QUEEN'S EVIDENCE 



QUEENSLAND 



527 



1890 was 131,680, and of these 45,312 were under 

 grain-crops (chiefly oats and barley), 36,538 were 

 permanent grass, 30,650 under green-crops (mostly 

 potatoes and turnips), and 19,180 were meadows. 

 Nearly 14J per cent, of the total area is barren. 

 Queen's County is, for the most part, within the 

 basin of the Barrow, and is flat and, except where 

 bogs prevail, fertile. It is also drained by the 

 Nore and crossed by the Grand Canal. On the 

 north-western border lie the Slieve Bloom Moun- 

 tains, reaching 1734 feet. Coal occurs in the south- 

 east. Agriculture is the principal occupation ; 

 there is much dairy-farming, and a little woollen 

 and cotton weaving. This district was made a shire 

 in honour of Queen Mary, from whom also the chief 

 town, Maryborough (pop. 2872), was called. The 

 antiquities include a round tower and some ecclesi- 

 astical and feudal remains, the most important 

 being a castle on the picturesque rock of Duna- 

 mase. The county embraces two parliamentary 

 districts, each returning one member. 



Queen's Evidence. See APPROVER. 



Qlieeiisferrv. a town of Linlithgowshire, 9 

 miles WN\V. of Edinburgh, on the south shore of 

 the Firth of Forth, which here is crossed by the 

 great Forth Bridge ( 1882-90 ; see BRIDGE, Vol. II. 

 p. 443). Named after St Margaret (q.v. ), it has 

 been a burgh of royalty since 1363, a royal burgh 

 since about 1639, and a police-burgh since 1882 ; 

 with Stirling, &c. it returns one member. Re- 

 mains of a Carmelite friary were converted in 

 1890 into an Episcopal church ; and one of its 

 hotels is the Hawes Inn of Scott's Antiquary. In 

 the neighbourhood are the seats of the Earls of 

 Rosebery and Hopetoun. Pop. ( 1841 ) 1233 ; ( 1881 ) 

 1966; (WW) 1531. 



Queensland. This, the youngest and second 

 largest of the Australasian colonies, comprises an 

 area of 668,497 sq. m. , representing a country live and 

 a half times the dimensions of the United Kingdom. 

 It was little known until Decenilwr 1823, when Sur- 

 veyor-general Oxley, acting on information imparted 

 by two castaway convicts, discovered the river which 

 he named the Brisbane, in honour of the governor 

 of the mother-colony of New South Wales. Queens- 

 land was proclaimed by imperial command a separ- 

 ate colony in 1859 under Sir George Ferguson 

 Bowen as first governor. The coast- line is 2250 

 miles in extent. The southern boundary, begin- 

 ning at Point Danger, generally follows the twenty- 

 ninth parallel of south latitude. The northernmost 

 point of the mainland is Cape York ; but, since the 

 annexation of the Torres Straits Islands, the limit 

 may be reckoned from the parallel of 10. Queens- 

 land is 1300 miles in length from north to south, 

 and 800 miles at the greatest breadth. The width 

 gradually lessens until, with Cape York peninsula, 

 it assumes a pyramidal outline. Its western bound- 

 ary for the most part is a straight line, marked by 

 the 138th degree of longitude. Running more or 

 less parallel with the eastern coast is a T>ackbone 

 of mountains, averaging a distance of 50 miles 

 from the sea. Upon its intervening belt settlement 

 has principally taken place. The Main Dividing 

 Kange i a continuation of the liolder Australian 

 Alps of Victoria and the famous Blue Mountains 

 of New South Wales. The highest peaks are 

 Bellenden-Ker (5500 feet) and Mount Dllrymule 

 (4250). The mean altitude of the range is 2000 

 feet. The east side is ridgy and thickly tinilx-rcd 

 with the eucalypti peculiar to the Antipodes. The 

 country west of the mountains is to a large extent 

 open downs and plains, often of the richest black 

 oil, covered with the finest fattening herbage in 

 the world. 



<,>n>'i'nsland is a fairly watered land. The largest 

 rivers on the east coast are the Brisbane, Mary, 



Burnett, Fitzroy, Burdekin, and Johnston. There 

 is also a western watershed, including the rivers 

 Mulligan, Herbert, and Diamantina. The head- 

 waters of the Thomson and Barcoo flow southward 

 through the boundless prairie-country. The rivers 

 Flinders, Leichhardt, Gilbert, Mitchell, and 

 Gregory flow northward to the Gulf of Carpen- 

 taria. The eastern rivers, affording communica- 

 tion from the interior, have assisted in the creation 

 of important industries and thriving ports along 

 the island-studded coast. Rockhampton is on the 

 Fitzroy, Maryborough on the Mary, and Mackay 

 on the Pioneer. The principal harbour in Queens- 

 land is Moreton Bay, and between it and Thursday 

 Island there are numerous ports of growing im- 

 portance. The alluvial coast-lands are devoted to 

 ordinary and semi-tropical agriculture and timber 

 produce. The basaltic plains and tablelands be- 

 yond the Main Range, extending to what is still 

 known as the 'Never Never country,' are occupied 

 by pioneer pastoralists with their herds of sheep 

 and cattle. 



In such a colony, two-thirds of which lies within 

 the tropics, there is a wide variety of climate and 

 natural capabilities. The summer heat is un- 

 doubtedly great ; but there is immunity from the 

 hot winds which prevail in the other portions of 

 Australia. The heat being dry, although the 

 maximum register is 108 (the winter minimum 

 being 34"), the exhilarating quality of the atmo- 

 sphere is such that the hottest weather is not 

 unbearable. For seven months of the year the 

 climate is most enjoyable, and not inaptly com- 

 pared with that of Madeira. At midsummer 

 (Christmas time) the rainy season commences in 

 the tropical portion, and extends more or less 

 until March. The colony enjoys a high repute for 

 health, gives a low death and a high birth rate, 

 and is free from the scourges of pulmonary and 

 contagious diseases. Invalids sent from the old 

 country in what appear to be the last stages of 

 consumption often regain health in Queensland, 

 and live to become old inhabitants. The population 

 at the 1891 census was 393,938, consisting of 223,781 

 males and 170,157 females. Free and assisted emi- 

 gration is one of the features of government policy ; 

 and some idea of the rapid growth of Queensland 

 may be formed from the fact that Brisbane, which 

 in 1881 had a population of 30,955, ten years later 

 numbered 75,000 within its five-mile radius. There 

 are some 22,000 aborigines, mostly in the unsettled 

 country. The revenue to June 1890 was 3,211,795 ; 

 expenditure, 3,695,774 ; only in one of the pre- 

 ceding four years did the revenue exceed the 

 expenditure. In 1890 the public debt amounted to 

 28,105,684 nearly 70 a head. A table of the 

 population, revenue, comparative crops, exports, 

 &c. of Queensland and the other Australian colonies 

 will be found in the article AUSTRALIA. 



Much of the marked prosperity of Queensland is 

 due to the development of ocean and intercolonial 

 steam communication. The British India Steam 

 Navigation Company has a direct line between 

 London and Brisbane, carrying monthly mails and 

 despatching intermediate boats ; and there is a 

 regular coastal service to the other colonies. The 

 dangerous Earner Reef making it imperative for 

 the government, from its earliest establishment, 

 to construct harbours and improve the rivers, the 

 coast of Queensland is now one of the best lighted 

 in Australia. The navigable streams have been 

 dredged at enormous cost, and the largest ocean 

 steamships can now ascend the Brisbane River 

 to discharge cargo at the city wharves. The 

 postal system is worked by 834 post-offices, with a 

 twopenny postage on inland letters and a penny 

 for the towns. The railway system was rapidly 

 extended in 1880-90 ; up to 1896, 2430 miles had been 



