4 
PEESIDENT’S AEDEESa SECTIOS’ E. 
at a time when the means for Australian productiveness, and our 
facilities for conveyance, have overreached the demands on our 
supplies, a disproportion which has brought about extensive cheerless- 
ness and even misery. 
Tour own great colony of Queensland — six times larger than Italy, 
larger than Persia, and nearly half the size of China proper -has 
during the semi-century of its existence set a glorious example of 
what can be accomplished by high-minded and valorous actiyeness.^ 
Six and a-half millions of cattle and twenty-one and a-half millions of 
sheep browse on your pastures, and your annual output of sugar has 
reached already 60,000 tons. All honour to Queensland. Indeed, 
Australia as a whole seems to be the most productive of lands in 
proportion to its comparatively limited population, but few millions 
dwelling as yet in this continent. As for prospective celerity of 
communication, Lord Brassey has pointed out that future railway 
extension of ours, by bringing us within the nearest reach of the 
Indian line, will render communication from the south coast of 
Australia to London possible within sixteen days, electric railway 
speed being left out of consideration for this estimate. By practical 
tendencies a hold is obtained on the public mind, and substantial 
support is won. 
Australia comprises territorially about one-third of the British 
Empire, and is readily occupiable throughout. Deserts and what, at 
first glance, may appear forbidden ground will vanish by further 
artesian borings, by more storage of surface water, by providing a 
closer tegument of vegetation against the effects of the heating 
sunrays, and by preventing, through strenuous measures, extensive 
ignitions and conflagrations of forests, of scrub, and grass, whereby 
the clime will become more ameliorated. The rest of the blanks on 
the Australian map will likely be all filled up before the century 
closes. Mining explorers are the most active at present, more 
especially in the interior of W esteru Australia. A born Queens- 
lander, Mr. Carr Boyd, has taken there a prominent share in this 
work, more especially from the south towards Termination Lake. 
Lindsay has at his command vast means for crossing deserts, through 
whole herds of dromedaries, the first small caravan of these niarvel- 
lous desert animals having, for Australia, been secured by VictOTia 
not without some co-opei’ation of the writer, and they thus were first 
proved as highly adapted to our dry inland regions. An ordinary 
camel team from South Australia to Coolgardie travelled lately 800 
miles without any mishap. Ernest Giles, who was the first in this 
part of the world to use camels as draught animals, has taken the 
field once more for a two years’ traversing and sojourning in the 
western auriferous wildernesses. Brave men are now pushing 
forward to Central Australia from the east. All this is foreboding 
enormously increased commerce, discoveries following discoveries of 
gold, and other natural resources becoming simultaneously unfolded. 
After the lethargy of ages, while savage hordes roved oyer our 
continent, the young generation of the aborigines awakens to civilisa- 
tion. Tattooing and other disfigurements vyill soon be only historic 
relics of the past. Even the Australian native ought to realise the 
value of rural estates as distinct properties of healthful families, as 
objects worth living for, and even he, in this part of the world, should 
