682 
[March i, 1892. 
the oouQtry whit irrigatioQ properly employed cin a.')- 
compliah, and how best to make ase of it. Th9 pro- 
gress that has beea achieved is, without (ioubt, iart;ely 
due to the Uberal maimer ia which the Messrs. Chaf- 
fey have interpreted thair obli/fationg. Accirding 
to the agreement with the Victoriin Goverutn'int, 
uader which the Messrs. Chaffey entered upon 
the occupation of tha preaeat i>rea, they were 
boaad to expend on the land the sum of 35,000? 
daring the first five years. There has actually beau ex- 
pended up to the 30th Juae 1891, 275 000/, tiiou^th the 
colony was not. four years oil untd Ocfcjbec, 1891. 
In addition to that it is estimated thai the settlers 
themselves have speut,in impr oving their iniid, 100,OOOi!. 
The population has increased to about 3,(100 aii l con- 
tinues '0 increase. Fully 6,500 acres are already 
cultivated, about 6,000 acres being devoted to vines 
or fruit trees, tbe remainder bein? under feeding stuffs 
such as sorghum and lucerne or cereals. 
The foundation stone of the projected Atjricultural 
College in the colouiej wis laid by His BxcelieQcy 
the Governor in April, 1890, on a prominent site in 
the principil thoroughfare — Deakin Avenue. ■ Its erec- 
tion is being pushed on, the contract for one wing 
having Deen let at 5,000/. The importance of this 
institution — fully endowed as it is, one-fifteenth of the 
entire value of the land having been set aside tor that 
purpose— not only to Mildura, bat to Victoria cinoob be 
over-estimated. 
There are now constractel 125 miles of main chan- 
nel and 200 miles of subsidary channels ; 50 miles of 
various channels are surveyed, and, as the surveyini; 
parties are pushing beyond the 25,000 acre limit, are 
being d*ily extended. The engineering works and the 
foundry have been greatly enlarged, and afford oo- 
oupation for a large staff in these works and the 
other work of the settlement. The company's pay- 
sheet shows a disbursement of 7000/. per month. Every 
possible fruit has been found to flour'sh amatiajjly, 
with the exception of apples, but Mildu-a orange? wdl 
yet become a featcre. The early and large returns 
which have been obtained are due not alone to the 
qu li'y of ''is soil or the character of the atmoiphete 
an^j climate, though these aid, but also to the methods 
of rrigation and cultivation priotisad and advocated 
by the Messrs. Chaffiey through their staff of experts. 
Mildard is a veritable urhs m rure^ Oa the one 
hand, its salubrious climate — its proportionate dciiti- 
rate ia the smallest in the world — picturesque situa- 
tion on the banks of a noble river, its surroundings 
of fresh green orchards and rolling meadows, give it 
all the attraction of a pleisaat country viUa-.«6. On 
the other hand, the nature of the society, the close 
manner in which the land ia settled (rendering possi- 
bilities of social intercourse rs easy as in town), the 
institutes, libraries, museums, and the various aocifities 
—horticultural, settler, etc.; and clubs— tennis, foot- 
ball, rowing, dramatic, debating, pedestrians— add to 
it the convenience and social characteristics of city 
life, and make up a most desirable and attractive 
condition of life. 
from recent reports in the leading Australian 
papers we learn that, at the half-yearly meetiug 
held in Melbourne of the sbireholders in Chiffoy 
Bros., Ltd., Mr. Levien, m.l.a., Chairman of the 
directors, presiding, the statement of accounts shownd 
that the profits for the half-ye\r, together with the 
balance brought forward, amounted to 39,158/. Is 9d. 
The chairman, in moving the adoption of the fiaaneial 
Btatement, said that the directors had pleasure in 
being able aaain to furnish a raisl encouraging re- 
cord of the progress of both thi;ir colonies. The nraa 
of land sold had beon greater than in any previous 
like period, aud the population had been oonsidiT- 
,lt,iv added to by au exceptionally good class of 
eettln.'s- '^ho f;une of their young but jinsnt colonief 
was atWo'''"!^ 'a'"5h atteiitiou in the United King- 
dom ;t>J an f.li«ib'c field for capital and enterprise, 
And a goolly ;^Vi/bi;r of s ettlers and investors wore 
arriving from abroii. T'"' trade and coramerco of 
both ol'wiies wen; aBsuii>h,a; la.rgo proportions, aad 
two additional utoarnerH had bofcr^ put on the river 
from Swan J J ill and Mprgaa. Buildings both for 
resi;!e iti*l an I business purposes wara being largely 
multiplied, aud the substintial ohiricter of the new 
strucbures afforded perhaps tha strjagoiit evidenoa 
of the confidence feit in the future development of 
the resourc -.s if th^ settlements. Eif ores were being 
mide to push oi th j sutveys as rapidly as possible. 
Ad Utional town sites were being surveyed to meet 
the requirements of new settlers, and two or three 
vilUge.i or minor townships were being surveyed meet 
suitable loonlities. L'jviathau pumping plant at 
P.sycha Bend, one of tha most powerful in the world, 
wiis being ereoBad, and would soon be completed and 
at work. Main chaunjls hid h-tsi ex'euded some 
twelve milen, and the subsiditry camneis about forty 
miles ; the chinuelling now completed co nmmded 
sjma 30,000 acres. The several industries established 
by lha company were in a satisfactory condition, and 
the making of tho water pipes from paper, an in- 
dustry quite new to tha cjlonies, hid bean 
started an I was in active work. The emoloyment 
of opan flumes wis giving piaOv* to the more 
economic m-thid of distributing water by this 
new process. The steam brick works worn being re- 
arrangred, and the manufacture of porous fire-bricks or 
terracjtta lumbar, the locil demind for which was 
considerable, had been added. Tne pUntatioas ap- 
paarel healthy and tree from blight and insect pest, 
aud the publie health was excellent. Altogether the 
condi ion and daveiopmant of She coloaiea left nothing 
to be dasired Ha oougcasulats 1 the shareh jlders upon 
the excellent balance-sheet and the result of 'he Com- 
pany's business for the past hilf-yeir. The sub- 
scribed capital hal been i icreased by 42,780/., brought 
about by the saie of 4278 shares at par, upon which 
the sum of 7250!. had bean paid. The net profits for 
the half year amounted to 28,032/. 3s. 9c/., or equivalent 
to 12 per cent, upon the paid up capital which now 
stood at 455,662/. 19.S. 3d. The directors prop)8edto 
placa the sum of 25,000/, to the reserve fun I, increas- 
ing it to 115,000/. Tha qumtity of laud sold during 
the half-year was 2759 acres at Mildufa, and 445 acres 
at Ranmark. — British Trade Journal. 
NEW OPENINGS IN NEW GUINEA. 
An Interview with Sir William- MiCGEEGOB, 
K. c. M. G. 
One o£ tha ablest and most energetic men ia 
the service of the British Empire at this moment 
is undoubtedly Sir William Maogregor, the 
Administrator of British IS ew Guinea. His official 
title of Administrator gives, however, very little idea 
of his multifarioua activities. During the past 
four years ha has explored and mapped the greater 
part of the territory, reconciled savage tribaa, en- 
riched the soiaatifia world by his observations, and 
laid the foundation of a good Government in that 
vast island in the Southern Seas. He is also an 
intrepid mountaineer, and in 1889, with leaa than 
six followers, ha reached the summit of the Stanley 
Mountain, the highest point attained being 13.121 
feet. A previous expedition, led by Mr. Guthbert: 
son, and assisted by 200 natives, only reaohed 8,000 
feet, tsir William Miogregor has recently baen on 
a visit to Quaanaland, and our Brisbane oorreapon- 
dent sends ua the following aooount of an interview 
on behalf of the Pall Mall Gazette :— 
Sib William " at Home." 
Imagine a big man, over 6 feet high, with a 
sweet browQ face, alow, gentle voice, with a Scotch 
aooent; a m-in of great attainments, who speaks 
fluoatly three or four Buropeaa languages, and 
about twenty Papuan dialncts. "I have been with 
him," said the Hon. Hatton Eiohards, his late 
private secretary, to me the other day at tha 
Queensland Olub, " when our lives were in immi- 
nent dtingac; nothing saved us but tha aobla salf- 
poasession and supreme courage of Sir William." 
The seat of the Govecament aadGoyernment House 
