WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 395 



the coast railways miglit rapidly concentrate on any threatened points along the 

 seaboard. Moreover, the three strategical positions of King George Sound at the- 

 south-west corner of the mainland, the entrance to Port Jackson at Sydney, and 

 some islands in Torres Strait, have been strongly fortified. A fleet of gunboats, 

 torpedoes, and swift cruisers guards the approaches of the seaports, while recent 

 conventions with England provide for a rapid increase of the Imperial navy. In 

 1888 over £800,000 were voted for the coast defences and the construction of 

 forts. 



Financially Australia is heavily burdened. The possession of seemingly inex- 

 haustible gold-fields fostered a spirit of extravagance to such an extent that the 

 public liabilities, head for head of the inhabitants, are already higher than those 

 of France. But this incumbrance is much less felt, thanks to the rapid develop- 

 ment of the population and of the resources of the land. The annual increase of 

 the population exceeds a thirtieth, while that of the national wealth is still more 

 rapid ; yet the demon of pauperism has already raised his head in Australia. 



A table of the Australian states, with their respective areas and populations, is 

 given in the Appendix. The administrative subdivisions differ in the various 

 colonies, and even in each state, according to the density of the population and the 

 several political and economic interests. They take the various names of counties, 

 boards, shires, municipalitieSj boroughs, electoral and pastoral divisions. 



Western Australia. 



This colony, the first Australian land sighted by vessels arriving from Europe, 

 is the least populous and the least important of all the Australasian states, although 

 its territory comprises about one-third of the mainland. It was founded over half 

 a century ago in 1829, yet its residents of European origin scarcely exceed forty 

 thousand and may possibly be still surpassed numerically by the natives, whose 

 tribes continue to form relatively compact groups in the north western districts. 

 In 1850, when the colony had no more than six thousand inhabitants, the British 

 Government made it a penal station, and by the year 1868 nearly ten thousand 

 convicts had been introduced into Western Australia. 



But despite, or possibly in consequence of, this continuous stream of involun- 

 tary colonists, the population increased very slowly until a decided stimulus was 

 given to the movement by the discovery of auriferous deposits in the part of the 

 territory situated between the Irwin and Murchison Hivers. The reluctance of 

 intending colonists to turn their steps towards Western Australia was, however, 

 mainly due to the dryness of the climate, the arid soil, brackish waters, and 

 inferior pasturages infested in several districts by poisonous plants. The greater 

 part of the colony, which stretches north and south from shore to shore, and east- 

 wards to 129° east longitude, is even still unexplored. The settled parts are, in 

 fact, chiefly situated in the south-west corner of the continent and along the lower 

 reaches of the coast streams, which follow in the direction of the north beyond 

 Perth. Western Australia is thus an isolated world separated by vast desert 



