the western districts generally, the rains are scanty and irregular-amounting, in some parts of the Mitchell and Gregory districts, to as little as 10 inches a year, while severe droughts are not infrequent. But water may be found, even in the driest parts of the interior, by sinking wells, and irrigation on a large scale is practicable in many places. ' PRODUCTIONS: The chief commercial products of Queensland are wool, gold, sugar, cattle, horses, sheep, tin, hides, and skins, and the principal industries are connected with the production of these commodities. The indigenous vegetable productions include, in addition to the eucalypti, acacias, cedars, and other characteristic Australian forms, some 500 species of plants identical with those of India and Malaya. The various gum-trees yield "hardwood," and many of the acacias grow to large trees and furnish excellent timber. The red cedar, the Moreton Bay pine, the silky oak, beech, and other trees all yield valuable timber. Queensland also possesses a few really good indigenous fruits, and no part of Australia is better supplied with excellent grasses and nutritious fodder plants, some of them, such as the "Mitchell Grass," capable of withstanding long droughts and of quick growth after slight rains. The animals of Queensland are similar to those of the other colonies, and there are only one or two peculiarly tropical forms of mammals, but some of the birds on the northern coasts are allied to the 'birds-of-Paradise' of New Guinea. Snakes are plentiful, and many of them poisonous. Lizards are numerous in all parts, and alligators are found in some of the northern rivers. Fish swarm on the coast and in the rivers, and the largest oyster beds in Eastern Australia are in Moreton Bay and Sandy Strait. Turtles are caught in the Gulf of Carpentaria. INDUSTRIES: The pastoral industry and mining are the chief pursuits in Queensland, and wool and gold are the staple products of the colony. The broad plains of the interior afford the richest pasturage for sheep, which are fed almost exclusively on the native grasses, except on the Darling Downs and in some places near the coast, where portions of some farms are sown either with lucerne or with Californian prairie grass. In the coast districts generally, and especially in North Queensland, the rank natural vegetation makes excel. lent pasturage for cattle and horses, but is not suitable for sheep, which thrive best on the herbage in the drier climate of the interior. Over 1034 million sheep 24 million cattle, and 413,000 horses were depastured in the colony in 1905. AGRICULTURE: Agriculture is making steady progress, but less than 400,000 acres are as yet under cultivation. Maize and the sugar-cane are the chief objects of culture, but wheat and rice, potatoes, bananas, pine-apples, oranges, grapes, and other fruits are also grown. edible. 1. The Government is vigorously promoting irri- | water fish, and over 300 of these are more or less gation works in different parts of the colony, and mostly with great success. Artesian wells have been, and are being, sunk in numerous localities. 2. Fossil remains, discovered in the Darling Downs, go to prove that in a distant age the Moa (Dinornis) existed in this part of the continent.' 3. There are over 900 species of marine and fresh. 4. "About one-half the area of the colony s natural forest, though little has been done hitherto to develop the forestry of the colony. A large pro portion of the area is leased in squatting ruas for pastoral purposes, amounting to 400.000 square Liniles."-The Statesman's Year Book. 1 Maize, generally called " corn" in Queensland, is most successfully grown along the coast, and, on the northern seaboard, two crops can be grown every year. The sugar cane is grown in the temperate and tropical valleys along the eastern coasts. The low-lying lands which border the lower courses of many of the eastern rivers are extraordinarily fertile, and the climate is most favourable for the cultivation of other tropical products, such as cotton, arrowroot, coffee, spices, rice, &c. The want of suitable labour and other causes have injured the sugar industry, but there were, in 1904, over 120,000 acres of land under sugar-cane. from which nearly 150,000 tons of sugar were produced. Sugar has been grown with great success along the whole coast-line of Queensland. In the south, the system adopted is cultivation on small holdings, the cane being crushed at mills owned by a company of from four to eight farmers, and very little coloured labour is here employed. In the middle districts, where the climate is still moderately cool, the same principle of farm cultivation is in practice, but the manufacture is undertaken by very large refineries. Further north, in the tropical regions, the cultivation and manufacture is carried on almost entirely by large capitalists. Attached to each mill is an extensive area of cane, cultivated by labourers from the Pacific islands, brought into the colony by 'labour schooners' or black-birders, as they were called. In 1890, however, the importation of these islanders or Kanakas was prohibited-the traffic having become almost as bad as the slave-trade. Kanaka labourers have, however, been recently re-introduced under more stringent regulations. Wheat, in favourable years, grows well, but it has not been largely cultivated except on the temperate Darling Downs, and even here, although the soil is suitable, the yield is uncertain owing to the prevalence of "rust" and occasional droughts. Rice is grown to soine extent in the north, and there are large vineyards in different parts of the colony. Pine-apples, bananas, oranges, and other tropical fruits also come to perfection. Dairy-farming and market-gardening are carried on, chiefly in the vicinity of the towns. MINING Queensland is rich in minerals of all kinds, and mining, chiefly for gold, is the leading industry in many parts of the colony. Gold has been found in nearly every part of the colony, from Warwick in the south to the Palmer River in the far north. Both the alluvial mines and the quartz reefs have proved as rich as those of New South Wales and Victoria, but, as in these colonies, the alluvial deposits are being worked out, while the reefs of auriferous quartz are practically inexhaustible. The Queensland gold fields, which have produced over 60 million pounds' worth of gold 3 may be arranged in three groups: The Northern Goldfields include the rich and well developed field of Charters Towers --until recently the most productive in all Queensland-the Etheridge, Ravenswood, Cloncurry, Croydon, Palmer River, and other fields. The Central Goldfields include the mines in the Clermont or Peak Downs, and in the Gladstone and Rockhampton districts. The Rockhampton fields include the famous Mount Morgan Mine, which is believed to be the richest deposit of gold in Australia. The Southern Goldfields include the extensive and richly productive mines at Gympie, and less important fields at Mount Perry and Warwick. The Gympie fields are situated on the Upper Mary River, about 60 miles south of the port of Maryborough, with which they are connected by rail. 2 Considerable quantities of copper, tin, and coal are also produced, while silver and lead, antimony, bismuth, manganese, iron, and quicksilver are found and worked to some extent. 1. Qu ensland Handbook, p. 8. 2. Most of the goldfields are now connected by rail with the nearest ports. See further, under railways. The student should trace the railways from the coast and note the position of the gold fields. 3. In 1905 the output of gold was 639,150 ounces, valued at nearly 2 millions. The richest copper mines are at Clermont, Mount Perry, and Cloncurry-the lodes at Cloncurry being unusually rich and extensive. Wonderfully rich stream tin deposits are worked at Herberton in the north (about 60 miles south of Cairns), and at Stanthorpe in the south (about 180 miles south-west of Brisbane). Coal is extensively distributed throughout the colony, but the annual output is only half-a-million tons. The principal coal mines now worked are those near Ipswich (24 miles from Brisbane), and those near Howard on the Burrum coalfield, 18 miles from the port of Maryborough. Marble and building stone are found near Warwick, and at Gladstone and Rockhampton. The pearl fishery in Torres Strait (at Thursday Island, Prince of Wales Island, Somerset, etc.), and the bêche de mer fishery carried on at the Barrier Reef, Murray Island, etc., are both important industries, and a large number of "all sorts and conditions of men"-Aborigines, Malays, South Sea Islanders, Chinese, and even Japanese, Singhalese Arabs, and Maories-are employed in diving for the lustrous pearl shells, or in collecting the bêche de mer, a kind of sea-slug, highly esteemed by Chinese gourmands. The oyster beds at Moreton Bay and Maryborough annually yield thousands of bags of the succulent bivalve. COMMERCE : The commerce of Queensland is chiefly with the other Australian States, and, next to them, with the United Kingdom, Annual value (1904), 174 millions sterling--Imports, 6 millions; exports, over 11 millions. The principal exports, the produce and manufacture of the state, are wool -to the value of about 24 millions a year-gold, 21⁄2 millions sterling a year, frosen and chilled meats, sugar, live stock, hides and skins, tallow, pearl shells, fruit, butter, tin, copper, and silver. The imports include every description of manufactured goods, chiefly from the United Kingdom. Agricultural implements, tools, &c.. are largely imported from the United States. Five-sixths of the intercolonial trade is with New South Wales, and most of the rest with Victoria. There is a large overland trade with New South Wales in live stock. The direct trade with the United Kingdom amounts to about 4 millions sterling a year. The exports to the United Kingdom amounts to nearly 2 millions-principally wool, beef, and tallow. The annual imports of British produce, chiefly textile fabrics and iron, wrought and unwrought, amount to over 2 millions sterling. The imports from the United States and Germany exceed 4 million sterling each. PORTS: All the larger towns of Queensland are seaports, but almost all the foreign trade is centred in the four ports of Brisbane, Rockhampton, Townsville, and Maryborough; 1,117 vessels with a tonnage of 1,524,000 entered and cleared at Queensland ports during 1904. RAILWAYS: From each of the more important ports a railway has been constructed, running, with one or two exceptions, almost due west into the interior, and will ultimately be extended to the western border of the colony, and most likely be united with each other by cross-lines along the coast and in the interior. Over 3,100 miles are now open for traffic, and about 500 miles are in course of construction. The principal lines are : The Southern and Western Railway, from BRISBANE, westwards for 483 miles via ROMA to CHARLEVILLE and CUNNAMULLA, and southwards for 232 miles via WARWICK to the frontier station of WALLANGARRA, where a junction is effected with the Northern Railway of New South Wales. There is thus through communication by rail between Brisbane and Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Branch lines extend along the coast, north to GYMPIE, and south to CoOLANGATTA near Point Danger The Maryborough Railway extends from the port of MARYBOROUGH to GYMPIE, a distance of 60 miles, and thence to BRISBANE. The Bundaberg Railway, from BUNDABERG to MOUNT PERRY, and lines also run south to MARYBOROUGH, and north to GLADSTONE and ROCKHAMPTON. The Central Railway runs from the port of RoCKHAMPTON to LONGREACH, 55 miles west of BARCALDINE in the Mitchell District. Branch lines connect CLERMONT on the north and SPRINGSURE on the south with the main line. The Mackay Railway, from the port of MACKAY inland to MIRANI and ETON. The Northern Railway starts from the port of TOWNSVILLE, and is now open to Still further north are the Cairns to Mareeba Railway; the Cooktown Railway, from Cooktown towards the Palmer Goldfield; and the Normanton to Croydon Railway, running from Normanton, at the head of navigation on the Norman River, to the Croydon Goldfield. GOVERNMENT: The government of Queensland is vested in a Governor, aided by an Executive Council and a Parliament of two Houses the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. The Governor represents the King, and is appointed by the Home Government. The 42 members of the Legislative Council are nominated by the Crown for life. The Legislative Assembly now has 72 members, elected for 5 years by the people. Both the annual Revenue and Expenditure amount to about 3 millions sterling; the Public Debt, incurred on account of immigration, railways, telegraphs, roads, bridges, and other renumerative public works, amounts to over 39 millions sterling. The defence of the colony is provided for, in addition to a strong militia and volunteer corps, by the Act of 1884, according to which every man between 18 and 60 is liable for military service in case of necessity. There is also a small naval force, and a battery and torpedo defences protect the entrance to the Brisbane River. Education is free, secular, and compulsory. As in the other Australasian states, there is no State Church. An Agricultural College has been opened at Gatton. DIVISIONS and TOWNS: Queensland is divided into 12 large districts, some of which, and portions of others, are subdivided into counties. All the larger towns are in the eastern or Pacific division of the colony; there are few towns, and none of any considerable size, in the western districts. These 12 districts may be arranged into two divisions-an Eastern or Pacific Division, and a Western Division. Some of these districts are further subdivided, as Kennedy, in the Eastern Division, into North Kennedy, and South Kennedy, and Gregory, in the Western Division, into North Gregory and South Gregory. Seven other Only one town-BRISBANE-has above 120,000 inhabitants. towns-Rockhampton, Maryborough, Gympie, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Charters Towers, and Townsville-have between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants. Only a few of the western towns have a population of more than 1,000. The Eastern or Pacific division of Queensland includes the dis tricts of Moreton, Darling Downs, Burnett and Wide Bay, in the south; Port Curtis, Leichhardt, and Kennedy, in the centre; and Cook, in the north. MORETON, in the extreme south-east of the colony, is mainly an agricultural district, watered by the Brisbane and other rivers, and traversed by several railways, which radiate from the city of BRISBANE (120), the capital of the colony and the seat of Government, on the Brisbane River, about 25 miles above its outlet into Moreton Bay. The river is navigable for vessels drawing over 21 feet, and the trade with England and the other Australasian colonies is very large. IPSWICH (10), 24 miles west of Brisbane, is the centre of the productive coal mines in the basin of the Bremer River. The DARLING DOWNS district, to the west of the Moreton district, contains the finest pastoral and some of the best agricultural land in the colony. Wheat and other cereals and all kinds of vegetables and fruits are largely grown, and good coal is found. The chief towns are ToowOOMBA, 100 miles west of Brisbane, on the summit of the Dividing Range; WARWICK, 100 miles southwest of Brisbane, famous for its grapes; the "tin-town" of STANTHORPE, near the New South Wales border; and GOONDIWINDI, also a border town, situated on the Macintyre River, about 200 miles south-west of Brisbane, and surrounded by productive orchards and fertile farm lands. The BURNETT and WIDE BAY district, though principally occupied for pastoral purposes, has rich gold mines at GYMPIE, extensive coal deposits at BURRUM (Howard), and copper mines at MOUNT PERRY, all connected by rail with MARYBOROUGH, an important port on the Mary River, 25 miles above its mouth, and with BUNDABERG, a port for seagoing steamers, on the River Burnett, and the centre of an extensive sugar-growing district. PORT CURTIS district is chiefly noted for its rich gold-mines, among them the famous Mount Morgan mine, which lies about 28 miles south-west of ROCKHAMPTON, the great gold and wool port on the Fitzroy River, 40 miles above its mouth. GLADSTONE, founded in 1846, at the instance of Mr. W. E. Gladstone, has a fine harbour, and is connected by rail with Bundaberg. This district is divided by a range of mountains from the LEICHHARDT district on the west, a large tract of pastoral country, crossed by the Central Railway, from which branch lines run to the gold and copper mining centre of CLERMONT, to the north, and the pastoral centre of SPRINGSURE, to the south, of the main line. The KENNEDY district extends from Cape Palmerston to Rockingham Bay, and thus occupies the middle portion of the Pacific coast of the colony. It is well-watered by the Burdekin and its tributaries, and has splendid pastures for sheep and cattle, but is chiefly famous for its rich goldfields and productive sugar plantations. CHARTERS TOWERS, RAVENSWOOD, and CAPE RIVER are the chief gold-mining centres, and MACKAY is the centre of one of the largest sugar-producing districts in the colony. The goldfields and the pastoral country beyond them are connected by a railway with the port of TOWNSVILLE, on Cleveland Bay. BOWEN, on Port Denison, and CARDWELL, on Rockingham Bay, are rising ports. COOK district, in the extreme north of the colony, is like an immense wedge of land-as large as Ireland-between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Sugar and rice are grown on the east coast, and large quantities of |