NEW ORLEANS (287), the capital and largest city of Louisiana, is
beautifully situated on both sides of the Mississippi, 107 m. from its
mouth, with a curved river-frontage of 10 m.; is the second cotton port
of the world, and the greatest sugar-market in the United States; is the
chief trade emporium of the surrounding States, and the main outlet for
the produce of the Mississippi Valley, which includes cotton, sugar,
tobacco, wheat, and salt.

NEW SOUTH WALES (1,132), the "mother colony" of Australia, fronts
the Pacific for 700 m. on the E. between Queensland (N.) and Victoria
(S.), is 21/2 times the size of Great Britain and Ireland; mountain ranges
(including the Australian Alps) running parallel with, and from 20 to 100
m. distant from, the coast, divide the narrow littoral plains from the
great plains of the W. and the interior, and are the source of many large
rivers (e. g. the Darling) flowing E. and W.; the climate is warm and
everywhere healthy; rain falls plentifully on the coast lands and
mountains, but is scarce in the W. The mineral wealth of the colony is
very great--gold and silver are found in large quantities, as also
copper, tin, iron, &c., but coal is the most abundant and valuable
mineral product. Cereals, fruits, sugar, tobacco, &c., are cultivated,
but in small quantities compared with the immense output of wool, the
chief product of the country. SYDNEY (q. v.) is the capital and
chief port of the colony. Government is vested in a Crown appointed
Governor and two Houses of Parliament (triennial and paid). Education is
free and compulsory. Established in 1788, the colony was, up to 1840,
used as a settlement for transported criminals. In 1851 the great gold
discoveries started the colony on its prosperous career.

NEW YORK (5,997), the foremost State in the American Union in
population, wealth, commerce, and manufactures, the twenty-fifth in area,
and is about the size of England; is triangular in shape, with a
north-western base on Lakes Erie and Ontario, and an eastern apex
reaching the Atlantic between Connecticut (N.) and New Jersey (S.).
Manhattan, Staten, and Long Island are the most important of many islands
belonging to the State. The land slopes from the mountainous E. to the
shores of the great western lakes, and is pleasantly diversified with
mountain, valley and plain, forest and river. The Hudson, Oswego,
Genesee, and Niagara (with its famous waterfall) are the principal
river