the principal food of the natives-maize, rice, cocoa-nut, benzoin-a fragrant gum --and gutta-percha; and valuable timber is yielded by the forests. The minerals of Borneo are especially valuable, and include diamonds, platinum, tin, copper, and excellent coal. The population consists of Dyaks or Aborigines, Malays, who have settled in large numbers on the coasts and navigable rivers for commercial purposes, Chinese, who carry on the mining of the island, and Europeans, chiefly English and Dutch traders.

Much of the island is divided into small independent states, which are governed by native chiefs. The province of Sarawak on the W. coast, is an English settlement. The Dutch have settlements on the S. E. coast and on the S. W. coast, with Benjermassin, Sambasy, and Pontianak, for their stations. Other chief towns are Bruni, or Borneo, on the N. W. coasts, formerly the capital of an independent kingdom, Sarawak, on the river Sarawak, 17 m. from the W. coast, the station of the British settlement.

Obs. 2. Labuan, is 6 m. from the N.W. coast and 30 m. N. of Borneo. It was ceded to Great Britain in 1846 by the Sultan of Bruni. Its population consists of about 5000, of whom only some 50 are Whites. The area of the island is about 45 sq. m. It contains a good seaport and valuable coal mines. Its chief town is Victoria where the English colony has its head-quarters.

Obs. 3. The S. Natuna, Natuna, and Anamba Islands, are three small groups which lie between Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. They have no claims to any further description here.

iii. The Celebes Group lies E. of Borneo, and is separated from it by the Macassar Strait. It consists of the large irregular island of Celebes, Peling, the small Zulla Group, Boeton, and numerous other islets.

Obs. 1. Celebes has for its mean lat. about 2° S. and mean long. 122° E. Its area is about 66,700 sq. m., and its population 473,963. The surface is mountainous; the climate, though hot, is healthy, and the soil fertile. The animal productions include the ansa, a savage kind of antelope, about the size of a goat, which is peculiar to these islands, the turtle, and the trepang, or sea-cucumber. Chief among its vegetable productions arè rice, maize, sago, sugar, tobacco, cotton, and Macassar oil. The minerals comprise diamonds, gold, iron, sulphur, salt, &c. The people belong to the aboriginal races of the Bugis, who are very intelligent, and much given to commercial pursuits, and the Horaforas, who occupy the central regions of the island. The island is under the control of the Dutch, who have extensive establishments at Menado and Kema, in the N., and Macassar in the S. W. The commerce of Celebes includes the export of edible birds' nests, cotton, pearls, and tortoise shell.

Obs. 2. Peling and the Zulla Group on the E.; Boeton, and Moena on the S.E.; and the numerous islets fringing the Celebes coasts, do not call for particular description here.

iv. The Moluccas, or Spice Islands are a widely spread group between the Celebes, and New Guinea, the chief of which are Mortai, Almahera or Gilolo, Batchian, Obi, Buru, Amboyna, Ceram, and the Kei Isles. Their aggregate area is about 42,900 sq. m., and their population 331,879, consisting chiefly of Malays, Papuans, Chinese, Japanese, and a few Europeans. The group is very fertile and yields nutmegs, cloves, mace, cinnamon, pepper, and other spices; fine fruits, cocoa, sago, and valuable timber. These islands belong chiefly to the Dutch, who have stations on most of them; and notably at Amboyna, the chief seat of their power in this region.

v. The Sunda Islands form the base of the Malaysian Peninsula, and lie between the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean. They comprise Sumatra and the numerous small islands on each side of it, viz. Banca, Billiton, &c., on the E.; Hog Island, Nias, Steen Islands, Mantawi Islands, and Nassau Islands on the W. Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sandalwood, Flores, Ombay, Wetter, Timor, and a large number of small islands and islets in the vicinity of these.

Obs. 1. Sumatra, the largest and most westerly island of the group, is about 1000 m. long from N. W. to S. E., has an area of 177,000 sq. m., and a population of

1 Moluccas, an Arabic word "The Royal Isles." The name at first was only given to those islands of the group upon which the chief rulers

of the Archipelago resided.

2 Clove, from French Clou-a nail.

more than 2,000,000, who are chiefly Malays, and Papuans. A lofty mountain chain which culminates in Indrapura Peak (12,140 ft.) traverses the island near the W. coast; but the central and E. parts are undulating and flat, fairly well watered, and in places densely wooded. The climate, except on the mountains, is hot, unpleasant, and insalubrious. The soil is fertile, producing pepper, ginger, nutmegs, cloves, mace, rice, sago, cocoa-nuts, betel-nuts, fine fruits, camphor, and gutta-percha; hard, and sweet woods, abound in the forests. Sumatra is also rich in minerals, yielding gold, copper, tin, sulphur, and coal. The Dutch are paramount in the island, and have important settlements at Padang, and Bencoolen on the W. coast, also at Lambourg, and Palembang. The principal native states are Acheen on the N. coast, and Siak.

Obs. 2. Java, the head-quarters of the Dutch in the East, and the most populous and important island in Malaysia, lies S. E. of Sumatra, and is separated from it by the Sunda Strait. Its N. shores are washed by the Java Sea, and its S. shores by the Indian Ocean. Its area with Madura, is 51,974 sq. m., and its population 17,855,840. The island is traversed from E. to W. by a chain of volcanic mountains which culminate in Mt. Semeroe (12,150 ft.) and includes many active cones. The climate is excessively hot in the plains, but generally healthy; earthquakes and thunderstorms are very frequent, and the rainy season lasts six months, from October to April. The soil is fertile, producing rice, maize, sago, coffee, sugar, tobacco, indigo, spices, and vegetable oils. The forests produce excellent teak, and there grows the deadly upas tree. The sea-cucumber, edible birds'nests, and betel-nuts, are also among the Javanese productions. The people are Malays, and are more civilised than the dwellers on any other of these islands. Their religion is a mixture of Mohammedanism and Buddhism, but Christianity also exists among them. By far the greater part of the island belongs to the Dutch, whose capital is Batavia, a town of 135,000 inhabitants, at the N.W. corner of the island. It is an excellent port, and a most important centre of commerce. Surabaya (130,000) at the N.E. corner, and Samarang (22,000) on the N. coast, are the other chief towns, and most flourishing trading depôts.

Obs. 3. Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sandalwood, Flores, Timor, and the other Sunda Islands, stretch E. from Java in a long chain, being separated from one another merely by narrow straits. They are all important, yielding products similar to those of Java, and being occupied by kindred tribes. Timor and Solor have fallen very much under Portuguese influence, but the rest are chiefly Dutch.

II. AUSTRALASIA.1

Under the term Australasia is comprised here the island or continent, Australia, Tasmania or Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand, together with the small islands in their respective vicinities.

i. AUSTRALIA.2

Latitude. Between 10° 39′ and 39° 11′ S. lat. Longitude. Between 113° and 154° E. long. About 3,000,000 sq. m.

Estimated area.

Obs. Australia, the largest island in the world, is sometimes called the sixth and smallest continent. Its greatest length, from É. to W., is 2,400 m.; its greatest breadth, from N. to S. 2,000 m.

POSITION AND BOUNDARIES.-Australia lies S. by E. of Asia. It is bounded on the

N. by the Timor Sea, Arafura Sea, and Torres Strait; E. by the S. Pacific Ocean; S. by Bass Strait, and the Indian Ocean; and W. by the Indian Ocean.

1 Called also "Melanesia," in reference to its dark-skinned peoples.

2 Australia (Lat. Australis "South,")= "the Southern Land."

COASTS.-These have an estimated extent of 8000 m., and except on the N. are not deeply indented. The chief features are the 1. Capes, Stewart, Arnhem, and York on the N.; Melville, Tribulation, Byron, and Howe, on the E.; Otway, Nelson, Northumberland, Jervis, Spencer, Catastrophe, Radstock, Adieu, and Leeuwin on the S.; Cuvier, North West Lévêque, and Londonderry on the W.

Obs. The extreme points are Cape York on the N., Cape Howe on the S. E., and Cape Leeuwin on the S. W.

2. Inlets, Cambridge Gulf, Van Diemen Gulf, and the Gulf of Carpentaria, on the N.; Princess Charlotte, Trinity, Hervey, Moreton Bays, and Port Jackson, on the E.; Port Philip, Encounter Bay, St. Vincent Gulf, Spencer Gulf, Great Australian Bight, and Flinders Bay on the S.; Geographe Bay, Shark Bay, Exmouth Gulf, King George Sound, Collier Bay, and Admiralty Gulf, on the W. 3. Straits, Torres, on the N., between York Peninsula, and New Guinea; Bass, on the S. between the mainland and Tasmania.

Obs. The Great Barrier Reef, a coral belt of some 1,200 m. long, skirts the N.E. coast, at a distance varying from 20 to 150 m., and forms a natural and most effective breakwater for the swell of the Pacific.

ISLANDS. The islands adjacent to Australia are neither numerous nor important. The chief of them are Bathurst, and Melville off the N.E.; Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria; Fraser, Norton, and Stradbroke off the E.; Kangaroo off the S.; Dirk Hartog, and Dorre off the W.

SURFACE.-The surface generally has but a small elevation above the sea, especially in the interior, which consists of vast barren or grassy plains. In the E. and S.E. there is a mountainous belt, which extends about 150 m. from the coast towards the interior. There is a belt of highland country, skirting parts of the W. coast, and another, of smaller proportions, in the centre. The chief ranges of the

1. Eastern Belt, going from S. to N. are the Australian Alps or Muniong Mts., which embrace Mt. Kosciusko (7,176 ft.) the highest point in Australia; the Blue Mts., which culminate in Beemarang (4,100 ft.), the Liverpool Range which runs E. and W. and culminates at its E. extremity in Mt. Sea View (6,000 ft.), the New England Range which has for its loftiest summit Ben Lomond (5,000 ft.), Macpherson Range which branches off E. and terminates on the coast in Point Danger: its culminating point is Mt. Lindsay (5,700 ft.). Then come the Mountains of Queensland which comprise a Coast Range consisting of a large series of sinall ranges, and an inner mountainous district which terminates on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria (see Queensland, p. 241). 2. The South Eastern Belt, which comprises a Western continuation of the Australian Alps, (in their entirety known as "The Great Divide,") and the Grampian Mts., a series of transverse ranges running N. and S. at the W. end of the Great Divide, and culminating in Mt. William (3,825 ft.). 3. The Central Highlands, which run, with occasional interruptions from the S. to the N. coast; they comprise Flinders Range, which runs N. and W. from the E. shore of Spencer Gulf, and embraces several summits-e.g. Mt. Remarkable, Mt. Arden, and Mt. Serle—of 3,000 ft. high; the Gawler Range, Warburton Range, Stuart Range, Musgrave Range, Mac Donnell Range, with Mt. Giles (3,800 ft.), and Ashburton Range.

4. The Western Belt, which going from S. to N. comprises the Darling, Smith,

The

Herschel, and Victoria Ranges, which lie near, and follow the coast. highest point is Mt. William, (3,600 ft.) in the Darling Range; the Lockyer Range with an outlying peak, Mt. Augustus (3,580 ft.), and Hamersley Range, culminating in Mt. Bruce (3,800 ft.).

PLAINS.-The interior of Australia, so far as it is known, appears to consist of a succession of monotonous pastures, low hills, and desert plains, which are either altogether barren, or covered by patches of thin grass, or long belts of "scrub." Between the Australian Alps, Blue Mountains, etc., and the Pacific Ocean, for a distance of 2,000 m., stretches an uninterrupted succession of well-watered and fertile valleys, well adapted for agriculture, and where European grains and fruits are grown in abundance. The “Riverine District, "between the rivers Darling and Murray, comprises the vast pastures of New South Wales which are divided off into "sheep runs " of great extent.

DRAINAGE.-Owing to the absence of great mountains in the interior, there is a corresponding absence of great rivers, and consequently a very inadequate supply of water. Only two of the larger rivers flow throughout the year, and many of the streams in the interior never reach the sea at all, but are either dried up or lost in marshes and swamps. Such drainage as does reach the sea flows down from slopes which turn respectively towards the N., the E., the S. W., and the W. The chief draining agents are the 1. Rivers, which flow down the

a. N. Slope into the

(a). Timor Sea, viz., The Victoria, Daly, Adelaide, and S. Alligator.

(b). The Gulf of Carpentaria, viz., The Roper, Albert, Flinders, Van Diemen, and Mitchell.

b. E. Slope, into the Pacific Ocean, viz., the Burdekin, Fitzroy, Burnett, Brisbane, Clarence, Hawkesbury, and Shoalhaven.

c. S. E. Slope, into the Indian Ocean, viz., The Murray or Galba, and the Broughton.

d. W. Slope, into the Indian Ocean, viz., the Blackwood, Swan, Murchison, Gascoyne, Ashburton, Fortescue, Yule, and De Grey.

Obs. 1. Much of the drainage from the W. slope of the E. Mountain Belt, and from the E. slope of the Central Belt is continental, finding its way through Cooper's Creek or Barcoo River on the one hand, and through the Neale or Alberga River on the other into Lake Eyre.

Obs. 2. The Murray, the most important river in Australia, rises among the W. defiles of the Australian Alps, flows N.W., W., and S. E., over a course of 1,120 m., and falls into the Indian Ocean through Encounter Bay. Throughout the greater part of its course it forms the boundary between the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria. Its chief tributaries are the Goulburn, and Loddon on the left bank; the Murrumbidgee, enlarged by the Lachlan, and the Darling or Callewatta or Barwan with its affluents the Condamine and Warrego from the N., and the Castlereagh, and Bogan from the S., on the right bank. The Murray is navigable for small steamers throughout the greater part of its course.

2. Lakes, which form a characteristic feature of this Continent. They lie mainly in three districts, viz., in

a. Western Victoria, where the chief instances are Lakes Alexandria, and Tyrrell.

b. South Australia, the most important lake district, which comprises Lakes Torrens, Gairdner, Eyre, and others.

c. West Australia, where they are numerous and small, and where the chief examples are Lakes Moore, and Austin.

Obs. Most of the Australian lakes are shallow and salt.

CLIMATE.-Dryness is the characteristic quality of the Australian climate; but at the same time it is extremely healthy, is said to resemble the climate of Madeira, and to be everywhere, except on the N. coast, favourable to the European constitution. The mean annual temperature at Brisbane, the metropolis, is 68° Fahr. The highlands in the S. E. region enjoy a more temperate climate, but the climate of the desert interior is probably the hottest in the world.

PRODUCTIONS.-The Australian fauna is special to that continent, and is marked by the low organisation of its indigenous animals. Of the 150 species of mammals, no less than 105 belong to the marsupials or pouched animals, the chief of which are the kangaroos, opossums, and bandycoots: ruminants, pachyderms, and quadrumans are entirely absent from the aboriginal fauna. The wild dog ("dingo"), the terror of the flocks, is almost the only carnivorous animal of the continent. Of birds there is greater variety, and they are remarkable for the beauty of their plumage. The most characteristic species are the emus, cockatoos, paroquets, pigeons, and pelicans. Lizards and snakes are numerous, and the rivers under the tropics are tenanted by large crocodiles. Almost all animals useful to man have been imported into Australia within the last century, and have thriven and multiplied wonderfully.

The flora, like the fauna of Australia, is special to the country. The trees and shrubs are mostly evergreens, and food plants are not numerous. The most characteristic trees are gum-trees (Eucalypti), which are found on the Eastern maritime slopes, where they attain large dimensions, and the red cedar (Cedrela Australis). The chief objects of culture are cereals, maize, fruits, sugar, coffee, arrowroot, tobacco, olives, spices, etc. The mineral wealth of Australia is incalculable, comprising gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, tin, coal, etc.

PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE.—The Population in 1876 was 1,965,876, of whom all but some 55,000 Maoris, are of European and Chinese origin. The Maoris, or Aboriginal Australians, belong to the family of Oceanic negroes, and, generally speaking, have resisted the efforts which have been made to civilise them. They have no fixed habitation, and their numbers are rapidly decreasing. The Language of the colonists is English.

POLITICAL CONDITION.-Australia belongs to the British Empire, and comprises 5 separate colonies, viz.: 1. Queensland; 2. New South Wales; 3. Victoria; 4. South Australia; 5. Western Australia.

Obs. The nearest port of Australia is 11,000 m. distant from England.