jd AUSTRALIA 
soon give it up. ‘Ihe weapons of all the tribes are generally 
similar, consisting of speers, shields, boomerangs, wooden 
axes, clubs and stone hatchets; of these the boomerang is 
the most singular. With the exception of these aborigines 
almost all the population is of European origin. Pastorai 
and agricultural pursuits are the chief occupations of the 
people, although manufactures and handicrafts also employ 
large numbers. For sheep rearing and the growth of 
woo] the Australian colonies are unrivalled, and whilst the 
production of gold has decreased considerably, that of wool 
is constantly on the increase. The greater bulk of the wool 
exported goes to Great Britain, which, in recent years, has 
received over 300,000,000 pounds from the Australian col- 
onies annually. The commerce is rapidly extending and 
becoming every year more important to Great Britain, 
whence the colonists derive their supplies of manufactured 
goods in return for wool, gold and other produce. Next to 
wool and minerals, wheat, preserved meat and tallow, hides 
and skins, tobacco, sugar and wine are the most important 
items of export. 
The chief imports consist of textile fabrics, haberdash- 
ery and clothing, machinery and metal goods. 
There are upwarde of 35,000 iniles of railway in actual 
use or in course of construction, and there are about 35,000 
miles of telegraph lines. The longest telegraph line is that 
running northward across the continent from Adelaide. 
The coinage is the same as in the mother country. Banks 
and banking offices are numerous, including post office and 
other savings banks for the reception of small sums. 
The exact date when Australia was first discovered by 
Europeans is a matter of doubt. Between 1531 and 1542 
the Portguese published the existence of a land which they | 
called Great Java, and which corresponds to Australia, and 
probably the first discovery of the country was made by 
them inthe 16thcentury. The first authenticated discovery 
is said to have been made in 1601 by a Portugese named 
Manoel Godiulo de Eredia. In 1666 Torres, a Spaniard, 
