414 AUSTRALASIA. 



Norfolk, over five times larger than Lord Howe, is also relatively more 

 densely peopled. At the time of its discovery by Cook in 1774 it was unin- 

 habited ; it was afterwards chosen by the British Government as a convict station 

 for the more desperate class of criminals, who were at first treated with frightful 

 rigour, many of the unhappy wretches being shot down within the very precincts of 

 the church. Later several more or less successful experiments were made in Norfolk 

 Island on " the reformation of criminals." But the station was abandoned in 1842, 

 and the island again remained uninhabited till the year 1856, when it was ceded 

 by the Government to the Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of British mutineers 

 who had married Polynesian women and overpeopled their native island. 



These half-castes, who now number over six hundred, enjoy self-government 

 under the presidency of an elected magistrate, but really controlled by Angli- 

 can missionaries, who have here founded a large school for about two hundred 

 young students brought from Melanesia. The results of this system of isolation 

 and strict control have not been satisfactory : the natives have lost the spirit of 

 self-reliance and enterprise, and have become cringing hypocrites with no indus- 

 tries or manly pursuits. Even agriculture decays, and in 1885 not more than 

 150 acres were \mder cultivation. The people seem to weary of life, and even 

 forget to marry, so that in 1884 only one-fifth of the adults were living in wed- 

 lock. 



Like Queensland, New South Wales depends on the Crown both for ber 

 Governor and the Legislative Council, which consists of twenty-one members 

 named for life. But the Legislative Assembly is elected by universal suffrage, 

 and at present comprises one hundred and twenty-four members, or two for each 

 electoral district. At each ofiicial census this number is increased in proportion 

 to the increase of the electors. The armed forces comprise nearly seven thousand 

 regulars and volunteers, and the budget is much heavier per head of the popula- 

 lation than that of Great Britain or France. 



Victoria. 



This is the smallest in extent, but relatively the most densely peopled of all the 

 colonies on the mainland. Yet in this respect it still falls far behind the average of 

 West Europe, the number of inhabitants to the square mile being scarcely eight or 

 nine. In absolute population Victoria is second only to New South Wales, from 

 which it was politically detached in 1851 ; it even temporarily occupied the first 

 place during the height of the gold fever. To this cause of special attraction Victoria 

 adds an advantage of paramount importance for British immigrants in a climate, 

 which is cooler than that of the other Australian colonies, and in its variations 

 more analogous to that of Great Britain. Hence the title of Australia Felix given 

 to this region before the general wish of the people induced the Government 

 once more to inscribe the name of Queen Victoria on the map of the world. 



In 1851, when it was constituted a separate state, Melbourne, its capital, had 

 already been founded sixteen years. But compared with Sydney it was still a 



