Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/147

AUSTRALIA 131 bite is poisonous the scorpion, centipede, and several kinds of spiders. Ants of all sizes abound ; some are found an inch long, living in immense hills, and really formidable from their swarming attack and painful bite. It is said that nine tenths of the 8,000 species of plants found in Australia are unknown else- where, and are entirely unconnected vflih the forms of vegetation of any other division of the world. The great majority of these belong to two genera, the eucalypti (a genus of the myr- tle family) and the acacias. Of the former more than 100 varieties are known, spread over the whole continent. Many of the trees of this genus attain the height of 200 ft., with a girth at the base of 30 or 40 ft. Of the acacias, too, more than 100 species have been discovered. Cedars and casuarina are the chief representatives of the conifer. Xanthorrfaece are abundant, and near the coast grow to a height of 300 ft., the principal kind being called by the colonists the black boy or grass gum tree. Only a few palms are found. The principal Australian trees, the eucalypti and many of the acacias, have some remarkable peculiarities. Both have their leaves perpendicular to the sur- face of the earth the edges of the leaves turned toward the ground instead of their flat sides. Many of the eucalypti shed their bark, but their leaves do not change, remaining green and on the tree through the whole year. Among the other curiosities of the Australian flora are the arborescent ferns, which attain the perfection of trees, putting forth branches eight to twelve feet long ; the giant lily (dory- anthemum), an object of great beauty ; the tea tree (leptospermum grandiflorum) ; and the remarkable stench plant (hydrocotyle densi- flora). In the interior of the continent the giant kangaroo grass, so high as to conceal cattle, or even a horse and rider, is found cov- ering great plains; while the more sterile tracts are covered with the hard, sharp spini- fex {triodm pungeni). The brilliant flowers of Australia have little fragrance, but the leaves of several kinds of trees are highly aro- matic. Though the continent has few indige- nous fruits or useful vegetable products, nearly all those of other countries thrive in its cli- mate. On the N. E. coast, in the Moreton Bay settlement, the Japanese loquot, the date palm, and the prickly pear, cotton, sugar, coffee, and tobacco have been naturalized ; while bananas, oranges, and lemons grow here, as well as on the W. coast In New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, the cereals flourish with unsurpassed productiveness, and 64 Ibs. to the bushel has been produced in Australian wheat. All kinds of garden produce are of supe- rior character ; almonds, figs, apricots, melons, grapes, quinces, apples, pears, and plums are produced in great quantities. The mineral wealth of Australia, even if we consider only that portion already developed, is remarkable. It has been known from very early times to possess iron and other minerals. The gold ex- isting in pure masses does not seem to depend on stratification, but has probably been up- heaved along with other matter, and washed down by surface or subterranean currents. All that can be safely predicated of the materials in company with which gold is found, is that quartz and pipe clay are very generally asso- ciated with it. The quartz is abundant, and is found from minute pebbles worn smooth by attrition to huge blocks of many tons' weight which crop out from the surface in irregular and fantastic forms. It is usually milk-white and opaque, but occasionally attains a semi- crystalline transparency. Besides this, how- ever, gold is found intermixed with sandstone, ironstone, and white and blue clay. The range over which gold extends is altogether undeter- mined. Recent accounts announce its discov- ery at the furthest limits of exploration. The profitable diggings have until recently been confined to the Bathurst district, in the north of New South Wales, and to the hill country in the north and northwest of Victoria; but the new diggings in Queensland, especially at Gympie, are yielding very richly. In minute portions gold has been found all over the colo- nies. It was at first met with in small pieces on the actual surface ; as the surface supply became exhausted, it was found at a short dis- tance down, and the diggings have increased in depth as they have decreased in general richness. At Ballarat, near Geelong, where the most valuable lumps of gold have been procured (28, 60, and 136 Ibs. in weight), the shafts are sunk to a depth of more than 100 feet. The gold has never been found otherwise than in detached pieces or particles, varying in size from minute globules to weighty masses ; and where its close contiguity has assumed the character of a vein, it is only that the deposit has been washed together into a subterranean channel or gutter. The copper mines of Burra- Burra and other localities, and the coal de- posits in various quarters, have already been referred to. Tin, lead, silver, and precious stones of various kinds have also been discov- ered in the search for gold, and passed over for the present. The aborigines of Australia are of a distinct race from that inhabiting the Indian archipelago. They are found only in the Australian islands, in New Guinea, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and the Solo- mon islands. The New Zealanders are akin to the inhabitants of Polynesia. The Australians are black, with some slight variety of shade from brown-black to jet. They have curly hair, but not the crisp wool of the negro. Their faces are well developed, broad at the base, their lips less protruding than those of the ne- gro; their bodies are deficient in muscularity and strength, but capable of great endurance. They are superior in native intelligence to the Tierra del Fnegans, and they readily adopt European habits. They seldom build huts or other fixed dwellings, but content themselves with a strip of bark or a large bough as a