63 



AUSTRALASIA. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



duty on gold obtained in the colony. The total 

 revenue in 1884- '85 was 3,730,463. The 

 chief items of expenditure were for public debt, 

 1,570,988; public works, 714,845; educa- 

 tion, 334,19(5: posts, 255,160; defense, 182,- 

 586. The estimated revenue for 1885-'8G 

 amounts to 4,110,000, and expenditures to 

 4,070,000, leaving a surplus of 42,000. The 

 total amount expended on railways, construc- 

 tion of roads, immigration, and public works 

 of all kinds, from 1870 to 1885, was 21,800,- 

 334. In March, 1885, the total public debt 

 was 33,691,022. A new loan of 1,500,000 

 lor railroads was issued in 1886. 



The total imports for 1884 were 7,663,888, 

 64 per cent, of which were from the United 

 Kingdom. The exports were valued at 7,091,- 

 667, of which 73 per cent, went to Great Brit- 

 ain. The leading imports in 1884 were: Iron 

 and steel goods, 1,215,457; apparel of all 

 kinds and materials, 1,819,678; sugar, 705,- 

 684; wines, beer, and spirits, 386,404 ; tea, 

 180,301. The leading exports in 1884 were: 

 Wool, 81,139,028 pounds, valued in New Zea- 

 land at 3,267,527 ; grain and pulse and flour, 

 801,271 ; gold, 988.953 ; kauri-gum, 342,- 

 151; frozen meat, 345,090; tallow, 234,- 

 829; timber, 152,319; sheep and rabbit skins, 

 151,692; live-stock, 71,174; butter and 

 cheese, 91,667; preserved meats, 59.224. 



In 1834, 852 vessels, of 529,188 tons, were 

 entered at the ports of New Zealand, and 872, 

 of 534,242 tons, cleared. All but 53 vessels of 

 the former and 59 of the latter belonged to 

 Britain and her colonies. 



In 1881 the number of occupied holdings 

 was 30,832, comprising 10,309,170 acres of 

 freehold and 4,827,727 acres of leasehold 

 property. The total acreage under crops in 

 18S5 was 6,550,399, of which 664,540 were 

 under grain; 80 per cent, of the total acreage 

 is under grass. In 1885 the total production 

 of wheat was 6,866,777 bushels, and of oats 

 12,360,449 bushels. The bulk of the gold- 

 mining is on government land, and in 1884 the 

 gold export amounted to 246,393 ounces, 

 valued at 988,953. The total value of the 

 gold exported from the colony up to March 31, 

 1*<">, was 41,634,507. 



On Dec. 31, 1884, there were 1,570 miles 

 of railway open for traffic in New Zealand. 

 For the year ending March 31, 1885, the sur- 

 plus receipts were 355,685. The total ex- 

 penditure on construction of all the Govern- 

 ment lines to March 31, 1885, had amounted to 

 12.721,o:;r>. When the whole of the pro- 

 jected systems of railways are completed, they 

 will have cost, with their equipments, about 

 16,000,000. The colony had, on Jan. 1, 

 1885, 10,474 miles of telegraph wire in opera- 

 tion. The total number of telegrams dis- 

 patched in 1884 was 1,654,305, for which 

 80,626 were received. The post-office in 

 1884 transmitted 35,257,846 letters and 14,- 

 093,742 newspapers. 



The Maoris. The Premier at the opening of 



Parliament stated that the relations with the 

 natives were never better, and that large 

 blocks of land were being transferred to Euro- 

 peans. In July a serious disturbance occurred 

 near Havvera, when 500 Maori men and 

 women made an incursion into lands belong- 

 ing to Englishmen, and began plowing and 

 erecting buildings. The Maoris were dispersed 

 by the police, who arrested several chiefs, and 

 an order was issued for the arrest of Te Whiti, 

 the champion of native rights, as the instiga- 

 tor of the trouble. Te Whiti, Tito Kowaro, 

 and other chiefs who were arrested, were 

 detained in jail till October, and then sentenced 

 to fines and short terms of imprisonment. 



Volcanic Ernptiou. An eruption of Mcunt Ta- 

 rawera, on the east side of Tarawera Lake, in 

 the northern part of the North Island, which 

 occurred in the beginning of June, disturbed 

 the surface of the country for many miles 

 around. Whole villages were buried under 

 the falling matter, consisting of stones, ashes, 

 and boiling mud. The eruption was accom- 

 panied by violent earthquakes. The Tarawera 

 volcano, which first burst into activity on the 

 morning of June 11, subsided gradually and 

 became entirely quiet; but several active cra- 

 ters were formed on Mount Rotomahana, and 

 the pink and white terraces near that mount- 

 ain, which had been the chief beauty of that 

 picturesque region, disappeared. The disturb- 

 ances extended over sixty square miles. Hun- 

 dreds of geysers, in addition to those previ- 

 ously existing, broke out into intermittent 

 activity. The township of Wairoa was buried 

 in mud, several Maori settlements were de- 

 stroyed, and over 100 persons known to be 

 killed, among them six Europeans. The scene 

 of the disturbance was the Hot Lakes district, 

 40 miles inland from the Bay of Plenty on the 

 east coast. This district has been a resort for 

 tourists on account of its boiling fountains, 

 terraces of glistening silica, and other natural 

 beauties, and for invalids on account of the 

 medicinal virtues of the hot baths. It was 

 feared that the fine volcanic dust that covered 

 the face of the country over a large part of 

 the province of Auckland had ruined the past- 

 ures ; but after the rain had washed the dust 

 into the soil it was found that vegetation was 

 quickened. Experiments established the fact 

 that plants would germinate and grow vigor- 

 ously in the pure dust. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, a dual monarchy in Cen- 

 tral Europe, composed of the Federal Empire 

 of Austria or Cisleithania and the Kingdom of 

 Hungary or Transleithania, The two monarch- 

 ies are united in the person of the sovereign, 

 and in a common military and naval system 

 and a common diplomacy. There is a ministry 

 for common affairs, which are subject to legis- 

 lative control and action through delegations 

 from the legislative bodies of the two king- 

 doms. The delegation from each Parliament 

 consists of 60 members, and when any members 

 are from any cause absent from one, a like num- 



