404 AUSTRALASIA. 



1859. But although its political life is shorter than that either of Western or 

 South Australia, it already surpasses both of those states in trade and population. 

 Convicts, however, had been transported to the shores of Moreton Bay so early 

 "as the year 1824, and the territory had been thrown open to free colonisation in 

 1842. The inhabitants of North Queensland, whose economic interests are not 

 always in harmony with those of the southern region, are already demanding the 

 formation of a new state, to comprise the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria, the 

 York Peninsula, the Torres Strait islands, and British New Guinea. The country 

 is meantime administratively constituted in the three " divisions " of North, 

 Central, and South Queensland, which are regarded as destined one day to form 

 three distinct political states. 



More than one- third of the inhabitants is still concentrated in the south-east 

 corner of Queensland, the old district of Moreton Bay. But beyond this region 

 centres of population are already very numerous, settlers being attracted to 

 different parts by the diverse agricultural and industrial interests. As in New 

 South Wales there are vast grazing grounds, especially on the western slope of the 

 mo\mtains ; Queensland also possesses rich auriferous deposits, which are scattered 

 throughout the whole colony from the New South Wales frontier to the York 

 Peninsula, and the valleys sloping towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. Its deposits 

 of copper, tin, and coal have also attracted speculators and miners to various parts 

 of the territory, while such alimentary plants as wheat, maize, sugar-cane, tea, 

 pine-apples, which do not thrive under the same climate, have had the consequence 

 of developing several distinct centres of colonisation throughout the colony. 



For the cultivation of tropical plants the growers have had recourse to the 

 services of South Sea Islanders engaged for a term of years, and usually com- 

 prised under the general name of " Karnakies," that is. Kanakas, a word in the 

 Polynesian languages simply meaning " men." But this system of contract 

 labour, carried on by means of the so-called " labour- vessels," has been a fruitful 

 source of crime and of outrages against the freedom and even the lives of the 

 Oceanic peoples. The presence of the Chinese also has given rise in Queensland 

 to the most cruel injustice on the part of the " representatives of the higher 

 civilisation." Kidnapping expeditions have often been organised in this colony, 

 which have spread havoc and ruin throughout many Melanesian and Polynesian 

 archipelagoes. 



Brisbane, capital and oldest town in Queensland, stands on the river of like 

 name, at the point where it expands into an estuary communicating with Moreton 

 Bay some 24 miles lower down. Vessels of average tonnage ascend this estuary 

 to a bridge about 1,150 feet long, which here crosses the river. The port of 

 Brisbane, the most frequented in Queensland, is approached through the fine 

 roadstead of Moreton Bay, which is sheltered by a long chain of low islands, and 

 connected with the capital by two railways. One of these lines runs north-east 

 in the direction of Sandgate, a favourite watering-place and summer residence ; 

 the other passes south-eastwards through Alherton to the southern entrance of the 

 bay, which is accessible only to boats. Brisbane is supplied with an abundance 



