50 



AUSTRALASIA. 



The wheat crop in 1892 amounted to 6,436,488 

 bushels, and the live stock numbered 7,646,239 

 sheep, 399,077 cattle, and 188,587 horses. The 

 total value of minerals produced in 1891 was 

 267,796. In the same year there were 994 

 manufacturing establishments, employing 15,- 

 427 persons. 



Western Australia exported, in 1891, wool to 

 the value of 329,365 ; pearls and pearl shells, 

 140,527 ; sandal wood, 37,000 ; timber, 89,176 ; 

 skins, 39,248 ; and gold, 115,182. There are 

 mines of gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, and coal 

 in the colony. Only about 132.000 acres of the 

 land were under cultivation in 1891. In March, 

 1892, there were 1,962,212 sheep, 133,960 cattle, 

 and 40,812 horses in the colony. 



The more important exports of Tasmania for 

 1891 were as follow: Wool, 418,460; gold, 

 133,013; tin, 293,170; fruit, green and pre- 

 served, 125,886; timber and bark, 107,134; 

 silver and silver ore, 62,138; hops, 19,386. 

 The principal imports were : Textiles, 549,- 

 413; art and mechanical productions, 432,293; 

 food stuffs and liquors, 399,020. The duties 

 amounted to 376,130, or over 18 per cent, of 

 the total value of imports. On March 31, 1892, 

 there were in the colony 1,662,801 sheep, 167,666 

 cattle, 31,262 horses, and 77,375 hogs. There 

 were 47,217 acres of land under wheat, which 

 yielded 930,841 bushels, and 28,242 acres under 

 oats, which yielded 873,113 bushels. The out- 

 put of silver ore was 4,810 tons, valued at 52,- 

 284; of coal, 45,524 tons, valued at 21,123. 



New Zealand exported in 1891 colonial prod- 

 uce to the value of 9,400,094, of which the 

 more important articles were : Wool, 4,129,- 

 686; frozen meat, 1,194,724; gold, 1,007,172; 

 grain and flour, 715,966; Kauri gum, 437,- 

 056 ; skins, hides, and leather, 259,141 ; butter 

 and cheese, 236,933 ; timber, 182,431 ; tallow, 

 173,257; preserved meats, 111,133. The lead- 

 ing imports were : Cloths and clothing, 1,673,- 

 571 ; iron and steel goods and machinery, 855,- 

 599; sugar, 381,029; paper, printed books, and 

 stationery, 300,613; liquors, 290,159; tea, 

 159,893; tobacco and cigars, 128,500; bags 

 and sacks, 165.289; fruit, 126,537; oils, 147,- 

 064; coal. 120,422. Of the total imports, 

 4,369,633 came from Great Britain, 1,013,549 

 from Australian colonies, and 361,795 from the 

 United States. Of the exports, 7,140,381 went 

 to Great Britain, and 515,208 to the United 

 States. In April, 1891, the live stock in the 

 colony numbered 18,227,186 sheep, 831,831 cat- 

 tle, 2il,040 horses, 308,812 hogs, and 1,790,070 

 head of poultry. There were 68,607 persons en- 

 gaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits. In 

 1890 there were 2,570 manufactories of various 

 kinds. The quantity of wool used by the mills 

 of the colony in 1891 was 2,918,073 pounds. 



The chief exports of Fiji in 1891 were : Sugar, 

 20,470 tons, valued at 227.526; copra, 6,669 

 tons, valued at 63,039 ; and bananas, 61,537. 

 There had been a disease among bananas which* 

 prevented their bearing as well as usual. The 

 imports increased 22 per cent, over those of the 

 previous year. 



Navigation. The number of vessels and the 

 tonnage entered and cleared at the ports of the 

 several colonies in 1891 are shown by the follow- 

 ing table : 



The number of vessels and the amount of 

 tonnage registered as belonging to the colonies 

 at the end of 1891 were as follow: Victoria, 143 

 steamers, of 42,710 tons, and 269 sailing ves- 

 sels, of 44,382 tons ; Queensland, 28 ocean steam- 

 ers, of 19,257 tons, 37 harbor steamers, of 3,102 

 tons, and 59 river steamers, of 1,856 tons ; South 

 Australia, 310 vessels, of 39,739 tons; Tasmania, 

 232 vessels, of 19,536 tons; New Zealand, 742 

 vessels, of 71,290 tons; Fiji, 238 vessels, of 

 3,908 tons. Direct steamship service between 

 Australia and Canada was inaugurated May 18, 

 by the sailing of the steamship " Miowera " from ' 

 Sydney for Vancouver. The Government of New 

 South Wales voted a subsidy of 10,000 per 

 annum to the line. 



Communications. In New South Wales, on 

 June 30, 1892, there were 2,185 miles of Govern- 

 ment railroads open for traffic, upon the con- 

 struction and equipment of which 33,312,608 

 had been expended. The gross earnings for the 

 year ending at that date were 3,107,266, work- 

 ing expenses, 1,914,252 ; making the ratio of ex- 

 penses to receipts 61-6 per cent. At the close of 

 1891 there were 81 miles of private railroads, 

 costing 424,967. In December, 1891, the tele- 

 graphs of the colony had in operation 24,780 

 miles of wire and 674 stations, costing 767,872. 

 The number of telegrams transmitted during 

 the year was 4,046,251, and the net earnings, in- 

 cluding the telephone service, were 198,531. 

 The post-office receipts were 463,076, and the 

 expenditures 445,821. There were 1,385 post- 

 offices, and the amount of matter carried was : 

 Letters, 63.344,900 ; postal cards, 808,700 ; news- 

 papers, 42,517,300; packets, etc., 11,068,500. 

 There were issued 488,326 money orders, cover- 

 ing 1,577,744. 



On June 30, 1891, Victoria had 2,764 miles of 

 railroad in operation and 143 miles under con- 

 struction. The total cost was 36,341,626. Re- 

 ceipts for the year amounted to 3,298,567 ; and 

 expenses 2,310,645, or 70-05 per cent, of the 

 receipts. The number of passengers carried dur- 

 ing the year was 72,000,000, and the freight 

 carried amounted to 4,426,000 tons. Including 

 railway telegraphs, the colony had at the end of 

 1891 about 7,100 miles of telegraph lines, with 

 13,900 miles of wire. The number of messages 

 during the year was over 3,100,000, and the 

 revenue was 138,969. The post-office carried 

 during the year 62,526,448 letters, 22,729,005 

 newspapers, and 7,491,316 packets. The receipts, 

 including those of the telegraph service, were 

 499,327, and the expenditures 674,227. 



In Queensland at the end of 1891 there were 

 2,304 miles of railroads open for traffic and 120 

 miles under construction. The total cost of the 

 lines in operation was 15.943,019. The re- 

 ceipts during the year were 974,703, and the 



