56 



AUSTRALIA. 



in savings-banks numbered 17,576 ; the amount 

 deposited was 707,815. The public debt at 

 the end of 1866 was 6,418,030. The agricul- 

 tural statistics record 24,629 occupiers of land 

 in 1866, with 7,448,200 acres. The cultivation 

 of the land was increasing, 452,850 acres being 

 under tillage in 1866, against 381,400 acres in 

 1865. In no year was there so large a wheat 

 crop as in 1866, the produce being 2,226,027 

 bushels. Cotton was no longer cultivated in 

 New South Wales, but the cultivation of sugar 

 had increased. The live-stock returns show a 

 large increase in the number of sheep, but a 

 decrease in horses, cattle, and pigs. The quan- 

 tity of wool sent out of the colony in 1866 was 

 86,980,685 Ibs., which was the largest quantity 

 ever shipped. 



The most populous of the Australian col- 

 onies is Victoria, which had, at the close of 

 the year 1867, 659,887 inhabitants (against 

 643,912 in 1866). The arrivals in the colony 

 in 1867 amounted to 27,242, of whom 19,904 

 were from the neighboring colonies, and 6,522 

 from the United Kingdom. The numbers 

 of Chinese who left the colony were 1,709, 

 while the arrivals were only 317. The esti- 

 mated population on the various gold-fields of 

 the colony, at the end of the year, is returned 

 at 271,115, of whom 63,053 were miners. Of 

 these, 47,377 were Europeans, and 15,676 

 Chinese. 33,407 Europeans, and 15,629 Chi- 

 nese, were at work as alluvial miners, and 

 13,970 Europeans, and only 47 Chinese, as 

 quartz miners. There are 62 corporate towns 

 and boroughs in Victoria, with a gross popula- 

 tion of 326,216 ; 71,833 dwellings ; 70,969 

 rate-payers ; 20,394,918 value of ratable 

 property. The aboriginal population is esti- 

 mated at 1,908 persons. The number of elec- 

 tors on the rolls of the Legislative Council is 

 11,602. The number who voted at the trien- 

 nial election in 1866, in the districts that were 

 contested, was 2,329, or 63.1 of those who were 

 entitled to vote. There are 115,842 electors 

 on the rolls for the Assembly. In the districts 

 contested at the general election of 1868, there 

 were 63,275 who voted, being a percentage of 

 61.59 of the whole. 



The approximate tables of the Registrar- 

 General's agricultural statistics for the year, 

 ended the 31st of March, 1868, show that the 

 present number of holdings in the colony, ex- 

 ceeding one acre in extent, is 25,214. The 

 extent of purchased freehold land in occupation 

 is 5,472,205 acres; and of rented land, 1,148,- 

 726 acres ; crown lands rented for other than 

 pastoral purposes, 1,326,524 acres; total area 

 inoccupation, 7,947,455 acres; extent reserved, 

 6,970,106 acres; under tillage, 634,270 acres. 



As Victoria is the largest, Western Aus- 

 tralia is the smallest of the Australian .colo- 

 nies. It has the distinction of thus being the 

 only Australian colony free from debt ; having 

 cleared itself of its debt in 1866. The public 

 expenditure, in 1866, nearly 85, 000, was well 

 kept within the revenue, notwithstanding a 



considerable outlay on roads and bridges. 

 The Colonial Blue-book, laid before Parlia- 

 ment, shows that Western Australia is in a con- 

 dition to meet the cessation of transportation, 

 with a reasonable hope that the sources of 

 wealth opening up in various ways may, with 

 care, prevent the stagnation which was appre- 

 hended. There is a steady annual increase in 

 the amoun,t of land under cultivation, and also 

 in the tonnage entered and cleared at the ports. 

 A supply of free labor will now be of vast im- 

 portance to this colony. Nearly two-thirds of 

 its 22,000 people are males, and the demand 

 for female servants keeps increasing, because, 

 as the Governor reports, those who come are 

 " quickly absorbed by marriage." He is able 

 to state that the settlement on the northwest 

 coast is progressing steadily. Considerable 

 attention is attracted to it from all parts of 

 Australia ; the country appears to be admirably 

 adapted for stock of all kinds ; and now that 

 the necessary staff of officers are on the spot, 

 and a town has been established, the Governor 

 considers that there is every reason to believe 

 that its progress will be rapid and satisfactory. 



South Australia is a colony which has been 

 liable to periodical depression, but equally open 

 to times of great prosperity. The population, on 

 December 31, 1867, was 89,991 males, 82,889 fe- 

 males; total, 172,880. Number of persons en- 

 joying the electoral franchise, 41,657, of whom 

 14,330 were voters for the Legislative Council, 

 and 27,327 for the House of Assembly. Up to 

 31st December, 1867, 3,568,742 acres of land 

 had been purchased from the crown, while 

 2,177,941 acres were held by freeholders. The 

 quantity of land enclosed was 4,812,276 acres, 

 while the land cinder cultivation amounted to 

 810,734 acres; and the land enclosed, but not 

 cultivated, to 3,991,542 acres. The general 

 revenue of South Australia for the year 1867, 

 amounted to 716,294 13s. 6d., against 949,774 

 2s. 4d., in 1866, and 1,089,128 14s. 4d. in 1865. 

 Total imports of South Australia, 2,506,394 

 5s., exports, 3,164,622, of which 2,776,045 

 was the produce of the colony, giving a net 

 excess of exports over imports, of 658,227 15s. 



The population of Queensland, in 1866, was 

 96,172. Public revenue, 593,000; expendi- 

 ture, 594,000 ; public debt, 2,150,000. The 

 imports were valued at 2,470,000, and the 

 exports at 1,370,000. 



The official report on Tasmania, for 1867, 

 presents few encouraging features. In almost 

 every direction, the same law of decadence is 

 found to have been in operation as in the pre- 

 ceding years. The Government statist says, 

 however, that, since he began to write his re- 

 view (which is dated July 20, 1868), there was 

 more ground for encouragement, as regards the 

 future of Tasmania, than had appeared for sev- 

 eral years. The estimated population of Tas- 

 mania at the end of 1867 was 98,455. The 

 return of the aborigines in the establishment 

 at Oyster Cove shows that one man and two 

 women were the sole remains of the original 



