Brisbane may bear no relation to the value attributed to them by a London firm. Almost every known precious stone is found in Queensland, including diamonds. Opals occur in the upper cretaceous rocks in the western districts of Queensland, and sapphire mining is carried on to a considerable extent in the Anakie district west of Rockhampton. The stones are blue, green, or yellow in colour. They occur in an alluvial lead, and their original matrix is a basalt found near the source of the alluvial deposit, the gems having been set free by the weathering of the rock.
We saw some opal cutting in Brisbane. It is done in the jewellers' workshops. They buy the rough-looking brown lumps from the miners, and they are cut open and polished with emery to test their value.
One characteristic Australian sight we were unable to see, the "wool sales." The trade in this principal source of the continent's wealth was at the time practically at a standstill. Owing to the war the annual wool sales could not be held. Before the war, the buyers, chiefly German and French, attended the wool sales in the principal Australian towns, so there was practically no market for the fine merino wools. September ought to have been a busy month in Brisbane,
