QUEENSLAND is that vast portion of the Australian continent lying between 10° 40' and 29° S. lat., and 138° and 153° 30' E. long., and embracing an area of 678, 600 square miles. Queensland, although the youngest of the Australian colonies, having only been erected into an independent colony in December, 1859, has made such rapid progress, and has developed such immense pastoral, agricultural and mineral wealth, that it would be hard to say whether in a very few years she will not outstrip many of her older competitors in the race for supremacy in wealth and prosperity. As it is, she has progressed far more rapidly than any of her sister colonies, if we except, as we must, Victoria, that rose into importance, under exceptional circumstances however, as it were in a single night, thus almost making the fabled city built by the genii of the lamp into a hard prosaic fact.

Victoria rose into eminence through the fortuitous circumstance of the discovery of teeming goldfields, but Queensland has risen by steady perseverance in the one direction of turning to the best account the natural advantages of soil, climate and mineral treasure with which she was favoured; and although in a work of this nature it might be out of place to refer to the past action of her political leaders, it is not too much to say that to the steady adherence to the one course of self-dependence and liberal expenditure in opening up the country of late Governments very much of the financial prosperity of the colony is due, while not less to the generous system of education initiated and carried out of late years is due the high moral tone and independent and enterprising spirit which characterise her people; and with both of these happy results no person, not even his political opponents, can object to the name of the Hon. Chas. Lilley, a gentleman to whose statesmanship is due much of the happy termination of the great financial crisis of 1866. when the then struggling colony was threatened with total collapse, if not extinction.

But although Queensland has made such rapid progress, much still remains to be done before she attains the bright height of prosperity which seems naturally to await her. Not a tithe of the vast territory available for settlement has been taken up. Millions on millions of acres of country are, as yet. practically unknown—millions of acres, now wild bush, but wait the plough and the harrow to gladden them with golden grain, and her mineral resources are, as yet, comparatively unknown. But her liberal land laws, by which almost anyone may obtain a holding, and the inducement she holds out to prospectors of mineral wealth, silently, yet surely, point upward to the inevitable “must be,” when an extended immigration, comparatively free ports, an enterprising population, and a liberal Government have borne their crop to fruition.

Of the earlier history of Queensland, before it was established into a settled district, but little is known, the published records being few and meagre. The earliest mention of this locality is made in the narrative of Cook's voyage round the world, and the prabability is, therefore, that the Endeavour was the first ship that entered Moreton bay, dropping her anchor there about the 15th May, 1770. Cook entered by what is now known as the N. passage, and gave the name to the vast expanse of water which lay before him, bounded by the faintly-seen low-lying shores of the mainland, of Moreton bay, in honour of the Earl of Moreton, then president of the Royal Society, to whose endeavours was owing the sending out of an expedition to the South seas, both for the purpose of further discovery, and that correct observations might be taken of the transit of Venus at Otaheite. Although Cook entered and named the bay, it does not appear that he took any pains to explore it. and in his report he states that there was no real ground for supposing that the bottom of the bay entered into a river. The next navigator who entered Moreton bay was Captain Flinders, in 1799, and although he spent some little time there, he too failed to discover the Brisbane river, being deceived in its character by the islands, to which he gave their present name, Fishermen’s islands, at its mouth. He says, “ However mortifying the conviction might be, it was then an ascertained fact that no river of importance intersects the E. coast between the 24th and 39th degrees of S. latitude.” Flinders anchored abreast of the opening between the mainland and Bribie island, which he called Pumice Stone river, imagining it to be the mouth of a stream, and giving it that name on account of the volcanic matter on its shores. In 1823 Mr. Oxley, then surveyor-general of New South Wales, left Sydney for the purpose of further exploring the coast N. of Port Macquarie, and after discovering and naming the Tweed river, entered Port Curtis on the 6th November, discovered the Boyne river, and after encountering a severe storm, reached Moreton bay on the 29th of the same month, anchored within 150 yards of the shore in Pumice Stone river, and picked up two shipwrecked mariners named Pamphlet, and Parsons, who had been living with the blacks, and who told Oxley of the existence of a large river at the head of the bay. This river, the Brisbane, so called after His Excellency Sir Thomas Brisbane, was navigated by Oxley in a whale-boat, for 50 miles from its mouth, and he speaks in glowing terms of the beauty of its scenery, of the excellence of its soil, and of the magnificence of its pines and timber generally. He also discovered and named the Bremer. Mr. Oxley's recommendations to the Government resulted in the formation of a penal settlement at Redcliff point (Humpy Bong), but that place being found to be ineligible, the settlement was removed to the banks of the Brisbane, the camp being fixed near the site of the present custom-house. This settlement was governed by a military officer styled the “commandant,” whose rule was absolutely arbitrary and despotic. The “convict period” extended over 18 years, namely from 1824 to 1812, and during that period there were, 8 commandants, namely, Captains Millar, Bishop, Logan, Clunie, Fyans, Major Cotton, and Lieutenants Gravett and Gorman. One of these, Captain Logan, who was somewhat notorious for his severity, was murdered near Limestone (now Ipswich), it is said by the blacks, although old residents, who were contemporaneous with him, say otherwise, and that it was at the hands of convicts who had escaped into the bush that he met his death. The prisoners were employed in various occupations, some in making roads, others in clearing and burning off others in building, and so on; the discipline was terribly strict, and it may not be generally known that the last flogging administered under the old convict system was inflicted in the archway of the Brisbane Court House. The first buildings erected in Brisbane were the old Hospital (now superseded by the new one near Bowen bridge), the commandant’s quarters, the prisoners’ barracks (now the courthouse), the cells, the parsonage, and the windmill, all of which were completed in 1828. Beside the clearance of nearly all the land now covered by the town of Brisbane, and the storage of its gardens with semi-tropical plants, a large patch of land at what is now called Eagle Farm Flat was brought under cultivation, and planted principally with maize. About 5 years after the foundation of the settlement females were sent up to swell the number of the penal inhabitants, and the building now known as “ the gaol” was erected for their acommodation. Independent of the employment found for them within the walls of the factory, the worst of them were sent to perform field work at Eagle farm, and many strange tales of intrigue and licentiousness were told in which not by any means the lowest people in the settlement were implicated. During the governorship of Captain Logan, Limestone was made a head cattle-station, and a kiln was erected on the ridge of hills which overlook the town, a working party of convicts being employed in burning lime for the numerous buildings then in course of erection at Brisbane. One brick cottage erected on the Limestone plains in 1829 formed the nucleus of the now flourishing town of Ipswich. The communication with the outer world was, at that time, infrequent and uncertain, but in August, 1837, the residents were astonished by the unlooked-for appearance in the bay of the James Watt, the first steamer that had ever visited this fa-roff region, and by which Mr. Petrie, senr., and some others still or lately resident in the district, arrived. In 1839 the settlement was visited by the Sophia Jane, the first steamer that made the voyage out from England, the object of her trip being to convey the female and a portion of the male convicts to Sydney. The same year saw the last batch of convicts landed on the banks of the Brisbane. The agitation which had been commenced years before in the southern part of the colony for the abolition of transportation had forced compliance from the home Government in a matter on which it was found very hard to yield.

On the 27th January, 1842, the first of the Australian Steam Navigation Co.'s vessels (the forerunner of regular steam communication with Sydney) brought the glad intelligence that the settlement was thrown open to free immigrants, and two months afterwards the last of the commandants, Lieut. Gorman, resigned the control of affairs into the hands of Dr. Simpson, who had been appointed acting police magistrate of the district, and who was succeeded, during the same year, by Captain J. C. Wickham, as representative of Government for the district.

This rapid sketch of the old convict time brings us down to the end of 1842, but in order to afford a clear idea of the progress of the district, it is necessary to go back to 1825, in which year Major Lockyer organised a small party, and ascended the Brisbane river, with a view of discovering its extent and capabilities. Passing the Bremer, he succeeded in entering the tributary known as Lockyer’s creek, and be speaks in the highest terms of the capabilities of the soil on both sides the river, describing it as being suited to the cultivation of wheat, barley, oats, maize, fruit, vegetables, grapes particularly, and cotton, coffee, rice, and sugar-cane. In 1827 the celebrated Allan Cunningham made a discovery in the interior of Moreton bay district which proved of the highest importance to the territory. On the 30th of April he started for the Upper Hunter, crossed the dividing range at an altitude of over 3000 feet, skirted the Liverpool plains, discovered the rivers Gwydir and Dumaresq (the latter in 29° South, the dividing line of the district), and afterwards, at a much greater elevation than the level of the Dumaresq, found stretching before him to the northward, the vast and magnificent territory known as the Darling downs, so named by him after Governor Darling. Of this stretch of country he speaks in the following terms:—

“These extensive tracts of clear pastoral country commence about the parallel of 28° S., and stretch to 152° E. Deep ponds, supported by streams from the highlands immediately to the eastward, extend along their central lower flats. The lower grounds thus permanently watered, present fiats which furnish an almost inexhaustible range of cattle pasture at all seasons of the year,—the grass and the herbage generally exhibiting, in the depth of winter, an extreme luxuriance of growth. From these central grounds rise downs of a rich, black, and dry soil, and very ample surface; and as they furnish abundance of grass, and are conveniently watered, yet perfectly beyond the reach of those floods which take place on the flats in a season of rain, they constitute a valuable and sound sheep pasture. We soon reached the base of some hills connected laterally with that stupendous chain of mountains, the bold outline of which we had beheld with so much interest during the three preceding days. These hills we found clothed from their foot upwards with an underwood of the densest description in the midst of which, and especially on the ridges, appeared a pine which I immediately discovered to be the same species as that observed in 1824 on the Brisbane river. Encamped, I ascended a remarkably square-topped mountain, which formed the western termination of these ridges, and from its summit had a very extensive view of the country lying between N. and S. Towards the W.N.E. and N.N.E., we observed a succession of heavily-timbered ridges, extending laterally from the more elevated chain of mountains immediately to the E., which evidently forms the main dividing range in this part of the country, whilst from N.E. to W.. and thence to S., within a range of 20 miles, a most beautifully diversified landscape, made up of hill and dale, woodland and plain, appeared before us.

“In a valley which led to the immediate base of the mountain barrier. I fixed my northernmost encampment, determined, as I had not the means of advancing further, in consequence of the state of my provisions, and the low condition of my horses, to employ a short period in a particular examination of the principal range, to the western base of which we had penetrated from the southward, through a considerable portion of barren interior. In exploring the mountains immediately above our tents, with a view more especially of ascertaining how far a passage could be effected over them to the shores of Moreton bay. a remarkably excavated part of the Main range was discovered, which appeared likely to prove a very practicable passage through these mountains from the eastward.”

In order to solve this problem, Mr. Cunningham undertook two journeys, one from the Logan river, and one from the Limestone hills, and in the second of these he succeeded in discovering a pass available for traffic from the eastern to the western side of the district, and vice versa. He describes the “heads” of the pass as rising like pillars of a gigantic gateway, to a height of 2000 feet on either side of the defile, and the surrounding scenery as magnificent in the extreme. The pass, known as Cunningham’s gap, is situated in 28° 2' 40" S. lat., and 152° 24' 20" E. long. It lies 54 miles S.W. from Brisbane, and 64 miles in a direct line W. of Point Danger, between two peaks of the range called respectively Mount Cordeaux and Mount Mitchell. The Darling downs are about 120 miles in length from N. to S., and have an average width of 50 miles, consisting of the richest pasture land in Australia. The Messrs. Leslie were the pioneers who opened up this valuable territory for squatting purposes, driving flocks of sheep thither in 1840, and the report of their success soon brought hosts of followers. Flock after flock, herd after herd, poured in, until the downs were fully occupied, and the more adventurous and enterprising found themselves compelled to push further out into the unexplored wilderness. The pastoral interest, feeble as it was at that time, has now increased to such an extent, that flocks feed far away to the north of the tropical circle, and runs extend in a northerly and westerly direction beyond the range of former explorations.

Other explorations of great value were made in the early days by Kennedy, Mitchell, Gregory, and Leichhardt. To the memory of the last named attaches a melancholy interest, because of the uncertainty of his fate, although the probabilities are too great to admit of a doubt of his having fallen a victim to his enthusiastic desire to penetrate into the interior of this vast continent.

Sir George Gipps, then Governor-General, paid a visit to Moreton bay in March, 1842, the result of his trip being a decided alteration for the worse in the original designs of Brisbane and Ipswich townships, and the latter place experiences the evil to this day, although Brisbane, from her natural advantages, and from the reservation of a lovely site for a botanical garden, which affords a delightful promenade on the bank of the river, is more fortunate. Although Moreton bay was thrown open as a free settlement in the early part of 1842, it was not until December of that year that the first sale of allotments took place. The auction was held in Sydney, and notwithstanding the severe monetary crisis which the district had suffered during the twelve months previous, the number and value of the purchases proved that the public had some faith in the new country.

In 1843, coal was found to be plentiful on the banks of the River Brisbane, and a seam was opened at Redbank. Other coal seams of great extent have been found on the Burnett river, above Bundaberg, and in various other places. The number of coal mines is 9, of which 1 is at Goodna. 4 at Ipswich, 3 at Maryborough, and 1 at Warwick. The quantity raised for the year ending December, 1873, was 33, 613 tons, valued at £22, 052, and during 1874 1887 tons, valued at £1759, were exported.

In 1843, Moreton bay was first included in a constituency, and allowed to have a voice in the councils of the country, being included in an electorate which extended north of the 30th parallel, and which also comprehended Port Macquarie and the Upper Hunter. Mr. Alexander Macleay was the first gentleman on whom fell the honour of having the votes of the newly franchised district in his favour, he being the successful candidate on the 23rd June. 1843. From this time to 1848, the progress made was steady and progressive, but, in that year, the Rev. Dr. Lang first called the attention of the middle classes of Great Britain to Moreton bay as a fit place for settlement, and himself sent out three ships, the Fortitude, Charley, and Lima, with emigrants, having induced them to settle in the new land by a promise of grants of land. It appears, however, that Dr. Lang had no authority to make such a promise, but that he rather took for granted than obtained the sanction of the colonial Government. Notwithstanding that the people who came out by these ships were disappointed in their expectation of becoming freeholders on lauding, their coming had great good effect on the community, and many of them have risen to be men of wealth, standing, and influence. In 1846, the first Moreton bay newspaper, the Courier, was established. In 1851, the district returned her own one member; in 1853, two members; in 1855, the constituencies were increased to four; and by the electoral bill of 1858 the following were the electoral districts formed:—Brisbane, one member; Burnett, one member; Clarence, one member; Darling downs, two members; Ipswich, one member; Leichhardt, one member; East Moreton, one member; West Moreton, one member. This rapid sketch of the earlier days of what is now the vast and flourishing colony of Queensland, brings us down to the time of separation.

The colony of Queensland comprises what may be fairly called the north-east quarter of the Australian continent, having an area, as has been said, of 678, 600 square miles—of which 81, 150 square miles, or 51, 936. 000 acres, are within the settled districts, and of which 132, 421, 030 acres have been taken up as squatting runs in the unsettled districts—was formerly a portion, or rather perhaps, an appanage of the colony of New South Wales, known as the district of Moreton bay, until, in deference to the generally expressed desire of the residents of the district, who, in truth, received but scant justice at the hands of the Government in far-away Sydney, it was, by Her Majesty letters patent, bearing date 6th June, 1859, erected into a separate colony under the name of Queensland, by which letters patent Sir George Ferguson Bowen (afterwards Governor of New Zealand, and at present Governor of Victoria) was appointed Governor of the new colony. It was not, however, without a severe struggle with the parent colony, in which Dr. Lang and the late William Henry Wilkes took a leading part on the side of separation, that this concession was made to the public wish, and even then the new colony extended westward only so far as the 141st meridian of E. longitude. Since then, however, namely, in 1862, the boundary N. of the 26th parallel of latitude was removed further inland to the 138th meridian, and thus a vast territory of pastoral country was added. This was brought about by the unremitting exertions of Sir G. F. Bowen, who for two years urged on the Imperial authorities the advantage to be derived from the extension, supporting his views by the opinion of Mr. Gregory, the distinguished explorer of Northern Australia, and by those of numerous squatters and explorers, who by private and public expeditions into the unknown country had shown the desirability of this portion of Australia being placed under the jurisdiction of the colony. This new portion, which is washed on the N. by the head waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria, comprehends a vast area of valuable pastoral land, much of which is taken up, including the tract known as the Plains of Promise, and forming part of the pastoral districts of Burke and Gregory.

The first Governor of Queensland, Sir G. F. Bowen, lauded in Brisbane, the capital, on the 10th December, 1859, and the same day a Government Gazette was issued containing the letters patent, and declaring Queensland constituted a colony. The executive and legislative functions were embodied in a Governor and an Executive Council, a Legislative Council, and a Legislative Assembly. The first Parliament opened on the 29th May, 1860, the Ministry being known as the first Herbert Ministry, and consisting of Robert G. W. Herbert. Colonial Secretary; Ratcliffe Pring, Attorney-General; Robert P. Mackenzie, Colonial Treasurer; St. George R. Gore, Secretary for Land and Works; and Maurice C. O’Connell. John J. Galloway, William Hobbs, and John Bramston without portfolios. In 1862, however, Mr. Mackenzie resigned, and was succeeded by Mr. T. De Lacy Moffat as Treasurer, who held the office until his death in 1864. when he was succeeded by Mr. J. P. Bell. In 1865 Mr. Pring resigned, and was succeeded by Mr. J. Bramston as Attorney-General, who in his turn was succeeded by Mr. Charles Lilley, in the same year. The first Herbert Ministry was succeeded in 1866 by the Macalister Ministry, that during the same year by the second Herbert Ministry, and then followed in succession the second Macalister, the Mackenzie, the Lilley, the Palmer, and the third Macalister Ministry, now in office, and consisting of the Hon. Arthur Macalister, Colonial Secretary; the Hon. W. Fryar, Secretary for Public Lands; William Hemmant, Colonial Treasurer; Samuel W. Griffiths, Attorney-General; Henry E. King, Secretary for Public Works and Mines; and George Thom, Postmaster-General. The responsible advisers of the Governor, or Executive Council, are the Ministers for the time being, according to the usage of the British Constitution. The Legislative is composed of His Excellency the Governor, as representing the Crown, a Legislative Council, whose members are nominated by the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, and a Legislative Assembly, elected by the people.

For electoral purposes the colony was redivided into districts, and a redistribution of seats and additional representation made in August, 1872, as an amendment on the Electoral Districts Act of 1867, and the number of the Legislative Assembly was increased to 42 members, the electoral districts being of the same number, and each returning one member. These districts, which are described and their boundaries given in their proper alphabetical order, are as follow:—Brisbane, Wickham, Fortitude valley, Enoggera, South Brisbane, East Moreton, Bulimba, Oxley, Logan, Ipswich, Bremer, Bundanba, Stanley, West Moreton, Fassifern, Toowoomba, Warwick, Aubigny, Darling downs, Northern downs, Dalby, Carnarvon, Maranoa, Balonne, Warrego, Maryborough, Wide bay, Gimpie, Burnett, Mulgrave, Rockhampton, Blackall, Port Curtis, Normanby, Leichhardt, Springsure, Clermont, Mitchell, Bowen, Kennedy, Ravenswood and Burke. The names of the representatives of these electoral districts are given with the descriptions of the districts themselves. The present Legislative Council consists of 28 members, namely: The Hons. Wm, Draper Box, Alfred Hy. Brown, Eyles I. C. Browne, Archibald B. Buchanan, Hy. 15. Fitz., James Gibbon, Fras. T. Gregory, George Harris, Fredk. H. Hart.. John C. Heussler, Wm. Hobbs, Louis Hope, Wm. F. Lambert, Wm. H. Long. John Mullen, Thos. L. Murray-Prior, John F. McDougall, Sir Maurice C. O’Connell (President), Robert Ramsay, Daniel F. Roberts, Gordon Sandeman, Henry George Simpson, James Taylor, Geo. Thorn, Wm. Thornton, Wm. D. White, Wm. Wilson, and Wm. Yaldwyn.

The franchise is practically one of universal suffrage, the only restrictions being that a person must be of twenty-one years of age, and must possess a freehold of worth £100, or pay rent for a house or land of not less than £10 per annum; or bold a pastoral license from the Crown, or be in receipt of £100 per annum as salary, or pay £40 per annum for board and lodging, or £ 10 for lodging alone.

Queensland, with a territory equal to ten times that of England and Wales, and nearly three times that of France, has a salubrious climate and a fertile soil. Along the sea coast, on the banks of the rivers, and in vast tracts in many parts of the interior, she possesses millions of acres of splendid land, some suited to the growth of cereals, some of cotton and sugar, and nearly all of tropical and semitropical fruits. Again, she has tens of millions of acres of country admirably suited to the depasturnge of sheep and cattle, and minerals of many kinds lie scattered beneath the surface from north to south, from east to west. With all this the population is as yet comparatively small, although the natural increase, and the continual influx by means of immigration, which the Government has been and is wise enough to foster, is rapidly swelling it. At the time of separation from New South Wales the imputation was estimated officially at 25, 000 souls, while by the last estimate, made on the 31st December, 1874, it was 163, 517 persons, or 97, 860 males and 65, 657 females, an increase on the previous year, 1873, of 16, 827 persons, or a centesimal ratio of increase of 11. 47. Of these persons 15, 133 were on the various goldfields of the colony, 4847 being women and children, and 2443 Chinese. In such a vast extent of territory are included, of course, great diversities of soil and climate, the northern portion, or that within the tropics, being frequently extremely hot, while the southern part maintains a more equable and temperate climate, although very hot days are often experienced in summer. On the high lands or downs of the southern interior the climate is delightful—moderately cold in winter and comparatively cool in summer. The great drawback to which the colony is subject is an occasional period of drought, although this does not occur so frequently, nor is it so severe as is sometimes imagined. The agriculturist at present devotes his attention to the southern and more settled districts, where sheep and cattle runs long since stocked, cotton and sugar plantations, and agricultural farms, produce in abundance the wool, tallow, hides and other articles which form the staple exports of the colony, and have caused towns with busy populations to be established at the various ports of shipment, and along the lines of road and railway where these exports have to be conveyed. In the districts more remote from the seaboard, or from any proclaimed port, the districts to the extreme north and west, the pioneer squatter finds an ample field for the development of his enterprise and the increase of his capital.

The Governorship of Sir G. F. Bowen, under which the colony so materially advanced, was followed, in August, 1868, by that of Colonel Blackall, who died January 2nd, 1871, and who did much to worthily carry out the progressive views inaugurated by his predecessor. The Marquis of Normanby succeeded him in August of that year, and he, in his turn, was succeeded, in November, 1874, by Sir Maurice O’Connell as Acting-Governor, who administered the Government until the present Governor, Mr. W. Wellington Cairns, was appointed in August, 1875.

Queensland is divided into twelve large districts, viz.:—Moreton (comprising East and West Moreton), Darling downs, Burnett, Port Curtis, Maranoa, Leichhardt, Kennedy, Mitchell, Warrego, Gregory. Burke and Cook.

Naturally, Queensland is divided into four parts, each of which forms a separate watershed. These may be described generally under the heads of the Pacific or East coast portion, being that in which the rivers, rising in the Main range, flow eastward into the Pacific ocean; the Carpentaria, that part drained by rivers flowing northerly into the Gulf of Carpentaria; the Western, or Interior, whose waters have no known outlet into the ocean, and the Darling or Southern district, which is that part of the country where the waters flow into, or form, the northerly tributaries of the Darling river.

One of the most important public works in the colony is the extensive reservoir which has lately been made at Enoggera, and the works connected therewith for the supply of Brisbane with water. The reservoir is situated in Taylor’s range at the head of the Enoggera creek, about 7 miles W. of Brisbane, and has an area of 180 acres of water, the contents when full being 1, 000, 000, 000 gallons, or sufficient, allowing for evaporation, and a supply of 300, 000 gallons per day, to last ten months without rain. This supply is computed to serve the requirements of 25, 000 persons. The water is drained from a watershed of about 10. 000 acres, and the highest level of the reservoir is 239 feet above high-water mark. Above the main reservoir is a smaller auxiliary one, and it is intended, as the demand increases, to construct still further auxiliary reservoirs so as to keep the lower one constantly full. The service reservoir is on the side of Wickham-terrace, an elevated part of Brisbane, at the height of 150 feet. The water is supplied by means of two mains, one of 12 and the other of 8 inches in diameter, the pipe tract being chiefly trenched, although there are two tunnels, one of 187, and one of 412 yards, near Ithica creek. The entire works, as shown by the engineer's statement of contracts and amended estimates, cost £51, 573 14s. 7d. exclusive of contingencies.

The colony has of late years made rapid strides in the matter of railway communication, and the facilities for traffic have been thereby greatly improved, and much valuable country opened up. The railways are on the narrow (3 ft. 0 in.) gauge principle, and have been constructed at considerable cost, the mountainous nature of the country over which they pass having rendered it necessary to construct heavy embankments and bridges, and to excavate deep and extensive cuttings. The highest level of the main line is at an elevation of 1921 feet above sea level, and is near Toowoomba, although other altitudes of 1577 feet, 1530 feet, and 1522 feet are attained at other portions of the line. That line—or rather lines, for it diverges near Toowoomba—extends from the metropolis to that place, where blanches run off—one in a southerly direction to Warwick, a distance of 165 miles; and another to the westward, to Dalby. a distance of 152 miles from Brisbane. The terminal station at Brisbane is a handsome building, affording excellent accommodation for the comfort and convenience of travellers, and for the loading and unloading of goods. It is situated in a reserve off Roma-street, about a mile from the business part of the town in a westerly direction. The up-country stations on these lines are—Milton, Toowong, Indooroopilly, Oxley Point, Oxley, West Oxley, Goodna, Redbank, Moggrill Ferry, Bundanba, Ipswich, Walloon, Rosewood, Western Creek, Grandchester, Victoria Tunnel, Laidley, Gatton, Helidon, Murphy’s Creek, Highelds. Summit of Range, Toowoomba, Mahoney’s Gate, Gowrie Junction, Oakey Creek, Jondaryan, Bowenville, Blaxland’s Siding, and Dalby. The fares are at the rate of 3d. per mile first class, and 2d. per mile second class; return fares are 4½d. first class, and 3d. second class. This tariff of prices applies to all stations. On the line from Toowoomba to Warwick, branching off at Gowrie Junction, the stations are—Mahoney's Gate, Gowrie Junction, Gowrie, William’s Camp, Westbrook Crossing, Cambooya, Emu Creek Siding, King's Creek, Clifton, Simpson’s Siding, Hendon (for Allora), Deuchar’s Crossing, Lyndhurst Road, and Warwick. There is also a railway called the Northern Railway, starting at Rockhampton, with stations at Gracemere, Stawell, Rosewood, Westwood, Gogango, and, at present, a terminal station at Rocky creek, a distance of 44 miles. This railway is also on the narrow or 3 feet 6 inches gauge, and is intended ultimately to be extended to the gold and copper mines of the Peak downs.

To the productive capabilities of Queensland there scarcely seems to be a limit. For grazing purposes it is unequalled in the Australasian group, it being a fact that its wools rank highest in the European markets and bring the best prices. In the settled districts the number of squatters’ runs is 224, occupying an area of 8, 811, 423 acres, and in the unsettled districts there are 3072 runs, with an area of 132, 421, 030 acres. The live stock statistics show the following numbers:—Horses, 107, 507; horned cattle, 1, 610, 105; sheep, 7, 180, 792; and pigs, 44, 517.

From these runs are derived the staple exports of wool, tallow, hides and skins. The number of indigenous grasses is hardly credible, and, if we except an occasional season of drought, there may be said to be an abundance of feed at all times. Next in importance to the grasses rank the timbers of the colony, which may be thus enumerated—The Moreton bay pine, a splendid and handsome tree, the wood of which is said to be superior to that grown in the forests of Canada. The bunya-bunya, another species of pine, grows plentifully in that portion of the northern country lying between the 25th and 26th parallels of latitude. It is remarkable for its great height (frequently over 200 feet), for the singularity of its growth and foliage, and for the peculiar properties of its cone or fruit, which is held to be a great dainty by the blacks, and which resembles the chesnut in flavour. Every three years the cones are extremely plentiful, and the blacks assemble in large numbers to partake of the triennial feast. The red cedar of the rivers is one of the best and most beautiful woods in the colony for manufacturing purposes, and in addition may be named the ironbark, blue gum, box, violet wood, silk oak, tulip wood, and forest oak, all of which are plentiful and the timber exceedingly useful. Besides these are a number of others, such as the cypress pine, the satin and yellow wood trees, and many varieties of Eucalyptus. The soil and climate are eminently suited for the production of a large variety of articles of general commercial value, such as wheat, barley, oats, maize, tobacco, coffee, rice, potatoes, arrowroot, sugar, and cotton. Great progress has, of late years, since the remunerative character of cotton-growing became known, been made in the production of that staple. The cultivation of the sugar-cane has attained great proportions, it is still rapidly extending, and proving one of the most paying products of the colony. The general yield varies from 1 to 3 tons to the acre. All kinds of semi-tropical and English fruits are grown in abundance. Among the former may be mentioned the pineapple, banana, peach, loquat, guava, passion fruit, fig, melon, Cape gooseberry, orange, citron, lemon and mulberry.

The following return shows the progress of agriculture in Queensland from 1866 to 1874 inclusive:—

* Information as to the area under these crops not collected until 1868.

† Under this heading (Miscellaneous) are included the following crops, viz.:—Barley, Oats, Rye, Millet, Sorghum, Arrowroot, Sown Grasses, &c. &e.

The following return shows the quantity of land purchased under the preemptive right, during 1873, together with the amount paid for the same:—

Lauds Leased for pastoral purposes within the settled districts of the colony on December 31, 1874: 213 runs, containing 7, 725, 479 acres; in the unsettled districts, 3544 runs, containing 150, 646. 710 acres. And the following is a return of gold exported from the colony of Queensland during the years—

*Physically, Queensland is bounded on the N. by the Gulf of Carpentaria, on the E. by the Pacific ocean, on the S. by the colony of New South Wales, and on the W. by the Northern territory of South Australia. Its northern extremity is Cape York, and its southern (on the coast), Point Danger, near the embouchure of the Tweed river. The principal mountains are the Great Northern or Gilbert range in the N., and Expedition range towards the centre, the latter being the watershed of the country. The greatest altitude of the mountains is about 2000 feet. In the extreme N. of the colony is the Bellenden Ker range, some of the highest points of which tower up 5400 feet. The chief rivers of the colony are the Brisbane, the Burnett, the Pioneer, the Fitzroy, and the Burdekin, flowing into the Pacific; the Flinders, the Albert, the Mitchell, the Gilbert, and the Norman, emptying themselves into the Gulf of Carpentaria; and flowing S.W., the Victoria river towards Cooper’s creek, the Condamine towards the Darling, and E. the Mary emptying itself into Hervey’s bay, and the Calliope flowing into Port Curtis. There are numerous streams of lesser magnitude in various parts of the colony. Geologically, the Western, or Coast side of the colony, commencing from the S. may be said to consist of vast beds of Devonian formation, with clay slates, shales with lepidodendron and spirifer, and conglomerates in the upper beds, favosus in lower (crystalline limestone). Along the coast line itself are narrow bands of palæozoic carboniferous, glossopteris with productus, spirifer, &c. Further N. are immense beds of granite. Going inland, the country changes into a heterogeneous mass of mesozoic carboniferous, tæpiopteris with arca, trigonia, &c., metamorpbic mica, hornblende and shale, basalt, basic dolorite, mesozoic sandstones and limestones, and desert sandstones of grits and conglomerates. Of the extreme N. but little is known geologically.