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Corner Inlet as harbors. A chain of mountains, called Dividing Range, running nearly east and west, divides it unequally. The eastern part of the range, called the Australian Alps, is from 1,000 to 7,000 feet high, Mts. Hotham, Smith and Selwyn being high peaks. Along these ranges grow gigantic trees. The western part of the range is ca ed the Grampians, where the principal peak is Mt. William. The western part of Victoria is level, with fine pastures for the merino, whose wool brings the highest price in the markets of Europe. Part is covered with timber and reserved as a state forest. Many thousand square miles in the east are unexplored, _nd more than ten millions of acres are so covered with forest-clad mountains as to be too wild for settlement. The streams are too small for navigation, except the Murray and the Yarra. The climate is fine, about half the year being bright, with a bracing, dry, pleasantly warm atmosphere. The temperature never falls below freezing, except for an hour or two before sunr'se, in the coldest month. Snow has f lien only twice at Melbourne, though common on the higher plains and mountains. The disagreeable feature of the climate is the north wind, cold and dry in winter, hot and dry in summer. Th<* trees, among the largest in the world, mostly are eucalypti or gum-trees. The white gums are the most beautiful, standing in groves, their long, branchless trunk , as smooth as marble, looking like the pillars of a cathedral. The largest measured was 470 feet long and Si feet around. Eucalyptus oil comes from the blue gum, and the red gum is used for timber, being almost indestructible. Magnificent ferns and fern-trees are found in the forests. The kangaroo, opossum, wallaby, vardicoot and wombat are among the peculiar animals, all belonging to the marsupials (q, v.)t and the parrot, cockatoo and laughing jackass or kingfisher are among the native birds. Snakes are numerous, but not venomous. Wheat, barley and oats are the principal crops, and almost all fruits except oranges and bananas are grown. See AUSTRALIA : Victoria.
Victoria, Can., capital and seaport of British Columbia and second seaport of Canada- It is on a narrow inlet opening from the Strait of Juan de Fuca into the southeastern coast of Vancouver Island. It is the headquarters of the Canadian fur-sealing fleet. Three miles northwest is Esqui-mault, connected with it by an electric road. The parliament buildings, beautifully located, and the new hotel of the Canadian Pacific are imposing buildings. Population 31,620.
Victoria, queen of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India, was born at Kensington Palace, May 24, 1819. She was the daughter of Edward, duke of Kent, and
QUEEN VICTORIA
granddaughter of George III. At the death of her uncle, William IV, she became queen on June 21, 1837. On Feb. 10, 1840, she married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. , "When she came to bthe throne, she found Lord Melbourne, under whom r education had en conducted, at 'the head of her government, where he remained until 1841. His successors have been such men as Peel, Russell, Derby, Palmerston, Disraeli, Gladstone and Salisbury, jnder her wise leaders the queen saw the country c rried safely through the revolutionary period of 1848, the fall of the Fr nch monarchy, the formation of the kingd m of Italy and the German Empire and the Civil War of the United States. Some of the important measures of the period were the adoption of penny postage, abolition of the corn-laws, the transfer of the East India Company's possession to the crown, the Irish land-act and the admission of Jews to the house of commons. The most disturbing ques ion of the period» which is still unsettled, was the relation of Ireland to Great B itain. The Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, the Abyssinian War and wars in Egypt, Afghanistan and South Africa were the principal military events of her reign. In 1861 her husband, known as the Prince Consort, died, and the queen lived in partial retirement until 1876, when she again opened Parliament in person. In 1877 she was proclaimed empress of India. The reign of Queen Victoria was the longest and one of the most prosperous in English history. She understood the relation between the crown and the people, did not oppose reforms, and left the government largely in the hands of her ministers, which justified her being considered the most constitutional monarch of Britain. Her home life also was an example to her subjects, and earned the respect of the civilized world. It was altogether fitting that Tennyson should dedicate poems of his to this worthy woman. She was the stalwart friend of the American Union in 1861—5, and her womanly sympathy with the widows of Pres. Lincoln (1865) and Pres. Garfield (1881) endeared her to all Americans. The Boer War of 1899 grieved her deeply. She had nine children, the oldest daughter being the late Empress Frederick of Prussia, and the oldest son, Albert Edward, now reigning as Edward VII. The queen's jubilee was celebrated in
