chief centres being Ballarat, Sandhurst, and 

 Castlemaine. 



A few somewhat extensive vineyards, and numer- 

 ous smaller ones, now exist in nearly all the most 

 important districts of the colony. Every man who 

 has a piece of ground may, if he chooses, rest 

 under his own vine. Gardens are easily kept in 

 Victoria, where, in addition to the peach, the 

 apricot, the apple, the pear, the cherry, the 

 almond, and other European fruit-trees, pines, 

 cypresses, an immense variety of splendid shrub- 

 bery, and flowers of every description, flourish 

 under ordinary care. A Victorian garden in the 

 season of fruit-blossom presents an exquisite 

 appearance. 



Melbourne, the capital, on Hobson's Bay, is in 

 some respects one of the finest cities in the 

 British empire. It is situated on an undulating 

 piece of country, admirably adapted to be the 



and the continuous blue. The finest seasons are 

 the spring and autumn. The winter in Victoria 

 is humid. From November to February, which 

 is the Victorian summer, the heat is very great 

 Fires are frequent. The hot winds, which are 

 from the north, blow as off a furnace. But they 

 are rather favourable to health than otherwise. 

 The mean temperature at Melbourne is about 

 59; the mean of the warmest month, January r 

 being 68 ; of the coldest, 49; fall of rain, 32-33 

 inches. 



South Australia. 



South Australia includes the entire centre of 

 the Australian continent comprised between the 

 Southern and the Indian Oceans, and between 

 the 1 2gth and the 141 st degrees of E. long. 

 Its area is 760,000 square miles. The population 

 of the colony in 1871 was 189,018, of whom 



site of a large city. The reservoir of Melbourne there were in the settled districts 3369 aborig- 



is the Yan Yean, situated in the Plenty Ranges, 

 20 miles to the north, and containing an unlimited 

 supply of water. Among the physical drawbacks 

 of the city are the dust which attends the hot 

 winds in summer, and the considerable streams 

 which flow along the streets during heavy falls of 

 rain in winter. 



Ballarat is the second city in Victoria, and a 

 great gold-digging centre. Geelong is a beautiful 

 town, built on the westerly arm of Port Phillip. 

 As a watering-place, it has great attractions, 

 though, in point of fact, Queenscliffe is preferred. 

 Like Melbourne and Ballarat, Geelong has the 

 advantage of excellent public institutions. Edu- 

 cation, religion, and the charities are extremely 

 well attended to throughout the colony. The 

 system of education is national. 



For purposes of administration, Victoria is 

 divided into 37 counties. In 1871, Victoria had 

 150,618 inhabited houses. In 1871, the imports 

 were of the value of 12,341,995, and the ex- 

 ports, 14,557,820. The staple exports are gold, 

 which, exclusive of coins, amounted in 1871 

 to 1,647,389 oz. of value, 6,590,962 ; gold 

 coins, .347,513. Preserved provisions exported 

 amounted to 14,876,100 Ibs. value, ^355,373; 

 wool, 76,334,480 Ibs. value, ^4,702,164 ; tallow, 

 ,401,124 ; hides and untanned leather, .124,976; 

 copper, ,130,366. Paper and cloth are now manu- 

 factured in the colony. The colonists strongly 

 desire to promote native manufactures. The 

 revenue in 1871 was 3,717,155. 



The Victorian railway system consists of three 

 main lines ; its telegraph system is complete. 



The legislature of Victoria consists of two 

 chambers : a Legislative Council, consisting of 



ines. The city of Adelaide, the capital, situated 

 on the river Torrens, 7^ miles distant from 

 Port Adelaide, having in the background the 

 Mount Lofty Range, contains 27,208 inhabitants, 

 and the suburbs 34,474; in all, 61,682. Adelaide is 

 well built, and has some fine buildings. South 

 Australia, which has a beautiful climate, is the 

 principal wheat-growing province in Australia. 

 In 1870-71, the harvest of South Australia 

 yielded 6,961,164 bushels of wheat, which pro- 

 duced 1,827,305. The bread-stuff exported 

 amounted to 104,000 tons, in value 1,253,342.. 

 In 1871-72, there were 692,508 acres under 

 wheat. In 1872-73, the whole land under cul- 

 tivation was 1,164,846 acres. Red rust and 

 locusts, however, interfere with the success of 

 farming to an uncomfortable extent. The 

 country is also liable to serious droughts. In 

 1871, there were 5823 acres under vines, which 

 yielded 896,000 gallons of wine. In 1871, the 

 imports amounted to 2,158,022, and the exports 

 to ^3>582,397 ; the staple articles of the latter 

 being corn, wool, and copper. The wool exported 

 was in value 1,170,885, and the copper 648,569. 

 The chief copper mines are the Moonta and 

 Wallaroo on York's Peninsula, Gulf St Vincent, 

 worked by from 2000 to 3000 miners ; and the 

 Burra-Burra, employing about 1000 miners. 80,000- 

 tons of copper ore were sent to England during 

 the first six years' working of the Burra-Burra. The 

 bulk of the ore is now made into fine copper before 

 shipment. In 1871, there were 133 miles of rail- 

 way in the colony 7^ miles from Adelaide to- 

 Port Adelaide, and 125^ miles of north line to- 

 the copper mines. The telegraph system of South 

 Australia is good, including, as it now does, an. 



30 members, and composed of gentlemen who overland line between Adelaide and Port Darwin, 

 possess the property qualification of 250 a year ; I opened in 1872, extending over the whole con- 

 elected by persons having an income from prop- j tinent, a distance of 2000 miles, and connecting 

 erty of 5 per annum, in municipal districts ; Australia with all the main centres of civilisation, 

 and ;ioo a year beyond those districts ; and a in the world. 



Legislative Assembly of 78 members, elected by In 1871, the revenue of the colony was 778,094; 

 manhood suffrage and by secret ballot A fifth ' the chief sources being the sale of crown lands and 

 of the council retire every two years, and a com- customs duties, 

 plete change is made every ten years. The 



Legislative Assembly is elected for three years. 

 The crown is represented by a governor-general, 



The ministry 



who has a salary of 10,000 a year, 

 consists of nine members. 



Australia is the land of bright sunshine. 



On 



the whole, the eye wearies of the perpetual blaze 



Queensland. 



Queensland comprises the whole north-eastern 

 portion of Australia, including the adjacent islands 

 in the Pacific Ocean and in the Gulf of Car- 

 pentaria. In 1856, its population was 17,082; 

 in 1871, it had risen to 120,104, exclusive of 



301 



