■90 Ai;i;icri;n-i;Ai. KKsontcios. 



to be 42,000 M)iiai-c iiiilf<, ainl ilriim-t Irnin this dUf-tliird for 

 lakes or ponds, we lia\ c 2S,000 scjiiaic iiiilo, of \v]ii(']i fully ;i 

 Inurtli, or 7,00<) Mjuari- luiK-s, or 4,480,000 acri's, are available for 

 SL'ttlemi'Ut, cither as aialilc land or for ,L;ra/.iii^' purposes, and are 

 eapable of sustaining in cnnifort a vei'v lai'ge nnnd_)er of people. 

 To this must lir added llie lundiering and mineral resources 

 which are cajiable of furnishing employment to many thousands. 

 These are not the random assei-tions of enthusiastic optimists ; 

 they ai-e suslaineil by solid facts whieh cannot be set aside. 

 The evidence in su]i])oi-t of these conclusions is derived mainly 

 from the reports of the (Geological Survey, conducted by scien- 

 tific men who are thoroughly trustworthy ; also from rejiorts of 

 the government surveyors who liave been foi' years engaged in 

 mapping the Crown lan<ls ; as widl as fi-oni tln' accounts given 

 by residents, by intelligent travellers, and olhei-s who have 

 visited various sections of the island. All these, when com 

 bincd, utterly disjjrove the views ix'gardiug the liarrenness of the 

 .soil once entertained and will revolutionize men's ideas regard- 

 ing this neglected and misrepresented islaml. Xt) doubt some 

 writers have erred in the other extreme, and ]tresented accounts 

 too highly coloured. No lasting good can result from exaggera- 

 tions on such a subject, and great injury may be done by 

 awakening unwanantable expectations. The aim ol' the jiresent 

 Avriter is to be guided by facts and to attirm only what is war- 

 ranted l)y these, in the views which he i)resents regarding the 

 jiresent condition and prospects of the country. 



IVESTERX XEWFOUNWLAM). 



The Avestern portion of the island, in an agricultural point of 

 A'iew, is by far the most important, having, in addition to a large 

 extent of fertile soil, valual)le forests, coal-tieLls, marble, gy])sum 

 and lime-stone beds and mineral deposits. It is the carbonifer- 

 ous section of the country, the rocks of this formation always 

 underlying gooil soil. Its climate, too, is by many degrees 

 superior to that of tlie eastern or southern slioivs, lieing entiixdy 

 out of the range of fogs, \\liile tlie cold eastei'ly winds blowing 



