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Land Act carrying out these principles | ment, is now very small, except, perhaps, was passed. By degrees the principle in Western Australia, Queensland and

"The

was extended to Victoria and all the other
colonies, except New Zealand, where the
lands, being originally in native hands,
could not be dealt with so liberally.
The concessions, originally intended to
promote settlement and cultivation, were
taken advantage of by many persons,
who managed to accumulate large estates
at prices below their real value, and
contrived to evade the conditions of
residence and cultivation insisted upon
by the various colonial Governments.
It cannot be said that the new policy has
been entirely successful. The following,
from "Hayter's Handbook to Victoria,"
is the present system for disposing of the
public land in the various Australasian
colonies. It may, however, be said,
speaking generally, that the area of
unalienated land in the hands of the
Crown and suited for agricultural settle-heads in the following table :-

tropical South Australia; and that persons
desirous of becoming farmers would
generally do better by purchasing or
renting land from private owners.
laws and regulations under which land
for agricultural purposes passes from the
Crown into the hands of private indi-
viduals differ in the various Australasian
colonies. In almost all, however, pro-
vision is made for any person of eighteen
years of age or over, and not a married
woman, desirous of settling on the land,
to select a certain limited area, and to
pay the purchase-money by instalments,
the compliance with certain conditions
of residence and improvement being also
required before the selector becomes
entitled to a Crown grant. The principal
features of this portion of each system,
corrected to date, is detailed under nine

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with the right of conditional purchase after five years' tenure. The price per acre does not include interest, for which 4 per cent. per annum is charged, and collected out of the annual instalments paid. The first payment is 2s. per acre in advance, with an interval of three years before the next instalment of 18. is payable.-Queensland. The conditions under which Crown Lands may be acquired by selection in Queensland are substantially as under:-Agricultural Farms. Selections not to exceed 1280 acres; term of lease fifty years; rent 3d. per acre minimum, and liable to reassessment at ten years and every five years afterwards, but no increase to be over 50 per cent. on the rent of the preceding period; cost of survey payable at time of application; selector must be eighteen years of age, and unmarried if female; must continuously occupy the land, either by self or registered agent, and must fence or make other equivalent improvements within five years after selection.

exceed 20,000 acres, term of lease thirty years, rent d. per acre minimum, to be reassessed after ten years and every five years afterwards, but no increase to be over 50 per cent. on the rent of the preceding period. Selector must be eighteen years of age, and unmarried if female, and must by self or registered agent continuously occupy the land, and fence it in within three years. A grazing farm cannot be made freehold, but when fencing is effected the lease may be sold, subdivided, mortgaged, or, with the consent of the Land Board, sublet. Sales by Auction. Land may be purchased at or after auction in areas not exceeding 320 acres on three years' terms without interest; minimum price £1 per acre for agricultural and 10s. for other land; or, when more than twenty miles from railway or navigable stream in areas of 5120 acres, at price not less than 10s. per acre, with interest, if on extended terms beyond six months. N.B.-Full information can be obtained gratis, and

The land may be made freehold on pay-pamphlets of Land Acts and plans of

ment of the prescribed price (not to be less than 15s. per acre) after residence by one lessee for five years, or of two or more successive lessees for a period of ten years immediately preceding application to purchase. If this privilege is not availed of within twelve years after selection, the price will be readjusted like the rent. All rent paid during the period of personal residence to be counted as part payment. The holding, after improvements effected, may be sold, subdivided, mortgaged, or, with the consent of the Land Board, sublet. Homesteads. Agricultural farms not exceeding 160 acres; rent 6d. per acre per annum for five years; cost of survey payable in five annual instalments. Conditions: Selector must be eighteen years of age, and unmarried if female, must reside on the land for five years, and expend upon improvements an amount equal to 10s. per acre. Selection can be made freehold on fulfilment of conditions at the expiration of five years. Unconditional Selection. Selections not to exceed 1280 acres, subject to no conditions or restrictions as to age or condition of selector. Purchasing price not to be less than £1 per acre, and payable in twenty equal instalments. Cost of survey to be paid with application. Grazing Farms. Selections not to

lands open, at a small charge from the Government agent of each district, or at the Department of Public Lands, Brisbane. - In South Australia credit selection was abolished by the Crown Lands Act 1888, and in lieu thereof 'leases with right to purchase ' are now issued for periods of twenty-one yearsat certain gazetted rentals, with right of renewal for a further period of twentyone years at freshly assessed rentals. The right to purchase may be exercised at any time after the first six years, at a price fixed by the Land Board of not less than 5s. per acre. Crown lands can be taken up on leases, with right of purchase or perpetual leases. Small blocks, not exceeding twenty acres in area, for working men, are also taken up on leases with right of purchase, or on perpetual leases. The province has been divided into four land districts, and a Land Board appointed for each, by which the lands are classified and allotted, and the rents and prices fixed, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Crown Lands. Lands are gazetted open to lease at rents and prices fixed, and applications for same, accompanied by a deposit of 20 per cent. of the first year's rent, are made to the Commissioner, who refers them to the Land Boards for the districts in which

the lands applied for are situated. Upon
the successful applicants receiving their
leases for signature, they are to forward
the balance of the first year's rent and
the lease fees to the Land Office. Leases
with a right of purchase are allotted for
a term of twenty-one years, with a right
of renewal for a further term of twenty-
one years, and with a right of purchase
exercisable at any time after the first six
years of the term, at the price fixed by
the Land Board, the minimum price being
58. per acre. The annual rent for the
first term of twenty-one years is as
gazetted, and the annual rent for the
renewed term will be fixed by the Land
Board at least twelve months before the
expiration of the first term. Perpetual
leases will be revalued every fourteen
years. The rent for the first fourteen
years is as gazetted, and for subsequent
terms of fourteen years will be fixed by
the Land Board at least twelve months
before the expiration of every period of
fourteen years. The lands allotted are
to be fenced within five years from the
date of lease, and in the case of working
men's blocks the condition of personal
residence by the lessee, or any member
of his family, is enforced.'-In Western
Australia, the particulars given in the
table relate to the South-Western (or
Home) District only. In the five other
land divisions of the colony, land may be
taken up in specially declared areas only
by non-resident selectors in areas of from
100 to 5000 acres, at not less than 10s. per
acre payable in ten yearly instalments,
the conditions required being fencing
and the expenditure on improvements of
an amount equal to purchase-money.
Besides selections under the system of
deferred payments, with residence, in the
south-west division selections may be
made, without residence, by paying double
the amount of purchase-money-i.e., 1s.
per acre per annum, the other conditions
remaining the same; and there is also a
method of selecting land by direct pay-
ment under certain conditions, the extent
of a selection being limited to 1000 acres
in a declared area, and to 5000 acres
outside such area, at a price of not less
than 10s. per acre; the conditions being
fencing within three years, and an
expenditure of 58. per acre on improve-
ments within seven years from date miles. Population 391.
of survey. Moreover, pastoral lessees,

excepting those in the eastern division,
have the privilege of selecting a certain
proportion of their leasehold adjoining the
homestead prior to the 1st March, 1892,
under similar conditions, except in regard
to residence, as in the case of other
selectors in the respective districts: thus,
in the south-western division the pro-
portion allowed to be selected is 5 per
cent., with a maximum of 3000 acres, and
in the other divisions, excepting the
eastern, 1 per cent., with a maximum of
5000 acres; provided also, in the latter
case, the runs are stocked with ten sheepor
one head of large stock to every thousand
acres leased. In Tasmania 33 per
cent. is added to the price named in the
table (£1 per acre) as interest for the
period of fourteen years. In New
Zealand the price per acre varies with
the quality of the land. There is besides
a system of 'perpetual leasing' in that
colony, under which as much as 640 acres
may be leased at an annual rental equal
to 5 per cent. of the value of the land.
The first lease is for thirty years, with the
option of renewal for succeeding periods
of twenty-one years, the rent being
assessed afresh at each renewal. The
lessee may acquire the freehold at any
time after the required improvements are
effected, if the land is not within a
proclaimed goldfield. The conditions as
regards residence and improvement are
the same as under the deferred payment
system. The 'homestead system' is also
in force throughout the colony to a limit
of 30,000 acres in one year. Under this
system no payment is made for the land.
After five years' residence and the
cultivation of one-third of the selection
if open land, and one-fifth if bush land,
the selector can claim his Crown grant.
No family or household can hold more
than 200 acres of first-class land or 300
acres of second-class land under this
system. In the case of bush land personal
residence is not necessary."

Landsborough, N.S.W. A new county N. of the Darling and W. of the Warrego rivers.

Landsborough, Vict. A township in an agricultural and pastoral district on Heifer Creek, 150 miles N.W. of Melbourne. It is nearly equidistant from the Stawell, Ararat and Avoca railway stations-28

Langhorne's Creek, S.A. A village in a farming district on the creek of that miles from Geelong. Population, with name, 44 miles S.E. of Adelaide. A coach district, 2300. runs every day to Adelaide. Population 90.

Lannes Cape, S.A. (Cape Dombey of the Admiralty charts), is the S. head of Guichen Bay, and has a reef of rocks running out for 14 mile, which has an obelisk 40 feet high and visible 12 miles at its southern extremity. In a small inlet at the S. side of the cape there is very deep water, and the cliffs are 100 feet high. The coast around is composed of lightly timbered sandy hillocks, and the sea breaks for a distance of two miles from the coast.

Lansdowne, W.A. A county in the interior, near the Yilgarn Igarn goldfields.

La Perouse, Jean François Galoup De, was born at Albi, Languedoc, in 1741. Entered the French navy, and in 1784 destroyed the trading establishment of the British in Hudson's Bay. In 1785 he sailed on a voyage of discovery in command of the ships Boussole and Astrolabe. In Dec. 1787, M. de Langle, the captain of the Astrolabe, and eleven others, were killed in an encounter with the natives of the Navigators' Islands. Steered for New South Wales, and on Jan. 26th, 1788, anchored at Botany Bay, a few days after the arrival of the first fleet under Captain Phillip. Sailed on March 10th, and was never heard of again until 1826, when Captain Dillon ascertained that both his ships were lost on a reef at Mallriolle, lat. 11° S., long. 169-20° E., and that part of one crew escaped. Some were murdered by the savages; the others built a small vessel and sailed away, but were never again heard of. MM. Bougainville and Decampaix, of the French men-of-war Thetis and L'Esperance, erected a monument in memory of La Perouse and his companions during their stay at Sydney in 1825.

La Perouse, Mount, N.Z. A peak in the Southern Alps, 10,359 feet high.

La Perouse, Mount, Tas. A mountain in the S. portion of the island, 3800 feet high, county of Kent, and forms the background of the county near the S.E.

cape.

Lara, Vict. A township in a grazing and agricultural district, and railway station on the Geelong and Melbourne

Larpent, Vict. A village in a farming district, and railway station on the Geelong and Warrnambool line, 100 miles S.W. of Melbourne, and six miles from Colac. Population, with district, 100.

Larrikin. A name given to young roughs in Victoria. The name was first applied in the Melbourne police court by an Irish policeman, Sergeant Dalton, who, when asked who a defendant was, replied that he was a larrikin-Anglicé larking-boy.

Latrobe, Tas. A town in an agricultural and fruit-growing district, and the principal railway station of the Mersey and Deloraine line, near the mouth of the river Mersey, 6 miles S.E. of Torquay, 75 miles N.W. from Launceston and 203 miles N.N.W. from Hobart. General sessions and supreme court sittings are held here. There is a rifle corps for the district, and a turf club has its meetings here. The town is lighted with gas. Population 2000. Newspaper, North Coast Standard.

Latrobe River, Vict. Rises at Mount Baw Baw, and falls into Lake Wellington after a course of 135 miles.

Laughing Jackass. The Australian gigantic kingfisher is well known by its harsh and mocking note. It is described in works on natural history as the Great Brown Kingfisher: agrees with the kingfishers in its form and character, but differs from them in its habits, as it does not frequent waters or feed on fish, but preys on beetles, reptiles and small mammalia; is of great use in preventing the multiplication of reptiles, and its bill is powerful enough to crush the heads of snakes: is about 18 inches long.

Launceston, Tas. The principal town of the north, is situated at the confluence of the North and South Esk rivers, which from their junction to the sea, a distance of 40 miles, are called the Tamar. There is communication by steam with Melbourne and Sydney, and by railway with Hobart 120 miles, Ringarooma 47 miles, and Ulverstone 99 miles. The town is pleasantly situated in a valley surrounded by lofty hills, and the scenery in the neighbourhood, although not so grand as at Hobart, is extremely picturesque and the soil fertile. Cora Linn, a deep

line, 36 miles S.W. of Melbourne, and 10 gorge through which the North Esk rushes, the Punch Bowl, and the Cataract Gorge, the latter very near the town, are much frequented in consequence of their romantic surroundings. The town is the commercial, official and judicial capital Lawson, N.S.W. A village situated on

sisting of Blaxland, Wentworth and others in 1813 into the Blue Mountains, in which the means of entering them by the pass near Emu plains was discovered.

of the north, and its commerce is larger than that of Hobart; it is well laid out, paved and lighted, contains many fine buildings, public and private, and has an excellent water supply. An exhibition

the Blue Mountains, and railway station 58 miles W. of Sydney. The district is a favourite resort for tourists and others in the summer months. The Weatherboard or Wentworth Falls are four miles distant. wheat-growing district, and railway station on the branch line to Waubra, on Lake Learmonth, 89 miles N.W. of Melbourne, and 15 miles from Ballarat. Population, with district, 1200.

was held here in 1891. Population Learmonth, Vict. A township in a

20,258. Newspapers: Launceston Examiner, Telegraph, Colonist, Tasmanian, Tasmanian Catholic Standard, and Pioneer.

Laura, S.A. A township close to Rocky River, 141 miles N. of Adelaide, and 7 miles from Gladstone, to which a branch line is open. Population 850. Newspaper, Laura Standard.

Laura River, Qd. A small river, one of the affluents of the Kennedy, which rises near the Palmer goldfields and runs into Princess Charlotte Bay.

Lauriston, Vict. A township in an agricultural and mining district on Coliban River, 62 miles N.W. of Melbourne. Nearest railway station, Kyneton, 3 miles distant. Population, with district, 600.

Lawrence, N.S.W. A small township and port on Clarence River, at a point termed the Elbow, 9 miles above the Rocky Mouth, 18 miles from Grafton, N.E., and 464 miles N. of Sydney. Lawrence is the shipping port for the wool raised about Tenterfield. Population 350.

Lawrence, N.Z. A town in the centre of a large and rich gold-mining and farming district, and railway station on the branch line from Clarksville to Lawrence on Tuapeka River, 60 miles S.W. of Dunedin. Coal is abundant, and copper, antimony, cinnabar and other minerals are found. At Blue Spur, two miles from Lawrence, a large number of men are employed working the alluvial cement, which has yielded a large quantity of gold since the discovery of Gabriel Gully, in June 1861. Population 1026. Local paper, Tuapeka Times.

Lawrence Rocks, Vict., are situated 12 miles S.E. from Cape Sir William Grant, and near the town of Portland. Were discovered by Grant and named after Captain Lawrence, one of the elder brothers of the Trinity House.

Lawson, Lieut., led the expedition con

Leasingham, S.A. A small village on main north road between Auburn and Clare, 78 miles N. of Adelaide. Nearest railway station, Saddleworth. Population 80.

Ledcourt, Vict. A village on the Little Wimmera, 144 miles N.W. of Melbourne. Nearest post office, Irrewarra, and 12 miles from Glenorchy railway station. Population 130.

Leeston, N.Z. A township in a fine agricultural district and railway station on the Southbridge line, on Lake Ellesmere, 27 miles S.W. by S. from Christchurch. Lake Ellesmere is the chief shooting district of Canterbury, and abounds with game. Population, with district, 1380. Newspaper, Ellesmere Chronicle.

Leeuwin, Cape, W.A. The S.W. point of Australia, was discovered in 1662, and named after the ship of the Dutch discoverer; is 136 miles S. of Swan River and 150 W. of King George's Sound.

Lefroy, Tas. A mining township on the E. side of the river Tamar, on Nine Mile Creek, 27 miles N.W. from Launceston, 159 N. from Hobart, and 10 miles from Georgetown. Courts of requests are held here. The total yield of gold during 1889-90 was only 762 oz., but hopes are reviving that by deep sinking gold production will resume its former position. Population 580.

Leichhardt, Ludwig, was born in Prussia in 1814, educated at Paris, and arrived at New South Wales in 1840. Having obtained experience of exploration by a journey through the Moreton Bay district, he started on August 13th, 1844, on an overland journey from Brisbane to Port Essington, in what is now the Northern

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