60 



ATLANTIC OCEAN. 



AUSTRALIA. 



her can of course never be known. The dotted 

 red line that represents her course on the pilot- 

 chart is only one of many that cross and re- 

 cross one another in all directions. 



Wide as the ocean is, not a year passes 

 without mysterious disappearances. Many of 

 them are doubtless due to collisions with 

 " derelicts," as they are termed by the Hydro- 

 graphic Office, or with some of the many other 

 drifting obstacles recorded by the " red data " 

 of the pilot-charts. 



The headquarters of the Hydrographic Office 

 are in Washington, but the branch-office in 

 New York, under the management of Lieut. 

 V. N. Cottman, U. S. N., bears a most im- 

 portant part in the active work of the bureau. 

 This office occupies by courtesy a corner of 

 the Maritime Exchange, situated on the lower 

 floor of the great Produce Exchange building. 

 Perhaps no better place could be found to 

 keep the bureau in touch with the great ship- 

 ping interests of the world. To the Maritime 

 Exchange almost every ship-owner, captain, 

 and underwriter goes on business or to give 

 and receive information, and in this way many 

 valuable facts are secured at the latest possible 

 moment before going to press. It is some- 

 what humiliating that such an important and 

 beneficent Government work should be carried 

 on in such narrow quarters ; but, on the other 

 hand, it is a high compliment to its usefulness 

 that a great business organization like the 

 Maritime Exchange should freely make room 

 for it, where space is cramped at best, and 

 where every square foot has a money value. 



The official records show that during the 

 year 6,739 vessels were visited; nautical infor- 

 mation was furnished to 83,345 masters of ves- 

 sels and others ; 10,397 pilot-charts were gra- 

 tuitously distributed, and 3,601 special detailed 

 reports on the subject of imrine meteorology 

 were forwarded for use in the preparation of 

 the pilot-charts. 



The practical value of the branch-offices has 

 led to their establishment in other seaports, 

 and they are now in operation at Baltimore, 

 Boston, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, 

 and San Francisco. Every year there are be- 

 tween 5,000 and 6,000 lives lost at sea, and, 

 while with the increase of commerce this 

 average is not unlikely to be maintained, the 

 Hydrographic Office is engaged in a noble 

 work in reducing the chances of disaster. 



The popular notion that sailing-vessels are 

 being driven from the seas by steam compe- 

 tition is said by good authority to be erroneous. 

 The sailing-tonnage of the world is, and prob- 

 ably always will be, nearly or quite double 

 that of steam. It is not generally realized that, 

 in spite of the long period of depression to 

 which the American merchant marine has been 

 subjected in consequence of the war for seces- 

 sion and because of congressional indifference, 

 the tonnage of the United States is second only 

 to that of Great Britain, and nearly double that 

 of any other nation. 



The publication of the pilot-charts was begun 

 in December, 1884, and they have made their 

 way by mere force of merit into the chart- 

 rooms of all nations. The co-operation of the 

 Signal Service and of the Naval Bureau was 

 cordially given, and merchant-captains were 

 quick to recognize the value of the undertaking, 

 and became at once willing contributors to the 

 stock of general information. 



None of the other maritime nations have as 

 yet attempted to follow the example of the 

 United States in the issue of pilot-charts. 

 That they will sooner or later do so is to be 

 expected, but at present the United States 

 Hydrographic Office may be pardoned for a 

 reasonable degree of pride in its unique and 

 original work. 



AUSTRALIA, a continent surrounded by the 

 Pacific Ocean, forming a part of the British 

 Empire. The areas of the colonies occupying 

 the Australian continent, with that of the 

 neighboring island of Tasmania and the colony 

 of Fiji, and their estimated population at the 

 close of 1886, are as follows : 



The estimated population of Australia and 

 Tasmania on Jan. 1, 1888, was 2,943,364. In 

 the whole of Australia the number of persons 

 to the square mile is less than one. In Vic- 

 toria it is 11-79; in New South Wales, 3-37; 

 in Tasmania, 5*40. The total excess of arrivals 

 over departures by sea for the whole of Aus- 

 tralasia (including New Zealand) in 1887, was 

 64,856, showing a decrease as compared with 

 the previous year of 5,671. The excess was 

 greatest in New South Wales, where it was 

 23,516, whereas in South Australia the depart- 

 ures exceeded the arrivals by 2.384. At the 

 present rate of increase the population of the 

 Australian colonies in the year 1900 will' be 

 5,000,000. 



The aggregate revenue of the Australasian 

 colonies in 1885 was 23,750,000, and the 

 aggregate expenditure, 25,250,000. In twelve 

 years the revenue had increased 94 per cent., 

 while the population had increased 54 per cent. 

 The total debt was 70,250,000, or 3 3s. 9<7. 

 per head of population. Between 1851 and 

 1886 the value of the gold mined in all the 

 colonies was 324,000,000, of which Victoria 

 produced 217,000,000. 



Agriculture. The census tables show that 31 

 per cent, of the people of Australasia from 

 whom statistics could be collected (about 40 

 per cent.), are engaged in agricultural occupa- 

 tions, while 31 per cent, follow manufacturing 

 and mining, 10 percent, are employed in trade 

 and transportation, 17 per cent, in professional 



