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NEW SOUTH WALES 333 and the grapes are of the finest quality. The total number of acres under cultivation was 417,801. There were 304,100 horses, 2,014,888 horned cattle, 16,278,697 sheep, and 213,193 swine. The climate is particularly well suited to all these animals. Horses are exported in large numbers to India; horned cattle grow to an immense size ; and the wool of the sheep is very superior. Asses, mules, and goats are seldom seen. The camel has been introduced for exploring purposes, but has not thriven. Llamas, alpacas, and vicufias have been intro- duced. Domestic fowl of every description thrive remarkably well, and are reared at small expense. Fish are abundant on the coasts; and there is a kind of fresh-water codfish in the Murray river which weighs sometimes as much as 70 Ibs. Oysters are plentiful, and turtles are procured from the N. part of the colony. Much of the soil of New South Wales is very fertile. Within a few years the im- proved agricultural machines have been intro- duced, but the attention of the colonists is still devoted chiefly to the produce of the pasture lands, wool, hides, and tallow. In 1871 the amount of wool exported was 48,700,000 Ibs., valued at 4,700,000. Very superior wines are made, resembling Sauterne, Barsac, hock, and claret. In 1873 more than 200 wine presses were in operation. The chief manufactures are leather and a kind of woollen cloth called "co- lonial tweed," which is exceedingly durable and in high favor among the settlers. Sugar refining is carried on to a considerable extent at Syd- ney ; and there are extensive distilleries, brew- eries, various sorts of mills, f ounderies, tallow- boiling establishments, and docks, in different places throughout the colony. The total num- ber of manufactories of all kinds in 1872 was 6,242. The imports in that year were valued at 9,208,496, of which 3,569,559 were from the United Kingdom and the British colonies ; the exports at 10,447,000, of which 3,710,- 000 were to the United Kingdom and British colonies, including wool to the value of 2,782,- 000. The exports included also gums, bark, copper ore, and timber. In 1871, 1,891 vessels of 706,019 tons entered the ports, and 2,123 of 794,460 tons cleared. Four fifths of all were under the British flag. Gold in its natural state is subject to a duty of 2s. 6d. an ounce on leaving the colony, and so appears in the cus- tom-house returns ; but the coined gold, hav- ing already paid this tax in the shape of mint charges, is allowed to pass free. Some of the imports from the neighboring colonies, the whole produce of the whale fisheries, and the greater part of what is received from the South sea, are merely transshipped in the ports of New South Wales while in transitu to other parts of the world. The first railway was pro- jected in 1846, to connect Sydney with Mel- bourne. In 1872 the aggregate length of rail- ways in the colony was 405 m. There are 570 post offices. Sydney is the capital ; the other principal towns are East and West Maitland, Liverpool, Bathurst, Goulburn, Windsor, New- castle, Yass, Penrith, and Paramatta. There is a university at Sydney, with two affiliated col- leges ; and in 1871 the colony had 1,450 schools, with 2,089 teachers and 77,889 pupils. There is a branch of the London mint, which issues gold coin, current in all the neighboring colo- nies and in Mauritius, Ceylon, and Hong Kong. The public press includes three daily newspa- Eers and several other periodicals published at ydney, and newspapers at Maitland, Bathurst, Goulburn, and other places. The government of New South Wales consists of a governor appointed by the crown, an executive council chosen by the governor, and two houses of legis- lature, one nominated by the governor and called the legislative council, and the other elected by the people and called the legisla- tive assembly. No allowance is paid to any of these members, except to those of the ministry or executive council, which is composed of the colonial secretary, the treasurer, the postmas- ter general, the solicitor general, the attorney general, and the minister of lands and public works. These ministers are all required to possess seats in the house of assembly, and re- tain their offices only so long as they can secure a majority in this branch of the legislature. The qualifications required for a voter are that he should be a householder, or if living in lodg- ings that he shall be earning wages at the rate of 100 a year, and that he should have resided six months in the colony. All voters are eligi- ble to membership. The house of assembly, composed of 72 members, makes laws within the colony not repugnant to those of Great Britain; it regulates the revenue, and makes all appropriations for the public service. Mea- sures passed by it do not become law till they have been approved by the legislative council and the governor, who has power to dissolve the house at pleasure. The revenue is derived from import duties and miscellaneous taxes, and from the proceeds of the sale of public lands and licenses to depasture. In 1872 it amounted to 2,794,274, and the expenditures to 2,362,482. For 1874 the revenue was officially estimated at 3,168,935. The public debt on Sept. 30, 1873, amounted to 10,829,- 885. According to the census of 1856, barely a third of the population of New South Wales was born in Australia; about 75,000 were sup- plied by England and Wales, 50,000 by Ireland, 16,000 by Scotland, 5,000 by Germany, and 2,000 by China. The population now (1874) includes a large admixture of Chinese, many Americans, and some of almost all European nationalities. From 1866 to 1872 the total number of immigrants exceeded 150,000, while about 100,000 emigrated. The emigration in- cluded 4,917 Chinese, while the number of Chinese immigrants was only 1,520. The num- ber of births in each of the seven years from 1866 to 1872 was more than double that of the deaths, and in 1870 and 1871 it was three times as large. In appearance and character the na-