394 



AUSTRALASIA. 



was adequately represented. But iu 1888 a second conference, attended by dele- 

 gates from all the Australasian states, discussed the establishment of supreme 

 tribunals for the whole group of colonies. South Australia also, hitherto opposed 

 to all projects of federation, has recently joined the movement. Australia natu- 

 rally looks forward to the time when the confederation will be joined not only by 

 British New Guinea and Fiji but by all the Pacific islands already acquired or to 

 be acquired by Great Britain, and thus secure an incontested hegemony throughout 



Fig. 169.-— King George Sound. 

 Scale 1 : 250,000. 



Ease or_Greenwlch 



Depths. 



to 16 

 Feet. 



16 to 32 



Feet. 



32 to 160 

 Feet. 



160 Feet and 

 upwards. 



6 Miles. 



the southern hemisphere. In many instances, notably during the recent discus- 

 sions with France on the subject of the New Hebrides and the transport of convicts 

 to New Caledonia, it became evident that the Australians aspire soon to be masters 

 in the Austral regions, and proclaim, like the North Americans, their " Monroe 

 doctrine " — the Oceanic World for the Oceanians. 



As a military power Australasia would already present formidable difiiculties 

 to a foreign invader, for the adult population between their twentieth and fortieth 

 year exceeds half a million of men thoroughly organised in volunteer corps, which 



