QUEENSLAND 



tpened for traffic, anil other lines were projected or 

 In course of construction. The total expenditure 

 on railwit>- to t!> middle of Jane 1890 wan 1">4 

 millions sterling. The government maintains a 

 well-equipped series of workshop* lit Ipswich, 

 one of the oldest town-, on the Hremer Kiver, 

 25 miles from Brisbane. The railway system of 

 Queensland is now directly connected with that 

 of New South Wales. The telegraphic service, 

 like the railways and the post-office, is under state 

 control ; the length of telegraph line is 9456 miles, 

 and, since the opening of the Smit i Australian 

 Overland Line, Queensland is in telegraphic com 

 miinication with the whole civilised world. 



island possesses a wealth of gold and other 

 mineral resources ; and machinery has reduced 

 gold-mining to a settled and scientific industry. 

 r the disastrous gold 'rushes' of the early 

 days the miners profited by experience. But the 

 real era of paying gold mining in Queensland did 

 not liegin until IsttK. From that date to the end 

 of 1896 its mines produced 11,198,190 ounces of 

 gold, value 39,196,145. In 1889 the yield was 

 / 39, 103 ounces; in 1890 it had decreased. In 

 central Queensland is to be found the remarkable 

 Mount Morgan (q.v. ) mine. It is supposed that 

 this unique formation, 1225 feet almve the sea- 

 level, was once a hot spring, the water of which 

 held in solution gold which was precipitated and 

 consolidated with other mineral matter into the 

 curious ferruginous stone which, contrary to the 

 previous theories of geologist and miner, has proved 

 the most wonderful gold- hearing material in the 

 world. Its fine and pure gold is worth four guineas 

 an ounce, and the gross annual output has been 

 estimated at 1} million pounds sterling. The 

 principal gold-Melds in northern Queensland are 

 Charters Towers, Ravenswood, Etheridge, Gillier- 

 ton, and Palmer. A recently discoverea gold-field 

 is the Croydon, on the edge of the alluvial flat 

 extending to the (iiilf of Carpentaria. The Palmer 

 is the most extensive alluvial field in the colony. 

 Copper, tin, silver and lead, quicksilver, man- 

 ganese, and iron are found in Queensland ; and 

 tin-re are' valuable coal-mines. Opals of great 

 brilliancy and variety of colour have been found in 

 a few localities, and specimens of the diamond, 

 ruby, sapphire, and topaz near Stanthorpe. Agates 

 exist in quantity. 



The wool of Queensland, clipped from the merino 

 and coarse-woolled sheep, still maintains ite high 

 character. The number of sheep in the colony in 

 1890 was 14,470,095; cattle, 4,872,416; and horses, 

 352,364. The annual exports of wool, hides, skins, 

 and tallow represent a total value of 4.J millions. 

 The manufactories of Queensland comprise metal- 

 foundries, sugar-mills, tanneries, flour-mills, distil- 

 leries, saw-mills. Tweed-factories are worked in 

 the neigh hourhood of Ipswich. Of late years the 

 lieche-de-mer and pearl fisheries of Torres Straits 

 have been highly productive; anil preserved meats 

 have also become an established industry. 



The wat of government i-- liri-hanc. and the prin- 

 cipal provincial towns are Kockhampton, Iiiswich, 

 Townsville, Cooktown, Maryborough, (ivmpie, 

 Gladstone. Toowoomba (capital of the Darling 

 Downs), Dalby, Koma, and liowen. The govern- 

 ment is vested in a governor appointed \v the 

 crown, an executive council, and two houses of 

 parliament. The upper house or Legislative Council 

 consists of thirty-nine life menilx-rs, named by the 

 governor, and sitting under a president elected by 

 themselves ; and the Legislative Assembly numbers 

 event v-t wo member*, elected on a franchise that is 

 virtually manhood suffrage. State aid to religion 

 wan abolished by one of the first acts of parliament. 

 The educational system is free, secular, and com 

 pulsory, and the annual expenditure is primary 



state schools, 208,747; grammar and university 

 education, 1241 ; technical education, 3816. The 

 defence of the colony was provided by act of 

 parliament iii 1884. A small permanent force, a 

 e contingent (whose members are paid for 

 each day's drill), and volunteers make up an enrol- 

 ment nearly 5000 strong ; but every male Ix-twccn 

 eighteen and sixty years old is liable for military 

 service in an emergency. The entrance to the 

 Brisbane Kiver (twelve miles from the capital) is 

 defended by a battery and tmpedo works, and 

 there are two gunboats, torpedo and packet Intats, 

 and a naval reserve. 



About 418$ million acres of land still belong to 

 the crown, the greater part leased to squatters as 

 sheep and cattle runs. The object of tin- recent 

 governments of Queensland being to foster agii 

 cultural settlement and closer pastoral occupation, 

 the tendency now is to leasing rather than tailing 

 and to prevent the aggregation of large estates. 



Market-gardening in Queensland, even in the 

 large towns, is principally done by Chinamen, 

 who have the sj>ecial gift of patience for the 

 work. On the Darling Iiowns, which is the garden 

 of Queensland, wheat may be grown ; and oats, 

 barley, and rye are cultivated for fodder. Maize 

 and lucerne are the crops most commonly grown 

 by funnels. European vegetables and fruits, 

 turnips, mangolds, and potatoes are raised on 

 the Darling Downs, but the vegetables which 

 are the staple of the bush garden elsewhere are 

 sweet potatoes, yams, and pumpkins. The growth 

 and propagation of arrowroot is a most profitable 

 industry. Tobacco thrives well. Cotton, rice, 

 coffee, and even tea have been proved to l>e suit- 

 able for Queensland. Grapes, peaches, pine-apples, 

 bananas, oranges, lemons, limes, citrons, man- 

 goes, passion-fruit, and guavos bear profusely, 

 and north of Capricorn all the fruit trees and 

 spices of tropical value might IK> cultivated with 

 profit but for the scarcity of labour. (linger, pepper, 

 and nutmeg are indigenous. The beautiful collec- 

 tion of timbers shown at the Colonial and Indian 

 Exhibition in London emphasised the value of the 

 forests of Queensland. Amongst the hardwoods 

 are the ironbarks, stringy-barks, gums, and blood- 

 woods. There are several varieties of i in pent ines, 

 nnd the easily-worked softwoods include four 

 excellent pine-trees, while the red cedar, yellow- 

 wood, silky oak, tulip-wood, and beech are prized 

 for cabinet and ornamental purposes. 



The wild animals of Queensland are neither 

 numerous nor dangerous, always excepting the 

 worst varieties of the snake. Alligators are numer- 

 ous and destructive in the rivers of tropical Queens- 

 land. The fauna includes the usual Australian 

 marsupials the platypus, dingo, living fox, iW. 

 Many of the birds are of gorgeous plumage. The 

 emu roams the plains, and the cassowai y is a rare 

 appearance in the north. The rabbit has, so far, 

 lieen fenced out from the southern liorders with 

 tolerable success; but this imported pest is an 

 object of dread in Queensland, which sulli-nxl so 

 severely, before the legislature assisted in the 

 suppression, from the plague of kangaroos. The 

 sea-fishing is unsurpassed, and the Moreton Bay 

 oysters are exported in quantities to the sister 

 colonies. From the Dugong (q.v.), In-sides the oil, 

 is obtained a hide invaluable tor thick machinery 

 belting, 



Queensland, in common with other Australian 

 colonies, suffers occasionally from floods and 

 droughts; but the necessity for artificial irrigation 

 is now generally recognised as an essential protec- 

 tion for development in the future. The sugar 

 industry, which had somewhat declined in value, 

 in 1898-99 showed an increase of 50 per cent, on 

 the previous year. Owing to the rigorous laws 



