respectively; and 25,000 carats have been won in a rough state. Their value when cut and finished, if of the best quality, is about £2 per carat. Owing to the difficulties of extraction, and the low price of the gems in the London market, the mines were closed for three years. In 1897 they were again opened up, and, although worked for some time during 1898, they are now closed, the company having obtained a suspension of the labour conditions. No gems were produced during the year.

The sapphire is found in all the states, and at the sapphire fields of Anakie, in Queensland, there is now a population of 150 persons. The fields are extensive, but the gems are of a peculiar colour, quite distinct from those of any other country, a characteristic that prejudicially affects their value. The value of the gems produced in 1901 was £6,000, but owing to the low prices and the lack of sufficient water supply on the field, the returns fell away to £5,000 in 1902. The season of 1903 was more favourable, the production being valued at £6,500. The oriental topaz has been found in New South Wales. Oriental amethysts also have been found in that state; and the ruby has been found in Queensland, as well as in New South Wales.

According to an authority on the subject of gemstones, rubies, oriental amethysts, emeralds, and topaz have been chiefly obtained from alluvial deposits, but have rarely been met with in a matrix from which it would pay to extract them.

Turquoises have been found near Wangaratta, in Victoria.

Chrysoberyls have been found in New South Wales; spinel rubies, in New South Wales and Victoria; white topaz, in all the states; and yellow topaz, in Tasmania. Chalcedony, carnelian, onyx, and cat's-eye are found in New South Wales; and it is probable that they are also to be met with in the other states, particularly in Queensland. Zircon, tourmaline, garnet, and other gemstones of little commercial value are found throughout Australasia.

In South Australia some very fine specimens of garnet were found, causing some excitement at the time, as the gems were mistaken for rubies. The stones were submitted to the examination of experts, whose reports disclosed the true nature of the gems, and dispelled the hopes of those who had invested in the supposed ruby-mines of that state.

PRODUCTION OF MINERALS.

The foregoing pages show that Australasia possesses invaluable mineral resources, and although enormous quantities of minerals of all kinds have been won since their first discovery, yet the deposits, with the exception perhaps of gold, silver, and coal, have only reached the first period of their exploitation. The development of the deposits of various other minerals has not reached a sufficiently advanced stage to enable an exact opinion to be expressed regarding their commercial value, though it is confidently held by mining experts that this must be

enormous. The mineral production of the various states in 1903 will be found below :

The

The total value of the minerals raised in Australasia during 1903 was £27,369,427, being £2,397,420 in excess of the value for 1901, which had hitherto been the highest recorded in any one year. great advance of gold-mining in Western Australia and the increased activity displayed in coal-mining in New South Wales have been the chief contributing factors in maintaining the high figures of the past few years. Gold has always constituted the largest proportion of the value raised, but the search for this mineral has led to the expansion of other branches of the mining industry which are commanding more attention each year. At the present time the number of persons in Australasia who gain their livelihood by mining is nearly 125,400 The total employment in each branch of mining during 1903 was :—

The greatest number of persons engaged in mining is in New South Wales, where, owing to the large employment afforded by the coal-mines,

the total is 37,559; the greatest number of gold-miners is in Victoria. The total number of persons in the Commonwealth engaged in mining pursuits is 112,083, and in view of the known resources which await development, this number is likely to be still further increased.

The following table shows the value of the mineral production of each state during the five years 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, and 1903, as well as he value per inhabitant for the whole of Australasia ::

New Zealand..........

Total

3,100,000 1,528,000 1,841,000 2,956,001 3,530,654 11,711,000 11,317,000 13,888,000 24,972,007 27,369,427

There

The foregoing table shows that the mineral production of 1903 was nearly fourteen and a half millions more than that of 1891. were increases in all the states with the exception of New South Wales, in which state a decrease of slightly over £483,000 has to be recorded, owing to the fall in the value of silver and lead. The most notable increases were in Western Australia and Tasmania; the production of the former state exceeded that of 1891 by nearly £8,842,000, mainly on account of the great increase in the gold yield, which advanced in value from £115,182 to £8,770,720 during the period under review. The large expansion in the Tasmanian production was due to the output of the Mount Lyell Copper-mines. In the other states, the increases were also substantial, and New Zealand had an increase of nearly £1,690,000.

Comparing the value of the mineral production in 1903 with the population, the largest amount is shown by Western Australia, with £40 10s. 11d. per inhabitant; Tasmania ranks second, with £7 6s. 9d. per inhabitant; Queensland third, with £7 2s. 2d.; New Zealand fourth, with £4 6s. 1d.; New South Wales fifth, with £4 3s. 1d. Victoria follows with an average of £2 15s. 11d. per head, and in South Australia the production per inhabitant was only £1 11s. 9d. The average per inhabitant for Australasia was £5 15s. 6d., an increa se of 8s. 4d. per head on the figures of the previous year, and the average for the states constituting the Commonwealth was £6 1s. 9d. head.

per

The following table shows the value of production in each of the staten during 1903, distinguishing the principal minerals. With regard to some of the states the data are defective in respect to "other minerals," but not to such an extent as to affect seriously the gross total. The column "other minerals" includes kerosene shale in New South Wales and kauri gum in New Zealand, but does not include salt in South Australia :-

The foval mineral productin to the end of 1903 is shown in the Avloniy sabi # chie de alumn "other minerals again includes Amey day and kaum ge

'961

THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY,

THE progress of the manufacturing industry in Australasia has been somewhat irregular, even in the most advanced states; and although the tabular statement given below shows an increase since 1885 of 91,159 hands in the Commonwealth and 30,533 in New Zealand, a growth proportionately much greater than that of the population, by far the greater part of this extension has taken place during the last eight years. The population of the continent at the present time is not sufficient to maintain industries on an extensive scale, and in past years the field was still further limited by intercolonial tariffs. Now that these barriers have been swept away, and the Australian market secured to a certain extent to the local manufacturer, more rapid progress may reasonably be expected in the manufacturing industry.

The majority of the manufactories of Australasia may be classified as domestic industries-that is to say, industries naturally arising from the circumstances of the population, or connected with the treatment of perishable products; but there are nevertheless a fair number of firmly established industries of a more complex character. A statement of the number of establishments and of the hands employed in Australasia is given below for various years since 1885. The information is obtained annually in the states of the Commonwealth, but only once in every five years in New Zealand :

From this it would appear that the number of hands in the Commonwealth increased from 133,631 in 1895 to 184,160 in 1900, but as the returns of the earlier year were not so complete as those of 1900 the figures cannot be accepted as an index of the progress made during the period. The returns for 1900 and 1903 are, however, practically on the same basis, and have accordingly been summarised