] and BALLARAT EAST, a city and a town of Grenville
county, Victoria, Australia, 74 m. by rail W.N.W. of Melbourne. The city
and Ballarat East, separated only by the Yarrowee Creek, are distinct
municipalities. Pop. of Ballarat (1901) 25,448, of Ballarat East, 18,262.
Ballarat is the second city and the chief gold-mining centre of the state.
The alluvial gold-fields were the richest ever opened up, but as these
deposits have become exhausted the quartz reefs at deep levels have been
exploited, and several mines are worked at depths exceeding 2000 ft. The
city is the seat of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops. It has a number of
admirable public buildings, while, among several parks and recreation
grounds, mention must be made of the fine botanical garden, 750 acres in
extent, [v.03 p.0269] where, in Lake Wendouree, pisciculture is carried on
with great success. The school of mines is the most important in Australia
and is affiliated to the university of Melbourne. Ballarat is an important
railway centre and its industries include woollen-milling, brewing,
iron-founding, flour-milling and distilling. Owing to its elevation of 1438
ft. it has an exceptionally cool and healthy climate. Although the district
is principally devoted to mining it is well adapted for sheep-farming, and
some of the finest wool in the world is produced near Ballarat. The
existence of the towns is due to the heavy immigration which followed upon
the discovery of the gold-fields in 1851. In 1854, in their resistance of
an arbitrary tax, the miners came into armed conflict with the authorities;
but a commission was appointed to investigate their grievances; and a
charter was granted to the town in 1855. In 1870 Ballarat was raised to the
rank of a city.

BALLAST (O. Swed. _barlast_, perhaps from _bar_, bare or mere, and _last_,
load), heavy material, such as gravel, stone or metal, placed in the hold
of a ship in order to immerse her sufficiently to give adequate stability.
In botany "ballast-plants" are so-called because they have been introduced
into countries in which they are not indigenous through their seeds being
carried in such ballast. A ship "in ballast" is one which carries no paying
cargo. In modern vessels the place of ballast is taken by water-tanks which
are filled more or less as required to trim the ship. The term is also
applied to materials like gravel, broken slag, burnt clay, &c., used to
form the bed in which the sleepers or tie