The estimated total value of the rateable property of the colony in 1884 was 103,795,8321., and the annual value 8,098,8147.

Area and Population.

The colony, first settled in 1835, formed for a time a portion of New South Wales, bearing the name of the Port Phillip district. It was erected in 1851-by Imperial Act of Parliament, 13 and 14 Victoria, cap. 59-into a separate colony, and called Victoria. The colony has an area of 87,884 square miles, or 56,245,760 acres, about 14th part of the whole area of Australia. The colony is divided into 37 counties, varying in area from 109 to 236,778 square miles.

The growth of the population, as shown by the censuses of ten successive periods, by the estimated population on the 30th June, 1885, is exhibited in the following table:

3rd April, 1881

30th June, 1885 (estimated) 517,726 | 455,677 973,403

88-0

The following table gives a summary of the population of Victoria, according to the census taken on the 3rd April, 1881 :

During the last decade there has been a large decrease in the number of the Chinese and aborigines.

The following are the births, deaths, and marriages in the colony for each of the five years from 1880 to 1884:-,

In 1884, 1,238 births or 4-29 per cent. of the whole were illegitimate.

The progress of population of the colony since its establishment was greatly aided by immigration, which, however, declined in recent years, on the nearly complete withdrawal of the system of 'assisted' immigration, which reached its highest point in 1863, when 8,622 persons-3,213 males and 5,409 females-were brought into the colony at the expense partly or wholly of the State. In the 37 years from 1838 to the end of 1874, more than 167,000 immigrants received assistance from the public funds for defraying their passage to the colony. The total immigration into and emigration from the colony of Victoria was as follows in each of the six years

or

At the date of the last census 96 per cent. of the population were British subjects by birth; native Victorians numbered 499,199, 58 per cent. of the population; natives of the Australian colonies, 39,861; of England and Wales, 147,453; of Ireland, 86,733; of Scotland, 48,153.

Of the total population in 1881, 108,919 were directly engaged in agriculture; in pastoral pursuits, 13,731; commercial, 23,559; mining, 36,066; in entertaining or clothing,' 41,712; contractors, artisans and mechanics, 46,883; domestic servants, 24,723; 'public business,' 9,901.

About one-half of the total population of Victoria live in towns. In 1871 the town population numbered 361,356, and in 1881, 434,467. Inclusive of the suburbs the populations of the principal towns were as follows in 1881: Melbourne, with suburbs, 282,947 (1885, 325,000), nearly one-third of the population of the colony;

Ballarat, 41,087; Sandhurst, 38,420; Geelong, 20,682; Castlemaine, 8,600.

The average density of the population was 98 per square mile in 1881.

In 1884, 695 persons were committed for trial and 408 were convicted.

Trade and Commerce.

The total value of the imports and exports of Victoria, including bullion and specie, in each of the five years from 1880 to 1884, was as follows:

:

The most important, in value, of the imports into the colony are woollen manufactures, live stock, sugar, cottons, apparel and haberdashery, timber, iron and steel, coal and tea.

The staple articles of export from the colony are wool, gold, and grain and flour. The total exports of wool amounted to 98,467,369 Ibs., valued at 5,810,1487. in 1881, to 108,028,601 lbs., valued at 5,902,5741. in 1882, to 109,616,710 lbs., valued at 6,054,6137. in 1883, and to 119,502,240 lbs., valued at 6,342,8777. in 1884. The export of gold coin and bullion was 3,705,3377. in 1882, 3,916,5391. in 1883, and 1,010,2957. in 1884. The export of grain and flour was of the value of 966,4871. in 1882, 674,1297. in 1883, and 1,762,0077. in 1884. Among the minor articles of export from the colony are leather and skins, tallow and preserved and salted provisions.

The trade of Victoria is mainly with Great Britain and the British colonies in Australasia. The commercial intercourse of Victoria with the United Kingdom (exclusive of gold) is shown in the subjoined table, for each of the five years from 1880 to 1884 :

The staple article of exports from Victoria to the United Kingdom is wool. The exports of wool to Great Britain were as follows in each of the five years from 1880 to 1884:

Among the minor articles of merchandise exported to the United Kingdom are grain and flour of the value of 853,0701.; tallow, of the value of 204,4337.; leather, of the value of 320,1417.; and preserved meat, of the value of 60,1767., in 1884.

The British imports into Victoria embrace nearly all articles of home manufacture, chief among them iron, wrought and unwrought, of the value of 927,0617.; woollen goods, of the value of 834,1837.; apparel and haberdashery, of the value of 494,7651.; and cotton goods, of the value of 1,035,5567., in 1884.

At the end of 1884 Victoria had 11 banks, with notes in circulation 1,391,6447., deposits 28,417,0447., the total liabilities being 30,186,3367.; gold and silver, coined and in bars, 5,014,7497.; landed property, 1,037,8447; total debts due to banks, 29,487,9691.; total assets, 36,018,8667.

In 1884 there entered the ports of the colony 1,986 vessels of 1,569,162 tons, of which 385 of 632,888 tons were British; and cleared 1,989 vessels of 1,582,425 tons, of which 367 of 618,591 tons were British.

Since the discovery of gold, in 1851, large quantities have been exported from Victoria. In the ten years from 1852 to 1861 the exports of gold amounted to upwards of two millions of ounces in weight per annum, but subsequently there was a gradual decline, till the year 1867, when the exports fell to under a million and a half ounces. The subjoined statement gives, from official returns, the estimated quantities of gold, with value, obtained in Victoria in each of the five years from 1880 to 1884:

The total quantity of gold raised from 1851 to 1884 is estimated at 52,992,768 ozs., of an aggregate value of 211,971,0721. The estimated number of miners at work on the gold-fields at the end of 1884 was 28,430, or 3,191 less than the estimate of the previous year, of whom 5,359 were Chinese.

Of the total area of Victoria, about 22,000,000 acres are either alienated or in process of alienation. Of the remainder only about 9,000,000 acres are at present suitable for agriculture; mountain forests occupy 12,000,000 acres; land covered with smaller scrub, 11,500,000 acres; State forests, 650,000 acres ; timber and other reserves, over 900,000 acres; auriferous land, nearly 1,500,000 acres; and roads, over 1,000,000 acres. There were 2,323,493 acres of land in cultivation in the colony in March 1885. Of this extent 1,096,354 acres were under wheat, 187,710 acres under oats, 62,273 acres under barley, 38,763 acres under potatoes, 339,725 acres under hay. In addition to these, green forage and permanent artificial grasses covered 332,859 acres, vines covered 9,042 acres, and gardens and orchards occupied an extent of 23,015 acres. The produce of wheat was 10,433,146 bushels, or 9 bushels to the acre; that of oats, 4,392,695, or nearly 23 bushels to the acre; that of barley, 1,082,430, or over 17 bushels to the acre; that of potatoes, 161,119 tons, or over 4 tons to the acre; and that of hay, 371,046 tons, or more than 1 ton to the acre. The total area under cultivation has more than doubled, and the area of wheat more than trebled in the last ten years.

In the year ended March 1885, there were in the colony 293,846 horses, 1,287,945 head of cattle, 10,637,412 sheep, and 234,347 pigs.

The total number of manufactories, works, &c., in March 1885 was 2,856, of which 1,340 used steam or gas engines, with an aggregate horse-power of 18,949; the number of hands employed was 49,393; and the lands, buildings, machinery and plant was valued at 10,200,0037. The manufactures are almost entirely for home consumption.

There were 4,020 miles of telegraph lines, comprising 8,055 miles of wire, open at the end of 1884. The number of telegraphic despatches in the year 1884 was 1,594,296. The revenue from telegraphs was 89,0771. in the year 1884. At the end of the year 1884 there were 401 telegraph stations.

The railways in Victoria all belong to the State. There were 1,624 miles of railway completed at the end of June 1884. Besides these, 71 miles were in progress. Under the Railway Construction Act, 1884, 62 new lines of an aggregate length of 1,2011⁄2 miles were authorised. The completed lines are distributed as follows: