AUSTRALIA. 



AUSTRALIA. 



TOO 



opened with great profit in 1843. In 1845 the Burra Bun* mine, 

 apparently one of the richest in the world, was discovered. The 

 total quantity of ore rawed from this mine up to September 1851 was 

 79,765 ton*. The mine oocun in the clay-date formation ; the lode 

 run* from east to wart. Many other copper and some lead mines 

 have since been opened in the colony with more or leas success. The 

 gold excitement has for a while almost entirely suspended all other 

 mining operations; but the careful examinations which have been 

 made of the gold regions, especially those undertaken by the govern- 

 ment geological surveyors, have made known the existence of nume- 

 rous and widely-spread metalliferous veins of considerable richness, 

 which may, when the present excitement has passed away, lead to 

 most important mining operations. The value of tome of these 

 regions may be estimated from the Report of Mr. Clarke to the 

 governor-general respecting a portion of country termed Quedong 

 near the junction of the Slaughter-Bouse Creek with the Delegate 

 River, about 87 S. hit., 149 E. long., near the boundary of New 

 South Wales and Victoria. The district is occupied by slates traversed 

 irtz and trap, with occasional patches of granite ; but, he says, 

 " what renders this locality so interesting and full of promise is the 

 fact, that in addition to the four metals, gold, iron, lead, and copper, 

 existing in so narrow a compass, there is also abundance of excellent 

 limestone to serve as a flux in case of its requirement, and abundance 

 of water in the ever-flowing Delegate River, together with wood upon 

 the ranges at no considerable distance." The whole basin of the 

 Murrumbidgee, from near Bullanamang to the junction of the Quean - 

 bayan River, is also said by Mr. Clarke to exhibit " not only metalli- 

 ferous formations, but in some places veins of lead, eopper, and in>n," 

 in conjunction with abundance of limestone : quartz porphyry is here 

 the prevalent rock. And in other districts the metals have been 

 found under equally promising circumstances. 



Lead has been found hi South Australia and worked successfully at 

 Yattagolinga mine, where the average yield is said to bo 75 per cent. 

 of lead and 18 to 20 02. of silver to the ton of ore ; it is also worked 

 at some other mines. In the great mountain ranges of Victoria and 

 New South Wales, as we have seen, lead is said to occur in many 

 places ; it has also been found in the Darling Range and near Mur- 

 chison River in Western Australia. 



Iru ore abounds on the eastern coast of New South Wales, where 

 also good coal is found in large quantities; whence we may conclude 

 that at no very distant period the eastern side of Australia may be 

 studded with iron foundries, distributing their products over Southern 

 Asia and among the numerous islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans. 

 Iron has been recently found in conjunction with coal in the Warran- 

 buugall Mountains. Argillaceous iron-ore occurs extensively in the 

 regions of the Australian Alps. In South Australia iron-ore is said 

 to abound in the mountains on the east of Spencer and St Vincent 

 gulfs ; at Rapid Bay, Encounter Bay, and in the ranges from Cape 

 Jervis to Black-Rock HilL No iron works have however, we believe, 

 been yet established. 



Native silver has been found in small quantities. Tin occurs in 

 several places. Blackleod is said to have been found near Adelaide, 

 at Mount Ton-ens, and in the Belvedere Range, South Australia. 

 Manganese and sulphur are also reported to have been found. Indi- 

 cations of quicksilver have been met with in the vicinity of the Ophir 

 gold-field. 



In the recent explorations of the mountain regions it has been 

 found that the precious gems exist in many parts of New South 

 Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. The surveyor-general Sir T. 

 L. Mitchell brought with him on his recent visit to England a diamond 

 which has been pronounced by competent judges to be of tl, 

 finest water. Mr. Stuchbery, the government geological surveyor of 

 New South Wales, reports having seen a small but beautifully crystal- 

 lised diamond from the Turon River, and topazes, garnets, rubies, 

 sapphires, chmoberyl, chrysolite, and cairngorm from various localities 

 in the same district ; to which may be added from other authorities 

 and different parU of the country the hyacinth, amethyst, jasper, 

 carnelian, agate, and opaL 



Coal appears to exist in Western Australia, South Australia, and 

 Victoria, as well as in New South Wales; but the finest bods yet 

 discovered are those about the Hunter River in the hut-mentioned 

 colony, which are extensively and profitably worked. 



Salt i* found over a large part of the country, and the salt-works 

 are numerous and extensive. 



Large tracts of limestone occur on the eastern and south-eastern 

 side of the continent ; clays fitted for the economical purposes of life 

 are common in many places ; there are numerous sandstone* 

 seem well adapted for ornamental buildings; gypsum is found 

 abun'Untly in the clay or marl extending from Bathurat to Hunter' K 

 River, and in the vicinity of Swan River ; and there is roofing-slate 

 both in the eastern and western parts of Australia. 



Oimaie.- The climate of Australia differs considerably from that of 

 other countries. The most remarkable as well as the most unfavour- 

 able characteristic is the long drought* which occasionally prevail. 

 Captain .Start say. : " The year 1826 commenced the fearful droughts 

 to which we have reason to believe the climate of New South Wales 

 is periodically subject. It continued the two following years with 

 unabmted severity. The surface of the earth became so parched up 



that the minor vegetation ceased upon it Culinary herbs were raised 

 with difficulty, and crops railed even in the most favourable situations. 

 Settlers drove their flocks and herds to distant tracts for pasture and 

 water. The interior suffered equally with the coast, and men at 

 length began to despond under so alarming It almost 



appeared as if the Australian sky was never again to be traversed by 

 a cloud." These seasons without ram appear to occur every 10 or 

 12 years. They are succeeded by excessively long rains, but after- 

 wards the rains decrease gradually year after year until they again 

 wholly cease for a time. 



Another peculiarity is tho quick transition from heat to cold. 

 There are instances of the thermometer having varied 25 degrees in 

 50 minutes. This is owing to the sudden change of the winds. The 

 north-west winds blowing over the great sandy deserts in the ml 

 attain such a degree of heat, that they become too scorching to be 

 pleasant to men and animals or to be favourable to vegetation. The 

 thermometer then rises suddenly from 80 to 110 in the shade. 

 Oil the other hand, the south-eastern winds ore often cold and 

 piercing, especially when there is a sudden shift from a hot north- 

 western : on such occasions the thermometer in South Australia often 

 falls 40 degrees in a quarter of an hour. 



But in spite of such occurrences, which ore to be considered as 

 exceptions, the climate over most of the settled port of t 

 though somewhat too dry, is commonly delightful, and the ev. 

 and mornings as pleasant as in southern Italy. Kven the great heat 

 which occurs does not produce relaxing and en ttects on the 



constitution. On the lower part of the coast the the r.iuge.s 



in summer (from September to March) between '!''. and 10(5, its 

 mean elevation being 70 ; and in winter (from March to September) 

 between 27 and 98, its mean being 66. 



In the interior and to the west of the mountain ranges the wet 

 season commonly takes place during the summer; on the coast it 

 commences in the beginning of the winter. Dews are very frequent 

 and heavy, and sometimes they fall like a drizzling rain, if ail storms 

 are common in December and Jam 



On the low coasta frost is very little felt, but in the hilly districts 

 it is frequent, and very keen on the high terraces on the western >ido 

 of the mountains, especially on the plains of Bathurst and the )>l,.in.- 

 contiguous to them : these districts are 2000 feet above the sea. It 

 is likewise observed that in these parts of the country the seasons are 

 nearly a month later than on the low district on the coast. The snow 

 lies on the tops of the mountains and occasionally also in the valleys 

 for many days together, but it is absolutely unknown in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Sydney and other parts of the coast. In his explorations 

 of Tropical Australia Major Mitchell experienced much frost, tho 

 thermometer being on the 24th of June 17 Fahr., or 15 degrees be!. . 

 freezing point : no discomfort however was experienced by any of the 

 party, a circumstance which he attributes to the great dryness of the 

 atmosphere. 



The climate on the eastern coast is very favourable to healtl 

 endemic diseases are not known with the exception of ophthalmia, 

 which occurs in the months of October and November, and is pro- 

 duced by tho winds which prevail at that time. These wind- in 

 general are not unpleasantly warm, but they resemble in some measure 

 the English easterly winds which blow in April ami May : like them 

 they occasion blight* in vegetation, and are considered as the cause of 

 the then prevailing ophthalmia. The country north of the Hunter 

 River appears to be much less liable to droughts, and the \-. . I and dry 

 seasons occur with considerable regularity; but the ten ij. era 1 

 hotter on the whole, and the climate less healthy than farther south. 



Soil, Production*. The soil of so extensive a country and one 

 where the geological formations ore so varied diflrrs of course very 

 greatly in different parts, and the product!. >nM if the agriculturist vary 

 in an almost equal measure. For a notice of the usual crops an 

 ductious we refer to the several colonies; here it will be 

 observe that almost every variety of grain is raised, and generally of 

 excellent quality. The colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, and 

 South Australia are thus, whieh best repay the labours of the agri- 

 culturist. Tho soil of \\. t.m Australia is of inferior Duality. In 

 New South Wales and Victoria, alt I. 



very far from being neglected, the breeding of sheep and cattle is 

 the chief occupation. South Audi < daily a grain -growing 



colony : wheat of the finest quality is raised, and the crops are very 

 large. Maize which succeeds excellently in Hew South Wales seldom 

 succeeds well in South Australia. Barley and oats are much grown 

 for grain crops. It; ! raised. T<>ba- 



largely in the Hunter River district of New :~ . !. u,.| . Cotton 

 and coffee are cultivated in North and South Brisbane, Hops are 

 grown in various places. Nearly all European vegetables arc 

 voted ; potatoes form important crops in cool and moist loc;> 

 Although Australia was almost entirely without indigenous edible 

 fruiU, the fruit) of almost every country and climate are now succoss- 

 fully raised there ; and the grape and tli Lely to take 



rank among the most valuable of its productions. The 

 New South Wales ore already extensive, and wine of excellent quality 

 has been made in sufficient quantities to show that the culture may 

 be profitable. Oood oil has also been produ' 



Jwtony. There is no part of the world the vegetation of which is 



