also employed as laborers.

=The Commonwealth of Australia.=--The commonwealth of Australia consists
of the various states of Australia together with Tasmania. Their
position corresponds very closely to that of Mexico and Central America,
and the climate and products are not unlike. A considerable part of
Australia is a desert, and a large area is too arid for the production
of bread-stuffs; the eastern coast, however, receives abundant rains.

Australia produces nearly one-third of the wool-clip of the world. On
account of the climate, the quality of the wool, much of it merino, is
excellent. More than half the clip comes from New South Wales.
Two-thirds of the wool goes to Great Britain to be manufactured; nearly
all the rest is purchased by France, Germany, and Belgium. Less than two
per cent. is sold to the United States.

Since the introduction of cold-storage plants in steamships, Australia
has become a heavy exporter of meat. Areas long unproductive are now
cattle-ranges; mutton constitutes the heaviest shipment. Inasmuch as the
transportation is almost wholly by water, the cost is very light, and
the mutton can be sold to London dealers at less than four cents per
pound.

[Illustration: THE COMMERCE OF THE PACIFIC]

[Illustration: AUSTRALIA]

Wheat is grown mainly for home consumption. Grapes for wine and for
raisins are good-paying crops in Victoria and New South Wales. Both
products find a ready market in Great Britain. Australian claret is a
strong competitor of California claret for public favor, and the two are
similar in character. Cane-sugar is grown in the moist regions of
Queensland; it is the chief supply of the commonwealth and the
neighboring islands. The forests produce an abundance of hard woods, but
practically no building-timber. Jarrah wood paving-blocks are an
important export. British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon supply much
of the building-timber.

Gold has been the chief mineral product since the settlement of the
country. The mints convert the metal into coin. As a rule the value of
the exports exceeds that of the imports, and the excess swells the
amount of metal exported. The most productive mines are in the district
of Ballarat. Coal is abundant on the east coast, and a considerable part
is sold to California, and more to Asian ports. Tin is extensively mined
in Tasmania.

More than fifteen thousand miles of railway have been built to carry the
traffic of the country. Most