on which the city stands, empties itself; Geelong Bay, which is the western arm of Port Phillip; and Corio Bay at its S.W. extremity, which is the anchorage for Geelong. The entrance to Port Phillip Bay between Points Nepean and Lonsdale is 3900 yards wide, and inside the bay there are many shoals and patches of sand, with two deep-water channels, the eastern and the western; the large expanse of water forcing its way through a narrow entrance causes, when the tide and wind are opposed to each other, a heavy sea, which is called the Rip. Port Pirie, S.A. An important port in a wheat-growing district, and railway station on the S.E. of Germein Bay, Spencer Gulf, 154 miles N. (227 by rail) from Adelaide; has a good water supply. Population 1800. Newspapers, Port Pirie Advocate and Port Pirie Standard. Port Sorell, Tas. A harbour on the N. coast of the island in Bass's Straits, between Port Dalrymple and Port Frederick. Port Stephens, N.S.W. A fine harbour principally used as a harbour of refuge, and is well lighted; 80 miles N.E. of Sydney. Carrington, at the head of the harbour, is a small township. Port Victor, S.A. A seaport in an agricultural district at Encounter Bay, on the S. coast; has a good jetty, and is con nected by tramway with the Goolwa, the port of the river Murray. A breakwater 1000 feet long has made the harbour safe and commodious, and it is intended to extend it by another 1000 feet. Several steamships have been loaded here for London; is a lifeboat station. Population 600. Port Victoria, S.A. A seaport on the western side of Yorke's Peninsula and the eastern coast of Spencer Gulf, 129 miles W. of Adelaide. Nearest railway station, Moonta. Port Wakefield, S.A. A township in a grazing and agricultural district, and railway station on St. Vincent's Gulf, 60 miles N. of Adelaide, to which vessels sail. Local court monthly. Population 506. Port William, N.Z. A harbour in Stewart Island. Portarlington, Vict. A township and seaside watering place in an agricultural district on Port Phillip Bay, at the foot of the Bellarine hills, 65 miles from Melbourne. Nearest railway station, Drysdale, on the Queenscliff line, or by steamer from Melbourne, 25 miles across the Bay. Has a good jetty, with fine public gardens adjoining. Population, with district, 1000. Portland, Vict. A seaport town on Portland Bay, 250 miles W. of Melbourne, with which it is connected by railway via Hamilton, Ararat and Ballarat. Was founded by the Hentys, who settled here in 1834. Has good harbour accommodation, which will be improved by the construction of a breakwater. The town is the centre of an important pastoral and agricultural district, although the area of good land in the immediate neighbourhood is not large. During the summer season many persons from the western districts visit Portland for sea bathing. Contains the usual public and private buildings, and is well supplied with gas and water. Steamers ply to Melbourne and Adelaide. Formerly there was direct communication by sailing vessels with Great Britain, but this no longer exists. Population 2284; of shire, 5365. Newspaper, Portland Guar dian and Observer. Portland Bay, Vict. A large bay in the W. of the colony lying W. of Cape Sir William Grant, and with the port of Portland near its western extremity; was discovered by Grant. Was a place of resort for whales, and much frequented by whaling ships. Was visited by William Dutton in 1828 while on a sealing voyage in the Madeira Packet, and again in the following year on board the Henry. He then landed with a boat's crew, remained on shore, built a house, and was the first white man to permanently inhabit Victoria. Edward and Stephen Henty came in 1833 and formed a whaling establishment, which grew into the present town of Portland. Portland Cape, Tas. A headland on the N.E. coast on Banks Strait, and forms the eastern point of Ringarooma Bay. Portland Isle, N.Z. An island at the extreme S. of the Mahai Peninsula, at the E. point of Hawkes Bay. Portsea, Vict. A watering place on a narrow strip of land on the E. side of Port Phillip Heads, 62 miles by land and 37 miles by water from Melbourne. Is defended by batteries at Point Nepean and Port Franklin. Contains the quar antine station, and has two frontages, one to Port Phillip, the other to the Southern Ocean, called locally the Back Beach. Population 100. Possession Isles, Qd., situated off the N.E. point, were named by Capt. Cook in 1770, as it was there that he took possession of the entire coastline of Eastern Australia in the name of George III. Possession Point, W.A., was discovered and named by Vancouver in 1791. gether by the establishment of regular steam communication, and the Australian SteamNavigation Company's boats worked a service which extended from King George's Sound, in Western Australia, to Auckland in New Zealand, and to the northern parts of Queensland. The mail service with the mother-country and with the East was by ships; the passage out to Australia being by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and the return to Europe by way of Cape Horn, except in the case of South Australia and Western Australia, where the Cape of Good Hope was usually relied upon for the homeward as well as the outward passage. The question of regular steam communication between Europe and the Australian colonies by way of the Cape of Good Hope or the Red Sea was first mooted in 1834, but it was not till 1846 that the matter was agitated; in that year a meeting was held at Sydney to consider the question of steam communication between Australia and England. committee was appointed to gather information on the subject, and this body recommended that a steam service should be opened up by means of Torres Straits and Singapore; this report was adopted Postal. (See also P. AND O. and ORIENT.) The first Postmaster-General of New South Wales was Isaac Nichols, who was appointed in 1815, and died in 1819; the system of general Post Office communication was established in 1827; the lowest postage was 3d., the highest 1s., according to distance; on newspapers the fee was ld. In 1829 Mr. Raymond was appointed Postmaster-General. In 1836 Mr. John Batman was appointed first Postmaster for Port Phillip, and a fortnightly mail was established between Sydney and Melbourne on Feb. 3rd, 1837. The Melbourne Post Office opened August 12th, 1841, Mr. M'Crae, Postmaster (afterwards Postmaster-General). Post offices were opened and a postal service organised in all the colonies immediately after their by a committee of the Legislature. At formation; and there was a tolerably good overland service by horses and mail-carts between the capitals and the up-country towns, villages and squatting stations, as the settlement progressed. In New South Wales and Tasmania good main roads were made in many districts, and the mails were conveyed by well-appointed mail coaches, built after the fashion of the old-fashioned English coaches, which still survive in some parts of England and Scotland and in the drags of the coaching clubs. After the discovery of gold, Cobb's coaches, built on the model of the Mexican estafette, gradually supplanted the old system of coaching; the mails were despatched by night, and were delivered with greater rapidity, until finally they were sent by railway. Mails were at first forwarded from one colony to another by sailing vessels, but by degrees steamboats were placed upon the coast, and communication was established between Melbourne and Sydney, Sydney and Newcastle, Melbourne and Launceston. After the discovery of gold all the colonies were brought to A that date the ordinary time occupied by the mails between London and Sydney was 4 months, and from Sydney to India or China, 70 days, and thence by overland mail to England. Early in 1849 the Lords of the Admiralty advertised for tenders for the conveyance of mails between Sydney and Singapore; the tender of a company called the Indian and Australian Steamship Company was accepted, and a contract entered into. But this company broke down and never carried out the contract. The discovery of gold in Victoria and the consequent importance of Melbourne induced the British Government to modify its original proposals, and in the commencement of 1852 tenders were invited for a service from Singapore to Sydney, via King George's Sound, Adelaide and Melbourne. The offer of the P. and о. Co. was accepted, and the service was inaugurated in Sept. 1852 by the Chusan, which arrived from England, via the Cape, at Melbourne on July 23rd, and Sydney, August 3rd, 1852. This service continued until 1854, when it was stopped in consequence of the Crimean War, new and agreeable route, which was and Australia was again dependent for inaugurated by the Macgregor, which its European mail on the Cape route. was the pioneer, and took the first But by this time there were regular mail from Sydney to San Francisco, lines of clipper ships which made the passage in about 70 days to Melbourne, and occasional steamers, such as the Great Britain, the Royal Charter, the London, etc., etc. In 1856 the Colonial Legislature offered liberal grants for the re-establishment of mail communication via the Red Sea, and in 1857 the service was renewed via Point de Galle, first by a company called the European and Australian, and finally by the P. and O. Co., the mails being first dispatched monthly, next fortnightly, and, finally, when the Orient Company came into the field, weekly, and the time occupied in transit was reduced until the mails to day do not occupy more than 32 days in the transit via Adelaide and Brindisi. Several changes have been made in the touching at Auckland, on Dec. 20th, 1873. Since that date the service has always been kept open by the Australian Steam Navigation Co., the Pacific Steam Navigation Co. of New York, or by private owners, and now by the Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand, a much reduced subsidy being paid by the governments of New South Wales and New Zealand. In 1880 a new mail line was commenced, which, although of little advantage to the southern colonies, is a great boon to the northern ports of Queensland. Queensland Royal Mail line in conjunction with that of the British India Co. runs from England via Batavia, touching at Thursday Island, Cooktown, Townsville, Bowen, Mackay and Rockhampton, on its way to Brisbane. The southern ports The route. Brindisi is now the European of New Zealand obtained direct comterminus instead of Marseilles, the munication with England by the steamers steamers touch at Colombo instead of the New Zealand Steamship Co. and of Point de Galle or Mauritius; the the Shaw Savill Line, and a service Powell's Creek (Northern Territory), S.A. A station on the Overland Telegraph, 1467 miles from Adelaide. mails pass through the Suez Canal instead of being forwarded by railway across Egypt, and the steamer stops at all the Australian ports instead of, as at one time, going direct from King George's Sound to Melbourne, and compelling Adelaide to obtain its mail by a branch steamer from King George's Sound, or, as was the system at one time, by a line from Kingscote in Kangaroo Island; finally the mails are put on board at Adelaide and forwarded to their destination by railway. The service via the Red Sea was for a long time looked upon with great disfavour in New South Wales and New Zealand, and in 1859 Mr. Merewether visited England with the view of opening up a line via the Isthmus of Panama. The service was eventually commenced, vid Sydney and Wellington and Panama, the mails being conveyed across the isthmus by rail, and finally from Aspinwall to Southampton; but the advantages in point of time were much less than were expected, and although heavily subsidised by the governments of New South Wales and New Zealand, the service was finally abandoned. The completion of the overland railway across the American Continent, with its western terminus at San Francisco, opened up a has been established by the Messageries Maritimes from Marseilles to Sydney with a branch to New Caledonia, touching at Seychelles, and by the North German Lloyd to Bremen, touching at Southampton, with a branch from Sydney to Samoa and Tonga. All the various novelties and improvements that are known in other countries have been introduced into the Australasian post offices, such as the use of post-cards, post-office savings banks, the employment of ladies, the parcel-post, etc., etc. By a recent alteration in the law the uniform rate of postage from Great Britain to any part of Australasia and vice versa is 24d., and it was arranged at the recent Postal Conference held at Vienna in May 1891, that the Australasian colonies should join the Postal Union in October of that year. The rate of intercolonial postage is 2d. In New South Wales town letters are charged 1d.; inland letters 2d. per halfounce. On Jan. 1st, 1890, the number of post-offices was 1261; number of letters carried in 1889, 53,971,300; newspapers, 36,530,800; packets and book parcels, 7,809,400; post-cards, 630,100. In Victoria, inland postage, 1d.; number of post-offices in 1890, 1600; letters and postcards, 48,097,268; newspapers, 20,662,732. Praed, Winthrop Mackworth, was the author of the prize poem on Australia which gained the Chancellor's Medal at Cambridge in 1822, beating W. C. Wentworth and 25 others. In South Australia, the inland postage the latter, a great fighting chief, was rates are uniformly 2d. In 1890 there killed. were 600 post-offices; letters and postcards carried, 16,420,167; newspapers, 9,165,098; packets, 1,119,070. In Western Australia the rates for town letters are 1d., and country 2d. In 1890 there were 182 post-offices; letters, 2,737,034; newspapers, 1,392,825; and packets, 247,681. In Queensland the postage on town letters is 1d., and inland, Prahran, Vict. An important suburban 2d. In 1890 there were 368 post- city, 34 miles S.E. of Melbourne, and railoffices and 466 receiving offices; letters, way station. Population 39,703. News13,070,083; newspapers, 10,937,339; papers, Prahran Telegraph and Chronicle. packets, 1,941,495. In Tasmania, town Prebbleton, N.Z. A railway station letters are charged 1d., and inland, 2d.; 8 miles S. of Christchurch. Population number of post-offices in 1890, 293; letters, 150. 7,782,315; newspapers, 9,244,921; packets, Presbyterians. The first church erected 1,014,821. In New Zealand all inland in Australia was at Portland Head, letters, town and country, are now charged Hawkesbury, in 1809. Divine worship 1d.; number of post-offices, Jan 1st, 1890, was conducted by James Mein, a lay 1167. In 1889 there passed through man; the church was erected by the the Australasian post-offices 42,301,233 letters, 16,721,016 newspapers, 1,850,160 post-cards and 5,381,493 book packets. Pottinger, N.S.W. One of the new counties intersected by the North-Western railway and the Turabeile creek, and containing the Liverpool Plains. Pounds exercised an important influence over the earlier history of the squatting system, when the country was all open, and horses and cattle strayed in some cases hundreds of miles, more especially when they were bred in one district and afterwards driven to another. Pounds were established in different places, and the poundkeepers, who were under the jurisdiction of the local magistrates, were persons of importance and even wealth. In most cases squatters who found stray horses or cattle on their runs, had them driven to the nearest pound, and the marks and brands of these animals were published in the Government Gazette, a course which gave their owners an opportunity of reclaiming them, or at least obtaining the proceeds of their sale, if they had been already sold. As the country became fenced in, the pounds declined in importance. The first pound at Sydney was established on August 24th, 1811, and at Melbourne, March 31st, 1839. Poverty Bay, N.Z. A bay on the E. coast of the North Island, near the town of Gisborne, which was the first landing place of Cook, and the scene of his encounters with the Maoris, in which one of subscriptions of a dozen free immigrant families, who had received 100-acre grants of lands. Rev. Archibald Macarthur preached his first sermon at Hobarton Jan. 12th, 1823, the first stone of the Presbyterian Church in that city was laid March 21st, 1824, and the building was opened Sept. 12th, 1824. Rev. John Dunmore Lang, D.D., first minister to New South Wales, arrived at Sydney, May 8th, 1823; preached his first sermon June 8th. Foundation stone of St. Andrew's Church, Sydney, laid by Governor Brisbane, July 1st, 1824. The Rev. J. M'Garvie arrived at Sydney May 23rd, 1826, and the Rev. James Forbes, the first Presbyterian clergyman at Melbourne, 1838. The foundation stone of a Scotch church was laid in Melbourne on Jan. 22nd, 1842. Presbyterianism in Australia has in most matters followed its prototype in the mother country. Previous to the landing of Dr. Lang there had been no Presbyterian minister in New South Wales, but after his arrival the Church made rapid strides. Governor Brisbane resolutely refused state aid to Presbyterians, and maintained his position till he was directed by the Earl of Bathurst, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, to advance £600 for the erection of a Scotch church, and pay a stipend of £300 a year to its minister. Sir Richard Bourke informed Lord Stanley in 1831, that there were at that time four paid ministers of the Church of Scotland in New South Wales, and in consequence of his recommendations a sum of £1300 per annum was devoted to stipends and church building, which in 1842 had grown to £6500. In 1841 the Presbyterian population of New South Wales, including Port Phillip, was 13,513. The system of state aid gradually grew, and was extended to all the Australian colonies. In 1847 the amount granted in New South Wales to Presbyterians was £2373, and in Victoria in 1855, £4560, which in 1856 had increased to £7708. The history of state aid and its abolition all over Australia will be found under the head ANGLICAN CHURCH. At first all sections of the Scotch churches, except the small body called the United Presbyterians, accepted state aid; but a change was made by the disruption which resulted in the formation of the Free Church of Scotland. Eventually, and after the abolition of state aid in Australia, the differences between the various sections of the Presbyterian body were bridged over, and each colony, excluding Western Australia and Tasmania, has now a separate and distinct Presbyterian Church, with its own independent ecclesiastical judi and Townsville; 53 charges; 41 ministers. The Presbyterian population in 1886 was 37,765, but the number of church adherents is not given.-South Australia. Moderator for 1890-91, Rev. A. Law, Monarto; 3 presbyteries, Adelaide, Onkaparinga and Belalie; ministers, 14; charges, 20; presbyteries, 3; churches, 24; other buildings used for public worship, 12; sittings, 6003; communicants 1726; Sabbath schools, 28; teachers, 246; scholars, 2265. -Tasmania. Moderator, Rev. Hugh S. Anderson, Beaconsfield; ministers, 14; charges, 12; presbyteries, 2. The Free Church of Scotland preserves its autonomy in Tasmania. Moderator, Rev. C. H. Talbot, Hobart, and 7 members. The Presbyterian population of Tasmania was in 1889, 13,815, but no record is given of church adherents. -- Victoria. Presbyterian Church of Victoria, moderator, Rev. W. J. Gillespie, Coleraine. Ministers, 207; churches, 406; school-houses, 87; sitting accommodation for 91,000; average attendance, 74,000. The General Assembly meets on the second Tuesday in November, and the Commission of the General Assembly on the first Tuesday of May in each year. The Free Presbyterian Church catories. They all hold the same doctrinal of Victoria has, ministers, 6; churches, standards, and have the same church 12; sitting accommodation for 3465; to the average attendance at services, 1290. policy. These churches, in addition to Preservation Inlet, N.Z., is the most southerly of the sounds on the W. coast, being 216 miles from Port Chalmers; at Cuttle Cove, 8 miles from the ocean entrance, the inlet branches off into 1 |