and Mr. Spowers, and the paper still re- of the Grey ranges in the extreme N.W. mains the property of their descendants of the colony; has an elevation of 2000 and legatees. The Argus is still published feet. at a higher price than any of the daily Melbourne newspapers, and may fairly be regarded as the Times of Victoria, with many of the strong and weak points of its London contemporary. Argyle, N.S.W. One of the old counties; intersected by the Southern railway and by the branch towards Cooma; watered by the Wollondilly, and contains the city of Goulburn. Armidale, N.S.W., on the Dumaresq creek, 335 miles N. of Sydney. A station on the Northern Railway, 260 miles from Newcastle. Is a city-see of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops-capital of an agricultural and pastoral district, surrounded by picturesque mountains, in which gold is found, and is 3313 feet above sea-level. Population of district 10,000. Newspapers, Armidale Express and Armidale Chronicle. Armstrongs, Vict. A mining township and railway station on the railway to Adelaide, between Ararat and Stawell, on Cuncuncella creek. Population, with district, 370. Arnhem Bay (Northern Territory), S.A. A bay on the north-eastern coast, E. of the Wessel Islands, Arnhem, Cape (Northern Territory), S.A. The north-westerly point of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Arnhem Land, W.A. and Northern Territory of S.A., comprises all the north western portion of Australia, between the North-West Cape in the former and the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of the latter. The name was given by the Dutch navigator, Zaachen, who sailed along the coast in 1618, and named it after his native city. Arnhem Cape is the N. W. extremity of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and Arnhem Bay is a little to the west of the Cape. Arrilalah, Qd. See FOREST GROVE. Arrino, W.A. A post and telegraph station, 222 miles N.W. from Perth. Arrowsmith, Mount, N.S.W. A peak Arrow Town, N.Z. A town in an important mining district, 172 miles N.W. of Dunedin. Population 450. Local paper, Lake County Press. Arthur, Colonel, Sir George, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania after its separation from New South Wales. He arrived in Tasmania in 1824, having been previously Superintendent of Honduras, a position which he held from 1814 to 1822. During his governorship, the Van Diemen's Land Company was formed, and received a grant of 25,000 acres of land; the first conveyance from Hobart to Launceston was started, and the black war was waged. Upwards of 3500 white people, including 300 soldiers, formed a cordon across the island, and drove all the blacks before them. The attempt was a failure: only two natives were captured, and the expedition cost £35,000. The next year the aborigines, 300 in number, were induced to leave the mainlandand go to Flinders Island. Sir George Arthur subsequently became Governor of Bombay, and died in England in 1844. Arthur, Tas. A county on the southwest coast; is very mountainous, and has very little population; watered by the Huon, Davey, Serpentine and other streams; is believed to contain much mineral wealth. Area, 816,000 acres. Arthur, Lake, Tas. A lake covering 8000 acres, 3388 feet above sea-level, in the county of Westmoreland and the centre of the island. Arthur, Mount, N.Z. A mountain W. of the town of Nelson, 8000 feet high. Arthur, Mount (or Row Tor), Tas. A mountain 3895 feet high, in the county of Dorset, in the north-east portion of the island; at the foot runs the railway towards Ellesmere. Arthur Range, Tas. A range of mountains in the south-western portion of the colony, in the counties of Arthur and Kent; and extending S. as far as Mount La Perouse. Arthur River, Tas. A river which rises near Mount Bischoff, divides the counties of Wellington and Russell, and falls into the ocean at the west coast, S. of Bluff Point. Arthur River, W.A. A post and telegraph station 120 miles from Perth towards Albany, and is on the Great Southern Railway. Arthur's Seat, Vict. A hill near the entrance to Port Phillip, named by Murray in 1802 from its fancied resemblance to the hill at Edinburgh. Ascot, Vict. An agricultural parish, with 125. a small village 13 miles N.W. by N. from Ballarat, 119 miles N. W. from Melbourne and 6 miles from Creswick. Population Ascot Vale, Vict. A suburb N. of Mel. bourne, 34 miles on the Melbourne and Essendon Railway line. Ashburnham, N.S.W. A new county N. of the Lachlan river; intersected by the railway from Orange to Molong, and contains the town of Forbes. Ashburton, N.Z. An agricultural and pastoral town and railway station on the Christchurch and Timaru Railway, and the N. bank of the Ashburton river, 53 miles S. of Christchurch. Population, with suburbs, 3700. Newspapers, Ashburton Mail and Guardian. Ashburton, N.Z. A county on the east coast of the South Island; intersected by the railway from Christchurch towards Dunedin, and its branches. Ashburton, W.A. An important pas toral district lying between the Carnamah and Roebourne districts. Ashburton River, W.A. A river rising in the hills of the Gascoyne division, and falling into the Indian Ocean at Onslow, in the north-west division. Ashfield, N.S.W. A municipal borough, post town, and railway station on the Great Southern Railway, about 5 miles S. of Sydney, in co. Cumberland. Population 1700. Local newspaper, Ashfield Advertiser. Ashford, N.S.W. A township on the Frazer creek, 496 miles N. of Sydney and 37 miles N. of Inverell. Population 100. Ashley, N.Z. A county on the east coast of the South Island, fronting Pegasus Bay, and intersected by the railway from Christchurch towards Culverden, and its branches. Aspiring, Mount, N.Z. A peak in the Southern Alps, 9960 feet high. Assignment. This system was a form of slavery, and consisted in hiring out by the Government of well-conducted male and female conviets to free settlers on condition of their being fed, clothed and lodged. The system led to frightful abuses, and was abolished in 1838. Asylum. See CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. Auburn, N S.W. A town in co. Cumber land, 11, miles W. of Sydney. Auburn, S.A. A town on the river Wakefield, 744 miles N. from Adelaide, 38 miles from Kapunda, and 6 miles from Saddleworth, which is the nearest railway station. Population 450. Auburn River, Qd. A tributary of the Burnett, which falls into that river above Gayndah. Auckland, N.Z., the oldest city in the colony and its former capital, is on the shores of the Waitemata, a fine sheet of water branching from the Hauraki gulf, and crowded with islands, some of which are extremely beautiful. The Northern Island of New Zealand is at this part only 7 miles wide, and a railway of that length connects it with Onehunga, on the west coast. Auckland is a wellbuilt city, and its suburbs are attractive. The neighbourhood is all volcanic, and abounds in extinct cones. One of them, Mount Eden; 644 feet high and only two miles from the post office, contains a crater perfect in shape and splendid in preservation. Auckland contains some fine public buildings, is an important port and naval station, is the terminus of an extensive railway system, and is the starting point for the Hot Springs, which, notwithstanding the catastrophe of 1886, which overwhelmed the pink and white terraces, are still well worth a visit, both for travellers who admire grand and romantic scenery, and those who wish to visit these natural baths in search of health. The city is lighted with gas, and has a good water supply. Auckland is the first point of arrival for the steamers from San Francisco, and is the see of an Anglican and Roman Catholic bishop. Population of city and district, 51,287. Newspapers: New Zealand Herald, Evening Star, Weekly News, Observer, Leader, Freeman's Journal, Farmer, Presbyterian Church News, and Church Gazette. Auckland, N.S.W. One of the new counties; on the Pacific Coast in the extreme S.E.; extends from Tethra Head to Cape Howe, and contains Eden and Twofold Bay. Auckland, Provincial District of, N.Z., when cleared yields good crops. The comprises more than half of the Northern city and towns are Auckland, CamIsland; contains 16,652,000 acres, or almost bridge, Gisborne, Grahamstown, Havelock, half the acreage of England; is bounded on the N., E. and W. by the ocean and on the S. by Wellington and Hawke's Bay; is watered by the Mokau, Oruawharo, Otamatea, Piako, Rangaitaiki, Waikato, Wairoa, Wiapa, Waiho or Thames, and Whakatane; its chief harbours are the Hauraki Gulf, Frith of Thames, Whangarei Harbour, Bay of Islands, Manakau, Mongonui, Aotea, Kawhia, Tauranga, and Whangaroa Harbours; is intersected by the railways from Auckland to Te Kuiti, with its branches to Cambridge, Te Aroha and Lichfield, Auckland to Onehunga, Auckland to Kankapakapa, Whangarei to Kamo, and Kawakawa to Opua. The province has a coast line of 1200 miles, and nearly every locality is within twenty miles of the sea or a navigable river. It may be divided into three districts-the Northern Peninsula, the East Coast, and the Waikato. Much of the North is heavily timbered, but when cleared rich and suitable for cultivation; the East Coast is generally auriferous; while the Waikato country has good soil and fine timber. The latter two districts have been until recently in the hands of the Maoris, but are now being rapidly settled by Europeans. The province was the first to be colonised, and was the scene of most of the wars and other incidents in the early days of settlement. Gold has been found at Coromandel and the Thames; coal at Kawakawa, Huntley, Taupiri, and Whanarei; and copper, lead, tin, iron and manganese are known to exist. In the south of the province are the hot springs and lake districts; the five springs, geysers and cisterns of hot water in the neighbourhood of Lake Taupo are amongst the most extraordinary in the world. The celebrated natural terraces around Lake Rotomahana were destroyed by the volcanic eruption of 1886. The highest mountain in the province, Hikurangi, near East Cape, is only 5438 feet high; but Ruapehu, 9195 feet, and Tongariro, 6500 feet, are only a few miles S. of the boundary. The principal exports are wool, kauri gum, timber and flax, the kauri pine being only found in the north of the province. The land is not naturally adapted for grazing, but is generally broken and covered with timber, flax and fern, but Hamilton, Ngaruawabia, Russell, Shortland and Tauranga. The holdings in 1889 were 8111; land under crop, 66,790 acres, of which wheat occupied 14,701, produce 394,589 bushels; oats, 12,333, produce 360,471 bushels; potatoes, 4759 acres, and 21,693 tons; hay, 12,602 acres, and 15,908 tons; grassland, sown or ploughed, 866,682 acres; live stock, 36,822 horses, 205,267 cattle, and 90,936 sheep. 4,502,676 acres had been alienated for £604,980. Auckland Isles. A group 180 miles S. of New Zealand, to which they belong. The largest measures 30 miles by 15, and was colonised by the Messrs. Enderby in 1849, but abandoned by them in 1852. The islands have a bad record, from the number of wrecks that have taken place upon them, including the Grafton in 1864, the Invercauld in the same year, the General Grant, and others. Australasia. This name is generally applied to the mainland of Australia, with the islands adjacent, together with New Zealand, Tasmania, New Guinea, the New Hebrides, Fiji, and New Caledonia. Australia. History before the Discovery of Gold. -The existence of a Great South Land appears to have been known to the ancients. The tradition of a vast island to which birds of passage migrated, and near the shores of which the savages of the Malay Archipelago caught strange fishes and marine monsters, seems to have been current in China and India from a very early period in the existence of the world; and the knowledge was brought to Europe by the soldiers who returned to Macedonia and Greece after the expedition to India of Alexander the Great. Allusions to a Great South Land are met with in Strabo (B.C. 50), Pliny (A.D. 77), and Ptolemy (A.D. 150). So that, even supposing the modern theories about an Icelandic and Viking discovery of America are correct, Australia was known to the civilised world at an earlier date than was the Western Continent. But for all practical purposes, the first European to behold the great Southern Continent was a Provençal navigator, hailing from the city of Grasse, named Guillaume le Testu, who appears to have visited its northern shores about 1531. In 1605 a Spanish navigator, named Fernandez de Quiros, set out from Peru on a voyage of discovery with three ships. He sighted the New Hebrides, which he termed Tierra Austral del Espiritu Santo. His crew mutinied and would proceed no farther, but his consorts passed through Torres Straits, which were named after their commander. In the same year a Dutch ship, called the Duyffhen, landed near the north-west point of the Gulf of Carpentaria. During the seventeenth century the west and north-west coasts of Australia were visited by several Dutch and by at least one English navigator-the buccaneer Dampier; and in 1642 Abel Jansen Tasman discovered Tasmania and New Zealand. But the examinations of the early navigators were confined exclusively to the coast now forming portion of Western Australia, and the first discovery of practical importance was that made by Captain Cook, who first sighted the Australian coast in Gippsland, near Cape Everard, which he named Point Hicks. Cook sailed all along the east coast of Australia, and, landing at Botany Bay, near Sydney, took possession of the continent on behalf of his Majesty King George III. The favourable reports made by Captain Cook of the fertility of the country around Botany Bay induced the British Government, which had just lost the North American colonies, to found a penal settlement in the south-eastern portion of what was then known as New Holland. An expedition, consisting of H.M.S. Sirius, of 20 guns, the armed trader Supply, three store ships, and six transports, left England on May 17th, 1787, and after touching at Teneriffe, Rio de Janeiro, and the Cape of Good Hope, arrived at Botany Bay on Jan. 20th, 1788, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, R.N., with Captain John Hunter as second in command. The persons on board the fleet included 757 convicts, of whom 192 were women, and a detachment of marines, consisting of Major Ross, commandant, 16 officers, 24 non-commissioned officers, an adjutant and quartermaster, 8 drummers, 160 rank and file, and 40 women. The live stock were one bull and four cows, a stallion and three mares, some sheep, goats, pigs, and a quantity of fowls. The party was well provided with seeds. The shores of Botany Bay were found to be unsuitable for settlement, and the expedition was transferred to Port Jackson, half a dozen miles away, on the site of the present city of Sydney. For many years the annals of the infant colony were those of a vast gaol; the attempts made to cultivate the soil at what is now known as Farm Cove, Sydney, and near Paramatta, were only partially successful; and upon many occasions the residents in the settlement were badly off for food. However, by degrees the difficulties inseparable from a new colony so far remote from the civilised portion of the world were surmounted; several additional convict ships landed their living freight on the shores of Port Jackson; and in 1793 an emigrant ship with free settlers arrived, the new arrivals being furnished with provisions and presented with land grants. At the end of the eighteenth century there were 5000 persons in Sydney and its neighbourhood. Immediately after the settlement at Port Jackson surveys of the adjacent coast were regularly made. Western Port, in Victoria, was entered by Surgeon Bass, and the existence of a strait between Australia and Tasmania was proved by the same officer, accompanied by Mid. shipman Flinders, in 1798. Port Phillip was discovered in 1802 by Lieutenant Murray, and the south coast of Australia was surveyed by Commander Flinders during the same year. In fact, before the retirement of Governor King, in 1806, the coastline of Australia was fairly well known. The explorations landwards were, however, not so successful, and for many years the Blue Mountains, which rise at the back of Sydney, formed an impenetrable barrier to the progress of settlement and colonisation. During the governorship of Captain King, which lasted from 1800 to 1806, branch penal settlements were formed at Newcastle, at the mouth of the Hunter river, at Hobart Town and Launceston, in Van Diemen's land, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to colonise Port Phillip. In 1806 Captain Bligh, the naval officer identified with the mutiny of the Bounty, immortalised by Byron in his well-known poem "The Island," became Governor of New South Wales. quarrelled with the free colonists, and He especially with the officers of the New South Wales Corps, a body of troops which had been raised to do duty in the colony; and he was deposed and shipped to England, the government being administered after his departure by the senior officer of the local regiment. In 1809 Bligh was formally reinstated, but he was immediately afterwards removed, and succeeded by Colonel Macquarie, who assumed the governorship on Jan. 1st, 1810, and retained it for eleven years. Prior to his arrival schools and churches had been erected, a newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, had been commenced, and there had been some attempts at acclimatising the drama. But the transformation from a penal settlement to a colony was not made till the régime of Governor Macquarie, who erected permanent buildings at Sydney and Paramatta, formed roads and built bridges in the districts along the coast, and commenced the track across the Blue Mountains, which had been crossed in 1813 by Wentworth and others, and thus opened up the rich interior to the inhabitants of Sydney and the settlements in its immediate neighbourhood. During the administration of Governor Macquarie the first banking institution, the Bank of New South Wales, was founded. The final fall of Napoleon, in 1815, and the cessation of the war, which had lasted with very little intermission from the first establishment of New South Wales, gave the people of Great Britain leisure to think about their possessions in the Antipodes. Captain M'Arthur, an vast plains of the interior with their sheep and cattle without having to obtain by purchase or by grant the fee simple of the lands upon which their live stock grazed. These demands were urged with more or less spirit during the governorships of Sir Thomas Brisbane, from 1821 to 1825, and of General Darling, who ruled till 1831; but they were not finally granted till the time of Sir R. Bourke, who remained Governor till 1837. At the latter date the imports were £1,114,805, the exports £682,193, and the population had grown to 76,793 persons, of whom 25,254 males and 2557 females were convicts, or had served their sentence. During the governorship of Sir Richard Bourke, the settlement of the interior progressed at a very rapid rate. Parramatta, Richmond and Windsor had been built within the first decade of the colony's existence; Newcastle and the towns of Maitland and Morpeth date from the early years of the present century; but the larger towns of the interior-Goulburn, Bathurst, and otherswere not commenced till about 1835, in which year the site of Melbourne was first occupied by Batman and Fawkner. The explorations which followed the passage of the Blue Mountains opened up a large portion of south-eastern Australia, Western Australia was visited in 1826 by troops and convicts despatched from Sydney for Albany; Swan river was colonised from England in 1829; and the penal settlements at Hobart Town and Launceston grew into the separate colony of Van Diemen's Land, which was declared independent of New South Wales officer in the New South Wales Corps, in 1823. New Zealand, long regarded had, in the first decade of the colony's as a dependency of New South Wales, existence, introduced into New South became a separate colony in 1839. The Wales some merino sheep, which he expeditions of Oxley, the Surveyor had obtained from a small flock belonging to King George III., and the capabilities of the south-eastern portion of Australia for the growth of wool were soon recognised. Early in 1817 free settlers commenced to arrive, and to occupy land under the favourable terms which were granted them by the Government. But their material prosperity did not prevent the new arrivals from being dissatified with the administration of justice, the absence of a free press, and representative institutions; and they demanded permission to occupy the General of New South Wales, in 1817, and of Hume and Hovell in 1824, gradually made known the great resources of the interior of Australia; Captain Sturt traced the Macquarie river to the Darling, the Murrumbidgee to the Murray, and the latter river to the sea; and their reports induced the Hentys, Batman and Fawkner to colonise Port Phillip and Victoria from Tasmania, and resulted in the foundation of the colony of South Australia by an English company. In the year 1836 Australasia was divided into four governments, each with a sepa |