coast, first discovered and explored by Captain Cook in 1770, was named by him New South Wales. The middle portion of the N. coast bore the name of Arnhem Land, after the ship of its discoverer Zeaechen in 1618. The W. and S.W. coasts were named in like manner by their discoverers, the Dutch navigators, in the seventeenth century, De Witt's Land, Endraght's Land, Edel's Land, Leeuwin's Land, and Nuyt's Land. That of Van Diemen's Land was given by Tasman to what he supposed was the southern peninsula of New Holland, but which was afterwards discovered by Bass to be an island. The colonists have been anxious to name it after its discoverer, but the government still retains the first title.

Since this great territory has become the undisputed possession of Britain, other names, with the exception just mentioned, have, according to the law of nations, been substituted for the old Dutch titles. New South Wales is only applied now to about one-half the E. coast territory. The name of the entire island also is changed from New Holland to the more appropriate designation of Australia, by which it is now universally recognized and described. The subdivisions South, North, and Western Australia would be equally proper if their boundaries were defined according to the ordinary rules of geographical dissection. But while the first section, South Australia, is only the middle portion of the S. coast, trending inland to the central region; and the second, North Australia, embraces all to the N. of New South Wales; the third section, Western Australia, nearly bisects the island, leaving a small tract of land between it and South Australia with no name at all. A better division would be to draw a line right across from E. to W. in Lat. 26° S.; thus bisecting the island near its intertropical parallel; for although this line would be 34 degrees S. of the Tropic of Capricorn, still the influence of the tropical rains and winds ascend even higher than this parallel. At all events this would be sufficient for us to designate the northern section Tropical Australia, and the southern Temperate Australia. Besides these two great meteorological divisions, they could conveniently be subdivided into four political sections by drawing another line from S. to N. in the meridian of 133° 30'. Each of these sections might then be designated, according to its direction from the centre, South-western and North-western Australia, North-eastern and South-eastern Australia. And these again might be subdivided into provinces, as the last-named section includes the three colonies of New Geograp-South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. This arrangement would tend to simplify an important section of geography which at present is very much confused.

If, for the better elucidation of our subject, we suppose these lines and boundaries to exist on the map, the northern or tropical division has little to do with the history of British colonization in Australia. It is within the temperate zone that our colonies have been planted and successfully nurtured. And this tract, again, separated by the meridian line suggested, confines to a still smaller compass the subject of our description. The group of colonies which absorb the attention of the statesman and merchant in that far-off land, are comprised within the last-named section, South-eastern Australia. On the W. it is bounded by a line drawn from the S. coast in Long. 132° E., meeting another line drawn at a right angle from the E. coast in Lat. 26° S.; the southern and eastern boundaries being formed by the coast line; which, by following the sinuosities of the gulfs and bays, comprehends a sea-board of nearly 2000 miles. Again, if a line be traced on the map, commencing about 150 miles inland from the head of Gulf St Vincent, and continued more or less (within half a degree) the same distance from the coast until it reaches the northern boundary line, the intermediate space will give a fair average of the extent of country at present colonized, which may be estimated in round numbers at 1500 miles long by 150 miles broad, or 225,000 square miles; or nearly three times the superficies of England.

This section of Australia is politically divided into three provinces; which, with the western colony and the unsuccessful settlements in the northern section, we shall treat severally under the following heads:

1. New South Wales. 2. Victoria, of Port-Phillip. 3. South Australia. 4. Western Australia.

I. New South Wales is bounded on the E. by the South New South Pacific Ocean; from Cape Howe to Wide Bay, forming a Wales sea-board of 750 miles. A line drawn from Cape Howe in a N.W. direction inland, crossing the Australian Alps to the source of the Murray River, and continued along the N. bank of that stream, as far down as 141° E. Long, is the southern boundary. From this point a line traced upon the map due N. until it forms a right angle with the parallel of 26° S., the northern boundary, constitutes its limits westerly. The jurisdiction, however, of the executive government and legislature of the colony, extends beyond the northern boundary as far as Cape York and Port Essington.

In reviewing the history of New South Wales from its General first settlement, there are three distinct eras in its political, History, social, and commercial progress, which mark its short but eventful annals to the present time. Firstly, its foundation and existence as a penal settlement; when it depended solely on support from the mother country. Secondly, the opening of the colony to independent and bounty emigrants; who rendered it a self-supporting colony; and, thirdly, the recent gold discovery, which has made it one of the most wealthy and self-dependent provinces of our colonial empire. Each of these distinct eras has been marked by a complete change in the previous condition of the body politic, according as its destinies were influenced by a penal, a pastoral, and a mining population.

During the first period referred to, the history of New First period. Australia. South Wales may be considered solely an account of British colonization in the Australasian seas.

It was after the separation of the United States from this country that it was first proposed to establish a colony for the reception of convicts from Great Britain on the eastern shore of Australia, or New Holland as it was then called; and in the year 1787 preparations were completed for carrying the design into effect. On the 13th of May 1787, a fleet consisting of eleven sail of ships, including a frigate and an armed tender, and having on board 565 male and 192 female convicts, with 200 troops, and several of their wives and children, set sail from Portsmouth; and after a voyage of eight months, arrived at their destination on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of January 1788. Captain Arthur Phillip of the royal navy was appointed the first governor of the colony. Botany Bay, where it was proposed to fix the settlement, was found ill adapted for that purpose. In seeking for a more eligible situation, Captain Phillip entered the inlet to which Cook had given the name of Port Jackson, which he found one of the most capacious and safe harbours in the world, navigable for vessels of any burden fifteen miles from its entrance, indented with numerous coves, sheltered from every wind, and possessing the finest anchorage. Within this harbour, on the shores of Sydney Cove, thinly wooded, and the haunt of the kangaroo, but now marked out as the capital of the future empire, the British ensign was hoisted on the 26th of January 1788. They immediately proceeded to clear the ground, to land the live stock and the stores, and to establish the colony, amounting to 1030 souls. In its early progress the settlers encountered numerous obstacles, which it required extraordinary courage, and perseverance, and untiring industry to overcome. These arose from various causes—from the extremely sterile soil around Sydney Cove, from which no industry could extract a sufficient supply of grain for the wants of the people; from the profligate habits of the convicts, which occasioned continual disorders among themselves; from their outrages on the natives, and the retaliation which these produced. It was some years before an adequate supply of provisions for the maintenance of the colony could be derived from the ungrateful soil. The settlers consequently depended on foreign supplies, which did not arrive, and they experienced the severest privations. The loss of the store-ship the Guardian, under the command of Captain Riou, when proceeding to their relief with a large supply of provisions and stores, was a severe blow to the prosperity of the colony; and the general distress was greatly aggravated by the unseasonable arrival of a convict ship with 222 female convicts on board, thus increasing the number of consumers without any addition to the stock of provisions. The consequence was a severe scarcity, during which the weekly rations were, in April 1790, two and a half pounds of flour, two pounds of rice, and two pounds of pork; the governor sharing equally with others in the common calamity. Even this allowance, barely sufficient for the wants of nature, could not have been afforded if the governor had not sent off upwards of 200 convicts and troops to Norfolk Island, which is about 21 miles in circumference, with a fertile soil. Here the settlers, with even smaller allowance than at Sydney, would probably have perished, but for an unlooked-for supply from a flight of aquatic birds alighting on the island to lay their eggs. Owing to the length of their pinions, they take wing with difficulty; and they were so numerous that from 2000 to 3000 were taken every night, besides an incalculable quantity of eggs, which was a reasonable supply, and saved the lives of this detachment from the main body. Every effort was made to obtain supplies from China, India, and the Cape of Good Hope. There were not at one period four months' provisions in the store on the most reduced scale, and several persons had already perished. Shortly after, three other vessels arrived with convicts, a large number of whom perished of the scurvy during the voyage. For about three years the settlers were in danger of starvation, New South Wales. It was not till June 1790 that relief was afforded, by the arrival of three transports from the Cape; and in the following year a ship of war arrived at Sydney, conveying ten vessels, with 1695 male and 68 female convicts, after losing 198 on the passage. The arrival of this fleet changed the aspect of affairs, and gave the necessary stimulus to the industry of this rising community. Amid the difficulties with which the colony had to struggle, its improvement was not altogether neglected. Cultivation was begun, farms were established at Rose Hill (Parramatta), at other places two towns were commenced, and a few convicts were emancipated, and obtained grants of land as settlers.

Governor Phillip embarked for England in December 1792, when Lieutenant-governor Grose succeeded to the government. He was succeeded, on the 15th December 1794, by Captain Paterson of the New South Wales Corps; and, on the 7th August 1795, Governor Hunter, a captain in Hunter's royal navy, arrived, and immediately entered on his important office. From the year 1792 the improvement of the colony was decisive and rapid. It was in 1789 that the first harvest was reaped at Parramatta; and in 1793 the settlers were enabled to sell corn to the public stores, which was purchased at a given price. Trade began to make its appearance; passage-boats were established between the towns of Sydney and Parramatta, and the settlers visibly increased. The bulls and cows that had been originally brought to the new settlement had, by the carelessness of the keeper, been suffered to stray into the woods, and every subsequent search had proved ineffectual, when a fine and numerous herd of wild cattle was at length discovered in the interior of the country, evidently the progeny of the animals which had been so long lost to the settlers. At the close of the year 1795, the public and private stock of the colony consisted of 37 horses, 227 head of cattle, 1531 sheep, 1427 goats, 1869 hogs, besides a numerous breed of poultry. The total quantity of land in cultivation amounted to 5419 acres. At this period the storehouses were so completely exhausted, that, on the arrival of Governor Hunter, there were no salt provisions in store; and the settlement was, as before, reduced to rations. The colony was in danger of falling back; and it was only the speedy arrival of a store-ship at this critical and distressing moment that saved it from destruction in the seventh year of its establishment. At the commencement of the year 1800, the inhabitants had increased to 6000. The stock consisted of 203 horses and mares, 1044 cattle, 1024 sheep, 2182 goats, and 4017 hogs. The quantity of land sown with wheat was 4665 acres, with Indian corn 2930 acres, and with barley 82 acres.

Governor Hunter quitted the colony in the year 1800, on King's 1800, Gilkay King, R.N., who had effected the settlement on Norfolk Island. His administration lasted six years, and was distinguished by what is termed the "Irish rebellion," which broke out about the year 1804. Several hundred convicts attached to the government establishment at Castlehill, about 20 miles from Sydney, struck work and demanded their liberty; having armed themselves with pikes, they prepared for resistance. They were, however, overthrown after a brief contest by the troops at Vinegar Hill, a few miles from Parramatta, on the Hawkesbury road; a few were shot by the troops; the leaders were apprehended; three of them were led to instant death; two others were executed the following day at Sydney, three others at Castlehill, and the remainder returned quietly to their labour. There is no other instance of any insurrection in the colony by the convict population.

1 Collins's Account of New South Wales, p. 233. Australia. A printing-press had been established in the colony about the year 1795, by Governor Hunter, and in March 1803 the Sydney Gazette was published by authority. In 1800 a copper coin was issued by the government. The colony was at this time governed by general orders issued by the government. Captain King does not seem to have been adequate to the magnitude of the trust committed to him. He quitted the colony in August 1806, and was succeeded by Captain William Bligh, R.N., who was even less qualified than his predecessor. He had given ominous proofs of his incapacity as commander of the Bounty, where by his tyrannical conduct he provoked the men to a mutiny; and his selection for the delicate task of rearing up this infant colony evinced a marked indifference to its welfare which merits decided condemnation. His administration produced exactly the consequences which might have been expected. So unwarrantable was his tyranny, and especially his persecution of one influential person, noted alike for his public spirit and for his private virtues, that the colonists, with all the honest indignation of freemen, declared against his authority; and being aided by the officers and men of the New South Wales Corps, they deposed him, and marching up to the government-house, they dragged him from his concealment behind a bed, and carefully protecting his person and property, sent him on board a sloop of war, in which he set sail for Europe, after he had been governor for 18 months.

Macquarie. He was succeeded by General Macquarie on the 1st January 1810; the government having in the meantime, from 26th January 1808 to the 28th December 1809, been successively administered by Lieutenant-colonels Johnstone, Foveaux, and Colonel W. Patterson. During the government of General Macquarie, which lasted for 12 years, the settlement made great progress in wealth and improvement. The population was increased by the influx of numerous convicts, and some new settlers; though it was not till a later period that the full tide of emigration began to set in towards Australia. By aid from the British treasury, many public buildings were erected, roads were constructed, and the colonists, compelled by a season of drought in 1813, and animated by the spirit of discovery, made their way over the barrier of the Blue Mountains, hitherto deemed impassable. It was in search of new pasturage, and by following the course of the Grose river, that a pass was at last found, and a road commenced in the following year, over this mountain range, whose summits were considered by the aborigines to be inaccessible, and who often declared that there was no pass into the interior. One great principle of Governor Macquarie's administration was to encourage and bring forward the convict population. It was his maxim to consider the European life of every convict as past and forgotten; their arrival on the shores of Australia as a new era in their existence, in which the errors of the past might be entirely redeemed. It was a most enlightened and benevolent policy; and if he erred in carrying it into effect with too little discretion, as was alleged, it was the error of a generous mind. Under his rule the convicts were patronized; some were chosen to be magistrates; he conferred on others colonial situations of trust, along with liberal grants of land. But his further endeavours to introduce into respectable society those who had been branded as felons, were opposed by the invincible antipathies of the European settlers, who, though they agreed in countenancing and rewarding good conduct in the convict population, could not be persuaded that any after purity of life could thoroughly efface their original disgrace. Such an intermixture of classes could only be effected by the debasement of European manners, and by lowering the moral tone of society in the colony.

The departure of Governor Macquarie, on the 1st December 1821, marks the close of the first era in Australian history, embracing a period of 34 years. During that time Australia, the convict-pioneers had cleared the wilderness, filled the ground, constructed bridges, roads, and other public works, New South Wales unaided by free labour or private capital, at an average expense of £300,000 per annum to the British treasury, and a total cost, up to this date, of nearly £10,000,000 sterling. The armies of inexperienced immigrants who subsequently opened up the resources of the interior, thus found the most difficult preliminary task in colonization already accomplished to their hands. Until the year 1820 the British government assisted free settlers to emigrate, by paying their passages, and giving them grants of land, at peppercorn rents, upon their arrival; allowing them, also, convict servants under the assignment system, at the public expense, and frequently giving them a bonus of live stock to commence with. Very few, however, availed themselves of these inducements; for there was no spot on earth at this period the name of which sounded more abhorrent in the ears of the British public than that of Botany Bay. The white population, therefore, consisting at this date of 29,783 souls, were three-fourths of them either prisoners of the crown or emancipated convicts; while scarcely one-third were females. They were distributed in small detached settlements along the coast and within the county of Cumberland, mainly employed in constructing public works; while a few were engaged in tilling the ground, and tending the sheep, cattle, and horses, thinly spread over the 19 counties of the colony, as yet but imperfectly explored. The pastoral live stock at this period did not muster more than 250,000 sheep, 5000 head of horned cattle, and a few hundred horses. The capabilities of the colony, however, for the growth of fine-woollen sheep were by this time fully ascertained; and the merino rams and twenty ewes, first imported in 1803, under the superintendence of Mr Macarthur, rapidly increased. Still the amount of wool exported—the only produce of the colony available in a foreign market—was but a trifling set-off against the enormous expenditure for the maintenance of the colony; an expenditure, however, which the subsequent unparalleled growth of the free colonies of Victoria and South Australia has amply justified.

Let us now, before passing from our first period, give a cursory glance at the statistics of 1851, the close of the second. The 30,000 inhabitants had increased in 30 years to 359,158 in the parent colony and its two younger neighbours, of whom not 10,000 were convicts, and about five-sixths were females. In that year, just before the gold discovery, the extent of country occupied by the flocks and herds of the colonists covered more than four times the area of the original 19 counties of New South Wales; and they could muster, on good pasture land, not far short of 18,000,000 of sheep, 2,500,000 head of horned cattle, and 150,000 horses. The value of their exports of wool and tallow alone for the preceding year exceeded £3,000,000 sterling; and the public purse of the colony was not only independent of bounty from the mother country, but the expenditure for military establishments and gaols was disbursed out of the colonial revenue—the first example of the kind in the history of our colonial empire.

Major-general Sir Thomas Brisbane, K.C.B., a man of acknowledged science and talent, succeeded General Macquarie; and with his arrival commenced that influx of free immigrants, which gives a distinctive character to his and the succeeding administrations. As New South Wales became more and more a community of free British subjects, the acts of the governors were of less importance in marking the progress of events, than the efforts of the colonists themselves. Heretofore the orders of the governor were supreme; and there was none to demur against their acceptance and enforcement as laws. But these mandates,

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1 See History of Australasia, by H. Montgomery Martin, F.S.S. Australia, although adapted to the constitution of the colony as a penal settlement, in fact a huge gaol or penitentiary, were opposed by the free and independent settlers, who found them oppressive, and questioned their legality. Consequently the absolute authority with which Sir Thomas Brisbane entered upon the duties of his administration, was modified in the second year after his arrival. In 1823, an act was passed authorizing the king to appoint a local council consisting of seven members to assist the governor in making laws for the colony, subject to His Majesty's approval. This concession, however, was not enough to meet the demands of the free colonists, and disagreements ensued, in consequence of which the governor returned to England before the expiry of his term of administration; delegating his power to Colonel Stewart, who acted as lieutenant-governor from the 1st December 1825 to the 18th December 1826. He was succeeded by Lieutenant-general Sir Ralph Darling, who, during his harsh administration of five years, made himself still more unpopular. The public press had by this time two representatives in the colony, and the acts of the governor were unsparingly criticized. General Darling was forced to yield to the superior strength of public opinion, and left the colony on the 21st October 1831. His irresponsible acts, however, probably accelerated the improvement of the internal government of the colony. In 1829 a legislative council was formed, which passed an act to establish trial by jury, and several other beneficial measures. The free immigrants about this period pressed rapidly forward into the interior, and settled down amidst their multiplying flocks. Towns began to spring up on a hundred spots in the interior, and steam-boats were first launched on the Australian waters. In the mother country the spirit of colonization was alive; and a new colony was projected on free principles to occupy the waste lands of Western Australia. The samples of fine wools which arrived in the London markets vied with the finest fleeces of Germany and Spain; and the mania for emigration began to spread among the upper classes.

The eighth governor of New South Wales was Major-general Sir Richard Bourke; the most statesman-like, and withal the most liberal-minded ruler the colony has yet had. Steering a middle course between Darling's tyranny and Macquarie's amiable weakness, he organized anew the relations between the independent settlers and the convict population. With mild yet firm rule he brought together the contending interests of the free and the bond. And wherever he deemed it necessary, he unhesitatingly established the institutions of the mother country; endeavouring to make the gentlemen settlers and their families realize that, in staking their fortunes on the prospects of the colony, they had not forfeited the privileges and immunities of their native land. To the state of public morals he especially directed his attention, and caused acts to be passed to regulate and endow public schools and places of worship. The waste lands of the crown were no longer granted to absentee holders, or at peppercorn rentals, but put up to public auction and sold to the highest bidder; the proceeds being employed to assist the emigration of free labour. This fund increased from £3617 in 1831 to £132,396 in 1836. The revenue from the customs likewise increased rapidly, from the extending commerce of the city of Sydney; its harbour being pronounced by maritime authorities to be the finest commercial port in the world. The returns of the prosperous condition of the colony under the sway of its judicious governor, attracted an increasing number of emigrants from Britain; and the harbour of Port Jackson was thronged with richly laden vessels, freighted by respectable families of moderate means, in search of the "Golden Fleece" within the territory of the no-longer-dreaded shores of Botany Bay. Even foreigners who had formerly shunned these shores as if infected by plague, now landed their luxuries in safety, for which they obtained high prices; while the more fortunate colonists rolled along in their carriages through stone-built streets, lined with handsome warehouses and public edifices.

In the country, gentlemen's seats sprang up on all sides; New South and good turnpike roads intersected the settled districts, Wales, which were thronged by vehicles of the agricultural population bringing their produce to market. In fine, before fifty years this antipodal offshoot of British civilization had taken deep root, and already began to extend its branches to an unforeseen growth. In the far interior the settlers found that the pastoral limits of the old colony were insufficient for maintaining their increasing flocks; and the neighbouring colonists in Van Diemen's Land found themselves in similar circumstances. Some adventurous settlers from that colony crossed Bass's Strait to the mainland, and settled on the shores of Port Phillip. The people and government of New South Wales were not long in following up the enterprise, and annexing the surrounding territory to their colony. The result has been the formation of the most flourishing province in Australia, the gold colony of Victoria. At the same time took place the establishment of South Australia, on the shores of Gulf St Vincent—a detailed account of which will be found under its proper head in this article. The importation of so much wealth to the southern shores benefited still more the parent colony on the east coast; and the colony of New South Wales, upon the retirement of Governor Bourke on the 5th December 1837, had arrived at a state of prosperity unexampled in the history of British colonization. To his representations and exertions was attributed, as his crowning effort in establishing free institutions among the colonists, the virtual abolition of transportation to New South Wales in 1839. At his departure, he was followed by the heart-felt acclamations of the colonists, who, in grateful acknowledgment for his services to their adopted country, have erected a statue to his memory at the western gate of the Sydney domain.

From the 5th December 1837 to the 25th February 1838, Gipps, Lieutenant-colonel K. Snodgrass administered the affairs of the colony. He was succeeded by Sir George Gipps. This appointment was an unfortunate circumstance both for the new governor and the colony. His preconceived opinions of the high prerogatives belonging to the crown, in consequence of the settlement having been originally established without the aid of free capital or labour, rendered his administration, which lasted eight years and a half, a period of bitter political hostility between his government and the entire community, especially the higher class of free and independent colonists; and although no Australian governor's domestic life was of a more unsullied character than his, the acerbity of his temper banished from his presence many experienced men, whose private counsel would have been most beneficial to the newly-appointed governor. By this time the social and moral condition of the people had undergone a surprising degree of improvement from the influx of free immigrants; this was not merely amongst the upper circles in Sydney, and on the estates of landed and stock proprietors, but among the community at large. A moral tone prevailed in domestic society throughout the colony quite equal to that existing in the best localities of the mother country. Besides these beneficial effects from the infusion of fresh and uncontaminated blood into the body politic, many of the new settlers were related to families of rank, and with the advantage of wealthy connexions in Britain, had come to engage in colonial pursuits with large funds in hand. It was not uncommon to meet with gentlemen having £20,000 in cash, ready to invest in land or to purchase stock; while private associations sent out managers with sums varying from £50,000 to £100,000 for the purpose of growing wool, and producing tallow for export as a means of profitable investment. Joint-stock companies, also, were formed in the great metropolis, who despatched their staffs of officers, with paid-up capitals rang- Australia, ing from L250,000 to L1,000,000 sterling, to facilitate the operations of banking, effecting insurances and mortgages, so as to obtain a high interest for their money. Wealth flowed likewise into the treasury from the land sales and custom-dues as it never had done before, until the governor found a large surplus in the public coffers. The imports of British merchandise, and the exports of colonial produce, averaged as many pounds per head of population as in the Canadian provinces; it amounted to shillings. During the year 1846, when Governor Gipps left the colony, the former amounted to L1,320,000, and the latter to L1,481,000, amongst a population of 190,000 people. Thus the material prosperity of the colony had progressed, uninfluenced by the contentions of the higher powers; and notwithstanding the reckless speculations of the people, which brought about a general bankruptcy in 1841-3, it is but fair to state that the successful progress of the colony, throughout all its monetary difficulties, was maintained by the indomitable energy and high intelligence of the upper class of colonists—the merchants, squatters, landholders, and the representatives of the people in the legislative council. The independent members of the legislature expressed their judgment on the measures of the governor and executive, by passing a vote of censure on the government, and rejecting a bill brought forward by the colonial secretary for the maintenance of the border police. This proved a final blow to the administration of Sir George Gipps, and served to hasten his departure, which took place on the 11th July 1846.

Lieutenant-general Sir Maurice O’Connell, commander-in-chief of the forces throughout Australasia, acted as governor between 11th July and the 3rd August 1846, when his successor arrived and assumed the administration of affairs. This was the tenth governor of New South Wales. Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy, K.G.H., who holds the appointment at present, and who has lately been invested with the power and title of governor-general of the Australian colonies, which gives him certain jurisdiction over the lieutenant-governors of Victoria, South Australia, Van Diemen’s Land, and Western Australia. Happily the instructions from the home government allow greater latitude to the colonists in the management of their own affairs than under Sir George Gipps. The government of Sir Charles Fitzroy has been in consequence infinitely more popular than that of his predecessor. Two significant facts have recently occurred, which tend to show the amicable relations between the government and the elected representatives of the council. One was the council’s voting a considerable increase to the colonial secretary’s salary, and handing him over back pay, with the full concurrence of all the elected members. The other was his Excellency recommending to Her Majesty that their speaker should receive the honour of knighthood in virtue of his office. This title was recently conferred upon Sir Charles Nicholson; but, not to form a precedent in such cases, it was bestowed upon him in consideration of his private virtues and eminent abilities.

An important act came into operation during the first year of the present administration, under the sanction of an imperial ordinance, to the effect that the squatters, who were formerly considered yearly tenants at will, occupying crown lands, should henceforth obtain leases of their sheep and cattle “runs” for eight and fourteen years; with right of pre-emption, and compensation for improvements on the land. This was a great concession to the colony on the part of the then colonial minister, Earl Grey; and has proved a boon to the pastoral interests. If he had dealt equally justly with the agricultural population, and lowered the high minimum price of land from L1 to 5s. per acre, submitting parcels for sale in small sections, as petitioned for by the colonists, he would have been bestowing a benefit on the community at large, and offering advantages to the introduction of a yeomanary-farmer class who have never emigrated much to Australia. But that high minimum price on crown lands is still in force; and as long as it is so, the mass of the people will be an erratic labouring class; whereas, with a cheap and easy tenure in the land, they will become a fixed population in spite of the attractions of the gold fields. What made his measures still more obnoxious to the colonists, that minister endeavoured to renew transportation to New South Wales after it had been virtually abolished by a predecessor in office ten years before; and despatched several ship-loads of convicts to Port Jackson and Port Phillip, where they were landed under the specious name of “Pentonville Exiles.” The colonists were immediately up in arms. They assembled in public, they petitioned, and nearly opposed by force the landing of the convicts, until the local government had to warn the imperial legislature of the consequences. Ultimately, delegates from the inhabitants of the three colonies, who had united and formed themselves into an Anti-Convict League, were despatched for England to place before Her Majesty the disastrous effects of a renewal of transportation under any form to their shores. They showed with great truth that the evils resulting from the introduction of a felon class amongst a mixed population of emigrants, who were enjoying all the privileges and institutions of a free people, was fraught with the most demoralizing results, would utterly close their colonies to the importation of free labour, and thereby tend to ruin their prospects. We have already pointed out the fact, and commented favourably upon the policy of selecting pioneers for the purpose of encountering the first hardships of a new colony such as this, from among the malefactors of the parent country, both as a punishment and means of reformation for the criminal; but we do not advocate the continuance of this description of labour after the colony has an abundance of free labour for all its wants. Not only is it prejudicial to the moral and social condition of the colony, but transportation under such circumstances becomes a reward instead of a punishment. These crying evils becoming apparent from the revolt of some convicts on board the hulks at Chatham, who demanded to be transported, and above all, the gold discovery, not only induced the government to accede to the representations of the delegate from the Anti-Convict League, Mr. J. C. King of Victoria, but what was of equal importance to the colonies generally, to rescind the order which made Van Diemen’s Land a penal settlement. The growing wealth and prosperity of Port Phillip—which until 1851 was a dependency of New South Wales—likewise induced the Queen’s government in 1850 to grant the petition of the colonists in that section of Australia to be separated from the parent colony, and declare it to be a distinct province of the British crown under the title and name of Her Majesty, Victoria; at the same time granting to the new colony a representative legislature, besides extending the constitution of New South Wales. These concessions on the part of the imperial government are hopefully regarded by the colonists as the precursors of a more liberal policy in future on the part of the colonial office.

The political emancipation of the colonists in Victoria, and the extended privileges granted to the people of New South Wales, immediately preceded the astounding gold discoveries in 1851; and, as if still further to enable the political economist to draw his inferences from these events, it so happened that, in the month of March, two months before the gold discovery, the quinquennial census of the population was recorded. From it and the annual statistical re-

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1 This office is at present (1853) ably filled by Mr Edward Deas Thomson. turns, may be exhibited a correct view of the social condition and material prosperity of the colony of New South Wales in this eventful year, when, two months after the gold discovery, Port Phillip was separated from it, marking at the same time the close of the second, or pastoral era, in the history of the country. Thirty years had elapsed since emigrants in any considerable number began to settle in this land of the felon; and they had since increased and multiplied so greatly, that the prisoner population was lost in the general multitude. These industrious immigrants had tilled and replenished the soil of their adopted country, until the solitary plains and forests swarmed with their flocks and herds; and fields of yellow corn sprang up in desert places.

The population on the 1st March 1851 (exclusive of Port Phillip) was 189,951, of which 108,691 were males and 81,260 females. The general statistics on the 31st December 1850 gave:—Live stock in the colony, 5,660,819 sheep, 952,852 horned cattle, 63,895 horses, and 23,890 pigs; 69,219 acres under cultivation, exclusive of vineyards, 995 acres producing 103,606 gallons of wine. Imports, L1,333,413. Exports, L1,357,784, including 14,270,622 lb. of wool, valued at L788,051; and 128,090 cwt. of tallow, valued at L167,858. Ordinary revenue, L248,613. Coin in the colony L690,852. Paper currency, L266,602. Shipping inwards 421, of 126,185 tons. Shipping outwards 506, of 176,762 tons. Mills: steam, 64, water, 38, wind, 26, horse, 30. Six woollen-cloth establishments producing 200,000 yards, 5 distilleries, 20 breweries, 3 sugar-refining manufactories, 16 soap and candle, 15 tobacco and snuff, 4 hat, 4 rope, 36 tanneries, 5 salting and preserved-meat establishments, 93 tallow-melting do., 1 gas-work, 7 potteries, 1 glass-work, 1 smelting-work, 13 iron and brass foundries, and 5 ship-building yards.

Altogether the aspect of affairs, and the future prospects of New South Wales prior to the gold discovery were of the most encouraging description. And while her material prosperity was satisfactorily recovering from the depression consequent on the monetary confusion in 1841-3; her social condition had reached a climax of unexampled security and freedom from crime. These favourable symptoms of national progress likewise extended themselves to a greater degree amongst the lesser population of the newly-separated colony of Victoria at this time. Five years, we believe, had elapsed since a public execution had been witnessed either in Sydney or Melbourne; the greatest desperadoes in the country having emigrated to California. The newly-arrived stranger, on walking through these young cities, was struck with the peaceable demeanour of the inhabitants, and the respect they paid to the constituted authorities. But the gold discovery, like some sudden stage transformation, changed this state of general tranquillity into a chaos of public crime and domestic confusion, universal Mammon-worship and selfish aggrandisement, which at one blow, in the course of a few months, dislocated the structure of society, and the machinery of the government.

From a letter written by Mr Edward Hammond Hargraves to the colonial secretary, dated the 3rd April 1851, we learn that on the 12th of February previous he had discovered the existence of gold among the alluvium of the surface rocks over a large area of crown lands within the settled districts of the colony; which subsequently turned out to be from 20 to 30 miles beyond the town of Bathurst, an inland town 125 miles from Sydney. He was led to prosecute a search for the precious metal in that locality, from the similarity of that mountainous section of New South Wales to the auriferous regions of California, where he had successfully worked as a gold-digger. Governor Fitzroy was doubtful of the discovery, from the circumstance of a similar Australia statement having been made to him two years before, by Mr Smith of Berrima, who allowed the matter to drop on New South discovery. At the same time, Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, president of the Royal Geographical Society, and other eminent geologists in the colony and in England, had predicted the discovery of gold in the Australian mountain ranges, from their presenting similar characters, both geographically and geologically, to the gold-bearing mountains in Russia. Partly from these representations, and partly from the general claims of the colony to have its mineral wealth scientifically investigated, the government had just recently appointed Mr Samuel Stutchbury as geological surveyor; and that gentleman at this period was prosecuting his stereotyped researches not very zealously in the mountain ranges at a short distance from Mr Hargraves. It is worthy of notice, that gold had been found in its native state from time to time some 20 years previous, by a Scotch shepherd, who was known to have sold a large quantity to the jewellers in Sydney; having kept the secret so long from a fear, as he stated, that if any one dogged him to the spot, they might murder him. Notwithstanding these and other evidences which need not be specified, no one had prosecuted the search systematically before Mr Hargraves, who demonstrated the fact publicly and without delay, "To him, therefore, is due all the honour of the discovery."

After having intimated to the government that he was satisfied to leave to their liberal consideration any reward or remuneration they chose to offer him for his discovery, he posted off to Bathurst, and announced to the astounded inhabitants that they were living within a day's journey of the richest gold mines in the world. Followed by a number of the enterprising inhabitants, he led the way to Summerhill Creek, and there, in a romantic vale, surrounded by hills, where this streamlet wound its course round a picturesque point of land, they dug the auriferous earth from the adjacent bank, washed it in the stream, and found that the soil was mixed with grains of gold. These gold-pioneers who thronged to the first "diggings," reminded of the resemblance between their country and the rich gold mines mentioned in Scripture, called this spot the Valley of Ophir.

This was in May 1851, and it became the signal for the colonists in other parts of the territory to be up and doing. "Ascertaining the nature and description of the rocks occurring in the vicinity of the gold deposits, they immediately set to work in their own localities to search for the hidden treasure, instead of flocking with the multitude to the Bathurst mountains, concluding wisely that these comprised only a small section of the great mountain chain where it existed. Like the industrious tenants of an Australian ant-hill suddenly roused, the whole community of bushmen became alive amongst the rocks and valleys of the colony. Stockwhips and shepherd's crooks were thrown aside for pickaxes and shovels, with which these adventurous men might be seen exploring the gold regions, and with what success is now well known to the world." The Turon River, Muckera Creek, Louisa Creek, Meroo Creek, Frederick's Valley, Abercrombie River, and Araluen Vale, had their hidden treasures exhumed by the industrious diggers. And in three months after the workings at Bathurst had been set in operation, the newly-erected province of Victoria, within seven weeks from the time of her separation from New South Wales, disclosed her treasures at Ballarat; and before the close of the year, the Mount Alexander gold region gave forth that astounding yield of the precious metal, to which no record of ancient or modern times can furnish a parallel.

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1 Mossman and Banister's Australia Visited and Revisited, p. 179. The result of the latter discovery not only arrested the departure of the Victoria colonists who were flocking to the New South Bathurst Mountains, but afterwards turned the tide of adventurers from the parent colony to the greater attractions of the Mount Alexander gold fields, which threatened at one time to decimate the populations of Sydney and the surrounding townships.

The gold was not merely found in the scales or grains which at first came from the stream-washings at Ophir, but it was now dug up in large masses, varying from several ounces to many pounds in weight, which were familiarly called "nuggets" by the diggers, after the Californian name given to these peptites or nodules; and in one instance, at Louisa Creek, 106 lb. weight of pure gold was found by an aboriginal shepherd, imbedded in the quartz matrix, which formed one solid block of about 3 cwt. Neither was it found in the beginning at any great depth in the ground, but in many localities lay scattered among the surface soil, and hung to the roots of trees and shrubs. So easily and plentifully did it come to the hands of the gold-seekers, that it bore the aspect (and such was the belief of many of the less-informed diggers) of having only then sprung into existence from the earth, or having recently been scattered over the land by some mysterious agency; instead of carrying along with it the geological fact that its veins are coeval with the primary rocks. It was also discovered that the convicts had built a bridge across a small stream on the Bathurst road to Carcoar, above the gold formation, and that they had unconsciously paved the road with broken fragments of the gold-quartz veins. Even in the streets of Bathurst and Melbourne, small particles of the precious metal were picked up by children in its natural bed; and several farmers and gardeners found that they had been ploughing, digging, sowing, and planting their grain and trees in the auriferous soil. A knowledge of these facts industriously circulated by the colonial press, throughout a community possessed of all the modern facilities of information, and keenly alive to the speculations of money-making, could not but fairly upset the minds of the people. Consequently, a gold-mania seized every class of colonists, to the temporary suspension of all industrial pursuits.

Then followed a heterogeneous scramble for the coveted ore throughout the length and breadth of the land; which spread like wildfire to the neighbouring colonies of South Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand, threatening to depopulate them of their male adult inhabitants. Masons and bricklayers left unfinished buildings in the towns; shopmen left their counters, clerks their desks, sailors their ships; and artisans of every description threw up their employments, leaving their masters, and their wives and families to take care of themselves. All other interests were absorbed in the search for gold; scarcely any other subject was talked of, or thought of; and the mass of the people ran off to the "digging"—as this new occupation was termed. Nor did the mania confine itself to the labouring classes, for these were soon followed by responsible tradesmen, farmers, captains of vessels, and not a few of the superior classes; some unable to withstand the mania and the force of the stream, or because they were really disposed to venture time and money on the chance; and others because they were, as employers of labour, left in the lurch and had no alternative. Cottages became deserted, houses to let, business was at a stand-still, and even schools were closed. In some of the suburbs not a man was left, and the women were known for self-protection to forget neighbours' jars, and to group together to keep house. The ships in the harbour also were in a great measure deserted; and instances were known, where not only farmers and respectable agriculturists found that the only thing they could do, seeing that the people employed by them had deserted, was to leave their farms and join their men in the golden scramble; "but even masters of vessels, foreseeing the impossibility of main-taining any control over their men otherwise, agreed to make up parties among them, abandon their vessels, and proceed with their crews to the gold fields." The towns and their environs being thus drained of their labouring populations, the prices of provisions rapidly rose. The common necessaries of life reached famine prices; which fell heavily upon those depending upon salaries. This, coupled with the high wages demanded by domestic servants, forced the upper classes of society to dispense with their services, and the ladies had to perform the household drudgery. Clerks and others under government, and in public and private offices, finding it impossible to make both ends meet, threw up their appointments and rushed to the diggings, and even the constabulary force were leaving the towns unprotected. During this state of affairs, the government were obliged to raise the salaries of their officers, in order to maintain a sufficient staff for the public service, and to preserve the public peace, which was becoming sadly disturbed. The banks and mercantile firms were obliged also to follow their example.

Meanwhile, the governments of New South Wales and Victoria—the two gold colonies—looked with apprehension upon the probable result of this gold-revolution amongst a pastoral population widely scattered over the country; a portion of whom had but recently been reclaimed from the ranks of the felon. Therefore, how to regulate the prosecution of this new pursuit on crown lands became a matter of grave consideration. The crime and anarchy which had prevailed in California upon a similar discovery, brought the worst fears to their recollection. Precautionary measures were promptly taken, and all the available military force—which was but slender—was called into requisition, assisted by the mounted police to maintain order and authority at the localities where the diggers were working; for at some places communities had assembled, and erected tents, with the rapidity of a military encampment, in larger numbers than were to be found congregated within the ordinary townships scattered over the country. A proclamation was issued asserting the right of the Queen's government to all gold or precious metals found on crown lands; and that every person digging therein in search of it, or any individuals trading or otherwise profitably employed at the diggings, must take out a monthly license and pay the sum of 30s. This measure was at once acceptable to the people; and gold-commissioners were appointed to see that it was carried into effect. Notwithstanding the excitement which prevailed at the first blush of the discovery, and during the subsequent discoveries in other localities, which drew from time to time one-half of the adult male population to the gold fields, to the honour of the people of New South Wales be it said, that no greater amount of crime existed in that colony during the following eighteen months than the usual average. Everywhere," as stated in the despatches of his excellency the governor-general, "the gold-diggers were loyal, orderly, and obedient to the laws," and they cheerfully paid the fee of one shilling per diem for license to dig. The same flattering testimony cannot be borne to Victoria, where a Californian state of anarchy at one time threatened the subversion of all law and order; the consideration of which will be reserved for our remarks on that colony. At the close of 1851, six months' experience had proved the most satisfactory results as to the extent and richness of the gold deposits. In New South Wales, upwards of 20,000 licenses were issued; and the export sheet from the port of Sydney... By this time also, hundreds, nay, thousands, had ascertained that they were morally and physically unfit for the hard labour and privations to be encountered in the search for gold. The consequences were, that not only did many clerks, shopmen, and artisans, come back to their former occupations in the towns, but much distress was felt by those who had abandoned lucrative employments, which were shut against them on their return; in many instances impaired in health from exposure to the rigorous climate of the gold regions, which, it will be understood, were first worked in the winter season in Australia. The beneficial effects which accrued from this reaction in favour of the industrial pursuits, was the supply of labour to be had, although at exorbitant wages, for securing the wool-crop of the season. Not only was this evil result anticipated among others at the beginning of the gold discovery, but at many sheep and cattle stations in the far interior, the herds and flocks were abandoned by their keepers, and at that period nothing short of utter ruin to the pastoral interests of the colony hovered over the sheep-farmers and graziers. In one instance, an enterprising squatter drove 26,000 sheep into one flock, which he shepherded with four trusty shepherds on horseback. Here, as in other matters, the gentlemen settlers and capitalists in the colony proved themselves equal to the occasion; and much consideration is due to them for assisting to maintain the peace and prosperity of the community, by their untiring energy and support given to the government, under such an unlocked-for event. And where at first the squatters anticipated a ruinous reduction in the value of their stock, the demand for sheep and cattle to supply the diggers with food raised the prices 50 per cent., while the landholders found new purchasers of land among the judicious and fortunate gold-diggers. So at the close of the year 1851, the prospects of New South Wales, on all sides, were most cheering, where the reverse was expected. The population had increased to 197,168 persons. The value of the imports was L1,563,931, and the exports L1,796,912. Thus, the average of the former for every man, woman, and child in the colony, would be at the rate of L8 per head, and of the latter about L9. The ordinary revenue = L277,728; and the crown revenue L208,969; the coin in the colony L560,766; and the paper currency L418,641. The wool exported = 15,269,317 lbs, valued at L828,342; the tallow 86,460 cwt., value L114,168; and the gold 144,120 oz. 17 dwt., value L468,336. Shipping inwards 553 vessels, of 153,002 tons, having 7955 men on board; and the shipping outwards 563 vessels of 139,020 tons, having 7988 men.

From the circumstance of gold mines having been hitherto only worked by barbarous or despotic nations, who from ignorance or policy shrouded their operations in mystery, our information regarding the extent and character of gold-bearing rocks throughout the world was of a very meagre description. The "great fact," therefore, of gold regions being discovered, and worked within territories claimed by the Anglo-Saxon race in California and Australia, is not only an event of considerable interest in the history of the world, but has proved of the utmost benefit to science, in determining this important question in auriferous geology. Not only was the gold found in the ordinary quartz matrix, but the reports of the geological surveyors of New South Wales have shown that it is found in granite at Araluen Creek; schistose or slaty rocks at the Turon; and in Frederick's Valley specimens were found of a ferruginous rock, beautifully dotted with globules of gold. It would seem, therefore, that gold is the most universally distributed of metals among the unstratified rocks, although found in greatest abundance in the quartz veins which intersect these rocks. However, the great bulk of the gold found in Australia has not been extracted from its matrices, but dug out of the gold alluvium formed by the disintegration of these rocks. Hence the gold mines in this region have received the familiar name of "diggings," from the New South practical-minded Americans and Australians. What are termed the "gold diggings," then, are spots where the miners have to dig pits from 10 to 50 feet deep before they arrive at the substratum of auriferous soil in which the particles of gold are found loosely imbedded. This subsoil is generally a stiff blue clay mixed with sand and gravel, and the pure metal appears in scales about the size and shape of bran or shellings; and in rounded grains and lumps varying from the size of a pin's head to the form and dimensions of flints as they occur in chalk, a specimen of which, when gilded, gives exactly the appearance presented by these gold nodules, or, as they are now universally called, "nuggets." This alluvium is collected and mixed freely with water in a tub, which is termed "puddling." After having undergone two or three washings, the residue is thrown into a cradle or wooden trough, with "eels" or ribs fastened across the bottom, and a sieve at the head, which prevents large stones or lumps of gold from passing through. The cradle is then rocked and tilted to and fro, while water is poured over the auriferous sand or gravel. When sufficiently washed, the residue at the bottom of the cradle is examined carefully, the large pieces, if any, picked out, and the scales of gold separated from any foreign substance by further washing in a tin dish, until it is perfectly clean; after which a magnet is passed through it to extract small particles of iron-sand, which are frequently mingled with it. Upon reaching the "washing-stuff," as the "diggers" term the gold alluvium, they sometimes see the nuggets dotting the earth, and collected into heaps or "pockets," which they extract easily with the point of a knife. This pleasing operation to the fortunate digger is called "nuggetting." Again, a similar process is followed at some localities where the grains of gold lie on the surface of the ground, technically termed "forsicking."

The experiences of the diggers at this new and exciting occupation were by this time ascertained to be exceedingly various, and the results of the undertaking, to a certain extent, became more or less a lottery. While in some instances hard-working able-bodied men strove in vain to dig up the glittering ore, others of feebler constitution, and with less labour, came upon heaps of the pure metal, which in the gatherings of one day enriched them for life. Instances were known from the best authority, where a party of two or three men would, out of the auriferous earth, dig pepitas or nuggets to the value of L8000 and L10,000 in a week; while masses of pure gold were dug up weighing from 100 to 500 ounces each; and one specimen intermixed with quartz was brought to London, and exhibited by the fortunate diggers, weighing 134 lb. 11 oz., and calculated to be worth upwards of L8000, being the largest single mass of native gold ever found, of which we have any record. The colour and qualities of Australian gold differ; that of the Turon and the neighbouring gold fields being inferior in standard to the Mount Alexander gold, which again is less so than the Ballarat and Ovens gold. The Victoria gold is of a richer yellow than the New South Wales gold; the former being valued at the mint as high as L4, 1s. per oz., while the latter brings only L3, 19s.

In this age of scientific invention, it will be supposed that this rude system of gold-washing would soon be superseded by some ingeniously contrived machine to save time and labour; but up to this time, although numerous experiments have been made, no machine or implement has been constructed which has proved more efficacious than the cradle, and the modus operandi of washing the drift as already detailed. Circular churning-machines have been tried, and centrifugal engines applied to the separation of the gold from the drift by forcing a stream of mercury through it, for which Australia, it has such an affinity that an amalgam is at once formed, and the dross easily separated; but these and other intricate means of extracting the particles of gold have never been adopted by the "diggers." However, not only has the amalgamating process been successfully introduced, but steam-machinery and stamping engines have been erected at Louisa Creek,—where the enormous mass of 106 lbs weight in the quartz matrix was found,—for the purpose of reducing the auriferous rocks, and extracting the metal by the chemical process referred to. These works, erected by the "Great Nugget Company" are replete with every improvement in modern engineering, and may be strictly considered gold-mining works. The auriferous quartz is broken up into small fragments and placed under a ponderous pestle, which reduces them to a granular consistence. This falls under enormous rollers which crush it as fine as flour, and then it passes through a cistern filled with mercury and water; the former amalgamates with the gold and remains, while the latter, in which the quartz is diffused, passes away.

In like manner, as we have seen the appliances of machinery unsuccessful at the gold-washings, so have all attempts to prosecute the search for gold at these deposits, by the combined means of labour and capital as in ordinary companies, proved a failure. Beyond the association of two, three, four, five, or six individuals at the most, upon mutual terms of profit and loss, no company having its managers, overseers, and labourers, is to be found amongst the 150,000 individuals assembled at the "diggings" throughout the gold regions of Australia. At the first intimation of the discovery in England, the speculators of the city of London were not long in trumping up a host of gold companies; as many as fifteen figured on the stock-exchange within a few months. Out of these, ten proved to be bubble companies, and the other five abandoned the project of gold-washing by hired labour, after incurring large expenses; and only one succeeded in commencing operations in the colony, by uniting with the local "Great Nugget Vein Company." As the localities of gold-bearing quartz veins are discovered, there is every likelihood of capital and machinery being brought to bear profitably upon the resources unfolded by the gold discovery; but the employment of gold-digging will always be most successfully pursued by individual labour and means; or mutual associations of individuals, where all must work and encounter privation alike; and where the relations between master and servant will never be recognised.

Not the least in importance among the benefits resulting from the gold discovery has been the establishment of steam communication between this country and Australia; and the colonists had the gratification of seeing fifteen ocean steamers from time to time, within the year 1852, arriving at their ports from England. "The Royal Australian Mail Steam-Packet Company" obtained a charter to convey the mails to these colonies; but from inefficiency in the boats and their equipment the company lost the contract. It is estimated that the voyage out will be accomplished in sixty days, once the route is fairly established, which will be the means of bringing those dependencies within one-third the distance in time that they formerly were; and it is to be hoped that this will tend to unite more closely the interests of the colonies with the mother country, which were certainly becoming estranged through the illiberal measures of the colonial ministers. Coincident with these advantages from steam communication with the parent country, is the active renewal of a projected railway from Sydney to Goulburn, 125 miles into the interior, on the line of road to Melbourne. This railroad was projected in 1846; but the matter had remained dormant, for want of shareholders for the undertaking, till 1852, when the government not only granted the company a local charter and free occupation of all crown lands they should pass through, but assisted them with funds to complete the undertaking.

The crisis of the gold discovery having mingled amongst Australia, the records of the past, the colony of New South Wales is now fairly started, in 1853, on the third era of her eventful history, which may be literally termed the golden era. Al-Wales, though she has not produced such brilliant results in her material progress as her younger neighbour and sister Victoria, yet, during the past year, she can boast of a mine of comparative domestic comfort and public tranquillity which the latter cannot record. The present year has commenced under the most favourable auspices. Wherever we look, public and private works of improvements, which had been stopped for a season, are now rapidly progressing; and the statistics of the colony show a general advancement in every branch of commercial enterprise over the preceding year, quite equal to the most sanguine expectations of the colonists and the government.

| EXPERTS | 1851 | 1852 | |---------|------|------| | Gold (value) | L468,336 | L2,744,961 | | Wool (bales) | 45,785 | 49,151 | | Tallow (casks) | 9,196 | 19,914 | | Hides | 68,941 | 73,104 |

| REVENUE | General | Territorial | Estates | |----------|---------|-------------|---------| | From gold | L277,794 | 89,334 | 4,460 | | Total | L403,508 | L351,726 | 5,243 |

The colony of New South Wales, until the separation of Topogra-Port Phillip, comprehended within its present boundary only phy. nineteen counties, namely, Cumberland, Camden, St Vincent, Northumberland, Gloucester, Durham, Hunter, Cook, West-Plate Cl. moreland, Argyle, Murray, Brishane, Bligh, Phillip, Wellington, Roxburgh, Bathurst, Georgiania, and King. The act which erected that district into an independent province, divided the squatting districts S. and N. of the nineteen counties into forty-nine more, namely, Cowley, Buccleuch, Dampier, Beresford, Wallace, Wellesley, Auckland, Macquarie, Hawes, Parry, Buckland, Pottinger, Inglis, Vernon, Dudley, Sandon, Raleigh, Gresham, Clarence, Richmond, Rous, Buller, Ward, Churchill, Stanley, Cavendish, Canning, March, Lennox, Fitzroy, Aubigny, Merivale, Bentinck, Drake, Clive, Gough, Hardinge, Darling, Napier, Gowen, Gordon, Montecagle, Clarendon, Selwyn, Lincoln, Ashburnham, Harden, Wynyard, Goulburn, making in all sixty-eight counties. They extend along the coast about 800 miles, and into the interior about 180 miles. Not only is the whole of that extent of country thoroughly explored and occupied by the settlers, but a trigonometrical survey has been nearly finished; so that the map of New South Wales, in the tracing of its mountains and streams, is assuming that detailed appearance presented by the ordinary maps of Europe.

The general aspect of the country in the interior may be General as called mountainous or hilly; and covered with an open forest peat of the occasionally intersected by brushwood thickets. On the country sea-coast, along which the great South Pacific Ocean rolls its tremendous surge, it is bold and rugged, and for five or six miles from the coast it wears a bleak and barren aspect; presenting a soil composed mainly of drift sand, scantily covered with stunted trees and shrubs. But this would give an inadequate and unfair description of the whole; for, like the entire island itself, it is the most chequered country of good and bad land in the world. In the interior, rich and fertile valleys lie in the lap of these ranges, such as the Vale of Clywd, to the westward of the Blue Mountains; and extensive undulating grassy plains, like those of Maneroo and Liverpool plains, are approached through a barren and rocky region. On the coast, also, the romantic and fertile district of Illawarra in Camden, a ma- Australia, ritime county to the S. of Cumberland, is surrounded by a desolate region of barren hills; and the rich valley of the New South Hunter River system of waters contrasts with the Clarence and Richmond to the northward. Again, the tropical aspect of the jungles and mangrove swamps of Moreton Bay are so different from the verdant prairies of the Darling downs almost destitute of timber, and with few streams, that the traveller approaching the former from the E. and the latter from the S. could scarcely imagine them to be in the same country within 1000 miles of each other; and yet they are contiguous. To give, therefore, the most succinct view of this territory, it would be necessary to describe each district. As our limits, however, prevent this, it will suffice to give the general character of the two great watersheds from the main range or cordillera which divides the eastern from the western streams. From Mount Kosciusko, 6500 feet high,—the highest of the Australian Alps—situated 120 miles inland from Cape Howe, this range of mountains extends in a northerly direction through the whole extent of the colony to the boundary line at Moreton Bay. The rivers which flow to the eastward have 100 outlets on the seacoast; descending rapidly from their sources—which are on the average under 80 miles in a straight line from their outlets, and 1800 feet above the level of the sea; passing through a hilly region in a tortuous course. The streams flowing to the westward, deriving their sources from 1000 fountainheads, flow through extensive valleys and plains, describing a multitude of ramifications until they either join in one great river 400 miles from their sources, or lose their waters in extensive marshes. The land on the eastern streams is for the most part inferior in quality, both for agriculture and pasture, to that on the western streams. While the latter enjoys a cooler climate than the former, it consists also of a rich black and dry soil, covered with luxuriant herbage, interspersed here and there with valleys, open woodlands, and forests, whereon the herds and flocks of the settlers now graze, and a busy population of gold-seekers are digging up the ground for the hidden treasure. Again, on the river banks which face the rising sun, the orange, the banana, and the vine grow abundantly; and the day is not far distant when wine, tobacco, and cotton will be among the staple exports from this coast. Between the girdle of the coast and the mountain range, the country extends in gentle undulations for many miles, clothed with stately forests, which, where cultivation has made progress, are diversified with farms and tenements, and intersected by broad and excellent turnpike roads. Lastly, the coast is indented with numerous bays and harbours, unsurpassed for security and extent by any in the world; while the noble city of Sydney, with its classic buildings, and 100 other towns and villages, are visible throughout the length and breadth of the land; giving that air of dignity and of settled comfort to its inhabitants which belongs essentially to older countries, and which is not observable in the aspect of the newer colonies in Australia.

Australia being situated in the opposite hemisphere to Britain, its seasons are exactly the reverse of ours. July is the middle of winter, and January of summer. The festivities of Christmas and of the new year are celebrated here, not, as in the old country, with doors and windows shut, and a cheerful fire to dispel the winter cold, but amid the oppression and heat of summer, with doors and windows thrown open to invite the refreshing breeze. We no longer hear in this Australian climate of the "gentle south wind," nor of "rude Boreas, blustering rafter." The north is here the region of heat, as the south is of cold. The summer extends from the 1st of December to the end of February; and the mean heat during these three months is about 80° at noon. This great heat is tempered along the coast by the sea breeze, which sets in regularly about nine in the morning, and blows with considerable force till about six or seven in the evening, when it is succeeded by a land-breeze from Australia, the mountains, which varies from W.S.W. to W. In very hot days the breeze often veers round from N. to S., and New South Wales a hurricane. The hot winds to which the country is exposed, especially in the interior, three or four times every summer, blow from the N.W., like a current of air issuing from a heated furnace, raising the thermometer to 100° in the shade, and to 125° when exposed to their influence. They imbibe their heat from the great central desert alluded to in the article Australasia. They are generally succeeded by a cold southerly squall, and by a thunder-storm and rain, which cools the air. The spring months are September, October, and November. In the beginning of September the nights are cold, but the days clear and pleasant. The thermometer varies from 60° to 70° towards the end of the month; and light showers occasionally prevail, with thunder and lightning. The days become gradually warmer, and in October the hot and blighting winds from the north begin to be apprehended. The three autumn months are March, April, and May. The first is rainy, and more fertile in floods than any other in the year. Towards the end of April the weather becomes perfectly clear and serene. The thermometer varies from 72° at noon to 60°, and in the mornings is as low as 52°. During May the thermometer varies from 50° at sunrise to 60° at noon, with a perfectly cloudless sky. During the three winter months of June, July, and August, the mornings and evenings are cold; hoar frosts are frequent, and become more severe in advancing into the interior. At Sydney the thermometer is rarely below 40°; at Parramatta it is frequently as low as 27° in the course of the winter. As the land rises from the ocean, the temperature declines. The winter at Bathurst, where snow falls in its season, is much colder than on the sea-shore. On the loftiest hills heavy falls of snow take place during the winter, and it remains for many days on their summits; and some high ranges penetrate the level of perpetual snow. In the valleys, however, the snow does not lie. The greatest defect in the climate is the prevalence of periodical droughts, in consequence of which the vegetation is parched, a general failure of the crops follows, and numbers of the cattle perish. Although in general a large quantity of rain falls throughout the year, yet the colony has hitherto been subject to severe periodical droughts. A drought took place in 1826, which continued till 1829; another in 1839; and more recently, in 1849-50, another severe drought took place, which occasioned general distress in the colony. The climate is, however, on the whole highly salubrious and agreeable. Out of a community of 1200 persons, it has been known that only five or six have been sick at a time; and at some of the military stations, seven years have elapsed without the loss of a man. The fact is now pretty well ascertained, that its dry healing influence is beneficial in pulmonary consumption. Hydrophobia is happily unknown, although dogs abound. The Asiatic cholera has never visited these shores; dysentery, however, is prevalent amongst newly-arrived people. Cases of organic lesion of the heart are frequent, and cause the majority of sudden deaths. Ophthalmia, too, is not uncommon in the districts of the Hunter and Moreton Bay. The only instance of an epidemic visiting this country was in 1849, when the influenza carried off a number of the inhabitants; yet notwithstanding these facts, and the assertions of inexperienced emigrants, the climate of New South Wales has been pronounced by good authorities to be one of the most healthy and salubrious on the face of the earth. As the aspect of the country, however, possesses no general feature whereby to describe its character, so the varieties of soil and climate in New South Wales cannot be classed under one general head. Not only are the warmer localities and poorer soils on the eastern shed of waters greatly different from the rich lands and cooler atmosphere on the western streams, but these Australia again are diversified by the variations of latitude. The territory of New South Wales, as before stated, extends between the parallels of 26° and 38° S. Lat., or about 800 statute miles; hence it will be naturally supposed to possess the graduated influence of solar heat at the sea-level alone to cause local variations of temperature. And this, added to the higher altitudes of the country inland, produces a variety of meteorological phenomena which materially affect the indigenous as well as the imported subjects of the animal and vegetable world. In ordinary parlance, therefore, it is as erroneous to speak of the climate of New South Wales generally as if there were one uniform recurrence of weather throughout that territory, as it would be to designate as one description of climate the varied weather which simultaneously occurs between Switzerland and the African shores of the Mediterranean. For there is as great a difference in the weather which happens in the regions between the Maneroo plains, elevated 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and situated at the base of the Australian Alps, covered with snow, and the intertropical district of Moreton Bay, within whose waters turtle abound; these being the extreme S. and N. boundaries of the colony. In the former region, the gooseberry and the apple flourish in the frigid atmosphere; in the latter the pine-apple and the banana grow rich and luxuriantly in the open air. While the Maneroo settlers rear coarse-woolled sheep upwards of 100 lb. in weight, the Moreton Bay squatters have the finest-woolled merinos under 50 lb.; and their proprietors may be distinguished in the streets of Sydney, which lies midway between them, by the ruddy English complexion of the one, and the sallow Indian face of the other.

The agricultural products of New South Wales comprehend all the cereals grown in Europe, and many which are confined to tropical countries. Of the former, wheat, barley, oats, and rye, with hay, lucerne, and other kinds of fodder for cattle and horses, comprise the farmer's list; of the latter, maize, tobacco, and lately cotton, have been profitably cultivated. The barren soil, however, around the environs of Sydney, renders the inhabitants of that city and its suburbs dependent upon Van Diemen's Land for their supplies of grain. The Hunter River and other districts being subject to droughts, the cultivation of cereal crops is precarious. So devastating were their effects in early times, that the government had silos on the Egyptian plan sunk on an island (Cockatoo) in Sydney harbour, and filled with grain in case of famine. In the above-named district, a large quantity of maize or Indian corn is produced, mainly for the food of horses, pigs, and poultry. In 1852, there were 152,037 acres of land under cultivation, exclusive of vineyards. The culinary vegetables common in this country thrive admirably in New South Wales; such as potatoes, cabbages, carrots, parsnips, turnips, peas, beans, cauliflowers, lettuces, cucumbers, and pumpkins, besides sweet potatoes, yams, and plantains. Many of the former attain to greater perfection than in Europe, as the cauliflower and the broccoli; and green peas are to be had in Sydney all the year round; whilst a few degenerate, such as the bean. The colony is famed also for the abundance and variety of its fruits. Peaches, apricots, nectarines, loquats, oranges, grapes, pears, plums, figs, pomegranates, raspberries, strawberries, mulberries, and melons of all sorts, attain the highest degree of maturity in the open air. Added to these, the northern districts produce pine-apples, bananas, guavas, lemons, citrons, and other tropical fruits. Excepting on the high mountain districts to the westward and southward of Sydney, the climate is not so congenial to the production of northern fruits, such as the apple, the currant, the gooseberry, and the cherry. Grapes of the finest quality are produced in the colony, not only for the table, but for the manufacture of wine. Upwards of 1000 acres of vineyards are laid out in the most complete manner for the culture of the vine, which in 1852 produced 84,843 Australian gallons of wine, and 1641 gallons of brandy. The Australian tobacco, both from its quantity and its quality, is now fast superseding the importation of American tobacco. In Wales, 1852, 12,530 cwt. were manufactured in the colony. The olive-tree, likewise, grows luxuriantly, and a superior sample of oil has been produced. The cultivation of cotton upon the Brisbane River at Moreton Bay realized to the experimental planters in 1852 a clear profit of L1.12 per acre. Altogether, the capabilities of this varied soil and climate for the production of the universal staple commodities of cotton, tobacco, and wine, are unlimited. All that the colony requires to raise them in sufficient abundance for her own consumption and foreign export, is capital and labour. Already much has been done by the enterprising colonists in this direction. While we write, Mr Hickey of Osterley, Hunter's River, has produced before the wine-tasters in the London Docks samples of his vintage of light wines, which have been pronounced equal to the best hock and Sauterne imported into London; while a parcel of cotton has been sold in Manchester as high as 2s. 6d. per lb. from the Moreton Bay district; and a company is now forming to introduce the cultivation of the cotton plant there by free labourers, so that the Manchester cotton manufacturers may be independent of the American planters, which may ultimately tend to abolish negro slavery throughout the United States.

Of the indigenous animals in Australia, we have given some account in the preceding article. We shall notice here, therefore, more particularly the capabilities of the country for rearing imported stock, poultry, &c., and those birds and fishes used as food by the colonists. The extent of pasture land within New South Wales occupied by the herds and flocks of the settlers is not far short of 50,000 square miles; upon which there were grazing at the end of 1852, 116,397 horses, 1,375,257 horned cattle, and 7,396,895 sheep. The climate is peculiarly congenial to the growth and increase of these animals. The breed of horses, both thorough-bred, and half-bred hacks, is such, that they are exported to India for the purpose of supplying the East India Company's cavalry and artillery. The horned cattle are, in many instances, of a gigantic size, weighing from 13 to 14 cwt. The sheep are mostly of the fine merino breed; but, on the elevated downs, the Leicester breed crossed with the merino, thrive best, and give a heavier carcase, with a greater quantity of coarse wool than the pure-bred stock. From the dry nature of the herbage, the mutton and beef has not that rich flavour which is so much prized in English-fed cattle and sheep. Swine are abundant, the number of pigs in 1852 amounting to 65,510. They are mostly fed upon the "graves" of the tallow-melter; which neither produces as sweet pork nor such solid flesh as the ordinary methods of feeding. Goats are not numerous; and asses and mules are seldom reared. A few Timor ponies have been imported; and the camel has been introduced, but hitherto has not thriven.

Domestic fowls of every description thrive admirably, and birds may be reared at small expense. Geese become fat upon the native grasses; and the barn-door fowl picks up sufficient food in summer amongst the insects in the bush. Ducks likewise require very little artificial food; only they are subject to some unknown disease which checks their increase; while turkeys and pea-fowl, which are delicate to rear in Europe, require little or no care. Guinea-fowl also are easily reared; and all of them fatten better upon cracked maize than upon oats. The same holds true, also, in the feeding of horses. Besides the domestic fowls, game birds also are abundant, including the quail, snipe, land-rail, water-rail, duck, pigeon, and the native turkey, or bustard of the plains. Parrots are found in myriads, and at certain seasons make a tolerably good pie; and the cockatoo also is We may here mention that the tail of the kangaroo makes a richly-flavoured soup, which may be considered the only part of an indigenous quadruped fit for food.

Fish are plentiful in the bays along the coast, but they are not so abundant in the rivers. The fresh-water cod-fish, however, in the Murray River, are of a large size, weighing sometimes as much as 70 lbs., and 30 lbs. being common. Eels are also caught in the marshes and lagoons, 12 and even 20 lbs. in weight. The salt-water fish are numerous. The schnapper is like our cod, and the best and largest fish in the Australian seas, with the exception of the trumpeter at Hobart Town. Rock-cod, flat-heads, taylor-fish, mackerel, soles, and guard-fish, constitute the ordinary kinds brought to Sydney market; but few of them have the substance and flavour of British fishes, from which they are distinct in species. Cray-fish are abundant, and fine flavoured; the crabs are of the most beautiful colours, but none of them edible. Prawns and shrimps are sold in the markets. Fresh-water mussels are found of a large size, but not wholesome to eat; and the salt-water mussels are small. Oysters, however, of three kinds are plentiful: the rock-oyster, the stream-oyster, and the mud-oyster, which are all edible; the stream-oyster being of the most delicate flavour. Turtle are found at Moreton Bay, where the aborigines are employed by the settlers in procuring them for the Sydney market; they are, however, not equal in flavour to the West India turtle.

Now that the mineral treasures of Australia have become the leading item in the wealth of the country, the attention of the government, and of the colonists generally, has been directed to the geological structure of the country. To give the most brief synopsis of this important subject would occupy more space than we can afford. A general view of the gold fields has been given in the section treating of the discovery; we must content ourselves here with noticing those other minerals which have been productive of wealth and utility to the colonists. Between the Blue Mountains and the sea-coast are those extensive sandstone plains where the strata are lying in a horizontal position with a slight dip to the westward. On this the city of Sydney is built, and the great mass of its buildings are constructed of this rock, which is more friable than ordinary freestone. The roads are "mettled" with the whinstone or basalt obtained from the Blue Mountain ranges. In the county of Argyle, a beautiful grained marble has been found, which makes up into handsome chimney-pieces. Copper has been worked for several years in the mountain ranges around Bathurst; but the ores that are the richest (pyrites) are found only in small quantities, while those most abundant are of inferior quality. Oxydulated iron ore, from which is manufactured the finest description of steel, has been worked at Berima, but not successfully. Potters' clay and rock porcelain exist also among the rocks N. of Sydney harbour. But by far the most valuable mineral worked in New South Wales, prior to the gold discovery, has been coal. The coal measures on the Hunter River extend over the great basin of that river and its tributaries, down to the sea-coast at Newcastle, where the seam of coal is seen cropping out on the beach. Until within the last eight years, these coal measures were worked under a monopoly held by the Australian Agricultural Company. This, however, has been infringed upon successfully by the adjoining proprietors of land containing coal, who work now under sanction of the authorities. About 10 pits are in operation, and a considerable trade is carried on between Port Hunter and the adjoining colonies, as well as with New Zealand and California. For further particulars upon this subject, and an analysis of the soils as applied to agriculture, we refer the reader to the excellent work of Count Strzelecki.

An account of the aborigines of Australia will be found under the article Australia.

We shall now proceed to notice the increase of the European settlers in New South Wales. From our own experience, and the evidence of competent authorities, we know no region on the globe where natural phenomena combine Wales to render mere animal existence more desirable to the Anglo-Saxon constitution, or more propitious to the increase of the race.

It will be remembered that the colony, when first established at Sydney, as detailed in the first section of this article, consisted of 1030 individuals, 700 of whom were convicts; and that notwithstanding the famine and distress which occurred at intervals, and the discouragement of emigration by some of the authorities, the population, owing to the fineness of the climate and the number of convicts sent out, rapidly increased. A census taken at eight different times gives the following result in the month of March in each year:

| Year | Males | Females | Totals | |------|-------|---------|--------| | 1810 | | | 8,923 | | 1821 | | | 29,753 | | 1828 | | | 36,598 | | 1833 | | | 71,070 | | 1836 | 55,539 | 21,557 | 77,096 | | 1841 | 87,263 | 43,549 | 130,812| | 1846 | 114,709| 74,813 | 189,522| | 1851 | 106,229| 81,014 | 187,243|

The apparent decrease at the last census was in consequence of the separation of Port Phillip, at which period it numbered an additional population of 77,000, giving a total of 264,000 for the old boundaries of the province before the gold discovery.

At the date when the following statistics were computed, transportation had virtually ceased for eleven years; hence it was not necessary to specify the number of convicts in a return of the population. Moreover, their influence on the social and political condition of the colony had become absorbed, and they were scarcely recognizable in the influx of free emigrants. Our information from the colony brings up the census to April 1853, exactly two years after the details given in the annexed table; and includes a fluctuating population attracted to her shores during nearly all that period by the gold discovery, and a re-emigration to Victoria upon the announcement of the superior gold-fields there. "The tide of emigration," however, as stated by his Excellency the Governor-general in his prorogation speech to the Legislative Council on the 28th December 1852, "is now steadily setting back to the colony." During 1852, 21,816 persons arrived in the colony, and 14,397 left it; 13,511 of whom went to Victoria and the other sister colonies, and of these 9886 returned; showing an excess of arrivals over departures of only 7419. The total population on the 31st December 1852, according to the government returns, was 197,168; 113,032 males, and 84,136 females; to which add the excess of arrivals over departures in 1852, and we have a total of 204,587 on the 31st December last. During this year, 1846 emigrants arrived at the public expense, and 756 at their own. The number of births registered during the year was 7675; of marriages, 1915; of deaths, 2600.

The proportion of the colonists from the United Kingdom and their descendants may be taken thus: out of 10 individuals there are 4 English, 3 Irish, 2 Scotch, and 1 other nations. Of course no apparent nationality of character has as yet resulted from this intermixture; but if we may judge from the few native-born men and women we have met, there is every likelihood of the future Australian people resembling their cousins of Anglo-Saxon descent on the other side of the Atlantic.

The following table exhibits a more particular classification of the inhabitants in the colony of New South Wales, within the restricted boundaries, according to the last general census taken on the 31st March 1851: ### SEX AND AGE

| NAME OF DIVISION | MALES | FEMALES | TOTALS | |------------------|-------|---------|--------| | **COUNTIES** | | | | | Argyle | 202 | 487 | 689 | | Bathurst | 244 | 515 | 759 | | Bligh | 31 | 84 | 115 | | Brisbane | 67 | 130 | 197 | | Camden | 402 | 881 | 1283 | | Cook | 119 | 275 | 394 | | Cumberland | 2488 | 6775 | 9263 | | Durham | 336 | 730 | 1066 | | Geelong | 61 | 148 | 209 | | Gloucester | 128 | 313 | 441 | | Hunter | 40 | 93 | 133 | | King | 95 | 204 | 299 | | Macquarie | 34 | 74 | 108 | | Murray | 154 | 376 | 530 | | Northumberland | 614 | 1361 | 1975 | | Phillip | 20 | 60 | 80 | | Roxburgh | 95 | 242 | 337 | | St Vincent | 95 | 233 | 328 | | Wellington | 51 | 139 | 190 | | Westmoreland | 57 | 158 | 215 | | Total in the 20 counties | 5347 | 13,495 | 18,842 | | Stanley (reputed County) | 194 | 335 | 529 | | Total within settled Districts | 5541 | 13,831 | 19,372 | | **SQUATTING DISTRICTS** | | | | | Bligh | 38 | 88 | 126 | | Clarence | 48 | 123 | 171 | | Darling Downs | 65 | 90 | 155 | | Lachlan | 116 | 203 | 319 | | Liverpool Plains | 69 | 118 | 187 | | Macleay | 14 | 18 | 32 | | Maneroo (including Auckland) | 163 | 315 | 478 | | Moreton (excluding Stanley) | 2 | 5 | 7 | | Murrumbidgee | 149 | 382 | 531 | | New England | 140 | 368 | 508 | | Wellington | 40 | 120 | 160 | | Burnett | 17 | 19 | 36 | | Maranoa | 2 | 2 | 4 | | Wide Bay | 6 | 19 | 25 | | Western Lower | 3 | 3 | 6 | | Eastern Lower | 6 | 13 | 19 | | Dazzling | 18 | 39 | 57 | | Total in Squatting Districts | 896 | 1,903 | 2,799 | | Total in New South Wales | 6437 | 15,734 | 22,171 |

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*New South Wales Census, 1851; classified with reference to Sex and Age.* A visitor to the city of Sydney, if he mingles among the higher circles of its inhabitants, will find them surrounded by those elegancies, and possessing much of that refinement in their domestic relations with each other, which give the charms to civilized society. The governor general and his official circle, of course, form the central sphere around which the lesser revolve; and these combine upon state occasions, when the hospitality of government-house is laid under contribution, to display a goodly assemblage of fashionable and elegant people. Altogether the stranger is pleasingly impressed with the facts that there is much wealth and liberality, and a tone of high intelligence, about the society of this fair city, and on the estates and homesteads of the settlers in the interior.

When the colony of New South Wales was first established, the whole powers of the government necessarily centred in the governor alone. In 1824, a council was appointed to aid and to control him in the exercise of his authority. Several alterations have since taken place, and the supreme authority is now vested, 1. in the governor; 2. in an executive council, which consists of the colonial secretary and treasurer, the commander of the forces, the auditor-general, and the attorney-general; and, 3. in a legislative council, consisting of the members of the executive council, with the addition of four other official and nine non-official crown nominees, and thirty-six elected members, making in all fifty-four members; who are presided over by a speaker elected from one of their number. The legislative power is vested in the governor and this legislative council; a majority of which must concur before any law can be passed, the speaker having a casting vote. Any member has the privilege of introducing a measure upon giving notice, as is customary in the House of Commons; the governor being represented by the colonial secretary, who brings forward all government bills. The recent act passed "for the better government of her Majesty's Australian colonies," after erecting the "district of Port Phillip" into the "colony of Victoria," enacts (§ 2), that the legislative council of New South Wales shall consist of such a number of members as the governor and council shall determine, of which one-third shall be appointed by Her Majesty, and two-thirds to be elected by the inhabitants. Electors are qualified to vote on possessing freehold estate of L100 clear value, or occupying a dwelling-house for six months at an annual rent of L10, or holding a depasturing license of the yearly value of L10. The bills passed by the council must not be repugnant to the laws of England; and they do not become the laws of the land until they obtain the governor's assent; who has also the power of referring any measure before coming into operation, to obtain the sanction of Her Majesty, which entails great delay, if the act is obnoxious to the local government. For the sole administration of the laws there is a supreme court, over which preside a chief and two puisne judges. The supreme court is a court of oyer and terminer, and gaol delivery; it is also a court of equity, and a court of admiralty for the trial of criminal offences within certain limits: it is empowered to grant letters of administration, and it is an insolvent debtor's court. From the supreme court lies an appeal for all actions for less than L500, to the governor or acting governor, who is directed to hold a court of appeals, from whose decision lies a final appeal to the queen in council. There are courts of general and quarter sessions, which have the same powers as those in England. Courts of requests have been established for summarily determining claims not exceeding L30; and their decision is final. Juries now sit in civil and criminal cases. A very vigilant police has been established throughout New South Wales. There are benches of stipendiary as well as unpaid magistrates in Sydney and other principal towns, aided by head-constables and a civil and military police force at each station. The city of Sydney is incorporated, and divided into six wards, each ward electing four councillors. From these twenty-four councillors, six aldermen are chosen; and from the aldermen and councillors, the mayor is elected annually.

The country of New South Wales, recently a pathless internal forest, is now intersected in all directions by excellent roads. The royal mail proceeds from Sydney to all the different towns in the interior, and letters are delivered with punctuality and despatch. Postage stamps are used for letters as in Britain. Stage-coaches with four horses also start daily from Sydney, and from other places; so that there is every facility of internal intercourse by land; while numerous steam-vessels leave Sydney and ply along the coast to the different sea-ports. A railway also has been projected between Sydney and Goulburn; and there is every likelihood of the line being in operation in 1854.

Great efforts have been made in New South Wales to promote education among all classes, and numerous excellent seminaries have been established. Sydney College was instituted in 1830, where the youth of the colony are taught the ancient languages, English literature, and the rudiments of the sciences. On 11th October 1852, Sydney University was inaugurated by the governor-general. A classical professor, a professor of mathematics, and a professor of chemistry and the philosophy of physics, were appointed. The first session closed satisfactorily, with 24 matriculated students, in December 1852. It is founded upon the same liberal principle with regard to the exclusion of religious tests, as that recognized by the government in extending its support alike to all religious denominations. The number of schools in the colony on the 31st December 1852 was 423; number of scholars, 11,118 males, 10,002 females; total, 21,120. Of these schools, 227 were private, and 196 public ones. The city of Sydney possesses a mechanics' school of arts, a female school of industry, an infirmary and dispensary, a benevolent asylum, an Australian subscription library, a chamber of commerce, a museum and botanic gardens, a botanic and horticultural society, and various other societies connected with religion, literature, and science. The press, as usual, lends its aid to the diffusion of knowledge. In Sydney there are two daily and eight weekly newspapers, besides one three times, and two, including the Government Gazette, twice a-week; also one in Goulburn, two in Bathurst, two in Maitland, and one in Brisbane, published weekly.

There is here, as in the mother country, a variety of religious sects, a statement of whose respective numbers will be found in the annexed classified population table.

It is here to be remarked, that all classes, of whatever creed, enjoy equal rights, and are equally eligible to offices of honour or emolument. One-seventh of the land was formerly appropriated to the support of the Episcopal Church; it is still applicable to the general purposes of religion and education, but without any distinction of sects, all of which participate equally in the government fund. The Episcopalian Church was formerly within the diocese of Calcutta; but is now subject to two bishops who reside in the country. There are, besides, 80 priests of this church, who have the charge of different districts in the country. There are six ministers of the Established Church of Scotland, and of the Roman Catholic clergy an archbishop, a bishop coadjutor, a suffragan bishop, vicar-general, and 38 clergy. The Wesleyan Methodists have 150 congregations, and about 10,000 attendants at public worship, with 24 ordained ministers and catechists. The clergymen of the synod of Australia in connection with the Established Church of Scotland are 16 in number. Those maintaining the principles of the Free Church of Scotland are 10. There are also 11 ministers belonging to the Presbyterian synod; five Congregational churches; one Baptist church; one German evangelical church, and a Sydney Bethel Union. ### Australia

**New South Wales Census, 1851; classified with reference to Religion.**

| Name of Division | Church of England | Church of Scotland | Wesleyan Methodists | Other Protestants | Roman Catholics | Jews | Mahometans and Pagans | Other Persuasions | General Totals | |------------------|-------------------|-------------------|--------------------|------------------|----------------|------|-----------------------|-----------------|---------------| | **Counties** | | | | | | | | | | | Argyle | 2,511 | 499 | 237 | 43 | 2,666 | 75 | 5 | 9 | 5,465 | | Bathurst | 2,086 | 695 | 698 | 59 | 2,234 | 21 | 2 | 10 | 6,405 | | Bligh | 513 | 47 | 8 | 8 | 419 | 2 | ... | 7 | 1,004 | | Brisbane | 965 | 234 | 36 | 5 | 483 | 15 | ... | 2 | 1,733 | | Camden | 4,810 | 1,145 | 563 | 119 | 2,912 | 4 | 16 | 94 | 9,663 | | Cook | 1,247 | 389 | 245 | 18 | 968 | 2 | 12 | 19 | 3,541 | | Cumberland | 40,326 | 6,046 | 5,182 | 4,564 | 23,247 | 667 | 112 | 370 | 81,114 | | Durham | 3,761 | 1,513 | 534 | 83 | 2,014 | 5 | 1 | 77 | 7,928 | | Georgiana | 680 | 215 | 26 | 2 | 600 | 1 | ... | 1 | 1,325 | | Gloucester | 1,470 | 625 | 138 | 15 | 600 | ... | ... | 1 | 3,149 | | Hunter | 865 | 40 | 25 | 2 | 190 | ... | ... | 1 | 1,063 | | King | 1,076 | 94 | 148 | 44 | 1,131 | ... | ... | 11 | 2,505 | | Macquarie | 1,951 | 207 | 35 | 6 | 326 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1,637 | | Murray | 1,835 | 323 | 78 | 77 | 1,506 | 38 | 17 | 12 | 3,886 | | Northumberland | 7,799 | 1,451 | 1,111 | 108 | 4,537 | 53 | 10 | 48 | 15,207 | | Phillip | 402 | 60 | 20 | ... | 188 | ... | ... | 4 | 674 | | Roxburgh | 1,271 | 274 | 163 | 10 | 819 | 1 | ... | 2 | 2,538 | | St Vincent | 1,063 | 485 | 47 | 11 | 949 | 13 | ... | 2 | 2,572 | | Wellington | 934 | 118 | 11 | 17 | 527 | 1 | ... | 1 | 1,609 | | Westmoreland | 508 | 123 | 173 | ... | 729 | ... | 7 | 1 | 1,541 | | **Total population in the twenty-one Counties** | 76,795 | 14,519 | 9,524 | 5,684 | 46,474 | 909 | 185 | 669 | 154,759 | | **Stanley (repeated County)** | 1,964 | 526 | 262 | 451 | 1,396 | 9 | 168 | 11 | 4,737 | | **Total within the Settled Districts** | 75,759 | 15,045 | 9,786 | 6,135 | 47,870 | 918 | 353 | 680 | 159,546 |

| **Squatting Districts** | | | | | | | | | | | Bligh | 578 | 182 | 24 | 40 | 442 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 1,291 | | Clarence | 1,111 | 196 | 17 | 34 | 345 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 1,721 | | Darling Downs | 1,091 | 280 | 19 | 37 | 563 | 2 | 174 | 7 | 2,175 | | Lachlan | 1,181 | 187 | 44 | 52 | 1,420 | 7 | ... | 1 | 2,892 | | Liverpool Plains | 1,494 | 228 | 4 | 11 | 602 | 16 | 21 | 9 | 2,835 | | Macleay | 270 | 19 | 9 | 2 | 86 | ... | 3 | 2 | 391 | | Maneroo (including Auckland) | 1,763 | 429 | 12 | 22 | 1,446 | 14 | ... | 1 | 3,689 | | Moreton (excluding Stanley) | 106 | 35 | 3 | 3 | 73 | 1 | 51 | ... | 272 | | Murrumbidgees | 2,417 | 500 | 56 | 47 | 1,657 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 4,671 | | New England | 2,257 | 621 | 4 | 52 | 1,228 | 4 | 27 | 4 | 4,197 | | Wellington | 727 | 183 | 14 | 2 | 596 | ... | 7 | 8 | 1,512 | | Barnett | 412 | 104 | 7 | 19 | 204 | 1 | 102 | 3 | 832 | | Maranoa | 59 | 6 | ... | 3 | 16 | ... | ... | 1 | 85 | | Wide Bay | 207 | 29 | 7 | 9 | 66 | ... | 86 | 2 | 406 | | Western Lower Darling | 63 | 31 | ... | 1 | 35 | ... | ... | 2 | 132 | | Eastern Lower Darling | 153 | 36 | ... | ... | 100 | 1 | 1 | ... | 291 | | Gwydir | 487 | 70 | 2 | 3 | 170 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 737 | | **Total in the Squatting Districts** | 14,378 | 3,111 | 222 | 337 | 9,029 | 61 | 499 | 60 | 27,697 | | **Total in New South Wales** | 93,137 | 18,156 | 10,005 | 6,472 | 56,899 | 979 | 852 | 740 | 187,243 |

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The following is an abstract of the revenue of New South Wales in the years ending 31st December 1851 and 1852 respectively:

| Head of Revenue | 1851 | 1852 | |-----------------|------|------| | Customs | £153,540 | £217,021 | | Licenses, postage, fines, fees, &c. | 124,233 | 134,704 | | Revenue derived from gold | 33,810 | 61,817 | | Territorial revenue | 89,534 | 86,871 | | From the clergy and school estates | 4,461 | 5,243 | | **Total** | £405,598 | £505,656 |

The revenue of the customs chiefly arises from a duty on the importation of spirits, tobacco, wine, tea, and sundry other articles. The territorial revenue includes licenses and leases to occupy crown lands.

For the last twenty years, the trade of this important commercial colony has been forcing itself gradually upon the attention of our merchants and manufacturers. The rapid increase in the quantity and value of its exports, and the large proportionate consumption per head of British merchandise by its inhabitants, have ranked it among the first of our trading colonies. So great is the demand for manufactured goods, according to the latest advices, that the warehouses and stores are actually becoming empty, and the colonial traders are reaching an unheard-of anomalous condition in the history of commerce, namely, having an increasing market with wealthy customers, but lacking wares to sell to them. Even laying aside the value of the gold... Australia exported the staple commodities of wool and tallow raised in the colony are sufficient to purchase for the colonists in New South Wales from foreign markets as much as L8 per head of ordinary imports. The first of these articles demands some further notice. The imports of this valuable staple from the Australian colonies have increased so abundantly, that it has not only superseded entirely the importation of German and Spanish wools, but lately the French manufacturers have been large purchasers at the London sales of Australian wool, which they consider the best wool in the world for their fine fabrics. The origin and progress of this important branch of industry is remarkable. In 1810, only 167 lbs. of wool were imported into Britain from Australia and Van Diemen's Land; a portion of which was sold for 10s. 4d. per lb. In 1815, 73,171 lbs. were imported; in 1825, 328,995 lbs.; in 1830, 1,967,309 lbs.; in 1836, 3,564,532 lbs.; and in 1852, it has reached in the aggregate from all our Australian colonies the enormous quantity, in round numbers, of 45,000,000 lbs. Of this total weight, New South Wales contributed 15,268,473 lbs. The colony was indebted for the introduction of merino sheep to the enterprising spirit of Mr J. M'Arthur, in 1793. The flocks now in Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand, number on their united pastoral lands, in 1853, upwards of 20,000,000 of sheep. The quantity of tallow produced is also important, and materially affects the quotations of Russian tallow in the British market. In 1850, the export of this article was valued at L167,858, quantity 128,090 cwt., which decreased in 1851, for want of labourers, to 86,460 cwt., valued at L114,168; and in 1852, notwithstanding the absorption of labour at the gold fields, the tallow exported was 84,464 cwt., valued at L114,168. Gold, now forming the largest item on this export list, shows a continued increase, even by the month, at the rate of 50 per cent. From June 1, to December 31, 1851, the amount exported was, at colonial valuation, L168,336; during 1852, it rapidly increased to L2,744,961 for the year; and from January 1, to April 1, 1853, L800,000. Hides also form a considerable article of export. The number shipped in 1851 was 68,641; in 1852, 73,104. Whale oil formerly composed a large staple export from New South Wales; but it has decreased latterly, and only a few whaling ships leave the port of Sydney. The bulk of the sperm oil exported is obtained from the American whalers which frequent Port Jackson to refit their ships. In fact, our more enterprising neighbours in this peculiar pursuit seem to monopolize the whole trade in the southern seas, where it is estimated that they have upwards of 600 whaling ships afloat.

New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) also formed once a promising export from that country through New South Wales; but the Maori race have almost given up the labour of dressing it, and the little that is prepared is manufactured into ropes in the country. A small quantity of timber, consisting of cedar-planks, is also exported. Coals, as we have before remarked, form a large item in the intercolonial export trade with the colony; and grain, an import of considerable value. The total value of the imports in 1852, according to accounts laid before parliament, was L1,563,931; of the exports, L1,796,912; which, however, does not include the value of gold taken away by private hands. Amongst a population of 197,168, these give Australia an average import of about L8 for every man, woman, and child in the colony, and an export of upwards of L9. The New South shipping has increased along with the commerce. In 1850, Wales, the shipping inwards consisted of 421 vessels, of 126,185 tons, and outwards 506, of 176,762 tons; in 1851, 553, of 153,002 tons, carrying 7955 men, inwards, and 503, of 139,020 tons, with 7988 men, outwards; and in 1852, 673, of 183,002 tons, 9377 men inwards, and outwards 654 ships, of 139,020 tons, and 8130 men. Ship-building has not increased in proportion with the requirements of the colony. In 1841, 35 were built, of 2074 tons, and 110 vessels registered, of 11,250 tons; and in 1849, only 38 ships were built, equal to 1834 tons, and 126 were registered, equal to 8504 tons; the decrease being still greater in 1852.

Prior to 1817 the currency consisted principally of the currency, private notes of merchants, traders, shopkeepers, publicans; and the amount was sometimes as low as sixpence. In that year the Bank of New South Wales was established, with a capital of L20,000, whose notes superseded this objectionable currency. Subsequently the capital was increased to L300,000, and the bank exists in a flourishing state to this day. The same cannot be said, however, of the second bank, established by local shareholders in 1825, known as the Bank of Australia, with a capital of L300,000 paid up; for after eighteen years' mismanagement, the directors had to prop up their bankrupt circulation by borrowing at a large interest from other banks, which ultimately not only swallowed up the assets of the company, but the unfortunate shareholders sustained further loss than their shares. In 1834, British capital and experience was brought to bear upon the commercial transactions of the colonists, by the establishment of the Bank of Australasia, with a paid-up capital of L900,000, which obtained a charter of incorporation, and, with varied success, still exists. The most successful bank in Australia, is the Union Bank of Australia, an Anglo-Australian joint-stock bank, with unlimited liability, having a paid-up capital of L820,000. From a report of the directors now before us, the amount of profit for the six months ending in the colony June 1852, was L107,344, enabling them to pay a dividend, by way of interest, at the rate of 13 per cent, for the half-year,—an unparalleled result in legitimate banking. There is another colonial bank which has met with indifferent success, from the unscrupulous tampering of its directors and officers with the funds. This is the Commercial Bank, which in consequence has been completely remodelled, and is likely to succeed. All these banks issue notes, which are more readily accepted by the colonists than gold or silver; and since the advent of the gold discovery, they have a plethora of gold in their coffers, with a large paper currency. The two Anglo-Australian banks have branches throughout all the principal towns and cities in Victoria, South Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand. Besides these joint-stock banks, there is a savings-bank under the control of the government, conducted on the same scale as British savings-banks. The private banks give no interest upon deposits. The following table shows the amounts of their respective circulation, total liabilities, coin assets, and capital paid up.

| Bank | Notes in circulation | Total Liabilities | Coin and Bullion | Total Assets | Capital paid up | |------------------|----------------------|-------------------|------------------|--------------|----------------| | New South Wales | L311,174 | L1,602,119 | L565,216 | L1,996,280 | L300,000 | | Commercial | 146,890 | 588,627 | 224,794 | 784,203 | 198,556 | | Australasia | 182,074 | 651,623 | 297,297 | 599,032 | 900,000 | | Union of Australia| 238,424 | 726,847 | 341,967 | 743,970 | 820,000 |

L878,571 L3,569,216 L1,428,874 L4,123,505 L2,218,526 The whole amount of British coin in the colony, at the end of the first quarter of 1853, was estimated in round numbers at L2,000,000.

II. VICTORIA, or PORT PHILLIP, is situated in South-Eastern Australia, between the colonies of New South Wales and South Australia. It is separated from the former by a straight line from Cape Howe to the nearest source of the Murray, and thence by the course of that river to the east boundary of South Australia. From the latter province it is divided by an artificial boundary in the meridian of 141° E. Long., marked out by pits and cairns of stones. Its area is not far short of 85,000 square miles, or about 2000 square miles greater than that of England, to which it bears a remarkable resemblance in shape. At an approximate calculation, it is about 3/4 part of the entire island of Australia.

While the history of the parent colony of New South Wales exhibits throughout the fostering care of the government, and the small part taken by the free settlers in effecting a settlement on its shores, the early accounts of the settlement of Port Phillip exhibit the contrary, where the former were unsuccessful in their attempts, and the latter successful to a degree unparalleled in the history of British colonization. It must be remembered, however, that the pioneer-settlers who planted the germ of that now great and flourishing colony, were either old colonists, or the native-born sons of the first settlers in Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales, and, consequently, brought all the experience of practised colonizers to bear upon their enterprise. Moreover, its contiguity by sea to the one, and by land to the other, rendered it more available for the speedy occupation of the settlers than the more distant settlements of South Australia, King George's Sound, and Swan River.

In reviewing the history of this colony, there are no changes in the administration to interfere with the continuity of the narrative. The present lieutenant-governor, Charles Joseph Latrobe, was appointed to the office of civil superintendent of the Port Phillip district, then a dependency of New South Wales, in 1839. This appointment was the first held by a government official possessed of plenary powers over this young colony; although Mr Stewart, a magistrate of the territory, as early as 1836, proclaimed the jurisdiction of the New South Wales government; and in 1837-8, Captain Lonsdale held the office of police magistrate. Since that period, Mr Latrobe has conducted the affairs of the colony, under the control of the Sydney executive, with uninterrupted sway under Sir George Gipps and Sir Charles Fitzroy, until the 1st July 1851, when the colony was erected into an independent province, and he was continued in his appointment under the title of lieutenant-governor.

In 1798 the adventurous Mr Bass, a navy surgeon stationed at Sydney, with the slender means and equipment furnished by a whale-boat, discovered the strait which now bears his name. During this cruise, he entered one of the harbours on the mainland, which he called Port Western, which lies about twenty miles eastward of Port Phillip. The latter harbour was first entered on the 10th January 1802, by Lieutenant John Murray in the Lady Nelson. Governor Hunter, who ruled the colony of New South Wales at that time, named it after his predecessor, the first governor of Australia. Ten weeks afterwards, Captain Matthew Flinders, in H.M.S. Investigator, surveyed its shores, and constructed a chart, with sailing directions for vessels entering the harbour. In 1803 Colonel Collins was despatched to form a penal settlement on the southern shore of the bay; which, after a short trial, was abandoned as a failure. Another attempt in 1826 by Captain Wetherall, with a party of soldiers under the command of Captain Wright, to form the nucleus of a settlement on the shores of Western Port, was likewise abandoned at the end of two Australasian years. Although the geography of the northern shores of Bass's Strait from Cape Howe to Cape Otway was well known to sealers, and the crews of whaling vessels who frequented the bays and estuaries in the pursuit of their avocations, still nothing was done in the way of occupying or forming a station on the mainland, either by public or private enterprise, until the year 1834, when the brothers Henry of Launceston, Van Diemen's Land, established a whaling station at Portland Bay. This was followed up in the ensuing year by a party of colonists in the same town, who had formed themselves into an association for the purpose of colonizing the shores of Port Phillip. These gentlemen, however, through some unforeseen delay, were forestalled in their objects by John Batman, an enterprising native-born colonist of New South Wales. He entered between the heads of Port Phillip in May 1835, and at once took up a commanding position on the bluff where the lighthouse now stands, with the view of appropriating the whole territory. For this purpose, he entered into a preliminary treaty with the aborigines on the spot, to cede to him a large tract of land for the consideration of a few gewgaws and blankets. He then crossed over to Van Diemen's Land; formed an association with fifteen Hobart Town colonists; returned and took formal possession of 600,000 acres of land in the present Geelong country, for an annual tribute of merchandise to the ignorant natives, amounting to the value of about L200 sterling.

Meanwhile the Launceston association were equipped for their enterprise, and, headed by John Pascoe Fawkner—a newspaper editor—entered between the heads of Port Phillip in November 1835. Batman stood anxiously watching the progress of the little schooner from his doubtfully-acquired territory, and warned the intruders off. Nothing daunted, however, they sailed up to the head of the harbour, and entered a deep and narrow river, until they were stopped by a rocky precipice, over which flowed a cataract of fine fresh water. Finding the country not only fair to the view, but covered with a black loamy soil, they at once landed their live stock and stores, taking possession of a large tract of country in the same manner as Batman had done, by making a contract with the aborigines. Both of these contracts were afterwards declared untenable by the government, and they were ousted from their possessions, receiving, however, ample compensation for their enterprise. The river which Fawkner and his party had ascended, is now called the Yarra Yarra; and the ground he first encamped upon is the site of the present city of Melbourne. Eighteen harvests have been reaped upon the fertile lands around that spot since Fawkner first ploughed the soil; and where his green pastures and fields of corn then stood, with scarcely a dozen occupants, there are now massive stone edifices and densely-packed streets; while a town and suburban population of 80,000 souls swarms along the banks of the busy river, forming a chaos of human happiness and misery, brute wealth and educated poverty, distress and luxury, virtue and vice, in such extremes as nowhere else can be found in the British dominions.

This vigorous colony made early and rapid progress towards material prosperity. Ship after ship crossed the straits from Van Diemen's Land, laden with sheep, cattle, horses, and merchandise. Over hill and dale, by stream and lake, these flocks and herds cropped the luxuriant grass, which waved in the breeze like a corn field. The shores rung with the shouts of the mariner and the herdsman, and the woods re-echoed the bleating of the sheep, the lowing of the kine, and the bark of the white man's dog, which soon scared the timid kangaroos and emus from their disturbed haunts. The destroying axe soon converted the primeval trees into human habitations; while the busy ring of the anvil told the wondering aborigines that the workers in metals had become Australia, the lords of their land. These simple children of nature looked on at the strange doings of the white people, not so much with terror and amazement, as with childish curiosity and confidence. In the midst of a group of their black, filthy, attenuated, and diminutive forms, a tall giant-man of a lighter complexion stood forth one day and tried to jabber a few English words. This savage was an Englishman, named Buckley, an escaped convict from Colonel Collin's settlement, who had lived amongst them for thirty-three years. This man, so far from attempting to raise the aborigines with whom he lived nearer the condition of the civilized man, had cast off his civilization with his last worn-out garment; and, assuming no other clothing than the skins of opossums and kangaroos afforded, and armed with the spear and the boomerang, he descended to the condition of the savage.

By the year 1837, these practical colonizers, amounting to 450 individuals, could muster 140,000 sheep, 2500 head of horned cattle, and 150 horses. Governor Arthur of Van Diemen's Land was desirous of annexing the new colony to that island; but Governor Bourke of New South Wales, within whose jurisdiction it was, forthwith took possession of the territory and its harbours by deputy in the name of King William IV., whose name was given to the sea-port in Hobson Bay. Shortly after he visited the colony in person, scattered the claims of contending parties to the winds, and planted an official staff in the newly-acquired district, headed by Captain Lonsdale as chief magistrate. He likewise brought surveyors with him, who laid out the towns and sold the land. Melbourne on the Yarra Yarra, William Town on Hobson Bay, Corio on Geelong harbour, were sites chosen by this active and intelligent governor for the future sea-ports and capitals. The settlers bought the town allotments at from £100 to £10 per acre, which was then considered full value. The squatters from New South Wales soon found their way overland with their beevos and flocks, and the Sydney merchants shipped valuable cargoes of merchandise for the consumption of the new inhabitants. The settlers from New South Wales re-emigrated thither in such multitude, that in 1839 they were as numerous as their neighbours from Van Diemen's Land. By this time, also, the fame and prosperity of this obscure dependency was bruted abroad throughout the United Kingdom; and thousands of emigrants sailed from the British ports in that and the two following years, until their numbers formed the majority of the population. Consequently the previous jarrings, jealousies, and contending interests of the rival settlers from the two colonies of Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales, were absorbed in the general welfare of all, which brought together a united and intelligent community. The spirit of speculation, however, ruled the transactions of the majority, and "Van Diemonians," "Sydneyites," and "New-Comers," were hurried round and round in a vortex of commercial, land-jobbing, and live-stock schemes of speedy aggrandizement which fairly upset the ordinary transactions of sober-minded men, until the most cautious capitalists, who had ventured into the market with substantial means, found them swept away by a bubble system of paper currency. Land which had been originally purchased at £100 per acre in town allotments at Melbourne, realized enormous sums varying from £5000 to £15,000. Sheep, cattle, and horses, which, in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, had cost respectively not more than 3s., 15s., and £8 per head, sold for 50s., £12, and £100. In consequence, also, of a drought which prevailed in the old districts, coupled with the great demand for grain, flour rose from £15 to £80, and in some instances as high as £100, per ton so that the usual sixpenny 2 lb. loaf sold for 1s. 9d. Tea from £3 per chest rose in a few months to £18; and sugar from 3d. per lb. to 1s.; while manufactured articles for immediate consumption brought equally extravagant prices, which altogether more than quadrupled the ordinary expenses of living in the town of Melbourne.

Notwithstanding the high prices of the necessaries and luxuries of life, all classes of people were able to indulge in good living. Money, or its representative, seemed plentiful among them; for the banks freely discounted the bills and promissory-notes of doubtful parties. In fact, the whole routine of business throughout the colony was conducted on a universal loose system of credit and paper transactions; from the family grocer's bill to the sale of a sheep station, or the allotments of a whole township. Consequently almost every one lived in an extravagant manner, indulging in the most expensive luxuries, from the wealthy merchant down to the common bullock-driver. The land sales by auction were conducted under gay booths; where a déjeuner was laid out for all comers to partake of, and the bids of the purchasers were obtained after they had gulped down plenty of champagne. A sort of mania existed among the people in their taste for this expensive wine; for the shepherds and bullock-drivers would imitate their "betters" by vulgar bravado, and empty a dozen bottles at a time of that liquor into a bucket and drink it out of tin pots. Governor Gipps significantly remarked, in one of his despatches at this time, after a personal visit to Port Phillip, that the "neighbourhood of Melbourne was literally strewed with champagne bottles." Still, it is interesting to record, that although the labouring classes committed many extravagancies in the flush of material prosperity, the criminal records of the colony exhibit less than an average amount of crime.

This state of affairs continued until it reached its climax in 1841, after which a rapid decline in the soundness of commercial transactions followed, and the people became sobered down. Days of reckoning came amongst the land purchasers, when the "men-of-straw," through whose hands the conveyances passed, fell to the ground. Property of every description was forced upon the market for the purpose of raising funds to meet engagements, and thus sold at ruinous prices. Money was borrowed on landed property, and on sheep and cattle stations, at 20 and 30 per cent.; and the stockholders got heavily into debt with the merchants, while their wools were declining in value in the English market. The British merchants became clamorous for their returns, which the colonial agents had used in their general speculations, and locked up in local securities, while the banks restricted their discounts, and disallowed interest on deposits. At last the commercial fabric of society throughout the entire community, gave way with a crash which ended in a general insolvency. Bankers and money-lenders could recover nothing but paper from their borrowers; all credit was stopped in new transactions, and for a season mutual confidence amongst mercantile men was at an end. The affluent merchant and stockholder of to-day became the insolvent beggar of to-morrow. Everywhere a gloom was cast over the social aspect of the recently gay and lively town of Melbourne; and despair at a return of prosperity drove many of the colonists back to the mother country.

For the relief of insolvent debtors, and the better distribution of their assets, an act was framed by Justice Burton, one of the puisne judges of New South Wales, and passed in 1842 by the governor and council. This act "purged" 1356 insolvents in Sydney, and 282 in Melbourne during the three years which followed; and these 1638 insolvencies cancelled debts to the amount of not less than three and a half millions sterling; the assets producing an average dividend of eighteenpence in the pound.

The Port Phillip district, as the colony was termed in the government reports, suffered least from this commercial crisis. The monetary depression was of shorter duration there than in the middle districts of the colony; which was accounted for by the more recent date of her transactions. Her young and vigorous constitution, however, soon recovered from the paper epidemic. The colonists still possessed their rich pastures and agricultural land; and, putting their shoulders to the wheel, they soon overcame the difficulties in their way, and arrived at even a more flourishing condition than before, having learned prudence and caution from this short lesson of adversity.

Since this period a valuable article of export has been added to the staple commodity of wool, by boiling down the surplus stock for the sake of the tallow, skins, and hides; and a cattle station in Australia has become as profitable as a sheep station. The colonists, turning in disgust from the visionary speculations of the town, looked towards the country, where they saw in their boundless pasture lands the true source of wealth in the colony. From the lakes of Geelong in the S., to the Lachlan River in the N.; from the Murray River in the W., to the Australian Alps in the E., their increasing flocks and herds had spread over the lowlands and uplands, the plains and the forests; and during the succeeding years of her history, until the date of the gold discovery, this "Australia Felix," as Sir Thomas Mitchell had appropriately termed it, was one vast pasturage. She exported nothing but the produce of her rich pasture lands, and yet the value of these alone, in the year 1850, yielded an average of Australia £1.15 a-head for every man, woman, and child in the colony,—an export average never yet attained in the statistics of any similar community in the world. The gloomy years of bankruptcy had now passed away, and the enterprising colonists looked forward with hope to the future; and they were not disappointed. While, in the early days of the colony, they imported their sheep and cattle from Van Diemen's Land, that country, with its large convict population and limited pasture land, now received importations of live stock from the mainland. So genial was the climate, and so extensive were the grazings for the support of these flocks, that they increased on an average 90 per cent. per annum. From 250,000 sheep in 1839, when they ceased to be imported, they had increased in 1851 to 6,320,000. Though their value had fallen with their increase, still the quantity of wool they produced was the same, and it had now reached its full value in the London market of from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 3d. per lb.

After 1844 the state of the colony was very satisfactory; things looked more cheering as old debts became cleared off, and the mercantile class with renewed energy exerted themselves to keep the balance of trade in favour of the colony. There was bustle once more in the port, as the articles of export crowded the wharfs and warehouses. The shipping outwards to England nearly equalled that from the port of Sydney; and there was considerable coasting traffic with that port, Launceston, and Hobart Town, while a regular steam communication was established between these seaports, Geelong, and Melbourne. For the increased production of tallow, extensive "boiling-down" establishments were erected on the banks of the Yarra; large beef-salting works had previously been built; and every year the export of wool increased in a ratio of 50 per cent. The above table will show the increase and decrease of these exports during the seven years of progress which followed the commercial depression, and more particularly their enormous increase after the gold discovery.

The amount of imports increased in like manner as the population augmented; and there were attracted to the shores of Port Phillip, not merely immigrants from the mother country, but old settlers from the neighbouring colonies. Farmers left Van Diemen's Land to employ their agricultural experience on the rich alluvial soils of the country, which were found to be from 5 to 20 feet deep. Vine-growers, likewise, from Switzerland, were induced to settle at Geelong for the cultivation of the vine. Gardens and corn fields sprung up in all directions as the forests were cleared and the ground tilled. The squatters in the interior grew a sufficient quantity of grain for their own use, so as to become independent of foreign supplies. In the town of Melbourne large steam-mills were erected to grind the corn; ship-building yards and docks were constructed on the banks of the Yarra; handsome stone and brick buildings everywhere replaced the old wooden erections; and churches, banks, custom-house, gaol, and other public edifices, gave a substantial and dignified appearance to the principal streets. The warehouses and stores were becoming again well supplied with merchandise; the banks were thronged with a class of customers, who dealt more in ready cash than formerly; and the shipping in Hobson Bay resounded with the cheerful cry of the sailors packing the bales of wool. In 1850—fifteen years after the first settlement of the colony—the annual export of a population of 70,000 amounted to upwards of one million sterling. To lay this remarkable result fully before the reader, we extract some valuable statistical matter from Mr Westgarth's Report to the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, in April 1853.

### Imports, Exports, and Population of Victoria, from commencement to 1850.

| Year | Imports | Exports | Total of External Trade | Population Average of Year | |------|---------|---------|------------------------|---------------------------| | 1838 | | | | | | 1839 | | | | | | 1840 | | | | | | 1841 | | | | | | 1842 | | | | | | 1843 | | | | | | 1844 | | | | | | 1845 | | | | | | 1846 | | | | | | 1847 | | | | | | 1848 | | | | | | 1849 | | | | | | 1850 | | | | |

*Altogether, considering the advantages possessed by the people, and the general capabilities of this province for the maintenance of a large and prosperous community, we were always inclined to give it the preference over its sister provinces as the most desirable field for the means and labour of the intending colonist. Its greater fertility of soil (Van Diemen's Land excepted)—its richer pasture land—its possessing more permanent streams—and, above all, its central position in the midst of this group of colonies—marked it...*

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1 From 11th October 1836. When the news of the gold discovery in the Bathurst mountains reached Victoria, the excitement among the population was as great as it had been in New South Wales; and it would just be a repetition of our previous account to describe the effects on the industrial pursuits of the colonists throughout Victoria. These are fully detailed in the despatches of Lieut.-Governor Latrobe. By sea and land the people flocked to the new Dorado. A reward of L200 was offered, by public subscription, to the first discoverer of gold within the boundary of Victoria. Three months had scarcely elapsed when it was completely proved that gold deposits existed within a short distance of Melbourne. In August 1851 a number of persons established themselves on Anderson's Creek, 16 miles from that town, where they were profitably employed. In October 7000 individuals were congregated at Ballarat, near Mount Buninyong, where diggings, and a canvas town, were established upon a tract of land less than a square mile in extent. In November there were 10,000 persons on the creeks around Mount Alexander, digging with ease the most astounding treasures from the earth. Not only did the diggers at Ballarat flock to the newer gold field, but the tide of adventurers was turned from the Ophir and Turon, and other New South Wales diggings, to the great centre of attraction at Mount Alexander. There was no fable in the matter. The government and private escorts established for the safe transit of gold to Melbourne showed a return from that locality alone of £33,300 oz., within the month of December, while the yield from Ballarat gradually diminished, as will be seen in the accompanying table from Mr Westgarth's calculations:

| Date | Ballarat | Mount Alexander | Total | |------------|----------|-----------------|-------| | September 30 | 121 | | 121 | | October | 247 | | 247 | | | 2,298 | | 2,298 | | | 1,830 | | 1,830 | | | 2,708 | | 2,708 | | | 2,337 | | 2,565 | | November | 4,719 | | 965 | | | 3,480 | | 3,480 | | | 2,637 | | 6,443 | | | 17,455 | | 10,588| | | 13,783 | | 16,669| | | 2,886 | | 26,556| | | 1,302 | | 18,152| | | 779 | | 10,877| | | 216 | | 10,814|

The year 1852 was ushered in with prospects such as no community ever possessed before. The fame of the gold fields attracted adventurers of every class and nation, not only from New South Wales, South Australia, Swan River, and Van Diemen's Land, but from New Zealand, South America, and California. Unfortunately a large number of desperadoes managed to escape from Van Diemen's Land, and began that system of bushranging which spread such terror among the colonists in the first occupation of Australia. The small force of military and constabulary at hand was insufficient to protect the people from the ravages of these marauders. Not merely in the country and at the gold fields, Australia, but in the city of Melbourne itself, were their depredations systematically carried on. Even in the public roads adjacent Victoria, to the city, and in broad daylight, they committed the most daring robberies. For a time the inhabitants dreaded going abroad after dark; and the gold-diggers travelled in large bodies, and well armed. The hesitation of the government in raising the wages of the constabulary, and increasing the force, was justly censured. Towards the close of the year, however, matters were somewhat amended by the enrolment of large numbers of immigrants into the police force.

By this time the news of the Australian gold discovery had spread to all parts of the world; and the arrival of several ships in the port of London, in the beginning of 1852, with some hundred thousand pounds value of gold, satisfied the most sceptical that this discovery was a "great fact." No immediate effects, however, were visible amongst the British public; no excitement existed as was the case when the Californian gold discovery was first known. Whether the people were more cautious than formerly, or that the season of the year was unfavourable for leaving the British shores, or whether the class most likely to emigrate were unprepared to encounter the expense of so long a voyage, or, most probably, from a combination of all these causes, no immediate or considerable emigration took place. The spring came, and no greater number of emigrant ships was announced for departure to the Australian colonies than in the previous year, although news had arrived of the astounding discoveries in Victoria, borne out by large consignments of gold to London merchants from these colonies, with earnest solicitations from their constituents to press upon the government and the public of Britain the necessity of sending out labourer emigrants to save the staple articles of export, wool and tallow, from destruction from want of hands. Notwithstanding that the most powerful organs of the press agitated the necessity of an immediate and extensive emigration, the people read and listened with a strange apathy. In May 1852, however, when the news of the gold discovery was eight months past, and upwards of L1,000,000 sterling of the precious metal had been imported from Sydney and Melbourne into England, the sluggish disposition of the British public was at length fairly aroused. The people, as usual, rushed into the opposite extreme, and a reckless and heterogeneous emigration took place amongst the classes least fitted to encounter the privations of a new country. The tide of emigration, once commenced, increased with energy throughout the summer and autumn. Crowds of intending emigrants flocked from all parts of the United Kingdom to the ports of London and Liverpool, impatiently suing for passages at any price that was demanded. Ship-owners and merchants could not find vessels enough to supply the demand. Freights were doubled, fares increased, and charter-parties were concluded upon most exorbitant terms. Needy ship-owners and unscrupulous ship-brokers sent the oldest "tubs" they could find, badly provisioned, on the fine-weather voyage out; the freight and passage-money collected in several instances amounting to twice the value of the ship. So great was the increase of shipping in the London Docks bound for the Australian colonies in the month of July 1852, that 75 square-rigged vessels, averaging 500 tons register each, were advertised in the Times alone; and the weekly departures for that month from the ports of London and Liverpool averaged 5000 tons, having on board upwards of 3000 passengers. The Australian Exodus, as it was termed by the public journalists, continued unabated throughout the year. The great attractions of the Victoria gold fields drew thither four-fifths of these emigrants; one-third of whom at least were physically unfit. Australia, to encounter the privations before them. Heedless of all warnings from experienced colonists, clerks, shopmen, and sedentary people, foolishly embarked with their delicate wives and children, to risk their fortunes upon the chances of gold-digging, while in most instances they left certain advantages behind. Unaccustomed to sea fare and accommodation, they were huddled on board these badly-provisioned ships; and without the smallest assistance from the ship to land on a shore, two and nine miles off; upon arrival, the deluded people, at exorbitant charges, were landed at the rate of 3000 weekly on the shores of Port Phillip harbour. Here they were if anything worse off than ever. There was not house-room in the city for one-fourth of their numbers; hence they were packed ten and twelve in sleeping apartments not more than that number of feet square, for which they paid extravagantly. The demand for provisions was such, and the supply so limited, that famine prices were attached to the commonest necessaries of life; and hence arose a state of confusion, distress, and suffering amongst the human chaos which peopled the city of Melbourne and the road to the Mount Alexander gold fields during the last quarter of 1852, such as no pen can describe.

Meanwhile the riches of this extraordinary region were disembowelled from the earth by these armies of treasure-seekers; who found not only gold, but indications of diamonds, rubies, and other gems amongst the gold alluvium. Here, in the nineteenth century, the fairy tale of Aladdin finds a counterpart in the admirable statistical report of Mr Westgarth, the first chairman of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, at their second annual meeting on the 1st April 1853.

"Export of Gold from Victoria, the produce of that Colony, according to official returns to the end of the year 1852, distinguishing the port of shipment, and the place to which shipped."

| Port of Shipment | Oz. | Oz. | |------------------|-----|-----| | Melbourne | 1,965,690 | | | Geelong | 118,782 | | | Portland | 3,039 | | | Port Fairy | 1,690 | | | London | 1,739,594 | | | Liverpool | 20,120 | | | Calcutta | 22,000 | | | Singapore | 5,285 | | | Sydney | 313,912 | | | Hobart Town | 1,965 | | | Adelaide | 13,813 | | | Hambargh | 3,411 | |

Total 2,120,121

In addition to the result shown by the following table, the overland escort, established by the South Australian Government, conveyed direct from the gold fields to Adelaide 228,532 oz. The first of these overland escorts, after an arduous journey of 450 miles through the Australian wilderness, entered Adelaide on the 19th March last, amidst the acclamations of the people, conveying 5190 ounces of gold.

"General Summary of the produce of the Gold Fields of Victoria, from commencement in August 1851 to December 31, 1852."

| Asserted | Estimated | Total | |----------|-----------|-------| | Exported per official return | 2,120,121 | | | Ditto overland to Adelaide | 228,533 | 2,348,654 | | Unrecorded export, viz., to New South Wales | 384,913 | 465,000 | 829,913 | | Van Diemen's Land | 177,680 | 67,000 | 244,680 | | South Australia | 327,913 | 20,000 | 347,913 | | England, India, &c. | ... | 50,000 | 50,000 | | Total exported | 3,219,160 | 602,000 | 3,821,160 | | On hand in the colony | 709,766 | 360,000 | 1,069,766 | | Total quantity produced | 3,928,926 | 962,000 | 4,890,926 |

Proportion of gold produced in 1851 | 145,146 | 200,000 | 345,146 | Proportion of gold produced in 1852 | 3,783,789 | 762,000 | 4,545,789 |

From this estimate, therefore, that is probably not materially incorrect in any one particular, and where errors may have a compensating operation, we have a quantity of gold amounting to Australia, nearly five millions of ounces, the whole of which, excepting some fractional proportion, has been raised from the soil of this colony within the period of 16 months. This quantity, namely, in exact figures, 4,890,926 oz., gives us by Troy weight 407,577 lbs., or 203 tons weight of gold.

Of this proportion, I have estimated that only about the one-fourteenth part was raised during the year 1851, leaving 4,548,789 oz. as the produce of 1852. If we value this latter produce at the rate of 70s. per oz., a rate which is to-day lower than the current market-price, the result in round numbers is the amount of seventeen millions sterling, as the value of one year's produce of the gold of this colony.

The following more recent returns show the comparative yield of the gold fields during the first four months of the years 1852 and 1853:

| Year | January | February | March | April | |------|---------|----------|-------|-------| | 1852 | 64,534 | 56,108 | 51,856 | 67,556 | | 1853 | 186,015 | 172,329 | 169,654 | 161,431 |

Total 240,553 689,429

The increase is 449,066 ounces above the produce of the same period last year, or 187 per cent. But it must be remembered that the fields are now more extensive, and worked by a greater number of persons. There is no indication, however, that the yield is falling off. Another return gives the quantity brought down in the last two months from the several diggings:

By Government escort.—April 2 to May 19.

| From Mount Alexander | 137,485 | | From Ballarat | 34,671 | | From the Ovens | 23,488 | | From the Mt'vor | 1,410 |

Total 206,552

By private escort.—April 2 to May 15.

| From Mount Alexander | 48,520 |

Total brought down by escorts 248,572

To this must be added 20,121 ounces, completing the returns to the 25th of May, making the whole amount for April and May 268,693 ounces.

Selected from this aggregate amount of wealth, there are instances recorded of individual fortune which illustrate the inexhaustible character of the mines. Within a few days of each other, in February 1853, three enormous masses of gold were brought to light—such as perhaps the world has never seen before. The largest of them weighed 134 lb. 11 oz., of which 120 lb. at least were pure gold. The other two lumps were 93 lb. 2 oz. 5 dwt., and 83 lb. 9 oz. 5 dwt. respectively, only a very small proportion being quartz.

Prior to the erection of Port Phillip district into a province, there were only two counties, Bourke and Grant, ply-mapped out; the former embracing Melbourne and its environs within its boundary, and the latter the town of Corio and suburbs around Geelong harbour. Since the date of Plate C., separation from New South Wales, 22 counties have been added, making 24 in all, which divides two-thirds of the territory into electoral districts. Their names—beginning at the eastern boundary and proceeding westward—are, Howe, Combermere, Abinger, Bruce, Haddington, Douro, Bass, Mornington, Evelyn, Anglesey, Dalhousie, Bourke, Grant, Talbot, Granville, Polworth, Heytesbury, Hampden, Ripon, Villiers, Normanby, Dundas, Follet, and Rodway. The capital of Victoria is the city of Melbourne. The next principal towns are Corio (Geelong), William Town, Portland, Belfast, Kilmore, Wangeratta, Alberton, &c.

What has been stated as generally descriptive of the New General South Wales territory applies to Victoria; the southern aspect of the shed of waters being analogous to the rivers on the E. coast; and the northern streams of the latter, like the western... Australia, streams of the former, merely tributaries of the great Murray River. There is in Victoria, however, a greater proportion of good pasture land, which is indicated by the more close proximity to each other of the squatting stations. As an agricultural country, likewise, it is much superior to New South Wales; not only from the abundance and greater richness of its alluvial soils, but from its enjoying a cooler atmosphere, and a more certain fall of rain. Neither is it subject to the long-continued droughts, which are so destructive in the neighbouring colony to the crops and live stock. At the same time the blighting influence of the "hot winds"—a species of sirocco which blows at midsummer from the central desert region—occurs here with greater devastating power to vegetation than in any other of the Australian colonies. Being situated at the most southern, and consequently the coldest section of Australia—it's settled districts being almost all between the parallels of 36° and 39° S. Lat.—the fruits and other vegetable products are more restricted to those of European, we had nearly said English growth, for the orange does not thrive well; the banana and pine-apple not at all, while gooseberries and currants grow very well. From the abundance of natural herbage, nourished by the frequent showers brought by the westerly winds which prevail, cattle and sheep fatten, and grow larger than in any of the adjacent colonies. In this respect, the beef and mutton of Victoria resemble the butcher-meat of England more than Australian-bred meat generally; which may be described as being leaner and inferior in flavour to the original stock. Poultry thrive better also in the colder regions of the Austral isles; hence the largest and fattest fowls are reared in Van Diemen's Land, and next to it in Victoria. But the supply of fish is poor; and oysters have to be brought all the way from Corner Inlet in Gipps Land to the Melbourne market. The mineral wealth of Victoria is at present confined to her gold; but there are indications of coal at Western Port, copper in the mountain ranges, and cinnabar (sulphuret of mercury) near Portland Bay.

By the quinquennial census of New South Wales in 1836, the population of the Port Phillip district, exclusive of aborigines, was 224 persons; in 1841 it was 11,738; in 1846, 32,879; in 1851, 77,345; and on the 31st December 1852, it was estimated at 200,000.

"Nothing can more decisively attest than this comparison the marvellous rapidity with which this colony is springing forward into a mighty nation. Eighteen years ago there was not a civilized human being residing in the colony of Victoria. In March 1851, the population of Melbourne was 20,000; at this moment it is estimated that the city and its outskirts contain 80,000 souls. The town of Geelong contained 8000 souls two years ago; its population cannot at present be much lower than 20,000. Such are the commercial aspects of the colony at the moment we write.

"From a list furnished to me by Mr Khall, it would appear that the excess of arrivals over departures for the past year has averaged rather more than 1500 persons weekly, 104,683 having arrived, and 27,072 having left the colony, leaving a net increase of 77,611.

"The following tabular view exhibits the monthly progress of this immigration and emigration. The great increase observable in September arises from the tide of emigration from Britain that commenced to flow into Victoria during that month, and which has ever since continued. The accession to the population previously were chiefly from the adjoining colonies.

| Month | Arrived | Departed | |----------|---------|----------| | January | 7,494 | 550 | | February | 7,490 | 847 | | March | 5,073 | 1239 | | April | 4,111 | 1511 | | May | 5,631 | 1629 | | June | 3,872 | 1614 | | July | 4,271 | 2883 | | August | 6,632 | 1618 | | September| 15,853 | 1841 | | October | 19,162 | 3637 | | November | 10,947 | 4287 | | December | 14,255 | 5965 |

"The census of March 1851 gave the population of Victoria as Australia, over 77,000. To the recorded number of arrivals, must be added a large proportion of unrecorded, who arrived in the overcrowded vessels from adjacent colonies. Some overland immigration also took place, chiefly from South Australia, to the gold fields. Adding the increase by excess of births over deaths, the estimate of 200,000 exists, as at 31st December last, may be deemed to be within the actual numbers. The following is an estimate of the distribution of this population:

- Melbourne and suburbs ........................................... 70,000 - Geelong and suburbs ............................................. 20,000 - Other towns and villages ......................................... 12,000 - Other settled population (pastoral and agricultural) .... 25,000 - On the mines ...................................................... 73,000

Total .......................................................... 200,000

These extracts require no comment—the figures speak for themselves. The proportion of sexes at the last census was, males, 46,202, females, 31,143; total 77,345. Of these, there were born in the colony, 20,470; in England, 28,908; Wales, 377; Ireland, 14,618; Scotland, 8053; other British dominions, 3425; foreign countries, 1494.

Until the 1st July, 1851, this colony was a dependency of Government New South Wales, and was governed by a superintendent, who was amenable to the governor and executive council of the colony; and it had the privilege of sending six members to the legislative council. On that day the district was proclaimed to be in future a separate province, with a lieutenant-governor, an executive, and legislative councils, on the same model as the elder colony; the former to consist of the colonial secretary, colonial treasurer, attorney-general, and auditor-general; and the latter to be composed of one-third ex-officio and nominal members of the government, and two-thirds elected members. The governor's salary has recently been raised by the legislative council from L2,000 to L5,000, the same as that received by the governor-general.

The same religious equality exists among the various denominations in Victoria as in New South Wales. The Church of England has a bishop and twelve chaplains; the Presbyterian Church has eight ministers; the Wesleyans have many preachers and missionaries scattered throughout the country; and the Roman Catholic Church has a vicar-general and several chaplains. The relative proportions of the religious persuasions by the census in March 1851 stood thus: Church of England, 37,433; Presbyterians, 11,608; Wesleyans, 4988; other Protestants, 4313; Roman Catholics, 18,014; Jews, 364; Mahometans, 204; other persuasions, 424; total, 77,345.

Educational seminaries have been lacking amidst the material progress of the colony. In 1851 the number of schools of all denominations was 74, and the number of scholars attending the same, of all ages and sexes, was 4890. Not merely did the turmoil and agitation created by the gold discovery check the progress of education, but many schools were shut up, the scholars dispersed, and the schoolmasters gone to the diggings. From recent accounts a reaction has taken place in this direction, and in the right quarter. At Ballarat and Bendigo some of these instructors of youth, finding it more profitable and easy to resume teaching, have opened schools under the tents of the diggers at the gold fields; while the legislature have voted the sum of L79,000 for education during the year 1853.

The revenue of the colony has increased in the same proportion as everything else. In 1851 it was L379,824, and in 1852 it amounted to L1,576,801. Out of the latter sum L452,975 was collected during the last quarter of the year; and L253,579 was derived from gold. There is every probability, therefore, of the revenue keeping up to this sum during the year 1853, or perhaps beyond it to a reasonable amount, say a gross revenue of two millions per annum. The expenditure voted this year is upon an equally gigantic scale; post-office, L64,000; public works, L719,000; police, L317,000.

1 Westgarth's Report to the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, 1st April 1853. The tariff of the colony, like that of New South Wales, is framed upon a liberal free-trade scale. They stand respectively as follows:

| Item | Victoria | New South Wales | |-----------------------|----------|-----------------| | Brandy, per gallon | 5 0 | 6 0 | | Other spirits, ditto | | | | Wine.—In wood, ditto | 0 9 | | | Tobacco, per lb. | 2 0 | 1 6 | | Sugar.—Raw, per cwt. | 2 4 | 2 6 | | Refined, ditto | | | | Tea, per lb. | 0 13 | 0 14 | | Coffee, ditto | 0 4 | 10 p.cwt. | | Beer.—In wood, per gallon | nil. | 0 2 |

Yet the revenue derived from this source alone in the year 1852, was L342,000; while the total value of imports amounted to L4,043,896. The exports for the same year are laid down at L7,451,549; but on this head Mr Westgarth, from whose valuable report we derive the information, says,

"But with regard to this amount of nearly L7,500,000, as the value of the exports for the past year, large as it may appear, the sum has been ascertained to be very far short of the actual truth. The greater proportion of our colonial export produce now consists of gold, and it may readily be apprehended that a large quantity of this commodity is constantly being exported from the colony without any official record. The Customs returns show 1,975,000 oz., as the quantity exported for the year 1852; but an additional quantity of 1,600,000 oz. has been traced into the adjacent colonies, or otherwise exported without official record. It may also be remarked that the quantity of gold, as officially recorded, was valued at the very low rates that were then temporarily current. A careful estimate on this subject, exhibited in the minute alluded to, gave as the value of export produce raised in Victoria during the year 1852—not less than L18,500,000 sterling. But, deducting the quantity of gold assumed to have been on hand throughout the colony at that date, this amount is reduced to L14,880,000, or about twice the amount set forth in the official records of the custom-house."

Thus it appears that the official returns were far below the actual value of produce exported from the colony. Much also of the apparent amount of gold on the export lists of New South Wales and South Australia was not raised in those colonies, but in Victoria. More correctly speaking, therefore, the exports amounted to double the sum on the Customs returns. In the language of Mr Westgarth, who at the same time institutes an interesting comparison, it is thus stated:

"The value of the produce of this colony actually exported in the year 1852 was in round numbers L15,000,000. With so encouraging a fact we may venture upon an interesting research, and compare the results of the commerce of Victoria with those in several other instances that are naturally suggested to the mind by our own present position and more recent history.

"1. California is our greatest competitor in the production of gold. The latest statements that have come into my hands on the subject of gold produce in this country refer up to March of last year. California had then entered the sixth year of her golden harvest, while Victoria had attained the second. At that time the produce of gold, the sole export produce of California, amounted in value, by official record, to L12,000,000 sterling annually, and to this quantity it was estimated that one-fourth should be added for the unrecorded export—making a total of L15,000,000 sterling, the amount which we have just ascertained to be the annual value of the export of this colony about the same period.

"2. Among British colonies, those of India have hitherto stood first, as far exceeding all others in the magnificent scale of their wealth and commerce. The exports for the year 1851 from Calcutta, the capital and seaport of Bengal, the greatest of the Indian presidencies, amounted in value to L11,940,000, or rather less than three-fourths of the amount of the exports of this colony for the year succeeding.

"3. To proceed to still higher standards of comparison, let us take the export commerce of Britain itself. The average annual value of the exports for the four years from 1848 to 1851 amounts to L65,565,000; so that the value of the export produce of this colony already approaches to one-fourth of that of the parent state."

It is satisfactory to record, that notwithstanding the absorbing influence of the gold fields on every description of labour, the wool-clip for the year was secured, and showed an increase on the previous two years. In 1850, 18,091,207 lb. of wool was exported; in 1851 it fell to over 16,000,000 lb.; and in 1852 it rose to 20,000,000 lb., the great increase being accounted for by a proportion of the wool of the preceding year having been thrown into 1852. Nevertheless, a gradual increase in the production is evident. Tallow, however, had decreased to one-half the quantity exported in 1850, which was 89,788 cwt., valued at L132,863.

Before the gold discovery the only two banks in the colony were branches of the Australasian and Union Bank of Australia, which had branches likewise at Geelong and Portland. At present it possesses five banks, with a circulation of L1,327,311; coin and gold in their coffers to the amount of L3,034,538. To recapitulate, therefore, what has been said relative to the revenue, finance, commerce, and currency, we cannot do better than extract the following summary from Mr Westgarth's report:

**Comparative Summary, 1850–1852.**

| Year | Revenue Ordinary | Revenue Crown | Total Revenue | Imports | Exports | Shipping Inwards—No Tonage | Bank Deposits, 4th quarter | Circulation, ditto | Coin and Gold | Number of Banks | Valuation of Melbourne (annual value) | Population, 31st December | |------|------------------|---------------|--------------|---------|---------|---------------------------|---------------------------|-------------------|-------------|----------------|-------------------------------------|------------------------| | 1850 | L124,469 | L130,852 | L255,321 | L744,925| L1,041,796| L555 | L822,254 | L160,058 | L310,724 | 2 | L154,063 | 75,000 | | 1851 | L180,004 | L190,829 | L370,833 | L1,055,437| L1,423,909| L128,411 | L4,334,216 | L1,327,311 | L3,034,538 | 3 | L174,723 | 95,000 | | 1852 | L845,834 | L730,967 | L1,576,801 | L4,043,896| L7,451,549| L408,216 | L3,034,538 | L3,034,538 | L3,034,538 | 5 | L638,000 | 200,000 |

*Includes L24,404 of gold revenue. † Includes L438,845 of gold revenue. ‡ There are no bank returns for Victoria, as distinct from New South Wales, prior to 1st July 1851. § Of this amount, nearly L700,000 is deposited by the government. The banks give no interest on any deposit. ¶ Of this amount L1,129,420 consists of gold-dust estimated either at cost or valuation.

We can give no better retrospect of the foregoing than the following remarks from the Times newspaper of July 5, 1853—

"Eighteen years ago the province of Victoria was a savage and unknown wilderness, inhabited by a few barbarous tribes, and contributing no more to the wealth and progress of the world than it would have done if its shores had been submerged beneath the waves of the Southern Pacific. From that time to 1851 its progress was wonderfully rapid—it's population had risen to 95,000 souls—its shipping inwards to 669 vessels, with a tonnage of 128,000 tons, and its revenue to L380,000; an increase, we believe, never exceeded by any community. Now, mark the difference in a single year. In 1852 the population had become 200,000, the shipping inwards 1,677 vessels, with a tonnage of 408,000 tons, and the revenue L1,677,000, of which L342,000 was raised from Customs. During the year 1852 the value of imports amounted to L1,056,000; in 1853 it increased to L4,044,000; the exports in 1851 were L1,424,000; in 1852 they had reached L7,452,000; but taking into consideration the large amount of gold which has left the colony without being recorded, the total amount of exports is not probably less than L15,000,000 per annum; that is, every man, woman, and child in Victoria produces an export to the amount of L75 per head. But even this statement does not do full justice to this astounding influx of prosperity. The production of gold is taken from its commencement, when most of the labourers were inexperienced, and the machinery they employed rude and imperfect. The colony was unprepared for so vast an accession to its popula- Sturt of the country explored, coinciding with that gentleman's own impressions. This partial exploration was described by Captain Sturt in his account of his discovery of South Australia fixed the site of the future province; and forthwith despatched a surveying staff, followed by crowds of emigrants and a governor, before anything further was known of the capabilities of the country. The territory claimed by the ambitious and fallacious colonizers of this province was not less than 300,000 square miles—about 3½ times the size of Victoria; but notwithstanding the subsequent explorations of Captain Sturt to the N. and E. of the Gulf St Vincent, and Mr Eyre to the westward of Spencer's Gulf, the country traversed by Captain Barker and Mr Kent, including what they saw from the Mount Lofty range, comprises nearly all the arable or pasture land occupied by the settlers at the present day—an area not exceeding, at the most, 10,000 square miles of ordinary pasture-land.

The boundaries of South Australia, according to the state Geographies of 4th and 5th Will, IV., cap. 95, are fixed between phy. 132° and 141° E. Long., for the eastern and western boundaries; or the parallel of 26° S. Lat. for the northern limit; Plate CL and the southern boundary defined by the sea-coast, including Kangaroo Island. As already observed, this extensive tract of country measures nearly 300,000 square miles, or about 192,000,000 acres; the greater portion explored having been ascertained to be a barren waste, diverging into the stony desert of central Australia. The portion of this immense territory actually occupied by the colonists may be described as all that tract of land situated between Lake Victoria, ascending the Murray River as far as the "Elbow" in 34° S., on the E., and the eastern shore of Gulf St Vincent to the westward. The attempts to form small settlements at Spencer's Gulf and on Kangaroo Island have failed; and even York Peninsula possesses very little available country for the sheep-farmer or agriculturist.

This colony was occupied as a British province on the History. 26th December 1836, by Captain Hindmarsh, R.N., who was appointed the first governor of South Australia. The powers with which he was delegated, and the constitution of his government were very different from those possessed by the early governors of the older colonies in Australia. With Mr Edward Gibbon Wakefield originated the new scheme of colonization. That gentleman wrote a series of pamphlets and letters to prove that colonization may be reduced to an art; of which he believed he had discovered the true principle. He held that, by placing a high value on the unclaimed lands of a new country, and forwarding a labouring population out of the sale of those lands, the emigrants would of necessity work at low wages, as the purchase of the dear lands would be above their means; thereby securing to the capitalist investing in the land, a large interest for his money; and forming at once a community of labourers and artisans who would minister to the benefit of the landlords. But, besides these large landholders, a class of small farmers were to be induced to emigrate, by disposing of the land in small sections, to be cleared and cultivated by their families. The allotments of an embryo city, 9 square miles in extent, were to be thrown open at once to purchasers; so that the whole population should be concentrated around the emporium of trade. The principle contended for, therefore, was the opposite of what had been pursued in the pastoral colonies of Australia; for, while the latter consisted in the dispersion of the settlers, the new scheme was that of centralization. Which of them may be considered the most successful plan of colonization, the sequel will show. Meanwhile, by the industrious promulgation of these views before the British public, the press, and ultimately the government, looked favourably upon the scheme. The result was the formation of a company called the "South Australian Colonization Association," and in 1834 they obtained a grant from government of the immense tract of land we have already described. The conditions were, that the land should not be sold at less than L1 per acre; that the revenue arising from the sale of such lands should be appropriated to the emigration of able-bodied labourers to till the soil; that the control of the company's affairs should be vested in a body of commissioners approved of by the colonial office; and that the governor of the province should be nominated by the crown.

Under these auspices, Governor Hindmarsh landed on the swampy shores of Holdfast Bay in December 1836, and with difficulty found his way to the contemplated site of the proposed city of Adelaide. The distance from the intended port being seven miles, he was at once impressed with the error of the commissioners' agents in fixing upon such an ineligible spot for a seaport town—a fault common, however, to new settlements in these distant colonies. His arguments upon this and other points with the local officers of the company, led to an unseemly discussion; so that after two years' administration of affairs he was recalled, and left the colony in 1838.

Meanwhile the emigrants, consisting mostly of "surveyors, architects, engineers, clerks, teachers, lawyers, and clergymen," with traders and adventurers of every description, were landed in thousands upon the mangrove swamps around the anchorage of the future Port Adelaide. After a very short time the majority of these settlers saw the nakedness of the land, and the absurdity of forming a colony without cultivating a foreign export. They thought it better, however, to keep silent, leaving the unscrupulous representations of the local agents to go forth, so as to induce others to come out, that they might dispose of their lands to better advantage. Then commenced a system of land-jobbing which can only find a parallel amongst the gambling transactions during the great railway-mania in England. The land-orders issued by the commissioners were negotiated like railway-scrip; and where the land had been actually surveyed, it passed nominally through, in some instances, as many as twenty purchasers, rising in value as it was conveyed from one party to another; payment being made generally by bills at long dates. In this manner town allotments which were originally set up to auction at L2, 10s. per acre, soon reached the apparent value of L2,000 and L3,000; while country sections obtained at the upset price of L1 per acre, realized as much as L100 per acre. Those who had secured special surveys of 16,000 acres upon payment of L4,200 for that number of acres selected from the whole, sold allotments in imaginary townships at enormous prices. To this land-mania were added building speculations on an equally extravagant scale; and the wages of ordinary labourers increased to 15s. and L1 per day. These facts, set forth in the most attractive light, were extensively circulated throughout England and Scotland, till the emigration fever rose to a pitch hitherto unprecedented; while the South Australian commissioners in London fanned the flame by publishing reports to raise the value of the land-orders issued by them. These, in several cases, were negotiated on change at a premium of L500 upon the order for 80 acres issued at the upset price of L1 per acre.

Colonel Gawler was appointed to succeed Captain Hindmarsh, in 1838; and he arrived in the colony on the 13th October of that year. The apparent success of the land and building speculations deceived the new governor into a prodigality of expenditure during his administration, for which he has been unjustly condemned. It was, in fact, not more than equivalent to the apparent revenue of the country, but was found, however, at the close of three years, to exceed that income by L400,000. Like the majority of the colonists, he imagined that all this interchange of paper gave value to the land; and as there was plenty of it belonging to Australia, the commissioners, there was little fear of the territorial revenue decreasing. As to ordinary revenue there was an increasing amount from the customs alone, which promised Australia, to meet all demands in time. But in 1839 the reaction took place, followed by a universal bankruptcy amongst the landholders, and the ruin of most of the small moneyed settlers. As the colony was established at its commencement upon an insecure foundation, it was no wonder that the inexperienced settlers, induced to build up the superstructure, should have failed in the attempt; for they were mostly townspeople who knew little or nothing about growing sufficient food for themselves. Hence their means were all expended on purchases from the neighbouring colonies. After three years' occupation of the country—while they had been buying and selling land by the thousand acres, and building towns and villages throughout the country—there were not 1800 acres of land under cultivation, and that mainly consisted of vegetable and flower gardens in the vicinity of their mushroom city. In 1840, when the writer of this article arrived in the town of Adelaide, there was a population of 8489 persons in the town, and only 6121 in the country, making a total of 14,610 for the colony in the fourth year of its existence. The exports for that year were L1,15,650, or a fraction over L1 per head; while the imports from Great Britain and the neighbouring colonies were above L273,000, or at the rate of L18, 10s. per head of population. While the revenue was not more than L30,199, the expenditure amounted to L169,966. This state of affairs was bolstered up as long as there was sufficient English capital brought by the emigrants to disburse private accounts, and money raised upon the governor's debentures to balance the public debts. But when the former ceased, and the latter were returned dishonoured, then the bubble burst. Great distress existed among the inhabitants of Adelaide at this time; food had risen to famine prices; and house accommodation was not to be obtained at any price. Consequently the incoming emigrants, unaccustomed to hard labour, suffered all the privation and disappointment which have so recently been renewed on a more gigantic scale in the neighbouring colony of Victoria. The writer of this article has paid 3s. 6d. for the 4 lb. loaf, and 1s. 3d. per lb. for meat; and he has seen 100 sovereigns paid for a ton of flour—the surplus stores of an emigrant ship. These facts are mentioned to show that there is nothing new in the high price of provisions quoted at Melbourne in 1852: it is merely the recurrence of a periodical state of affairs in the history of Australia. It will readily be supposed that much distress and privation occurred amongst these intelligent, well-educated, well-intentioned, but misguided colonists; the record of which should be a warning lesson to those amongst the middle classes who put faith in the schemes of colony-mongers.

The Anglo-Saxon race, however, are not easily crushed by disappointment; and it may be said with truth, that nowhere in the southern hemisphere has the energy of the race been better vindicated than here. The men rose up from their despondency ashamed of their unproductive hands, when they saw with what cheerful activity the weaker sex turned from the refinements of drawing-room life, to all the drudgeries of household work. Hundreds who had never put a spade in the ground before, left the town, and, on the fertile lands of the Mount Lofty range, and in the interior, cultivated the soil, and herded cattle and sheep. The result was that the colony not only became self-supporting but actually exported its grain, besides wool, tallow, and beef. Here were the true elements of colonial wealth and prosperity. It was by this labour, and these animals that value was given to the land; and it was at length found that the true principle of self-support was that of dispersion instead of concentration. The healthy progress of the colony for the next five years is honourable to the industry and perseverance of the Australia, people of South Australia; and the flourishing condition of the colony in 1845, compared with 1840, as laid before a parliamentary committee in 1847 by Mr T. F. Elliott, is a bright spot in its history.

| Year | Total population | In town | In the country | Number of public houses | Convictions of crime | Acres in cultivation | Exports of colonial produce | Revenue | Expenditure | |------|-----------------|---------|---------------|------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|-----------------------------|--------|------------| | 1840 | 14,610 | 8,459 | 6,121 | 107 | 47 | 2,503 | L15,650 | 30,199 | 169,966 | | 1845 | 22,390 | 7,413 | 14,977 | 86 | 22 | 26,218 | L131,500 | 32,099 | 36,182 |

Meanwhile Governor Gawler was recalled in 1841, and succeeded by Captain Grey (now Sir George Grey, Governor-general of New Zealand), who had some previous knowledge of the colonial affairs from a residence in Western Australia, and who had visited the notorious model colony on the way home. By a course of strict retrenchment he reduced the expenditure in two years from L104,471 to L29,842. Added to this also was the discovery of copper in 1842, which increased the value of exports. The great yield of the Burra Burra copper mine did not occur, however, until after the above statistics were taken. This new article of export gave a fresh impetus to the trade and commerce of the port, which was by this time shifted a mile lower down the creek, while a good road was constructed between it and the capital. The history of copper-mining in Australia—as represented by the Burra Burra mines—like every other discovery and produce in this wonderful land, eclipses all that has been recorded of such workings in the Old World. It was not mining in the ordinary sense; it was quarrying. The leviathan mass of oxidated and carbonated copper ore lay on the surface in a kind of hollow where it was connected with a vein afterwards worked in the rock below. Success attended the efforts of the colonists in every direction as this new source of wealth distributed its benefits to all around. The fortunate discoverers and early shareholders realized fortunes; and one proprietor, who bought 100 shares at L5 each, was in the receipt of L11,000 per annum three years after it had been worked. Miners were brought direct from Cornwall; and every description of machinery was used to excavate the ore. Coal not being found in the colony, smelting operations were but slowly proceeded with. Many cargoes, however, were shipped to Sydney to undergo this process. Altogether the province of South Australia stood in as fair a position to rival its neighbour Port Phillip in the beginning of 1851, with the large export of its copper, and the probable yield of lead, silver, iron, and other valuable metals ascertained to exist in its mountain ranges at that date, as the most sanguine colonists could wish. That year, however, brought about a second period of depression in its short history which threatened to annihilate its commerce.

The gold discovery, which was the precursor of unexampled prosperity to New South Wales and Victoria, proved deeply injurious to South Australia. The very fact of her population having become more a mining than an agricultural or a pastoral people militated against her. In twelve months after the discovery of gold in the Bathurst Mountains, it has been calculated that, out of a population of 70,000, 12,000 adults, and 4000 children, almost entirely of the male sex, left that colony. The city of Adelaide was left nearly destitute of able-bodied men, the mines were deserted, the stations abandoned, and almost every industrial occupation was at a stand still; while the government of the colony was for a time paralyzed. It was but for a time; for the legislative council—recently elected by the colonists—and the governor, Sir H. E. F. Young (Sir George Grey having gone to New Zealand), passed an act making ingots of gold, stamped by authority, a legal tender throughout the colony. This, added to the successful attempt of Mr Tolmer in forming a practicable route from Adelaide to Mount Alexander, South brought a large portion of the gold from the colony of Victoria, and some from New South Wales, into the coffers of the South Australian merchants and the treasury. Those also who had left their families behind—which four-fifths had done—sent their earnings by this overland escort. These, to a certain extent, were expended in the country, while large quantities were purchased by the merchants, which drained the coin and bullion out of the banks. According to an estimate made by Mr Khull, bullion broker at Melbourne, the quantities of gold dust taken to Adelaide by land and sea from Victoria were as follows:

- "By overland escort, March to December 1852, 228,533 oz.; shipped from Melbourne, 17,331 oz.; taken by private hand, 178,160 oz.; estimated quantity taken in addition to above, 166,637 oz.; shipped from Adelaide to London, February to December 1852, 263,564 oz."

Valuing the gross amount at 76s. per oz., this would give a sum not less than L2,215,167 added to the wealth of the colony; which, during the quarter ending on the 23rd March 1853, has been the means no doubt mainly of swelling the exports to the enormous sum of L1,964,760, a sum out of all proportion for the ordinary exports of that now insignificant colony when compared with its flourishing neighbour. With all their undoubted and praiseworthy energy, the South Australian colonists have not been successful in discovering a profitable gold field of any extent within their territory. The Echunga diggings, which promised much at first, have been almost abandoned. The following notice, which we extract from the South Australian Register, of the 7th February 1853, gives some idea of the latest yield of the Adelaide gold fields.

"Although there is at the diggings everything to indicate gold in large quantities, none have succeeded in realizing their hopes. The majority content themselves with what they can get on Chapman's hill and gully, knowing that, if a fresh place is discovered, they will stand as good a chance as those who have spent months in trying to find better ground. The quantity of gold taken to the assay-office having, during four consecutive weeks, amounted to less than 4000 oz., the governor has proclaimed that after the 17th of February 1853 the office will be closed."

With these favourable returns, a reaction has taken place in favour of the copper mines. Many who had been unsuccessful at the gold fields, or who preferred working for the baser metal, returned to the colony where they had more comfortable homes. The Kapunda, Burra, and other mines, which had ceased working for more than twelve months, were again put into operation; and the shares of the latter which had fallen from L270 to L50, were quoted in March 1853 at L134½. Land likewise had risen in value. On the 1st June 1853, town lots were selling as fast as they were offered, at an average value of L115 per acre; amounting to L26,000 per month. The government had transmitted L15,000 to the emigration commissioners in London, for the introduction of labour, although the colony had L141,000 in the hands of that body for the same purpose. Agricultural operations were likewise progressing satisfactorily, and high prices obtained; while the ensuing harvest promised to be abundant. Until, however, this colony can raise from her own soil an equal amount to that which she now borrows, she cannot be classed along with the rich colonies of Australia. That no community in that land is more deserving of such a position is allowed on all hands. "Our neighbours of South Australia," says Mr Westgarth, in allusion to the delays, expense, and obstruction on every hand, which swell up an enormous account against the colony of Victoria, "have in these respects set us an example. Inferior in natural resources, they have surpassed us in energy of character, both of government and..." people. The misfortunes of 1840 and 1841 with which they were bowed down had scarcely passed over ere they appear again erect and prosperous before us, as producers of the finest wheat on the London Corn Exchange; an expression equivalent, I may add, to that of the finest in the world. The gold fields of Victoria have again depressed them, but they are up and doing, as before, to make the best of what is left.

Our highly auriferous soil is an accident, but the immediate projection of a road between Adelaide and Mount Alexander is a principle; and the first escort that traversed the new line, bringing with it L21,000 worth of gold, gave alike the triumph and the renewal of such energy.

The settled lands of this partially explored colony were divided at an early date into nine counties, namely, Adelaide, Hindmarsh, Gawler, Light, Sturt, Eyre, Stanley, Flinders, Russell. In August 1851, two new counties were added—Robe and Grey. The territory is also divided into hundreds, each averaging about 100 square miles. The capital of the province is the "City of Adelaide," which is laid out upon nine square miles of land, of which about one-ninth is built upon and inclosed. Within the environs of this town are scattered a number of villages; including Klemzig, a village composed entirely of German immigrants. Twenty-five miles over the Mount Lofty range there is a larger hamlet of the same people called Halindorf.

If we speak of the general aspect of South Australia as contained within the limits of its available country, it comes under the general description of the Victoria territory and New South Wales; the greater proportion, however, being what is locally termed a "broken country" more allied to the east-coast ranges of the latter, than the extensive undulating open forest lands of the former. The Mount Lofty range, at the same time, is not more than ten or twelve miles distant from the eastern shore of Gulf St Vincent; whereas the ranges in New South Wales are seldom less than 80 miles distant from the coast. The shed of waters, likewise, which flows from the hills through the narrow flat where the town of Adelaide stands, consists of a few insignificant streams; and although they have mostly been denominated "rivers" by the company's surveyors, there is not one deserving more than the ordinary appellation of "creek." The only navigable stream amongst them is an inlet, through a mangrove swamp from the gulf. On the eastern shed of the Mount Lofty range lies the great lake Victoria, and its equally gigantic feeder the Murray, which we have described elsewhere. The two peninsulas which form Spencer's Gulf, are at the best indifferent forest land, with small particles of alluvial soil, the great mass being barren and worthless. The settlement at Port Lincoln has been abandoned on account of the poverty of the country.

The country between the eastern boundary of Lake Torrens and the Darling has been stated to be available for pasture land. We must be cautious, however, in accepting the reports of explorers despatched purposely to find good land in a barren country. The explorations of Captain Sturt to the northward, and Mr Eyre to the westward—on whose accuracy we can place implicit reliance—described the great mass of this territory as a region of desolation, where the hardiest indigenous plants and animals cannot find sustenance.

On the alluvial slopes of the Mount Lofty range there is some of the finest agricultural land in Australia. The common average of wheat grown there is 46 bushels to the acre. So abundant was the yield in 1845, that after exporting about 195,000 bushels, chiefly to the Mauritius and England, the farmers had upwards of 150,000 bushels on hand over and above what was required for home consumption. And it is a fact significant of the progress of the colony, and the energy of the settlers, that, while in 1840 they were dependent almost solely upon foreign supplies of flour and grain, having Australia only 25,503 acres under cultivation, it increased in 1841 to 67,22 acres; in 1842, to 19,790; and in 1843, to 28,690, of which nearly 23,000 acres were in wheat crop. In the year ending April 1850 there were 64,728 acres under cultivation; of which 41,807 were in wheat crop; potatoes, 1780; gardens, 1370; vineyards, 282; and 13,000 acres in hay. In 1851 the land under crop was not less than 71,728 acres.

The climate at Adelaide and its environs is about the same average temperature as Sydney; although the latter city is more than 15° in Lat. N. of it. From its situation, likewise, on a sand flat, very little elevated above the waters of the gulf, and its distance from the cool sea-breezes on the S. shore of Kangaroo Island, the atmosphere is in general more oppressive than the open country around Port Jackson. At the same time South Australia enjoys the salubrity of climate generally maintained throughout the temperate regions of Australia from Cape Leeuwin to Cape Howe; and it has also its share of the Austral simoon. According to the observations of Mr Wyatt, communicated to the government by the colonial surgeon, James George Nash, "the thermometer in summer averages 73° Fahr., and in winter 55° Fahr., shewing a mean temperature for the year of 65° Fahr.; being only 1° higher than the mean temperature of Madeira." "There is no endemic disease in South Australia. Bilious, remittent, and intermittent fevers are scarcely known. The prevalent fever is closely allied to the congestive fever of Bengal, and chiefly affects persons newly arrived. Eight-ninths of those cases that terminate fatally occur in persons who have not been one year in the colony. Organic disease of the liver is rare. Dysentery is one of the prevalent diseases, but yields readily to treatment."

As already shown in treating of New South Wales under vegetable this head, the soil and climate is equally adapted for the animal growth of grain and of European fruits and vegetables. The produce indigenous grasses, however, which have made the pastoral productions of Australia equal to the most extensive in the world, are but limited. The live stock within the colony in 1851 was estimated at 1,350,000 sheep, 105,000 cattle, and about 7000 horses. Cattle thrive better on the pasture lands than sheep. Within the hundreds, pastoral leases are annual; without, they are of 14 years' duration; and the present leases comprize about 10,686 square miles. The revenue derived from occupation of land for pastoral purposes is only L7,984.

The native birds are similar to those of the other southeastern colonies; and poultry of every description thrive equally well. The fish in the gulf are also of a like kind; and the fresh-water cod found in the Murray River are so large and abundant, that at one time some enterprising colonists preserved them for market. Like many other useful pursuits, this has been temporarily abandoned during the gold mania.

The mineral productions of this colony are numerous and varied; including jasper, chalcedony, and opal; iron, lead, and copper. The quantity of copper ore exported in the year ending 31st March 1852 was 7122 tons; and of smelted copper, 39,225 cwt.

In 1840 the population was 14,610; in 1845, 22,390; in Population 1850, 63,900, of whom 7000 were Germans. This latter element in the population of South Australia gives it a distinctive character from any of the other Australian colonies; and it is pleasing to see these industrious Saxon emigrants live so peaceably amongst their Anglo-Saxon brethren. In the course of 1851 as many as 4221 emigrants were reported to have left the colony for the gold fields. This emigration subsequently increased to such an extent, that at one time the capital was said to be almost abandoned by its male population. Subsequent accounts, however, appear to show

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1 Mr Westgarth's Report to the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, April 1, 1852. 2 Thirteenth General Report of the Colonial, Land, and Emigration Commissioners, p. 141. Australia, that the emigration is in great measure only temporary—that the bulk of the emigrants leave their families behind them, and after a short stay at the gold-fields return with the pro- fits of their venture, which in many instances they invest in the purchase of land.1

"At the end of 1851 the inhabi- tants, exclusive of a small detachment of military and the aborigines, are estimated at 66,538, and on the 31st March 1852 at 61,218."2

Before the promulgation of the recent act granting to all the Australian colonies a free constitutional government, the administration of affairs was vested in the governor, as- sisted by an executive council, composed of the colonial se- cretary, the advocate-general, the surveyor-general, and the assistant commissioner; to these were added four crown no- minees. The elective principle has now been introduced into the legislature; and the governor-general of Australia is empowered to act as local governor within the province, when he visits it in person.

In this colony, as in Victoria and New South Wales, there is no dominant church recognised by the state. From 1847 to 1851 an act existed empowering the governor to grant a sum out of the public funds in aid of religion (not less than L50, nor more than L150), to any religious body collect- ing an equal amount by voluntary contributions. The new legislative council, however, refused a renewal of this act, when it expired on the 31st March 1851. The number of churches and chapels, during the year ending at that date, which had received public bounty in aid of buildings and stipends, was 103, and the sum appropriated L4,431. The number of schools receiving aid on the same terms, a con- tinuance of which was sanctioned by the new legislature, was in 1851, 132; the amount of aid being L3,310, and the number of scholars 4,276.

The revenue of the colony has increased in a satisfactory manner from the period of reaction in 1848, though unfor- tunately burdened with the debt incurred during Colonel Gawler's administration. This debt originally amounted to L405,433 in 1841. In that year, however, Parliament struck off L155,000 for necessary disbursements, and the treasury agreed to pay L45,936; thereby reducing the debt to something more than L200,000. This became a colo- nial bonded debt, represented by debentures guaranteed by the government. Governor Grey reduced this sum to L85,800 in 1848, at the period of his departure for the governorship of New Zealand. From that date until Oc- tober 1851, the present Lieutenant-governor Young has re- duced it to L10,300, having refrained from paying it off entirely on account of the depression of the Land Fund re- venue. A comparison of the revenue and expenditure for the years 1840, 1845, and 1851, will show the revolution in the finances of this colony since it became a British pro- vince, independent of the company and the colonization commissioners. The latter body was dissolved shortly after its declared inability to meet the drafts from the colony, and the former association has recently become extinct.

| Year | Revenue | Expenditure | |------|---------|-------------| | 1840 | L30,199 | 169,966 | | 1845 | L32,099 | 36,182 | | 1851 | L169,469| 143,981 |

The items for 1851 are exclusive of the territorial re- venue, which amounted to L107,201, and the expenditure to L72,292. The amount expended under the head of pub- lic works in 1851 was L18,928.

The commerce and currency of South Australia have undergone various fluctuations. In 1841 the imports from Great Britain and the colonies amounted to about L273,000, and the exports to L53,500; in 1842 the former fell to L163,000, and the latter to less than L40,000. The latter Australia gradually rose as the corn and copper swelled the import list, until 1849, when it amounted to L485,951; and it fell slightly South in 1850, on account of a decrease in the mines, to L483,745, Australia. For the quarter ending 23rd March 1853, the imports were L440,328, and the exports L954,760. The export of wool in 1849 was 2,243,086 lb.; in 1850, 2,841,131 lb.; and in the year ending 31st March 1852, 3,281,648 lb. The export of tallow was in 1849, 3867 cwt., and in 1850, 5271 cwt. The tonnage inwards and outwards at Port Adelaide for the year ending April 1849 was 112,338 tons; in 1850, 160,497 tons; in 1851, 166,950 tons. The cur- rency, which was of a very objectionable kind issued by private traders at the commencement of the colony, was superseded by the establishment of the South Australian Bank, and a branch of the Bank of Australasia, and latterly a branch of the Union Bank of Australia. These banks gave great facilities to the mercantile portion of the com- munity by negotiating their paper currency; which, at the time of the gold discovery, had reached an unusual amount. This event influencing the local trade, created a panic amongst the merchants; but with their usual judgment and foresight, they shipped off their surplus stock of merchan- dise to the gold colonies, receiving the dust in payment, which at once relieved them from their engagements. "The amount of current paper under discount in the three local banks before and after the panic is reckoned thus:—South Australian Bank before, L280,000, after, L120,000; Bank of Australasia, L160,000, afterwards, L60,000; Union Bank of Australia, L120,000 to L70,000; that is, L50,000 reduced to L250,000 in about three months, an improvement quite unprecedented, and which before its ac- tual occurrence might have been deemed impossible." Not the least important result of the gold discovery will be the effect of the intercolonial trade with Van Diemen's Land and South Australia in uniting more closely in social and political unity this whole group of colonies; especially New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. Hitherto the intercolonial traffic between their capitals was very limited, especially between Melbourne and Adelaide. Their origin having been contemporaneous, and their products similar, they had no variety of commodities to interchange, while their tariffs were formed on the old protection principle. Not only has the latter been modified to modern free-trade pol- icy since the gold discovery, but the value of the gold transmitted by land and sea from Melbourne to Adelaide during the year ending 31st December 1852, amounted to L2,215,167. The farm produce and bread stuffs alone shipped in return realized during that period L250,000, or more than half the imports into Victoria under that head. Al- though a certain amount of jealousy still exists between New South Wales and her more fortunate younger sister, the traffic between the ports of Sydney and Melbourne has aug- mented in proportion with the prolific yield of the Victoria gold fields, thus materially cementing all interests. In al- lusion to this subject in a political point of view, we quote the liberal observations of Lieutenant-governor Young:

"The year 1851 is memorable for the introduction of the elective principle of representation into the legislature, the free action of constitutional government, and for Her Ma- jesty's gracious appointment of a governor-general of Aus- tralia, empowered to act as governor of each of its provinces when within the territory. This last-mentioned preliminary step towards a political confederation of the Australian co- lonies has proved very opportune and provident. The dis- coveries of rich deposits of gold, the more frequent inter- course thereby occasioned not only between Australia and

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1 Thirteenth Report of the Colonial, Land, and Emigration Commissioners, p. 38. 2 Reports of Her Majesty's Colonial Possessions, presented to Parliament 1852, p. 221. 3 Despatch of Sir H. E. F. Young, Reports of the Colonies, p. 228. Australia. Great Britain, but also between the different settlements themselves both by sea and land, and the certainty that the steam navigation of the River Murray will now at last be effected, are circumstances which must accelerate, and were perhaps providentially designed to produce, that social union of the provinces on this continent, of which a common origin, allegiance, language, and legislation have formed the natural foundation, constantly strengthened and extended as it is by increased migrations from the parent state.

IV. WESTERN AUSTRALIA.—A line drawn due N. and S. upon the maps of Australia from the middle of the Great Bight on the S. coast to the head of Cambridge Gulf on the N. coast, along the meridian of 129° E. Long., forms the eastern boundary of this colony; the coast line to the westward forming its N., W., and S. boundaries. Its extreme S. is West Cape Howe, in 35° 10', and its extreme N., Cape Londonderry, in 13° 45', both headlands being in S. Lat. Thus, the greatest length of Western Australia is 1457 British miles, by an average width of 700 miles, giving an approximate area of 1,019,900 square miles. One-half may be considered within the influence of tropical meteorology, the other half within the temperate zone. This territory includes the earliest discovered portions of Australia. The proclamation of such extensive boundaries for this colony was apparently intended for the purpose of excluding any other power from forming a settlement on the coast; as there was ample room at the S.W. angle known as Leeuwin Land for any settlement likely to take root in the country. As it is, there are not more than 3600 square miles of land around the Swan River settlement, and only a few hundred square miles in the vicinity of Albany, King George's Sound, occupied by the settlers as agricultural or pastoral lands in 1853. When we take into consideration that this colony has been established so far back as 1829, we cannot but conclude that it must either be naturally ill-adapted for a British settlement, or that something radically wrong in its management must have retarded its progress so far behind its contemporaries on the E. coast. As will be shown afterwards, both of these influences have checked the advancement of Western Australia.

In August 1829 Captain Stirling, who had previously explored the coast, arrived at the proposed site of the new settlement on the Swan River, to which he was appointed lieutenant-governor. He found that several ships had arrived from Britain in the previous months of June and July with numbers of anxious settlers; who, at the very outset, were discouraged by the appearance of the land on the banks of the Swan and Canning Rivers, besides encountering the inclemency of the weather (for it was winter in Australia) without any other shelter than the tents they had brought with them. By the end of the year there were 1290 persons in the colony including non-residents; and others were gradually flocking in without any previous preparation having been made for the accommodation of their wives and families. In fact so little care had been taken to plan out the proceedings of the government and the situation of the colony, that there was not an acre of ground surveyed until several months after the first arrivals. All that was known of the proposed settlement existed only on the map—where counties and towns were liberally scattered over the supposed surface of the land. This, coupled with the fact that the majority of the newly-arrived settlers were townspeople or small capitalists, unaccustomed to manual labour, and unfit under any circumstances to struggle with great difficulties, soon produced a state of general suffering and distress. The governor did all he could to alleviate the hardships and disappointments of the settlers; but his own circumstances were hardly better than those of the rest, both he and his officials having undertaken their duties on the stipulation of payment in land. Instead of a thousand or fifteen hundred Australian pounds a-year, he was to obtain a grant of 100,000 acres of land, and his subordinates 20,000 acres, down to 2000 Western and 3000 acres in proportion. In like manner, if a settler Australia brought wealth, in the shape of agricultural implements, live stock, or labourers, he was to receive an equivalent for the benefit he thereby bestowed on the colony, by a grant of land. If a builder erected government works, or a surveyor parcelled out the land, they were both to receive a portion of their remuneration in land. In fact so much had been left to this system of barter, that the government and the colonists had entirely overlooked the necessity of a sufficient metallic currency to negotiate ordinary transactions. Hence they were often unable to purchase the necessaries of life from the neighbouring colonies. Meantime, so utterly paralyzed were the authorities, that they even neglected to survey the land which they considered the palladium of their existence. Persons settled down where and how they liked on the banks of the Swan and Canning Rivers. The land they had expected to be surveyed, and the towns they had expected to be built, were nowhere to be found. Upwards of fifty ships had arrived by March 1830, and nearly 2000 immigrants with property to the amount of L100,000, while scarcely twenty houses had been erected for their accommodation. At last a township was marked out on the Swan River, called Perth, and some degree of order began to appear out of the chaos by the close of the year, as the governor took up his quarters at this future capital; not, however, before many of the most energetic emigrants had either left for the neighbouring colonies, or returned home to warn their fellow-countrymen from proceeding to this Utopian colony.

The history of New South Wales recorded the sufferings and privations experienced by the pioneers of that colony, although they were selected from a proper class for the purpose. Much more, therefore, was it to be expected that such hardships should fall to the lot of the first settlers at Swan River, who were totally unitted for the laborious enterprise of founding a colony. The ladies and gentlemen who formed the pioneer corps of settlers were landed upon the shores of a naturally sterile region without any greater preparation for the grave and difficult undertaking of founding a new British province, than if they had gone out upon a holiday excursion in the woods. There is no greater fallacy entertained by theoretical colonizers, than this romantic method of forming new colonies. Colonization is a work of the most profound and serious nature, and does not bear to be handled by quacks and empirics in political economy. It is a matter for the grave deliberation of the state, which ought to protect the people from the cruelty of those who receive their money for lands which have no value imparted to them by labour. The agrarian system of colonization attempted in this instance proved a total failure, and to this day not one tithe of the lands granted has ever been properly surveyed.

For twenty years after the disembarkation of the first colonists, the Swan River settlement has struggled through a feeble existence. Governor Stirling was succeeded by Governor Hutt, who tried manfully to restore confidence to the colonists, and induce new settlers to come out. He in turn was succeeded by Governor Fitzgerald, the present ruler. In vain have they attempted, with the assistance of the colonists, to raise the colony on a par with her sister provinces in South-eastern Australia, and Van Diemen's Land. So late as the year 1848, things had reached such a state of general depression, that the inhabitants had taken it seriously into consideration whether it would not be advisable to abandon the settlement altogether. About this time there was a demonstration on the part of the neighbouring colonists—which we have noticed elsewhere—against the land-

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1 Despatch of His Excellency Lieutenant-governor Young. Reports, p. 228. Australia, ing of convicts on the eastern shores of Australia. It occurred to this remote community to petition for what their more successful neighbours refused. Consequently in 1849, exactly twenty years after the first settlement, a band of convicts arrived from the parent state, and at once gave new life and vigour to this languishing colony. A correspondent of the Times at Perth, writing in January 1853, says, "The advent of convicts, after three years' experience, has been found to contribute more to the well-being of the pockets of the settlers than detriment to their morals." The most satisfactory results have been received of the progress of the colony under these circumstances to the 8th June 1853. The inhabitants at Perth had held public meetings expressing a desire for the importation of 1000 convicts annually. Up to that date 2000 had arrived; and a less severe system had been adopted towards them than that which had prevailed in Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales, and with the most beneficial results. If this class of labourers had been sent out to clear the wilderness, and construct roads, prior to the arrival of Governor Stirling, and the well-meaning non-labouring colonists who accompanied him, how different a position might Swan River now have held among the flourishing provinces of Australia!

The settlement at King George's Sound was formed much earlier than that at Swan River, in anticipation of a projected scheme of colonization by the French government. It was effected in 1826 by the government of New South Wales, who despatched a detachment of the 39th regiment under Major Lockyer for this purpose. After four years' occupation as a military post, the settlement was ordered by the home government in 1830 to be transferred to the government at Swan River, both being within the new colony of Western Australia. During the next twenty years of its existence it survived actual desertion, in consequence of its excellent harbour being frequented by whaling ships, which found abundance of whales off the coast. Since the establishment of steam communication between England and Australia, it has come into notice as the first coaling station for the steamers on their outward voyage, viz., the Cape, to South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales; and there is every likelihood of the little township of Albany becoming a thriving seaport.

"The Sound is a magnificent roadstead, with from 7 to 15 and 20 fathoms water, completely sheltered from S.W. to E., and partially by two islands to the S.E. It is only open to southerly winds, which in this locality bring fair weather. On the W. the Sound is separated by a long tongue of land, terminated at its northern extremity by Point Possession, from the Princess-Royal Harbour. The entrance to this nearly circular bay is between Point Possession and Mount Clarence; being not more than 200 yards across, with a depth of 4½ fathoms water. Princess-Royal Harbour is capable of containing many hundred vessels: it is the finest harbour known to exist in Australia to the W. of Spencer's Gulf. It enjoys an equable climate, the thermometer, during nineteen months' observations, ranging from 40° to 76° Fahr. Vegetables also grow luxuriantly."

At the outset of the colony there were fifteen counties laid out on the map, arranged in apparently compact sections of about forty miles square, along the coast from Cape Le-schenault to Point Hood, namely, Twiss, Perth, Murray, Wellington, Nelson, Sussex, Lanark, York, Grantham, Wicklow, Goderich, Stirling, Hay, Plantagenet, Kent. Subsequently eleven were added to these along the territory to the N., which was named generally Australind; and from recent explorations promises to furnish good pasture land for sheep and cattle. These counties are, Melbourne, Glenelg, Grey, Carnarvon, Victoria, Durham, Lansdowne, Hawick, Australia, Beaufort, Minto, Peel. The principal places claiming the title of towns are Fremantle, Perth, and Guildford, on the Western Swan River; Kelmscott on the Canning, and Albany at Australia's Princess-Royal Harbour.

The general aspect of the forest scenery, mountains, rivers, General and coasts, is the same as on the E. coast, which has been view of the already described; with this difference, that the mountains country, and rivers are upon a less extensive scale. In comparison, the former seldom attain half the height and extent of range; while we have no evidence as yet of any stream approaching to the Murray in its ramifications. Much however remains to be explored in this quarter. "The highest mountain known is Koikeunuruf near King George's Sound, which attains the altitude of 3500 feet. The principal range of hills extends in a northerly direction from the S. coast, near Cape Chatham, for at least 300 miles." This range no doubt is continued more or less parallel with the N.W. coast, about the same distance inland, judging by analogy, as its greater counterpart on the eastern coast; the great Australian desert between forming a barrier to any internal communication from the one coast to the other. Although the plants, botany of these two great meridian ranges, trending in a general course N. and S. from the middle of the S. temperate zone, to the middle of the Tropic of Capricorn, is generically the same, yet the majority of the plants are specifically different. Probably from the lesser heights of the mountain ranges failing to absorb the same amount of moisture as those in the higher altitudes of the Australian Alps, the vegetation of the temperate regions of Western Australia is of a more arid nature than that in the S.E. latitudes. Here succulent plants are not only rarer, but the native grasses are scantier; and the extent of pasture land Pasture within the known boundaries is of a very limited description. To give some idea of this limit, we shall quote the latest returns of live stock.

| Year | Horses | Horned cattle | Sheep | |------|--------|--------------|-------| | 1850 | 2,635 | 13,074 | 128,111 | | 1851 | 2,978 | 15,315 | 141,413 |

The value of the wool, which is considered the staple export of the colony, amounted in 1850 to £15,482, and in 1851 to £17,883. Governor Fitzgerald remarks upon this head, in a despatch dated Government House, Perth, April 12, 1852, "I fear that unless new grasses spring up, or are introduced into our pastures, we shall never be able to rival in this respect the production of the eastern colonies. Our lands fit for sheep are so small in extent in proportion to the rest of the colony, that a limit will soon be arrived at unless better pastures be discovered. Should such exist, they probably lie far to the N.E." This is conclusive, without even referring the reader to the statistics of the eastern colonies already given, to satisfy the most sceptical mind of the inferiority of its pasture lands compared with the verdant plains and valleys of Eastern Australia. There are single settlers in New South Wales who possess as much stock as the colony altogether; and this after a growth of 22 years. These facts will show that natural disadvantages have retarded the progress of the colony as well as original mismanagement; for although the colonists could raise enough of vegetable produce and animal food for their subsistence, they lacked a sufficiency of the pastoral exports of wool, tallow, and hides, to constitute them a successful producing community.

This poverty of production is also apparent in the agricultural records of the colony. Up to 1851, the colonists were dependent upon shipments of agricultural produce from the eastern colonies. The number of acres in crop

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1 M.S. Notes of Assistant Commissary-general Kent, late of King George's Sound. 2 Well's Australian Geography. Sydney, 1848. that year was 7297½, showing a decrease for the year of 1214 acres. "This is attributable to many causes, the high price of labour, and the distressed state from which the colonists were only just emerging. Many of the agriculturists, however, have now freed themselves from their great difficulties, and there is every reason to hope that a very large breadth of wheat will be laid down this year." There is no doubt that when the colonists obtain that cheap labour of which they are in want, much will be done to render them independent of foreign supplies of provisions. This, however, sufficiently testifies the poverty of the land, and corroborates the statement of disinterested parties, that the soil is not remarkable for that richness of loam and decayed vegetation which distinguishes the soils of Van Diemen's Land and South-eastern Australia, which yield averages of 40 and 45 bushels of wheat to the acre. At the same time there is abundance of land for all ordinary farm purposes around both settlements, on Swan River, and at King George's Sound, suitable for the growth of all esculent roots and fruits required by the colonists. There is no doubt also that the extreme dryness of the climate, and the devastating summer conflagrations throughout the forest lands, prevent that accumulation of mould from decayed vegetation which characterizes the virgin soils of all lands throughout the world. This arid climate, however, is even more conducive to the health of Europeans, than that of the eastern colonies. Endemic or epidemic diseases are unknown, and "the country maintains its character of being perhaps the most healthy on the globe; there having been only 37 deaths recorded during 1851, in a population of 7096 souls." This average, however, is taken after the introduction of convicts in the previous year, which augmented the white population by nearly 1000 persons. In 1850 the population was 5293, which increased to 7096 in 1851. Of these 4523 were males, and only 2444 females, or nearly two of the male sex to one of the female. This disparity of the sexes has called forth a petition from the colonists to equalize the numbers, by requesting the government to forward females from the pauper institutions in England. The government have not acceded to this; but the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners report, "That under instructions from Sir John Pakington, they have endeavoured partially to remove this disparity, by sending out at the expense of the parliamentary vote, an additional number of women. Thus, since October (1852), we have despatched three vessels, carrying about 760 souls, of whom 26 were convict families, 36 were single men, while as many as 278 were single females; and the desire to emigrate to any part of Australia is now so strong, that we experience no difficulty in selecting for this colony very eligible females, without having recourse to the workhouses."

Religion and education are less zealously nurtured in this small community, than in the eastern colonies. Governor Fitzgerald, in the able despatch we have already quoted, remarks, "I regret to state, that the schools at the Vasse and Murray have been discontinued for want of scholars; and it appears to me, that if a superior description of masters be not furnished for our colonial schools, education generally throughout the colony will be regarded as of so little importance, that great difficulties will hereafter arise against any endeavours that may be made to establish a regular system of superior instruction."

The revenue for the financial year ending April 1851, amounted to £25,167, being an increase over the year 1850 of £6029, which was mainly attributed to the increase in the customs caused by a greater amount of duties paid on Australian spirits and wine in bond. The expenditure for 1851 was £23,926, being an excess of £7252 over 1850. This is to be attributed chiefly to the exigencies of the service consequent on the introduction of the convict system; and to the high price of food, a result no doubt of the gold discovery in the east, rendering necessary an increase of the salary to the government officers. The colony is now free from all debt bearing interest, which it was found necessary to incur during the distressed period of its existence. The imports during the year 1850 were £52,351, and in 1851, £56,958, the latter giving an average of £8 per head of population. The exports, during the same years, were respectively £22,195, and £26,870, or less than £4 per head of population for 1851; showing a balance of trade against the colony of more than 100 per cent. This is not a very encouraging balance-sheet; but we presume the anticipation of a large government expenditure has been the cause. The shipping has doubled itself within two years. In 1849 7852 tons arrived in the ports, which had increased in 1851, in consequence of the arrival of the convict-ships, to a gross tonnage of 16,540. These figures give no very high idea of the commercial state of this colony; but the future is not without hope. No rich gold field has as yet been discovered, but copper and lead ore, and other metalliferous minerals, have been ascertained to exist in large quantities, indicating the proximity of valuable mines. The Geraldine lead mine is now in operation; and the company who work it have smelting works on the spot. It is satisfactory to find, that one of the most sanguine men in the community is the governor, whose despatch in 1851 ends as follows:

"In conclusion, I have to remark, that such are the inducements to remain in the colony, from the government expenditure, the high rate of wages, and from the circumstance that most persons who have been any time resident in the colony have some interest therein, comparatively few persons as yet have left us either for Melbourne or Sydney; all classes appear prosperous and contented; and should the present system of the introduction of convicts continue, I have little doubt but this will become one of the most important dependencies of Her Majesty's dominions."

Besides these successful colonies, situated within the great southern or temperate division of Australia, there have been several attempts on the part of the British government to establish settlements on the north and eastern shores of tropical Australia, which require a brief notice. The first attempt was made by Captain Bremer, in H.M.S. Tamar, who, in company with two store ships and a party of military and convicts, established the stockade of Fort Dundas at Melville Island, in Lat. 11. 28. S. Long. 130. 30. E., in Apsley Strait. "This settlement, however, after an existence of four years, was abandoned on 31st March 1829, in consequence of the continued unfavourable accounts transmitted to the home government." The settlement of Fort Wellington was formed by Captain Stirling in H.M.S. Success, on the 17th June 1827, on the N.E. side of Raffles Bay, in Lat. 11. 14. S. Long. 132. 24. E., for the purpose of carrying on a traffic with the Malays, from Maccassar in the Celebes, who frequent the coast of Northern Australia in quest of the Trepang or sea-slug. This settlement was abandoned on the 29th August 1829, at a time when the objects for which it was formed were about to be realized. On the 27th October 1837, a military post, with H.M.S. Britomart as tender, was established at Port Essington, "for the double purpose of affording shelter to the crews of vessels..." Australia. sels wrecked in Torres Strait, and of endeavouring to throw open to British enterprise the neighbouring islands of the Indian Archipelago." After twelve years struggling to rear sufficient food for themselves, the sappers and miners to the last subsisted upon salt meat and biscuit, such as sailors have at sea, which, with the unhealthiness of the climate, caused the deaths of 1 officer and 12 men, out of 6 officers and 58 men, in five years. The settlement named Victoria was finally abandoned on the 30th November 1849. In January 1847, the staff of a new penal colony to be called "North Australia," headed by Colonel Barney, R.E., as temporary governor, settled on the shores of Port Curtis on the E. coast of Australia beyond the Tropic of Capricorn. After five months' occupation, and an expenditure of upwards of Ls.15,000, the attempt to form a settlement was abandoned.

The remains of the proposed township of Gladstone are a monument to this day of the folly of the projectors, and the waste of public money. It is to be hoped that the next attempt to colonize some portion of tropical Australia will be more successful than either of the above, both for the sake of the colony and the credit of the parent state. The practicability of carrying any such projects into effect is much to be doubted, notwithstanding the favourable views of some competent authorities. First, because the ordinary food of Europeans cannot be produced within the influence of the tropics; secondly, because there is no native labour to till the ground for the production of tropical vegetation as a substitute; and, thirdly, the exports which could be raised cannot be cultivated by our ordinary emigrant labourers, who, doubtless, would suffer fearful mortality if attempting to work under a tropical sun. In the tropical colonies under the dominion of the Anglo-Saxons, there are industrious native tribes to work the ground, and produce exports which our countrymen trade in, but who are never known to assist in their actual growth by manual labour. Until, therefore, an industrious population of Asiatics, or other races accustomed to labour in a tropical field, are introduced to the shores of northern Australia, the day is far distant when any settlement, attempted there under the usual auspices, will prove successful.

From the preceding accounts of the prosperous colonies in temperate Australia, it will be seen that the group on the S.E. territory display already the elements of a powerful nation—a nation, doubtless, whose future dominion will be supreme on the shores of the Pacific. At the same time we have shown, in the article AUSTRAHISIA, that the vast interior, in all probability, will for ever remain unpeopled by a European race; and that the northern section will fail to rival the south. There is sufficient territory, however, in the golden quarter of Australia alone, for the enterprize of the next five generations at least to find a home and independence upon her shores. The impetus given to emigration from the mother country by the recent gold discoveries, need leave no fear in the public mind that there will be a scarcity of capital and labour for the future, to develop the resources of the country. All that is to be considered is the description of emigrants best adapted for that purpose. Unfortunately for all concerned, the first rush of emigrants to Australia was mainly from that class of the community who had just sufficient means to reach these colonies, but lacked the physical and moral energies necessary to ensure success at the gold fields, or who, by their manual dexterity, were unable or unwilling to assist the ordinary labour market. These emigrants had been mostly townspeople in their native country, such as shopmen, clerks, and the like—men who were not only unaccustomed to outdoor labour of the lightest description, but most of whom probably were innocent of having done a day's hard work in their lives. Hence they were either unfit to encounter the privations of gold-digging, or their pride or indolence restrained their energies. To such causes are to be attributed the distress and misery in the colony of Victoria. While these people go about in idleness, the colonists call out for able-bodied labourers. Large sums of money are annually voted by the local legislatures to assist in sending out eligible emigrants, under the control of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners. In their thirteenth annual report, for July 1853, they state the amount of emigration to Australia—including Mrs Chisholm's assisted emigrants—to have been 21,532 in 1851, and 87,881 in 1852; while the assisted emigrants who went out under their auspices numbered 8143, in 68 ships, in 1851; and 44,796, in 217 ships, in 1852; making a total of 162,352, who have emigrated from British ports alone to Australia since the date of the gold discovery. This number has been largely augmented by emigrants from California, New Zealand, America, the West Indies, and many other distant parts of the world; so that we are within the mark in calculating that the population of Australia has been increased since the gold discovery, up to the latest advices in April 1853, by not less than a quarter of a million of people.

Although the people of Australia have received from the Political imperial parliament concessions towards their political freedom—which were refused to the American colonies before the declaration of independence in that country; still there are many privileges denied to them which these colonists from the United Kingdom consider as their birthright. The right of taxation, and appropriation of taxes; control over the land revenue, customs, and all other departments; offices of trust and emolument open only to the settled inhabitants; plenary powers of legislation, without the reservation of bills for Her Majesty's assent, and a perfectly free representative legislature—are openly demanded and petitioned for. Should these be withheld, or at least some portion of them not be granted by the imperial parliament, while the community continues increasing, for the next ten years or so, in the same ratio that they are now doing, we may anticipate not merely a renewal of the revolutionary spirit manifested recently by the colonists on the subject of the convict question, but the more serious event of a final disruption from the parent state.

(S.M.)

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1 MS. Notes of Assistant Commissary-general Kent. Austria.

This great empire is situated nearly in the centre of Europe, extending from the 44th to the 51st degree of N. Lat., and from the 8th to the 26th degree of E. Long. Its configuration is irregular, but its extent corresponds to that of an oblong of fully 600 miles in length from E. to W., and above 400 miles in breadth from N. to S. Compared with France, the Austrian dominions have a form nearly as compact, but their frontiers are by no means so strongly defined, nor so well guarded by physical barriers. France resembles a five-sided figure, having on three sides the sea, and on the other sides the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Vosges; while in Austria the chief ranges of mountains are in the interior. In extent of surface, the Austrian dominions considerably exceed those of France, for they cover, including Cracow, incorporated into the Austrian empire in 1846, 256,958 English square miles. They comprise a remarkable diversity of tribes, and even nations, differing from each other in language, habits, religion, and comparative civilization.

The component parts of this great empire consist of six countries bearing each the name of kingdom, viz., Hungary, Bohemia, Galizia, Lombardy and Venice, Illyria, and Dalmatia; one archduchy, Austria; one principality, Transylvania; one duchy, Styria; one margraviate, Moravia; and one county, Tyrol. After the accession of the present emperor Francis Joseph, the various provinces of the empire received the title of crown-lands, twenty in number, and subdivided into minor districts. This new arrangement, however, must upon the whole be regarded as provisional, since the new constitution, in virtue of which Austria was to be transformed into one uniform empire, was, as will hereafter be seen, abrogated in the year 1851, two years after its promulgation.

We shall begin with an historical notice of this empire, showing, first, the means by which Austria, originally a small state, progressively rose into importance; second, the resources by which she withstood the reverses sustained in her long contest with revolutionary France; next, her condition and policy during the subsequent years of peace; and finally, the manner in which she came through the latest and most dangerous crisis in her history.

The cradle of Austrian power was the fertile tract lying along the southern bank of the Danube to the eastward of the river Ens. It is said to have been overrun and partly colonized by Germans under Charlemagne; but be that as it may, after the empire of Germany was constituted in the ninth century, the district in question, afterwards called Lower Austria, was declared a military frontier for repelling the incursions of the Huns and other barbarous tribes to the eastward. It was called Ost-reich, the east country, from its position relatively to the rest of Germany; and its governor received from the head of the empire the title of margrave (in German mark-graf, or lord of the marches), which his descendants bore for centuries without anticipating the future greatness of their house. Towards the middle of the twelfth century their territory received an important accession in the province W. of the Ens, which, from its vicinity to the Alps, and the greater elevation of its surface, was called Upper Austria. The governors of this augmented domain were now raised by the emperors of Germany from the humble rank of margrave to that of duke; and it was one of their number, Duke Leopold, who, towards the end of the twelfth century, ungenerously detained our Richard I. in confinement on his return from the Holy Land. It was at this time also that the important province of Styria came to the dukes of Austria by bequest. Hitherto the ducal residence had been in a castle on the high ground of Kahlenberg, near Vienna; but it was now removed to that city. In 1246 the male branch of the ducal line, originally from Bamberg in Franconia, became extinct, and Austria underwent a long interregnum. The reigning emperor of Germany declared both that duchy and Styria to have lapsed to the imperial crown, and appointed a lieutenant (statt-halter) to govern them on the part of the empire. But claims to the succession were brought forward by descendants of the female branch of the Bamberg line; and after various contests, Ottocar, son of the king of Bohemia, was, in 1262, duly invested with the government of Austria and Styria. Carinthia, Istria, with part of Friuli, soon after devolved on Ottocar by succession; but he forfeited all these advantages by his imprudence in refusing to acknowledge as emperor Rudolph of Hapsburg, who had been regularly elected to that high station. Hostilities ensued; the fortune of Rudolph prevailed; and, in 1276, Ottocar was obliged to renounce his title to Austria and its appendant states. Notwithstanding this renunciation, Ottocar re-entered Austria with an army, but soon after fell in battle. The ducal throne being then vacant, Rudolph vested the succession to it in his sons; and having obtained the sanction of the electors of the empire to that important act, the reign of the Hapsburg dynasty over Austria commenced in 1282.

In the beginning of the following century the dukes of Austria lost a part of their Swiss territory by the insurrection of the cantons. This they never recovered; but in 1364 they acquired Tyrol; and Austria, hitherto known only as a remote province, little connected with the improved part of Germany, was soon after brought into contact with the general politics of the empire. The rank of emperor of Germany had been held successively by Saxony, Franconian, Swabian, and Bohemian princes, Austria having as yet supplied only one of the number (Albert I.); but, in 1438, another Albert, duke of Austria, was raised to that dignity, and, from close connection with Bohemia and Hungary, the power of Austria became so much greater than that of any other state in the empire, that from 1438 the imperial crown was regularly vested in the chief of the Austrian family. In the latter part of the century of which we are treating (the fifteenth), Maximilian I., an emperor of the Austrian line, made great additions to the power of his house by matrimonial connections, having himself espoused the heiress of the Netherlands, and afterwards married his son to the heiress of the crown of Spain. Of the latter marriage the issue was the well-known Charles V., who held the crown of Spain by inheritance, and the empire of Germany by election. In the third year of his reign (1522), Charles made over the German provinces to his brother Ferdinand I., who, in consequence of his marriage with Anne, sister of Louis II., king of Hungary and Bohemia, succeeded in gaining the crowns of these two countries. In 1555, Charles, whose ambition had appeared insatiable, all at once retired from his worldly career, leaving the German crown to his brother Ferdinand, and his other possessions to his son Philip II. Ferdinand, already king of Hungary and Bohemia, was elected emperor in 1556, and thus became the head of the Austrian Hapsburg line. The formidable power united in one dynasty, was thus split up by the very monarch who was its creator; though, even after its partition, both the Spanish and Austrian branch were still large enough to rank as first-rate powers. In Hungary, Ferdinand found a rival in Zapolya, elected king by the majority of the people; nor during his life could Ferdinand obtain possession of the whole country.

The general rule of the Hapsburgs, and especially the religious persecutions under the reigns of Rudolph II., Ferdinand II., and Leopold I., were productive of protracted and bloody wars, during which time the Turks made them- selves masters of the greater part of Hungary, frequently assisting the malcontents against their Austrian masters. Ferdinand was succeeded by Maximilian II., his eldest son, whose successor was the dreamy and bigoted Rudolph II., subsequently compelled to resign his crown to Matthias II.

In the year 1618, Ferdinand II., archduke of Styria, succeeded to the throne, after the death of his predecessor without issue. This emperor is well known by his sworn hatred against the so-called heretics, the Protestants, and scarcely had he commenced his reign when his cruelty against the Bohemians gave rise to the Thirty Years' War, one of the most remarkable events in modern history. On the one side were the Catholic princes of the empire, with Austria at their head; on the other, Saxony and the Protestant states, assisted at one time by Sweden, and subsequently by France. The most distinguished commanders were Gustavus Adolphus on the part of the Protestants, and, on that of the Catholics, Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland. Both were greatly superior to the age in which they lived, and evinced, at the battle of Lutzen, fought in 1632, talents not inferior to those displayed on the same fields in 1813. Wallenstein survived his illustrious opponent, but met a tragic end: having been suspected of treating with the Protestant princes for his own aggrandizement, a suspicion never afterwards verified, he, with some of the chief officers of his staff, was most cruelly assassinated by order of his imperial master. The war was at last ended by the peace of Westphalia, by which Austria was obliged to relinquish Lusatia to Saxony and Alsace to France.

The peace of Westphalia, like that of Utrecht in a subsequent age, restored tranquillity throughout Europe. It continued many years, and might have lasted much longer, had not the ambition of Louis XIV. alarmed the neighbouring states, and obliged them to look for safety in arms. Belgium, held at that time with a feeble hand by Spain, was the prize at stake; and the dread of that fertile and populous country falling into the power of France called forth the greatest efforts on the part both of Austria and of Holland, which, from the extent of its financial means, was at that time a power of great influence. Louis was surrounded by able generals and well-disciplined armies. Flattered with the prospect of success, he attempted the conquest of the Netherlands in no less than three wars, in two of which (those begun in 1672 and 1689) Austria bore a principal part. In the last she received the co-operation of England, which then, for the first time, came forward as a principal in continental coalitions, contributing largely both in troops and subsidies. The chief scenes of conflict were the Netherlands and the banks of the Rhine. The French, acting with all the advantage of unity, had frequently the superiority in action; but the allies, numerous and resolute, were never discouraged by defeat. At last, in 1697, came the peace of Ryswick, which left, as peace often does, the contending parties in nearly the same relative positions as at the outset of the contest. The allies had the satisfaction, however, of having compelled the aspiring Louis to stop short in his encroachments and schemes of aggrandizement.

But with so restless a prince at the head of a population of 20,000,000, peace could not be of long continuance; and, on the death of the king of Spain, Austria, England, and Holland, found it again necessary to take the field. The question now related not merely to the Netherlands, but to whether a French or an Austrian prince should succeed to the crown of Spain. Hence the name of War of the Succession, given to this long contest, which, beginning in 1701, lasted no less than twelve years. The superiority in military skill was now for the first time on the side of the allies. The Austrians and other Germans, assisted by Holland and England, were led to repeated victories by Eugene and Marlborough. France sent forth numerous armies, and showed, in Villars and Vendome, generals worthy of the better days of Louis; but in Italy and the Low Countries the allies were completely successful; and it was in Spain only that they failed. Such was the state of affairs in 1711, when the death of the reigning emperor unexpectedly took place, and the election to that dignity fell on his brother, who had been destined by the allies to the throne of Spain. The prospect of the union on one head of the crowns of Spain and Austria brought to recollection the ambitious projects of the Emperor Charles V., and inclined many who had supported the war from a dread of France, to consider the transfer of Spain to a grandson of Louis XIV. the less dangerous alternative of the two. This, joined to the change of ministry in England, the removal of Marlborough from the command, and the impatience of the Dutch under so long and burdensome a war, led to the peace of Utrecht, to which Austria, after urgent remonstrances with her allies, and fruitless efforts in the field, acceded, by a treaty concluded in the year after (1714) at Baden. Well might she give her assent to a treaty which transferred to her not only the Low Countries, but extensive possessions in both the north and south of Italy.

The emperor, anxious to confirm his authority in Hungary and Transylvania, now directed his troops against the Turks. The latter, who, during the space of 150 years, were in possession of the capital of Hungary, and of the greatest part of its territory, evinced considerable sympathy towards the Hungarians, whom they, on many occasions, proved ready to assist in their struggles against Austria. In fact the impotence of the Austrian rulers, as evidenced by their inability to expel the Turks from Hungary, and their readiness to appease the anger of the sultans by annual tributes, served only to keep alive in the Turks the ambition of rendering themselves masters of the Austrian capital. Accordingly, in 1683, the Mussulman host appeared before the walls of Vienna, and the capital was only saved by the appearance of the intrepid Polish king Sobieski, who would, no doubt, have found the Turks within its walls, but for the singular carelessness with which the vizier carried on the siege. This was the first serious check given to these confident barbarians. At a subsequent date Prince Eugene defeated them in several actions, and the peace concluded with them at Carlowitz, in 1699, by the intervention of England, secured to Austria a considerable accession of territory on the side of Hungary. Still that country continued divided and doubtful in its allegiance to Austria. Eugene, led thither, in 1716, a part of the armies with which he had conquered in Italy and the Netherlands, and applied European tactics against the Turks with distinguished skill. The result was a series of splendid successes, and a treaty of peace highly favourable to Austria.

Such, however, was not the case in the last scene of the military career of Eugene, when, nearly twenty years after (in 1735), he headed the Austrian armies on the Rhine. The French had taken the field in support of the claims of Spain on the south of Italy. Austria was evidently overmatched in force; and England, guided by the pacific counsels of Walpole, declining to interfere, the result was a treaty, by which the emperor relinquished to Spain the contested territories in Italy.

In 1740 the death of the reigning emperor, Charles VI., brought to a close the male line of the house of Hapsburg, the succession devolving on Charles's daughter, Maria Theresa. The death of Charles became the signal for attack on his dominions by almost all the neighbouring powers; by Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and even by France. But England came forward to support the cause of Austria with a liberal subsidy, while the Hungarians, now united and loyal, recruited her armies. The aspect of affairs was soon altered; the Bavarians were driven back; and the French, who had ventured to advance as far as Bohemia, were obliged to retire to the Rhine. Frederick II. of Prussia proved a more obstinate opponent; and, as the interest of England and Holland called the Austrian forces to the Low Countries to maintain the great contest carrying on in that quarter against France, Maria Theresa was induced to subscribe, first in 1742, and afterwards in 1745, a separate treaty with Frederick, by which she ceded to him the chief part of Silesia. But the unprovoked attack of Frederick sunk deep in her mind; she watched an opportunity of revenge; and, in 1756, formed that coalition of powers against Prussia, which gave rise to a war of seven years, and to an extent of devastation such as Germany had not witnessed for more than a century. On one side was the whole Austrian force, aided by 80,000 French, and, at particular periods of the war, by the Russians and Swedes; on the other stood Prussia and England, numerically inferior to their antagonists, but managing their resources, and directing their military efforts, with all the ability that belonged to the character of Frederick and of Lord Chatham. On the side of the French there appeared no commander of eminence; but on that of the Austrians, Marshals Daun and Laudolfin were generals worthy of being opposed to Frederick. After a number of battles and great alternations of success, both sides became tired of the waste of blood; and a contest, waged for a time with a rapidity of movement and an eagerness for conflict almost equal to those displayed in the French revolution, was marked towards its close by the cautious tactics of Turenne. At last, in 1763, a general peace was concluded, and the rival powers were left very nearly in the same position as at the beginning of the war.

From this time Germany enjoyed peace during thirty years. In 1778 the death of the Elector of Bavaria gave rise to pretensions on the part of Austria, which drew once more into the field the great Frederick, now grown gray in command. Austria opposed to him forces fully equal in number and scarcely inferior in discipline, but happily the campaign proved bloodless, each side anticipating a close of the dispute by negotiation. In that manner, accordingly, it ended; Austria being content with the cession by Bavaria of the frontier district, called the quarter of the Inn.

Maria Theresa had married Francis Duke of Lorraine, who was afterwards elected Emperor of Germany, but died in 1765. Their son, Joseph II., was then joined in the sovereign power with his mother; and, on her death, in 1780, he became sole ruler. The princes of the house of Austria, disposed rather to follow than to lead, have seldom been the authors of political change; but the Emperor Joseph was imbued with all the ardour of a sanguine innovator. He gave a loose to this disposition after 1780, issuing a number of edicts, of which several were praiseworthy in their objects, but abrupt and premature in their operations, having besides set at defiance all the municipal and other authorities of the various provinces, under the pretence that he was the best judge of the wants of the country. He established general toleration in religion, abolished a number of monasteries and convents, dismantled various fortresses, and took steps for new-modelling the existing systems both of law and of national education. But his commercial legislation, based on the prohibition system, gave undoubted evidence of the narrowness of his views as a statesman. Had the public in his dominions been ripe, as in France, for a general political change, Joseph would have perhaps been hailed as a subverter of abuses, and as the author of general improvement; but the Austrians, attached to old usages, understood little of his plans, and merely received them with passive acquiescence, while the arbitrary manner in which his improvements were introduced could not fail to provoke hatred. The actual effect was thus very limited, notwithstanding the example of new institutions in the United States of America, and soon after in France. But in Belgium the case was different: the contagion of the French revolution spread over the country, and produced a sudden rising against the Austrians. This unexpected revolt, and the chequered success of the war then currying on against Turkey, are understood to have preyed on the sensitive mind of the emperor, and to have caused his death in 1790.

Leopold, the brother and successor of Joseph, had a very short reign, the crown devolving in 1792 on his son Francis II. Francis had hardly succeeded to the throne when he found himself involved in a contest with France, the length and vicissitudes of which proved such as to cast into the shade all former wars between that country and Austria. The first important blow was struck in November 1792 at Jemappes, where the numbers and audacity of the French obtained a signal success. Next year the superior efficiency of the Austrian armies secured to them a temporary superiority; but, in 1794, the multitudes of Frenchmen brought forward by the energetic measures of the terrorists, and the talents of commanders such as Pichegru, Moreau, and Kleber, young in years, but full of enterprise and activity, led to the conquest of the Netherlands, and the retreat of the Austrians beyond the Rhine. France now offered to Austria a separate peace; but England engaging to furnish large subsidies, the emperor declined a treaty that would have involved the cession of Belgium. The French, determined to obtain this cession by force of arms, crossed the Rhine, in the autumn of 1795, with two formidable armies. Prussia had withdrawn from the contest, and allowed the whole weight of it to fall upon the emperor. It was then that the talents of Marshal Clairfayt, as yet known only to military men, became apparent to Europe at large. With numbers inferior to the two French armies collectively, he found means, by rapid movements, to concentrate a force superior to either singly, and drove them across the Rhine with great loss. Next year, however, the French, undismayed by failure, resumed the offensive, and crossed the Rhine again with two armies; one of which penetrated into the heart of Franconia, whilst the other overran Swabia and part of Bavaria. But these armies had not the means of affording each other ready support; they were separated by the Danube, while the Austrians were in possession of the bridges on that river, and could move within a smaller circle. They were thus enabled to repeat their manoeuvre of the preceding year, by detaching a superior force against the French army in Franconia, and thus obliging it not only to evacuate the country it had overrun, but to seek safety beyond the Rhine. Such was also the case with the southern army of the French, although the retreat conducted by Moreau was the subject of general commendation.

But whilst in Germany success inclined to the side of Austria, the case was very different in Piedmont and Lombardy. In Piedmont, indeed, the war had long been carried on between the French and the allies without decisive success on either side. The opposing forces were nearly equal, and the mountainous nature of the country afforded so many strong positions, that there seemed no means of bringing the contest to a speedy termination. But all this was suddenly changed by the genius of one man. Buonaparte appeared on the scene, and in less than a month after receiving the command, defeated the allies in three engagements; obliged the court of Turin to make a separate peace; and, pouring his forces into Lombardy, drove the Austrians from every position in that country except Mantua. The strength of the latter place, however, bade defiance to the attacks of the French, and enabled the emperor to make repeated attempts for the recovery of Lombardy. No part of the war is more deserving of attention than this campaign; for none displayed in a more striking light the extensive resources of Austria, or the inventive genius of Buonaparte. Threatened in the end of July by an Austrian army of great strength, but which was imprudently advancing in two bodies, he hesitated not a moment in sacrificing his artillery, that by sudden marches he might assail his opponents before they effected a junction. In this he succeeded; but his loss was heavy, and the Austrians were rather repulsed than defeated. Six weeks after, a repetition by Buonaparte of these daring movements was attended with decisive success. When apparently marching against the Austrian troops in Trent, he turned suddenly to the right, and advancing by a valley, reached the headquarters of their army before they were prepared. The result was a series of actions, which cut off the retreat of their main body, and obliged it to fly for refuge to Mantua. But ere two months had passed, the Austrians prepared another army, which Buonaparte marched to encounter as it advanced towards Verona, using in his despatch to Paris these remarkable words: *Il faut frapper l'ennemi comme la foudre, et le balayer dès son premier pas.* On this occasion, however, fortune was not favourable to him. He was worsted twice in action (on the 6th and 12th November); yet, far from being discouraged, he conceived the extraordinary plan of quitting his camp at night, and gaining the rear of that army which had twice repulsed him. He reckoned on the effect of a surprise; but his hopes were disappointed by the time unavoidably lost in attacks on the village of Arcole, which stood in his way. The main body of the Austrians had time to advance, and the result was a series of conflicts, attended with great loss on both sides.

Thus ended the campaign of 1796, sanguinary beyond example even in those days of blood, and not altogether conclusive in its results. Next year, however, the chances of war were no longer doubtful. The Austrians having reinforced their army, made a final effort to relieve Mantua; but Buonaparte having intercepted a despatch with their intended plan of operations, was enabled to make such a disposition of his troops as to ensure success; and the results were, the victory of Rivoli, the surrender of the force destined to relieve Mantua, and the complete expulsion of the Austrians from Italy. The French now crossed the mountain barrier, and advanced toward the heart of Austria. This, joined to the approach of their armies from the Rhine, obliged the emperor to conclude preliminaries of peace at Leoben, and afterwards a treaty proceeding on these as a basis at Campo Formio. This treaty involved the cession by Austria of Belgium and Lombardy, but gave her, in return, Venice and its dependent provinces, making an absolute loss in population of 1,500,000 souls.

This peace, however, proved only a truce. The absence of a portion of the French armies in Egypt, and the evident misgovernment of the directory, induced England to form a new coalition, and renew the continental contest early in 1799. The Austrian troops took the field, powerful equally in numbers and in discipline; and the French, commanded for the first time by inferior leaders, were driven back both in Germany and Italy. The arrival of Russian auxiliaries, and the talents of Suworoff, bore forward the tide of success, until the autumn of the year, when increased levies on the part of the French, and a better choice of generals, began to turn the scale in their favour. The capricious Paul now withdrew from the coalition, and the Austrians entered on the campaign of 1800 with their own forces only. These proved, as formerly, insufficient to withstand the French, especially when the latter were commanded in Germany by Moreau, in Italy by Buonaparte. Battles, unfortunately too decisive, took place; the victories of Hohenlinden and Marengo led to the treaty of Luneville, and to the cession by Austria of almost all her Venetian acquisitions.

This peace, though not so short as the preceding, lasted only four years. In 1805 Austria and Russia, provoked by Buonaparte's aggressions, and stimulated by English subsidies, took the field with numerous armies; but the successive overthrows at Ulm and Austerlitz rendered peace again indispensable to Austria. It was obtained (6th August 1806) by the surrender of the remainder of the Venetian territory, of the Tyrol, and of various districts, comprising a sacrifice in all of three millions of subjects. Soon after these reverses, Francis II. renounced the title and authority of Emperor of Germany, and assumed the title of Emperor of Austria. Taught by repeated disasters, he remained passive in the great contest in 1806 and 1807 between France, Prussia, and Russia; but in 1809 the war in Spain having withdrawn a very large portion of the French force, he ventured once more to try his fortune in the field. The Austrian armies were numerous; but Buonaparte had still a powerful French force at command, and was aided by all the troops of the confederation of the Rhine. The Austrians, worsted in Bavaria, retreated to Vienna; and although temporary hopes were excited by their success at Aspern (21st and 22nd May), they were blasted by the disastrous day of Wagram, and peace was again purchased by a sacrifice of territory containing more than three millions of inhabitants. Austria, now reduced to a population of twenty millions, remained in peace during the years 1810, 1811, and 1812; but when the disasters of the French in Russia once more raised the hopes of Germany, and brought friendly standards into Saxony, Austria took part with the grand alliance, and her troops bore a conspicuous part in the battle of Leipzig and the invasion of France. The definitive treaties of 1814 and 1815 reinstated her in all her former territories, except Belgium, and gave her substantial additions on the side of Italy. It must, however, be observed, that according to the new territorial division, as determined by the Congress of Vienna, the extent of the Austrian Empire was diminished by 400 German square miles. The public debt, as reduced in consequence of the state-bankruptcy of 1811, amounted to something above 500,000,000 florins (or £50,000,000 sterling).

The subsequent history of Austria may be divided into two distinct periods. The first of these, beginning with the year 1816, after the definitive settlement of the negotiations of Vienna, and terminating with 1848, was, so to speak, one of comparative peace, especially with regard to foreign powers; the other commenced with intestine commotions and wars, resulting in the complete subversion of the Austrian states-machine, and has left the whole empire in a provisional and unsettled condition up to the present day. These two periods we shall treat separately in their order.

**Austria from 1816 to the War of 1848.**

Prince Metternich, one of the most conspicuous personages among the diplomats assembled at the Congress of Vienna, became, from this time, the uncontrolled director of the helm of the state. His policy, in which he persevered until the hour when he was hurled from his post by the movement of 1848, was based on the principles of legitimacy and strict conservatism. In conformity with the former, Austria ever proved ready to assist any acknowledged or legitimate prince against revolutionary movements, while her conservative policy rendered her averse to anything like progress or innovation. "The transition from an old state of things to a new is as dangerous as that from a new state to one which no longer exists. Both are productive of disturbances which must be avoided at any price." Such was the doctrine which Metternich proclaimed after the restoration of peace, and which became ever after the basis of the Austrian policy. To follow up this system in all its consequences, the Austrian government established a strict censorship, whose office was to watch over the home press and literature, and to survey the importation of foreign literary productions. The secret police, which received a thorough organization since the year 1820, had to perform the office of censor in the department of social conversation; its reports serving to the government as a means of estimating the sentiments of the people. It is needless to observe, that this was not the best method for furnishing the cabinet with correct information as to the state of the public mind; for the people, knowing the system of espionage by which they were surrounded, either avoided conversing on political topics altogether, or, if at all adverting to such subjects, purposely expressed sentiments totally at variance with their real convictions.

At the new territorial division of Europe after the fall of Napoleon, Austria renounced her pretensions to Belgium for the acquisition of the Italian provinces, which she deemed more secure. A few years, however, sufficed to prove the fallacy of this policy. In 1822, when a rebellion broke out in Naples and Sardinia, the movement soon spread to Lombardo-Venetia; and the Austrian government, after having quelled the disturbances in her own provinces, deemed it necessary for her own security to put down, by force of arms, the risings in the other states of the Italian provinces. Ten years later Parma and Modena suddenly rose in rebellion, when, guided by like principles, Austria sent her troops to restore peace in the Romagna. In short, the Italian possessions have proved one of the most vulnerable points of the Austrian Empire.

The French revolution of July 1830, however, was the first external event after the Napoleonic era which deeply affected and embarrassed the commanding attitude of the court of Vienna. The very accession of Louis Philippe to the Bourbon throne was a sort of declaration of war against the principles of legitimacy; and though the recognition of the Orleans king by Great Britain led Austria to acquiesce in the event, and to follow the example of the court of St James, she had soon after to encounter various difficulties directly arising from this French revolution. Her first task was in Poland. Tired of Russian rule, the Poles, hoping to be supported by France, took arms to regain their independence, when Austria aided the Czar in crushing them. The second manoeuvre was in Germany, to which the revolutionary impulse had been communicated from France. Here Austria acted in concert with Prussia in establishing some new restrictive laws with reference to the German Confederacy. But more important was the desire for reform simultaneously manifested in several of her own provinces, which, with the exception of Hungary, had been stript of all their ancient institutions and ruled by edicts from Vienna. As all the means of expressing public opinion were wanting, the government persevered with seeming confidence in its old policy, without encountering many obstacles; though in Hungary matters looked somewhat different. Deprived, equally with the other provinces, of the liberty of the press, Hungary retained its diets and county assemblies, institutions which gave ample opportunity for the expression of free opinion, and which, at the same time, operated as a check on the grasping power of the crown. The diet of 1832 loudly demanded the redress of old grievances, the states intimating their determination not to vote supplies till their wrongs were removed, and asking, moreover, the introduction of the Hungarian language into the courts of administration and justice instead of the dead Latin. Meanwhile the spirit of nationality awoke in Bohemia, the Czechs or Slavonian party attempting to defend their nationality against the absorbing superiority accorded to the German element by the government.

In 1835 the Emperor Francis died, leaving the throne to his son Ferdinand. The mental weakness of this good-natured monarch, far from contributing to any change in the maxims of the state policy, served only to allow free scope to the omnipotent prime minister. "On the accession of the Emperor Ferdinand," says Baron Pillersdorf (the successor of Metternich), "the monarchy was not menaced by external dangers. Circumstances permitted an uninterrupted enjoyment of peace, but the necessity for internal ameliorations became, by so long a delay, more urgent, the demand for them more sensible; whilst, owing to the procrastinations of the government, faith and confidence were diminished. It is true that the prosperity of the provinces generally did not decline; on the contrary, many branches of commerce manifested an increase in their development; but in spite of this the situation of the whole empire inspired, in different respects, serious apprehensions, arising from the disordered state of the economy of finance, the yearly augmentation of the public debts, the inefficiency of the measures adopted, and still more from the oppressed disposition of mind of the clear-sighted and intelligent classes of the population. The Austrian Empire was partly surrounded by, and was thrown into manifold relations with, countries in which the constitutional form had developed itself in place of that which had previously existed; and as the defects of our own system had been publicly scrutinized and discussed, the spirit of constitutional freedom was transferred from without to the sentiments of all strata of the people. Contemporaneously with this arose a contrast, the more striking in the empire of Austria (the author here alludes to Hungary), where one-half of the people enjoyed thoroughly, during many centuries, a constitution, and consequently a right to participate in legislation." These few remarks may suffice to show the state of Austria before the troubles of 1848. Under such circumstances the state of Austria necessarily became perplexed. In Germany she saw the rising influence of Prussia, whose free institutions and superiority in culture and science were gradually raising her to be the leading power of the German Confederacy; which very circumstance induced her to support the German element in her own dominions at the expense of the other nationalities. The non-German population were thus discontented with the court of Vienna for its Germanizing measures, while the Germans knew well that it was not Vienna which represented German learning and civilization. It may be remarked that the aversion of Austria to foster the development of the Slavonic element in particular, was greatly owing to the apprehensions that it might lead to the ultimate advantage of Russia, which was continually endeavouring to attach to itself all the Slavonic tribes. No Austrian statesman, in fact, was more alive to the encroaching power of Russia than Metternich. In 1830 Austria accordingly refused to join the rest of the European powers in the protocol which declared the independence of Greece; while ten years later, when Turkey was threatened by Mahomed Ali the pacha of Egypt, whose interests were loudly advocated by France, the court of Vienna readily joined England as an ally of the Porte. Both these instances prove of how much importance the integrity of Turkey appeared to Austrian statesmen with reference to the menacing attitude of Russia.

In 1846 the court of Vienna was again frightened from its sense of security by the Poles. Having suppressed this revolution, Austria, in concert with the other two powers which dismembered Poland, determined to blot out Cracow, the last remnant of Polish independence, from the map of Europe. This step, being contrary to the treaties of Vienna, was of course discomfited by England, and more strongly remonstrated against by France. This disapproval, however, did not prevent the incorporation of that small republican territory with the Austrian empire; but it may safely be assumed that, if the question of the Spanish marriage had not for the time being occasioned a rupture between

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1 The Political Movement in Austria during the year 1848-9. By Baron Pillersdorf. London, 1850. the cabinets of London and Paris, their conjoint interposition would not have been so utterly disregarded by the northern powers. Not satisfied with the advantages gained in Poland, Metternich thought fit to meddle with the internal affairs of Switzerland, which engaged his special attention from the circumstance of its vicinity to the Italian provinces of Austria. This country was at that time agitated by two contending parties, the Sonderbund, a Jesuitical party, and the Liberals. Metternich, who advocated the cause of the Sonderbund, succeeded in gaining over France to his side, coming into direct opposition to England, which gave its support to the party of progress.

THE REVOLUTION OF 1848, AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS.

The French revolution of 24th February, which convulsed almost the whole of continental Europe, caused the Austrian empire to totter to its very centre. Scarcely had the intelligence of the fall of Louis Philippe reached Vienna, when that capital, proverbial for its carelessness about politics, presented all at once a counterpart on a smaller scale of Paris in the last days of Louis XVI. On the 13th of March the whole city was in a state of open rebellion; the populace, forcing the magistracy along with them, broke their way into the imperial palace, and loudly demanded from the Emperor Ferdinand the dismissal of his old counsellors and the immediate grant of a new charter. Three days afterwards an imperial proclamation was issued declaring the abolition of the censorship, the establishment of a national guard, and the convocation of a national assembly.

These measures, however, as well as the nomination of a new ministry, headed provisionally by Count Colowrath, and afterwards by Pillersdorf, (in place of Prince Metternich, who by this time was in full flight towards London,) were far from sufficing to arrest the popular movement, encouraged and led on by the students and other members of the university. The national guard just called into being, along with the academic legion, formed themselves into a permanent committee, and dictated laws to the government. The ministry, unable to resist, promised the convocation of a constituent assembly, while the emperor and the court fled from the capital and retired to Innspruck (May 17). The old system lay thus in ruins, its supporters or rather creators turned fugitives, while the prospects of a new organization were continually defeated more and more by the condition of the rest of the provinces. The Lombards and Venetians, already half in arms before the Parisian revolution broke out, were afterwards all the more determined to fight out their independence; and after having expelled the Austrian troops from Milan, they found an ally in Charles Albert, king of Sardinia, before whose arms the Austrian force under Radetzky was compelled to retreat. Meanwhile the movement propagated itself into Bohemia, where the Czechs, or Slavonian party, determined to obtain redress against the Germanizing measures of the government. In a petition forwarded to the emperor, they demanded a united and independent national assembly for Bohemia and Moravia, independent municipal institutions, and in the distribution of public offices an equal selection from among the Slavonians and German part of the population. Shortly afterwards the Slavonian party in Prague, already in open collision with their German fellow-citizens, organized a club under the title of Slovenska Lipa, with the object of concerting common measures in the interest of all the Slavonian inhabitants of the Austrian empire. A general summons was accordingly issued to the Slavonians of the different provinces, calling upon them to send representatives to the Slavonic congress to be held in the Bohemian capital. Delegates accordingly arrived, and the congress was opened in the beginning of June.

The people, who hated the Austrian commander, Prince Windischgratz, petitioned the emperor for his removal; meanwhile, however, a collision ensued between the Slavonic militia and the regular troops, the result of which was the bombardment of the town and the final dispersion and imprisonment of the leaders of the Slavonic party. Nor did matters wear a more peaceable aspect in Hungary. Here the national diet succeeded in carrying a measure for the abolition of feudality, as well as the appointment of a responsible and independent Hungarian ministry. These reforms soon gave rise to a civil war, commenced by the Slavonians of Hungary, and, to say the least, encouraged by the Austrian government, which disliked to see an independent Hungarian ministry by its side. The imperial dynasty was thus menaced on every side.

In addition to this distracted and threatening state of affairs within the bosom of the empire itself, may be added the terrible blow inflicted upon Austrian influence on the side of Germany. The national assembly which met at Frankfort determined on the reorganization of Germany into one integral empire, excluding the German possessions of Austria from the confederacy, and offering, besides, the imperial crown to the king of Prussia. It was under these circumstances that the constituent assembly, composed of representatives from all the provinces of Austria except Hungary and Lombard-Venetia, was opened at Vienna by the Archduke John (July 22). It may easily be imagined that the Slavonian element, largely preponderating over the German in these provinces, also greatly preponderated in that assembly; a circumstance the more distasteful to the government, in that its influence in Germany had already received so severe a blow, as already related. Notwithstanding, the aspect of affairs in Italy and Hungary, and the desire to flatter the Slavonian population for the sake of its support, induced the government to allow free scope to this assembly in its schemes for the re-organization of the empire. But even whilst the assembly held its sittings, the committee of safety and the academic legion exercised, in many respects, the chief authority in the capital, which was the scene of repeated tumults until the month of October. At this period the people became incensed by the appearance before the walls of Vienna of a Croatian army, led on by the Ban Jellachich, who had previously been foiled in his attempts to advance upon Pesth. The popular fury became concentrated on Latour, the minister of war, who was known to have supplied the Ban with arms and ammunition for the invasion of Hungary. The war office was stormed by the people, after a severe conflict with the troops, when Latour was taken and cruelly murdered, his body stript of its clothes, and suspended to a lamp-post. After this event Windischgratz began to collect a large army, and soon after appeared before Vienna. The defence was carried on under the command of General Beni, a Polish officer, subsequently so distinguished in the Hungarian war. Windischgratz, however, conjointly with Jellachich, succeeded in storming the town (October 30). Among those who suffered death at the instance of Windischgratz was Robert Blum, member of the parliament of Frankfort, who was accused of having incited the people to rebellion. While Prague and Vienna were thus subjected by military power, the fortune of war began also to turn in favour of the Austrians in Italy. The Austrian government, which had been ready a few weeks before to relinquish its claims on Lombardy, and which implored the British cabinet to mediate a peace on the condition of its retaining only Venice, now saw Radetzky repel the Sardinian troops and re-enter Milan (August 1848). See LOMBARDY and SARDINIA. In Hungary, however, matters had now begun to assume a threatening aspect. By an imperial edict the diet met at Pesth (July 2), with the special purpose of providing for the safety of the country, when, on the other hand, it became notorious that the invasion of Hungary by the Croats, under Jellachich, was determined on by the Austrian government. This diet, therefore, after the resignation of the Hungarian ministry in consequence of the double dealings of the court, appointed a committee of public safety, having previously voted a national army of 200,000 men. Meanwhile the court, then sitting in Olmütz, determined upon persuading the weak-minded Ferdinand to abdicate his throne in favour of Francis Joseph, son of the Archduke Francis Charles, Ferdinand's brother, and heir-presumptive to the throne. In a manifesto dated December 2, 1848, Francis Joseph announced his accession to the throne, promising to rule on the basis of true liberty, of the equality of the rights of the different populations comprising his empire, and indicating, moreover, his determination to suppress the rebellions then raging throughout his dominions. This announcement, as may be imagined, had the effect of still more powerfully rousing both Lombard-Venetia and Hungary. The former was henceforth the more determined to regain its complete independence, while the latter regarded the abdication of Ferdinand and the accession of his successor as unconstitutional, illegal, and null, inasmuch as it did not take place with the knowledge and consent of the diet. After a levy of recruits had been effected, the new emperor intrusted Windischgratz with the subjugation of Hungary, of which he was nominated civil and military governor. Joined by the Ban, Windischgratz broke into Hungary, and in a few days possessed himself of Budapest, the capital (January 1, 1849); the Hungarian diet meanwhile transferring its seat to Debreczin in Lower Hungary. After a short respite allowed to his troops, the Austrian general marched on towards the new seat of the Hungarian diet; but after the first battle, fought about the end of February, at Kapoana, Windischgratz, instead of advancing, was compelled to prepare for a retreat. The emperor, probably relying too hastily on the success of his arms in Hungary, dissolved the constituent assembly of Vienna which had been transferred to Kremsir, and, rejecting the constitution they were preparing, issued a self-granted (octroyé) so-called constitution (March 4, 1849).

This charter, meant to sweep away all the ancient institutions of the various provinces, proclaimed constitutional liberty, the responsibility of ministers, the liberty of the press, and other safeguards common in constitutional governments, as its groundwork. The establishment of a general diet in Vienna, and of provincial assemblies, and also of courts of central administration in the capital, were likewise among its more prominent provisions.

That Hungary could only see in this charter the abolition of its independent parliaments, and the subversion of all its ancient institutions, will be readily manifest; nor was Lombard-Venetia likely to be reconciled to Austrian rule by the proclamation of such a charter. In Italy, accordingly, the war continued, but very visibly in favour of the Austrian arms; and on the 23rd of March 1849 the cause of Italian independence was crushed on the disastrous field of Novara, where the Sardinian forces were completely routed by Radetzky. But although Austria obtained so unexpected and speedy a triumph in Italy, its cause looked sufficiently desperate in Hungary in the spring of 1849. The Austrian army suffered, one defeat after another in rapid succession, and were driven back, broken and dispirited, up to the vicinity of Presburg. Emboldened by the successes of its army, the Hungarian diet proclaimed the dethronement of the house of Hapsburg, and nominated Kossuth provisional governor of Hungary (April 24). In this emergency Francis Joseph applied for assistance to the Czar, which the Russian emperor readily granted, and the more so that his interference was objected to neither by France nor England. The Russian army, under the command of Pasikiewicz, was not long in penetrating into Hungary, and the whole war was at once extinguished by the disgraceful surrender of the Hungarian general Georgei to the Russian commander (August 13). See Hungary. Thus did the Hapsburg dynasty pass through a crisis more formidable than it had ever before experienced; owing its final preservation to the timely assistance of Russia, a power the increasing influence of which Prince Metternich, during his long administration, kept steadily in view and endeavoured to obstruct, but which, from the services it rendered, naturally assumed forthwith towards Austria the attitude of a protector.

To complete the summary of the events resulting from the movement of 1848, a few words must be said on the relation of Austria to Germany, subsequent to the war we have narrated.

Though the king of Prussia declined accepting the imperial dignity, tendered to him in 1848 by the diet of Frankfort, he concluded a treaty with the kings of Saxony and Hanover (May 1849), with the view of forming a strict union with the different states of the German Confederacy, to the exclusion of Austria. To this treaty, which is known by the appellation of the "Treaty of the Three Kings," the majority of the lesser states soon acceded, Prussia proposing, besides, to convene a diet at Erfurth under its own presidency, for the final settlement of the reorganization of Germany. This assembly was accordingly opened (March 1850), and obviously tended materially to raise the influence of Prussia at the expense of Austria, hitherto the leading power in the German Confederacy. But Austria, having now established her authority in her own provinces, began vigorously to counteract the efforts of her rival, and, on her part, invited the different states to send their representatives to Frankfort, where she assumed the lead. The legality of this assembly was at once acknowledged by Bavaria, always jealous of Prussian influence, as well as by Saxony and Hanover, which were subsequently gained over by Austria.

While these two parliaments were thus playing at cross purposes, disturbances arose in Hesse-Cassel. The margrave invoked the assistance of Austria, while the population, on the other hand, looked to Prussia for support. In accordance with the decision of the diet at Frankfort, Austria determined to march its armies into Hesse, a course of action opposed by Prussia and threatening immediate war between these two powers. (See articles Germany and Prussia.) This conflict, which seemed unavoidable, was however averted by the conferences of Olmütz, Austria being represented by the prime minister Prince Schwarzenberg, and Prussia by Manteuffel. These deliberations ended in the entire humiliation of Prussia, which acknowledged the right of Austria to march its troops into Hesse, and even Schleswig-Holstein; a circumstance attributed, not without reason, to the influence of the Czar, with whom the Emperor of Austria and the Prince of Prussia held a conference at Warsaw (October 25, 1850), and who, as may be easily imagined, from his aversion to every species of innovation, pronounced in favour of the policy of Austria to re-establish the old status quo in Germany. About the close of the year 1850, Austria and Prussia convoked a congress of all the German states at Dresden, when the influence of the former so far preponderated, that Prussia, bent all the while on the reorganization of Germany, was fain to propose that the final solution of the affairs of the confederacy should be submitted to the decision of the old Frankfort diet. Having thus achieved so many triumphs over her rival, Austria now proposed to the diet of Frankfort the incorporation into the German Confederacy of all her provinces, including Hungary and Lombard-Venetia. This bold proposal, materially threatening the balance of power in Europe, was met by the remonstrances of the governments of France and England, though its failure may be more directly traced to the policy of Russia, which could not be supposed to look with indifference on the increase of power to the Austrian empire by the success of such a scheme of ambition. Austria. Population of the Austrian Empire according to the census of 1846: the Provinces classed by the comparative density of the Population.

| Provinces | Population | Inhabitants per square mile | |----------------------------|--------------|-----------------------------| | Lombardy | 2,670,833 | 7120 | | Venice | 2,257,200 | 5439 | | Bohemia | 4,347,962 | 4509 | | Moravia and Silesia | 2,250,594 | 4731 | | Lower Austria | 1,494,399 | 4322 | | Istria, Goritz, and Trieste| 500,101 | 3616 | | Galizia and Bukowina | 5,165,558 | 3339 | | Hungary | 11,000,000 | 2776 | | Upper Austria | 856,694 | 2573 | | Styria | 1,003,074 | 2566 | | Transylvania | 2,182,700 | 2286 | | Carinthia and Carniola | 784,786 | 2222 | | Dalmatia | 410,983 | 1849 | | Military frontiers | 1,226,408 | 1796 | | Tyrol | 859,250 | 1746 | | The army | 492,486 | ... |

Total: 37,443,033

The increase of the population of the Austrian empire, since 1816, thus amounts to 10 millions. The approximate estimate of the population in 1852 is given by Hain in his last statistical work at 38 millions.

Such is the respective population of the different provinces of the empire. These differ so widely in climate, soil, language, and customs, that any general description cannot apply to the whole; we shall therefore describe the chief characteristics of those which form a part of the German Confederacy; for Hungary, Lombardy, and Venice, the reader is referred to the respective heads of each, while Galizia will be found under that of Poland.