VICTORIA (or, as it was called from 1835—when it was explored by Mr. J. P. Fawkner—Port Phillip, until it was separated from New South Wales as a distinct colony under the name Victoria) is a British colony, occupying the whole of the S.E. part of Australia between lat 34° and 39° S., and long. 141° and 150° E.; bounded on the N.E. and N. by the colony of New South Wales, from which it is separated by the Murray river and an imaginary line ; on the W. by South Australia, from which it is also separated by an imaginary line ; and S. by the Pacific Ocean and Bass’s Straits, which separate it from Tasmania. The extreme length is 480 miles, the breadth 240 miles, and the area 86,831 square miles, or 55,571,840 acres. The population in 1864 was 600,000 persons. The settled part of the colony comprehends principally the E. and S. portions, and is divided into 17 counties and 3 extensive partially-settled districts. The counties are Mornington, Evelyn, Bourke, Grant, Grenville, Polwarth, Talbot, Dalhousie, Anglesey, Rodney, Heytesbury, Hampden, Villiers, Normanby, Dundas, Follett, and Ripon. The districts are Gipps Land, comprising Gipps Land N. and Gipps Land S. ; Murray, comprising the Ovens and Mitta-Mitta countries ; Loddon, and Wimmera. The Gipps Land district is situated in the S.E; it contains a vast tract of splendid grazing and very much unavailable country, from the rugged nature of the mountains and the dense forests and scrub by which it is overgrown ; there is also much auriferous country in the N.E..; its chief towns are Sale, Stratford, Bairnsdale, Port Albert, Alberton, and Jericho (gold-field). The Murray district, in the N.E., is chiefly pastoral land, there being also good agricultural country, particularly suited to the growth of wheat and potatoes, and in many parts to the tobacco plant and grape vine, both of which are receiving much attention at the hands of the settlers ; there is good alluvial mining in the N. (Ovens district), and mining, both alluvial and quartz, is largely carried on in the S. (Buckland district) and S.W. (Wood’s Point and Jamieson) ; the chief towns are Beechworth (Ovens diggings), Belvior, Wahgunyah (gold-field), Wangaratta, Benalla (vine growing), Violet Town, Euroa, Longwood, Jamieson, and Wood's Point (gold-field). In the county Mornington, the chief towns are Frankston, Dromana, and Mornington or Schnapper Point; in Evelyn county, the townships of Eltham and Queenstown (gold-field) ; in Bourke county, Melbourne (the metropolis), Williamstown, Keilor, Gisborne, Heidelberg, and Brighton ; in Grant county, Geelong, Queenscliff, Steiglitz (gold-field), and Buninyong (gold-field) ; in Grenville county, Ballarat (gold-field) and Smythesdale (gold-field) ; in Talbot county, Castlemaine, Creswick, Clunes, Talbot, Amherst, Daylesford, Maryborough, and Carisbrook (all gold-fields) ; in Dalhousie county, Kilmore, Kyneton, and Heathcote or McIvor (gold-fields) ; in Polworth county Colac ; in Anglesey county, Seymour and Tea; in Rodney county, Echuca, Redcastle, Rushworth (gold-field), and Whroo (gold-field); in Hampden county, Skipton ; in Ripon county, Ararat (gold-field) and Wickliffe; in Dundas county, Hamilton and Cavendish ; in Follett county, Casterton and Lindsay ; in Normanby county, Portland ; in Villiers county, Belfast and Warrnambool; and in Heytesbury county there is no township of any importance at all. The Wimmera district is a vast pastoral one, the only towns of importance being in the S., namely, Horsham and St. Arnaud (gold and silver mines) ; the Loddon district is chiefly pastoral to the N. and mining to the S. ; the chief towns are Sandhurst, Maldon, Dunolly, and Inglewood (all gold-fields). The entire coast line of Victoria extends about 600 miles. The W. part is generally low, and the principal harbours on that side of the coast are Portland, Port Fairy or Belfast, and Warrnambool or Lady Bay. The central part of the coast is high, rising in some places 500 and 1000 feet above the level of the sea ; this part contains several fine bays and anchorages, the most important of which are Port Phillip and Western Port. Wilson's Promontory consists of a mass of granite rising 3000 feet above the sea, connected with the mainland by a low sandy isthmus ; immediately N. of it is situated Comer Inlet, well protected by sandy islands. From this to Cape Howe, the N.E. extremity of the colony, the coast is sandy, with several lagoons, knows as the Gipps Land lakes, and named lakes King, Wellington, Victoria, Reeve, and Bungaa. The Australian Alps, which extend from N. to S. through New South Wales, cross the N.E. frontier of Victoria, and pursue a S.W. direction to the coast of Bass’s Straits, sending many offsets, principally to the N. and W., and covering an area of about 7000 square miles. The range attains an elevation of 7000 feet near the frontier, but diminishes gradually towards the S.W. This chain of mountains, extending from the extreme E. almost to the extreme W. of the colony, divides it into two parts, and. is therefore called the Dividing range. The whole of the Victorian rivers have their rise in range or in its spurs, and flow either generally N. or S.; those rising on the N. slope falling into the Murray river or into the sandy deserts or vast marshes of the interior, and those rising in the S. slope falling into the sea. Another range, called the Grampian range, extends from the W. boundary near lat. 37° S. in an E. direction till it meets the offsets from the Australian Alps, N.E. of Port Phillip. It forms 3 distinct ridges, called the Grampians proper, the Sierra, and the Victorian range ; the greatest elevation attained is 4500 feet. In the S. there is a remarkable summit called Mount Abrupt, 1700 feet in perpendicular height, containing a crater 446 feet broad and 80 feet deep. The Murray river forms the whole of the N. boundary line, and is navigable for several hundred miles during the winter; the chief tributaries which it receives from Victoria are the Loddon and Goulburn, its principal feeders joining it from N. S. Wales; the rivers, which flow to the sea, though numerous, are all small, with the exception of the Yarra-Yarra. the Barwon, and the Glenelg. Very many of the rivers which are of considerable volume in winter dry up in summer, and leave only chains of ponds or water holes to mark the courses along which they flow. In Gipps Land, however, it is somewhat different, many of the rivers and creeks being fed by the snow which covers the tops of the mountains during the greater part of the year, and the melting of which in hot weather causes some of them often to overflow their banks, and inundate the level plains below. The country to the N.E. is well watered by the Murray, the Ovans, and many smaller streams ; in the W. and N.E.. (the Wimmera district) are vast tracts of sandy and stony desert, overgrown in many places by extensive belts of myall scrub, and forests of dwarf box and stringybark ; many parts are almost totally destitute of water, save what can be found by digging for wells. The aborigines have a remarkable faculty for finding out where there is water, and, although they point out in many instances places apparently most unlikely, seldom fail in procuring water if sufficient depth is gone to There are extensive grassy flats, on which innumerable flocks of sheep graze, in this part of the country. Victoria has numerous lakes, many of them saline, from some of which the salt crystals, which are deposited by evaporation in the hot weather, are collected by and become a source of considerable profit to the persons residing in their neighbourhood (the principal of these lakes being in the counties Grenville and Hampden), and several of them fine large fresh water lakes. The largest lake in the colony is salt; it is called Korangamite, and is 90 miles in circumference ; within 8 miles E. of this is a fresh water lake called Colac, 10 miles in circumference Lakes Learmonth, Burrumbeet, Murdeduke, and others, are also fresh, and contain a vast quantity of water, which at a trifling expense might be stored and used to irrigate the country in the seasons of drought to which the colony is subject. Many schemes for effecting this highly desirable object have been propounded, but none of them have been found to be practicable on a large scale.

The climate of Victoria is generally very fine, the average temperature of summer being 65° and that of winter 48°; hot N. winds are more frequent than in any other of the Australian colonies, but they seldom last more than from 20 to 30 hours, and are succeeded by cool breezes from S.W. and S. The average fall of rain is 30 inches, and there are occasional falls of snow. Though the soil is generally light, there are tracts in all parts of Victoria well suited for the growth of different kinds of grain and potatoes. All the ordinary fruits and vegetables of temperate climates have been introduced, and succeeded well. The native animals and birds are the same as in other parts of Australia A species of codfish of a large size is found in the rivers in the N. part of the colony, and fish are remarkably abundant on the coasts, more particularly in Bass’s Straits. All the domestic animals and fowls have been introduced with a successful result, and an Acclimatisation Society has been for some years in existence in Melbourne, which has been very successful in introducing to the colony many valuable birds, fishes, and animals from all parts of the world ; indeed, the society has succeeded so well in acclimatising rabbits that, in the Western district, they have increased to such an extent that numbers of men are employed solely to destroy them, and thousands are weekly consumed in the various large towns. The cattle and sheep of Victoria are larger and fatter than in any of the neighbouring colonies, and a few years since several hundred thousand sheep were exported to New Zealand for the purpose of stocking that colony. The aborigines of Victoria differ little from those of other parts of the S. portion of Australia ; their numbers are feet decreasing, and they have disappeared from many parts of the country where they were formerly numerous. Among the colonists, the English and Scotch, and their descendants, largely predominate; about 20 per cent. are Irish, and 7 per cent. belong to other countries. There are numerous good roads to all parts of the colony, and lines of telegraph extend from Melbourne to N. S. Wales, Adelaide, and Gipps Land, calling at the principal towns in their course. During the present year a submarine cable, connecting Victoria with Tasmania, has been successfully laid. Its point of departure was fixed at Cape Schanck, a few miles to the Eastward of Port Phillip Heads, which was found the most suitable place. About five years since a submarine cable was laid from Cape Otway (to the westward of the Heads) to Tasmania, bat this soon became chafed through on the rocky coast and was rendered u___less, the only portion of it now employed being that extending from Cape Otway to Melbourne, which is used for inward and outward bound ships and other general purposes. Lines of railway extend from Melbourne to Echuca, a distance of 156 miles ; from Melbourne to Geelong, 45 miles ; from Geelong to Ballarat, 51¼ miles; from Melbourne to Williamstown, 9¼ miles ; from Melbourne to Brighton, 7 miles; from Melbourne to Hawthorne, 3 miles ; from Melbourne to St. Kilda, 3 miles ; and to Sandridge, 1½ mile ; the total length of railway lines being 276 miles. There are 60 stations on these lines, situated at the principal places through or near to which they pass ; the railways are well constructed, and the accommodation and convenient of passengers carefully attended to The communication with parts of the colony where no railways run is carried on by coaches of the light American pattern, which are well horsed and appointed, and although driven along the rough bush roads with what, to persons unaccustomed to it, has often the appearance of reckle___, accidents very rarely occur.

The interior of the country is extremely diversified, much of it being covered by dense forests of eucalypti, banksia, casuarina, and other trees ; there are imm___ level grassy plains, from which rise numerous detached volcanic hills and lofty and precipitous mountain chains, unavailable for any useful purpose. The country generally is, however, so fertile that its its first explorers gave it the name of A___tralia Felix. The prevailing rocks are granite, syenite, quartz, mica schists, sandstone, day, slate, and ironstone. In consequence of the quantity of timber used both for mining and general purposes, and the indiscriminate destruction of the state forests, a board was recently appointed to report upon the best means of preserving the timber in the state forests, and their report shows that within the area occupied by palæozoic rocks, stringybark, box, and messmate predominate ; in the basin ai the Murray, where sandy and calcareous tertiaries occur, the Mallee scrub covers vast tracts with but few intervening belts and clumps of pines (always growing on or ___ modern or ancient watercourses or lakes), and the basaltic plains are almost ___ere, showing only here and there a few small lightwood trees. The rivers generally are bordered by gums. The approximate areas occupied by forest trees and scrubs ___ estimated as follows, in square miles :—stringybark and messmate, 30,000 ; Malles scrub, 18,000; eucalypti of comparatively small dimensions, as box, apple-trees, peppermint, &c., 14,000 ; large white gums, 5000 ; red gum, 3000 ; lightwood, 1000; ironbark, 500; oak, Murray pine, 500 ; honeysucle, wattle, and other lay-___ trees not otherwise specified, 500 ; sassafras, beech, and other umbrageous trees in sheltered mountain gullies, 300 ; tea-tree scrub, 200 ; total, 73,000. Extent of open country, 13,831. Total area of the colony, 86,831 square miles. The approximate cost of the timber used in the mines during the year 1867 was £561,123 ; and the importations from abroad of softwood timber for building and other purposes, from January 1, 1852, to June 30, 1867, reached the enormous sum of £8,392,551. The principal ports of Victoria are Port Phillip (Melbourne), Geelong, Port Albert (Gipps Land), Belfast, Warrnambool, and Portland. At each of these places there is good shipping accommodation, and a regular pilot service, and means of preserving life from shipwreck. The means now in existence for the prevention of wrecks, and rendering assistance to vessels in distress, are the following:—The most prominent points of the coast and the entrances to the various harbors are marked by good lights, and the channels well defined by conspicuous buoys and beacons ; also full and accurate sailing directions are published, and experienced pilots are stationed at all ports where there is any trade. Lifeboats with rockets are stationed at various places, where a full crew (14 men) for each boat is organised and regularly exercised, the officer in charge being instructed to choose stormy weather for such purpose. At each of the isolated coast lighthouses a quantity of provisions is especially provided and reserved for the use of shipwrecked persons, to whom on several occasions provisions have been issued and other assistance afforded. All steam vessels are under the supervision of the officers of the Steam Navigation Board, so far as the general efficiency of their machinery, hull, rigging, ground tackle, and boats are concerned. The examination of masters, engineers, and mates of steam vessels has been provided for in the Consolidated Harbour Bill ; and this provision, when extended to the masters and officers of sailing vessels, would prove an additional means of safety. As the coast of Victoria is over 600 miles in extent, it must follow that, in the event of a shipwreck occurring at a distance from any of the ports or stations, the only chance of succour will be from passing vessels, or from persons residing near the beach.

There is an Acclimatisation Society established in Victoria for the purpose of introducing animals, birds, and fishes from other countries, and to which the Australian climate is considered suitable. This society has already distributed many specimens of various kinds, and is continually in receipt of fresh ones; the headquarters are at the society’s ground in the Royal Park, Melbourne. It has deposited a quantity of salmon in Badger’s creek, on the Yarra-Yarra river; English tench in the Yan-Yean and in the Bendigo reservoir ; Murray cod in the Yan-Yean. Fallow deer have been liberated at Beechworth, the Wimmera, and Buneep-Buneep ; axis deer at Yerring, Yan-Yean, Wilson’s Promontory, and Wimmera; submur deer at Yan-Yean and Western Port; hog deer at Glenelg. English sparrows have been liberated at the Royal Park, Melbourne ; the Botanical Gardens, Melbourne ; Pentridge, and Ballarat; Chinese sparrows at St. Kilda, and Java sparrows at the Royal Park ; mainas at the Botanical Gardens and Royal Park, Melbourne; blackbirds, thrashes, goldfinches, chaffinches, greenfinches, and starlings at the Botanical Gardens and Royal Park, Melbourne.

A system of Post Office Savings Banks has been instituted throughout the colony, which has been found to be of great benefit to the working population.

The climate of Victoria is generally very fine, the average temperature of summer being 65° and that of winter 48°; hot N. winds are more frequent than in other of the Australian colonies, but they seldom last more than from 20 to 30 hours, and are succeeded by cool breezes from S.W. and S. The average fall of rain is 30 inches, and there are occasional falls of snow. Though the soil is generally light, there are tracts in all parts of Victoria well suited for the growth of different kinds of grain and potatoes. All the ordinary fruits and vegetables of temperate climates have been introduced, and succeeded well.

The colony of Victoria is under the control of a Viceroy—the present one being the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Victoria. His Excellency Sir John Henry Thomas Manners-Sutton, K.C.B., who has his private and military secretaries, the former being H. Manners-Sutton, Esq., and the latter (also aide-de-camp) Lieutenant Rothwell—and of an Executive Council and two Houses of Legislature, the Upper House or Legislative Council, and the Lower House or Legislative Assembly. The Governor is appointed by the Home Government, his term of office being 7 years ; he is at the head of the Executive, and is empowered to sign all bills not affecting the Constitution on behalf of Her Majesty. The Executive Council consists of the Commander of the Forces in the Australian colonies (Major-General Sir Trevor Chute, K.C.B., appointed by the Home Government) the Ministry for the time being, consisting of the Chief Secretary (the hon. John Macpherson, M L.A.), the Attorney-General (the hon. Morgan Augustus Macdonnell, M.L.A.), the Minister of Finance or Treasurer (the hon. Robert Byrne; the President of the Board of Land and Works, and Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey (the hon. James M‘Kean, M.L.A.), the Commissioner of Trades and Customs (the hon. Edward Cohen, M.L.A.), the Commissioner of Railways (the hon. Francis Longmore, M L.A.), the Minister of Mines (the hon. John Thomas Smith, M.L.A.), the Vice-President of the Board of Land and Works, and Commissioner of Public Works (the hon. Isaac Godfrey Reeves), the Postmaster-General (the hon. William M‘Lellan, M.L.A.), and the Minister of Justice (vacant). The hon. C. J. Jenner, M.L.C., has also a seat in the Council, without office. The Legislative Council consists of 30 members, representing 6 provinces, into which the colony is divided, viz.: the central, north-western, north-eastern, southern, eastern, and western. The members of this chamber are elected by 11,604 electors ; the qualification of an elector for the Upper House is a leasehold of £100 per annum, or freehold property of £100 value. The qualification of a candidate must be a £5000 freehold. The functions of the Council are to pass, amend, or reject all bills sent from the Assembly, except money bills, with which they have no power to deal, except to pass, or reject in globo. The Legislative Assembly consists of 78 members, elected by 115,842 electors, representing the following 49 electoral districts:—South Bourke, Evelyn, Mornington, North Gipps Land, South Gipps Land, East Bourke, West Bourke, Dalhousie, South Grant, Ripon and Hampden, Polwarth and South Grenville, Villiers and Heytesbury, Dundas, Wimmera, Normanby, Gresville, Rodney, Murray, Maryborough, Creswick, Avoca, Mandurang, Maldon, Ovens, Crowlands, Ararat, Kilmore, Kyneton boroughs, Castlemaine, Sandhurst, Belfast, Warrnambool, Portland, Ballarat E., Ballarat W., W. Melbourne, E. Melbourne, N. Melbourne, Emerald Hill, Sandridge, Williamstown, Collingwood, Richmond, St. Kilda, Brighton, E. Bourke boroughs, Murray boroughs, Geelong E., and Geelong W. For the Legislative Assembly every male whose name appears on the municipal roll is entitled to a vote, with a few slight restrictions so trivial as almost to render the system one of universal suffrage. This house deals with all bills, and exclusively with the questions of supply and expenditure.

The colony contains 62 corporate towns and municipal boroughs, having a total population of 343,590, the estimated area being 244,423 acres, and the number of dwellings 73,476. The estimated value of rateable property in these towns and boroughs is £21,503,941 11s. 5d., and the number of ratepayers 73,647. The estimated annual value of rateable property is £2,437,618 3s. 2d. ; the revenue from all sources £500,323 18s. 11d.; and the expenditure £398,386 16s. 6d. There are 101 Shires and Road Districts, having a population of 306,889, the estimated area being 43,455,138 acres, and the number of dwellings 62,412. The estimated value of rateable property in these Shires and Road Districts is £22,628,603 18s. 11d., and the number of ratepayers 59,548 The estimated annual value of rateable property £2,513,829 14s. 2d.; the revenue from all sources £371,368 2s. 10d.; and the expenditure £407,046 17s. 10d. The remainder of the population is made up by the residents in the unsettled districts. The entire number of inhabitants in the colony is 684,316; this is exclusive of aborigines, of whom it is estimated there are about 2000. The population on the various gold-fields is estimated at 271,788 of whom 15,300 are Chinese. Of the entire population of the colony 384,859 are males, and 299,457 are females.

The commerce of the colony is very extensive, her ports being crowded with shipping from every part of the world. Since the establishment of the colony the commerce has increased at a rate unparalleled in any other country, the imports in the year 1842 being only of the value of £277,427, whilst in the year 1868 they amounted to £13,320,662, the exports having increased in a similar ratio, those of 1838 being only £20,589 as compared with £15,593,990 in 1868; the value of the wool exported in that year being £4,567,182; of the tallow, £160,909; hides and skins, £32,719 ; gold, £7,843,197 ; flour, £73,354; and leather, £89,551. The revenue for the year was £3,030,343 17s. 9d., and the expenditure £2,263,831 11s. 2d. The total public debt of the colony is £9,417,800. The shipping positively belonging to the ports of Victoria numbers no fewer than 366 sailing vessels of all sizes, with an aggregate of 54,990 tons register, employing 2,441 men ; and 38 steamers, with an aggregate of 5,882 tons, employing 515 men. The number of post-offices in the colony is 633, through which during the past year no less than 9,749,716 letters, 324,143 packets, and 4,974,102 newspapers passed ; the income from the department being £116,212 9s. 5d., and the expenditure £158,083 17s. 3d. There are 271 miles of railway in the colony, the construction of which cost £10,116,784 16s. 0d., or an average of £37,331 6s. 2d. per mile. The ships engaged in the Victorian import and export trade are reported as follows for the year 1868—inwards, 2,067 vessels, with an aggregate of 653,362 tons, and employing 33,613 men : outwards, 2,172 vessels ; number of tons, 685,207 ; employing 35,332 men.

The chief mineral wealth of Victoria and the one which has chiefly led to the great prosperity of the colony, however, is its gold fields. As far back as 1788, it was announced that gold had been discovered in Australia, but the statement was not then credited. It is said that gold was found in the Pyrenees by a shepherd in 1849, but long before this it was known to the settlers in the colony that gold was to be obtained. Their servants collected it and sold it, but those who might have developed the fields, having no knowledge of mining, nor knowing where they should seek for gold, did nothing. Their shepherds were men generally of doubtful or bad character, and it is probable that the settler regarded the gold dust as the proceeds of some successful robbery rather than as the product of the soil; and the obscure hints and hesitating manner of an assigned servant would probably tend to produce an impression fayourable to such a supposition, consequently little attention was given to the matter. In the early days of the colony men's minds were directed to another pursuit, and having found suitable country for sheep and cattle runs they were content, and but for the sudden development of the gold mines of California the people of Victoria might have long remained ignorant of the wealth of the colony. The discoveries in that part of America had an immediate beneficial effect. They turned the attention of practical men to the search for gold in New South Wales and Victoria, and, aided by the experience gained in California, the prospectors succeeded in opening up profitable fields in many widely separated localities. Gold was found at Clunes in March, 1850 ; on the 10th of June, 1851, it was discovered near Burnbank, on a tributary of the river Loddon ; on the 20th of July, at Mount Alexander ; on the 8th of August, at Buninyong ; and on the 8th of September in the same year, at Ballarat. Licensee to dig were first issued by the Government on 1st September, 1851, and by the end of that month there were 567 men on the Ballarat gold-field ; they had 143 cradles, and it was estimated that each man was getting, on the average, 1 oz. 6 dwt. 2 grs. per diem. One man washed 32 ozs. from a tin dish full of earth, and seven men got ½ cwt. of gold in two days. By the end of November in the same year, it was estimated that 67,000 ounces had been obtained from various parts of the colony. The surface and shallow working at Forest Creek were undoubtedly very rich ; three persons got 360 ozs. of gold in nineteen days, a party of five washed 2½ lbs. in one day, and Another set of three got £1,000 worth of gold in 14 days. On the 27th September, 1851, the escort from Mount Alexander brought 10,428 ozs. to Melbourne, and left about 6000 ozs. on the diggings, and about 1,500 ozs. were received from Ballarat. The quantity of gold actually obtained up to 20th December, 1851, was reported in the newspapers of the day to be 243,414 ozs., but of this only 145,146 ozs. were exported during that year. During the year 1852, the miners raised 2,218,782 ozs. of gold, equal to £8,875,128. and in 1856 the yield was as high as 2,985,991 ozs., or £11,943,964. Some idea of the changes which have been effected since gold was discovered in the colony may be gathered from the following figures. In 1851 the population was as follows :—Males, 46,202 ; females, 31,143. Total, 77,345. The number of acres under cultivation were only 57,472, and much of the colony was wholly unoccupied. The imports were £1,056,437, and the exports, £1,422,909 ; the gross revenue was £392,455, and the gross expenditure, £410,864. Compare these figures with those for 1867: population, males, 372,239 ; females, 287,648 ; total, 659,887. Imports, £11,674,080 ; exports, £12,724,427. Estimated gross revenue, £3,210,504; estimated gross expenditure, £3,368,536. Number of acres under cultivation, 631,207. The estimated gross value of rateable property in the corporate towns and boroughs for 1867 was £20,394,918. The revenues of these towns were £335,606; and the expenditure, £322,534; add to this the estimated total value of rateable property in shires and road districts, £21,536,097, and some accurate conception may be formed of the rapid progress of the colony during the past 17 years. The largest nugget ever discovered in the world was one unearthed by John Deason and Richard Oates, on Feb. 5, 1869, in the neighbourhood of Dunolly, which weighed more than 2,280 ozs. 10 dwt. 14 grs. It was about 21 inches in length, and about 10 inches in thickness, and though mixed with quartz the great body of it was solid gold. The exact weight of it when discovered was not ascertained, as the discoverers heated it in the fire in their hut in order to get rid of the quartz. The melted gold from it was 2268 ozs. 10 dwts. 14 grs., but a number of specimens and pieces of gold (weighing more than 1 lb.) were detached from it before it was sold to the bank. Its value was £9,534 Near the spot where this mass was found there were unearthed two nuggets weighing respectively 114 ozs. and 36 ozs. The next largest nugget was “The welcome nugget found at Bakery Hill, Ballarat, June 15, 1858, which weighed 2,217 ozs. 16 dwts., and fetched £9,325. There are at present seven mining districts in Victoria, viz.—Ballarat, Beechworth, Sandhurst, Maryborough, Castlemaine, Ararat, and Gipps Land; which latter has only been erected into a separate district since December, 1866, having been formerly part of the Beechworth District. The number of miners employed in the various districts during 1868 were as follows:—Ballarat, 15,722 ; Beechworth, 9,543 ; Sandhurst, 13,546; Maryborough, 9,063; Castlemaine, 9,458; Ararat, 4,125 ; and Gipps Land, 3,201. Total, 64,658. The average earnings of the alluvial miners during 1868 were estimated at £87 6s. 11d. per man per annum, and of the quartz miners at £165 13s. 3d. per man per annum. The number of steam engines employed in alluvial mining during 1868 were 441, with an aggregate horse-power of 9844, and the number of steam engines employed in quartz mining, during the same time, were 602, with an aggregate power of 11,045 horses. The approximate value of all the mining plant in the colony was £2,150,432. The area of land held as claims in the various districts, under the District Byelaws, is 100,941 acres 3 roods and 15 perches, of which 32,641 acres 3 roods 18 perches is not worked, being protected by certificates. The total estimated value of the claims in the several mining districts on the 31st Dec., 1868, was £8,869,504, and the number of mining companies registered, to the same date, were 2,471, containing 7,421,492½ shares, representing a nominal capital of £24,431,205 10s. The number of district quartz reefs proved to be auriferous is 2651, and the extent of auriferous alluvial and quartz ground worked upon is 884 square miles. During the year 1868, 5,811,669 tons 9 cwt. of quartz was crushed, yielding 3,346,201 ozs. 8 dwts. of gold, or an average yield of 11 dwts. 12 37 grs. per ton. The quantity of quartz tailings, cement, mullock, &c., crushed during the same time was 993,513 tons. 12 cwts., which yielded 204,141 ozs., 1 dwt. of gold, the average being 4 dwts. 2 62 grs. per ton. The quantity of gold obtained during 1868 was 1,657,498 ozs. representing a value of £6,629,992, and the total yield since the first gold discovery in 1851 is approximately stated at 35,568,450 ozs., of the value of £142,273,800. In order to obtain a supply of water to the various gold-fields, no less than 2,434 miles 20 chains of water-races have been constructed at a cost of £310,270. The number of fatal mining accidents which occurred during the past year amounted to 113, and the total number since 1851 is 670, but as a fact which speaks volumes for the steadiness of the miners, not one of these accidents is ascribed to intoxication. The total value of the various metals exported from Victoria during the past 17 years is £140,936,071, as follows :—Gold, £140,712,775; silver, £2,620; silver ore, £618; copper, £3511; tin, £700; black sand, £194,345; and antimony ore, £21,502 Of late years a marked change has come over gold mining operations in the colony. Whilst the number of persons engaged in the search for gold has rather diminished than increased, a very large proportion of those heretofore following the ever changeful life of a digger have gradually become absorbed into the ranks of the miner, owing to the greater permanence and less risk, pecuniarily considered, attaching to the pursuit of the latter. Little has been done, therefore, since the year 1864, towards opening out new country for shallow sinking. The rushes that have taken place have been few and unimportant, and will bear no comparison with the monster stampedes that used at one time to occur regularly once or twice a year. There is a greater desire than was formerly the case, on the part of gold miners generally, to settle down, and the larger adventures that are now continually springing up open out to them a more permanent pursuit than formerly. The success hitherto attending mining explorations has added largely to the stability of mining, and the amount of money continually seeking investment in that description of stock is daily increasing. In many of the leading companies the dividends, reckoned upon the present value of shares, show far greater returns than are to be obtained from any other class of investment; but upon the money outlay actually disbursed by the original adventurers the net profits are very large indeed, equalling, in some instances, many thrusands per cent. per annum. The circumstance of capitalists giving their attention to the understanding of mining pursuits, and the mastering fully all the probabilities, risks, and prospects of the favourite mines in which they seek to invest their money, is of far more frequent occurrence than was formerly the case, and mining to most of them has less of mystery about it than it had in 1859. The vitality infused into mining operations by the influx of capital has led to the development of a very large extent of country, and the further the miner goes the greater he becomes impressed with the knowledge of how little has yet been done and how much remains to do.

Rich copper ore is found in various places, the principal being at St. Arnaud, Specimen gully (Castlemaine), and on the river Thomson (Gipps Land), where native copper is found associated with other ores of copper. Blue and green carbonates of copper and copper pyrites occur in small quantities at Steiglitz, Castlemaine, Blue Mountains, Bendigo, St. Arnaud, Inglewood, Dunolly, and in Gipps Land. Cupro-plumbite is found at M ‘Ivor. According to the returns received, the quantity of copper ore raised until the 31st Dec., 1867, is 580 tons.

Considerable quantities of silver are found at St. Arnaud, where extensive mines are worked. The greater part of the silver which has been melted has been obtained from the chlorobromide which occurs at St. Arnaud, with iron pyrites, galena, ares of copper and native copper, cerusite, anglesite, mimetene, malachite, argentiferous galena, zinc blende, arseniate of iron, native sulphur, brown iron ore, ores of manganese, &c. Native silver has been found also at St. Arnaud in small quantities. Gold and silver alloys occur at Reedy creek, a tributary of the Goulburn, and in many other quartz-reefs on the gold-fields; the ores of silver are found, it is said, at Pleasant creek, and in other parts of the Ararat district. According to returns made, the following quantities of silver and silver ores have been raised mostly at St. Arnaud—silver, 12,591 ozs. 18 dwts.; silver ores, 8,197 tons.

Stream tin (oxide of tin) occurs in many places in the mining districts of Beechworth; in the beds of the tributaries of the Yarra, the Thomson, and the Latrobe; it has been found also at Taradale and Strathbogie. It is believed that no veins hare yet been discovered. The following are the quantities exported, according to a return from the Customs Department—tin ore, 2,650 tons 14 cwt; tin, 12,416 tons.

Antimony is another mineral product of the colony, sulphuret of antimony and oxide of antimony being found at Heathcote, Whroo, Anderson’s creek, Rutherglen, Maryborough, and other places. Nearly all the antimony ores which have been raised have been obtained from the mines at M‘Ivor (Heathcote), and during the 17 years ending December 21st, 1867, no less than 1991 tons of this ore has been exported from the colony. A searching license has been issued for quicksilver, or the ores of quicksilver, but no discoveries have yet been reported.

The area of coal-bearing rocks is 3982 square miles, distributed as follows—Wannon and Glenelg, 349 square miles; Cape Otway, including Barrabool Hills and Indented Heads, 1882 square miles; Cape Patterson to Traralgon and Latrobe Valley, 1436 square miles; Welshpool, 315 square miles. According to the returns received the quantity of coals raised is 1933 tons; this small quantity is solely due to the difficulties in the way of exploration, and the costs belonging to the working transport of such a mineral from the localities where it occurs to the market in Melbourne. Bituminous shales occur in those parts of the country which are occupied by coal-bearing strata, but the composition of them varies considerably. Mr. Patrick Hayes, an enterprising manufacturing chemist, lately erected extensive works at great cost, near Footscray, for the working of these shales, but although he was able to produce kerosene, said to be in every way equal to that imported, his venture was not successful. Extensive deposits of lignite, some of them of great thickness, have been discovered at Lal-Lal, Daylesford, and Gipps Land, and 235 tons of this substance has been raised, most of which has been sent to Ceylon and Mauritius, to enrich the coffee and sugar plantations.

Kaolin clay is found at Bulla-Bulla, 15 miles from Melbourne, and fire-clay is found at Lal-Lal. Brick earths, clays suitable for the commoner kinds of earthenware, tiles, pipes, flower pots, &c., are common enough, and in many places are extensively wrought. Roofing slates are found on the banks of the river Moorabool, at Gisborne, Pleasant creek, Sandhurst, and several other places. The quantities raised are 1000 slates and 125 tons. Good flags are to be got at Castlemaine, Maldon, Sandhurst, and in the Beechworth district The following quantities have been raised—500 tons 15½ cwts.; 44,500 square yards. Small nuggets of native zinc have been found in some of the gold drifts in the Daylesford district and at Creswick, but the metal is of rare occurrence. Native lead has also been found in the auriferous drifts of the deep leads at Talbot and Avoca; none of the specimens, however, have yet been analysed. Cobalt, bismuth, and manganese, have also been found in small quantities, in various parts of the colony.

Diamonds, sapphires, and other gems and precious stones are found on nearly all the gold-fields, but up to the present time none of great size or extraordinary beauty have been exhibited, though there have been several exhibitions, and one specially of gems and works in the jewellers’ art. According to various records made in the Beechworth district, about 60 small diamonds have been found in that locality; they are generally small and not very well coloured ; in most cases they weighed less than 1 carat, although the largest was 2½ carats. Small sapphires of a fine blue colour have been found in the county of Mornington. Fine topazes of large size are found in all the mining districts, and in the islands in Bass’s Straits. Almandine and common red garnets are not uncommon in the Beechworth district. Rock crystal, cairugown, amethyst, cornelian, agate, onyx, opal, opal jaspar, and wood opal, also occur in many throughout the colony.

After gold-mining comes the pastoral interest as a source of wealth to the colony, which is divided into 18 pastoral districts. The pastoral land in occupation is 27,034,785 acres, divided into 1050 squatting runs. The total area of the colony is estimated at 86,944 square miles, or 55,644,160 acres, and of this quantity 48,967,803 acres remained unalienated at the end of the year 1868, during which year 275,648 acres were sold, realising £359,702 12s. 7d. The extent of Crown Lands leased was 303,557 acres, the total amount for rent being £15,222 1s. The agricultural land in the colony amounts to 8,884,193 acres, of which 712,865 acres are under cultivation. This land is taken up under 29,218 holdings. During the year ending 31st March, 1869, 259,804 acres have been under wheat; 114,936 acres under oats; 19,222 acres under barley; 863 acres under maize; 2386 acres under rye and bere ; 3719 acres under peas, beans, millet, and sorghun ; 36,204 acres under potatoes ; 157 acres under turnips ; 1321 acres under mangold wurzel; 1397 acres under beets, carrots, parsnips, and cabbage; 112,282 acres under hay ; 87,403 acres under green forage ; 138 acres under tobacco ; 4046 acres under vines ; 240 acres under onions ; and 293 acres under other crops. The gardens amount to 7815 acres, and the orchards to 4041 acres, whilst the land in fallow was 56,598 acres. The produce which has been raised from 31st March, 1868, to 31st March, 1869, is—wheat, 4,229,228 bushels; oats, 2,258,523 bushels ; barley, 292,665 bushels ; maize, 17,048 bushels ; rye and bere, 29,539 bushels ; peas, beans, millet, and sorghun, 42,333 bushels; potatoes, 79,944 tons ; turnips, 964 tons ; mangold wurzel, 10,295 tons ; beets, carrots, parsnips, and cabbage, 5663 tons ; hay, 122,800 tons ; onions, 12,084 cwts.; tobacco, 1747 cwts. Number of vines, 7,682,698 ; grapes not made into wine or brandy, 1448 cwts.; grapes made into wine or brandy, 65,553 cwts.; wine produced, 448,547 gallons ; brandy manufactured, 2025 gallons. The live stock amounts to—horses, 143,934 ; cattle, 693,682 ; sheep, 9,756,819 ; pigs, 136,206. The estimated value of agricultural machinery on the farms and stations throughout the colony is estimated at £1,228,210.

VICTORIA (Gipps Land S.) is a small village in the electoral district of Gipps Land S., which is situated 4 miles S. of Yarram-Yarram, and near the township of Alberton. It contains 1 hotel, the Victoria, and a population of about 100 persons. The district is mountainous, particularly to the N, where lie within 7 miles the Hoddle ranges. Victoria is under the control of the Shire Council of Alberton. There are no means of conveyance to any of the surrounding places save by horse and dray, and the only means of communication with Melbourne is viâ Albertan and by steamer, 190 miles. The geological formation is pliocene tertiary.