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ADVANCED AUSTRALIA

syndicate was to have a proportionate grant of two million acres for itself. The plan miscarried; the colony languished; even to this day bacon, beef and horses are imported, and cotton and tobacco are unknown crops; and in 1840 a fresh start was attempted, in strict conformity this time with the principles of the unspeakable Wakefield. The failure of the settlement of Australind, settled on his kid-glove-colony system, is an even better proof than the Adelaide fiasco of the folly of transplanting ready-made polities, and of believing that supply will find its own demand. It is an example, also, of how London Boards of Directors can wreck their colonial properties by listening to irresponsible advisers who have "been there." In 1849 the despairing colonists fell back, for twenty years or so, on convict labour; and when, in 1870, Responsible Government, of a sort, was granted. Lord Carnarvon demurred to making it Representative, on the ground that, of 8000 adult males in the settlement, 5000 or 6000 had been transported. However, from this time the colony began to progress. Throughout the 'seventies, the Forrests and others were adding vast stretches of back country to its available assets. The picturesque figure of Sir John Forrest will be well remembered in this country, where he was a distinguished visitor on the occasion of the Queen's Jubilee. Sir John is a man of simple and straightforward speech, of fine physique, and of great courage. He first became known throughout Australia as a daring explorer of the great central unknown land, when, in 1870, he and his brother, Mr Alexander Forrest, journeyed from Perth to Adelaide, occupying about eight months in the expedition, travelling through a great deal of unexplored territory, and examining the whole country between Esperance Bay and the South Australian border. The party was accompanied by two aboriginals, one