ea of country of great fertility and
productiveness. The Murray River alone drains an area of 500,000
square miles, one sixth of the whole continent, a great part of which
is of exceeding richness. In these fertile parts irrigation by
artesian wells has been tried, and always with great success. And it
is thought that almost the whole continent can be regained for
agriculture, or at least for sheep-pasturing, by similar means; for
even in the arid and so-called desert parts of the interior, there is
very little soil that is not really fertile, for all of it is covered
with thick brushwood. Moisture alone is needed to make it bear crops
abundantly. And this dryness of the atmosphere which prevails
throughout the whole continent is not without its compensations. It
renders the climate exceedingly healthful.

AUSTRALIA A CONTINENT OF PECULIARITIES

Australia has MANY PECULIARITIES. It has only one large river, and
even that in summer becomes a series of isolated pools. It has no high
mountain range, its principal mountains being only a series of
ramparts marking off the lower coast lands from the interior plateau.
Again, its native quadrupeds are entirely different from those of
other continents, being almost all, whether little or big,
"marsupials," or "pouch-bearers," like the kangaroo. Its birds are
mostly songless. Its flowers, for the most part, have no scent. Its
trees are leaved vertically and cast no shade. Its indigenous
inhabitants have made no progress toward civilisation. When Europeans
first came to the country they found no native animal that could be
put to any use, nor any native fruit, vegetable, or grain that could
be utilised for food. Still, all European domestic animals thrive
abundantly in the country, and so do all European fruits, grasses,
grains, and vegetables. The English rabbits, indeed, have become a
terrible pest. As many as 25,000,000 of them have been killed in a
year without any apparent diminution in their numbers. Over $1,000,000
a year has at times been spent to exterminate them, all to no effect.

VICTORIA

Victoria, the smallest of the Australian colonies, had until recently
the largest population (June, 1897, 1,177,304) and also the largest
trade. In both respects, however, it is at present surpassed by New
South Wales. Victoria has owed its past pre-eminence to its GOLD
PRODUCTION. Gold was discovered in the colony in 1851, and for years
the output of the precious mineral was no