the proximity of the mountains to the shore, the streams on the western coast have short rapid courses. The Buller, Grey, and Hokitika are navigable for a few miles, but great expense had to be incurred in connection with the removal of the obstructing sand-bars at their mouths. The Grey and Buller possess special importance from the fact that they are the chief ports of shipment in connection with the coal export trade of the west. On the eastern slope there are hundreds of small streams along the whole extent of the island.

STEWART ISLAND.

This small island, which embraces an area of about 425,000 acres, is the southernmost of the group. It is separated from Middle Island by the passage called Foveaux Strait, and is distant 25 miles from the Bluff on the south of the Middle Island. The greater portion of Stewart Island is rugged and forest clad; but, although lying so far to the south, the climate is mild, and the soil when cleared of the thick undergrowth is very fertile. Mount Anglem and Mount Rakeahua are the highest peaks, the former reaching an elevation of 3,200 feet, and the latter 2,110 feet. The coast line possesses numerous attractive bays and fiords. Half-Moon Bay is the principal port, and near by is situated a beautiful sheet of water, about 10 miles by 4 miles in extent, called Paterson Inlet. Port Pegasus is a fine land-locked harbour, 8 miles long and about 1 mile wide. Fish and game are abundant, while the oysters are of fine size and flavour, and have achieved an Australasian reputation.

THE OUTLYING ISLANDS.

Of the outlying islands, the principal are the Chatham Islands, the Kermadecs, the Auckland Islands, and the Cook Group. The Chathams lie 480 miles east-south-east from Wellington. The largest island of the group has an area of about 222,500 acres, of which an irregularlyshaped lagoon in the interior contains 45,960 acres. A fourth of the entire area is clothed with forest, but there is good pastoral country in the remainder. Pitt Island has an area of 15,530 acres. In addition to these, there are several smaller unimportant islands. Sheep-raising is the principal industry in the group.

The four Kermadecs are named, respectively, Raoul or Sunday Island, Macaulay Island, Curtis Island, and L'Espérance or French Rock. Sunday Island contains 7,200 acres, Macaulay Island 764 acres, Curtis Island 128 acres, and L'Espérance 12 acres. Sunday Island is 20 miles in circumference, and its highest point reaches an elevation above sealevel of 1,723 feet. The surface is rugged, and almost the whole area is covered by a dense forest. Throughout the island the soil is exceedingly fertile, resulting from the decomposition of volcanic lavas and tuff. There are three fresh-water lakes in the interior, but they are so difficult of approach as to be practically useless.

The Auckland Islands are situated 290 miles to the southward of the Bluff Harbour. The largest of the group is 27 miles long, with a breadth of about 15 miles, and in its highest part is 2,000 feet above sea-level. There are some fine harbours in this island, Port Ross being considered one of the best harbours of refuge in the world. A depôt for the use of shipwrecked mariners is maintained on the island by the Government of New Zealand.

The Cook Group contains several beautiful and fertile islands. Rarotonga rises to a height of 3,000 feet above the level of the sea, and its fertile soil is covered with rich vegetation right to the summits of the mountains. The island is well-watered, but is deficient in good harbourage. Aitutaki has a circumference of 18 miles, and contains some splendid groves of cocoanut trees on the level lands near the coast, with fine pasturage inland.

Palmerston Island is about 220 miles from the nearest island in the Cook Group, and contains areas of good soil with some fine hardwood timber. The island is remarkable as being the "San Pablo" of Magellan.

Penrhyn Island is about 1,200 miles east of Samoa, and is one of the most famous pearling islands of the Pacific. It possesses a splendid harbour, capable of accommodating the largest vessels.

Suwarrow lies about 500 miles to the eastward of Apia in the Samoan Islands. It is a coral atoll, 50 miles in circumference, with a reef enclosing a land-locked lagoon about 12 miles long and 8 miles wide. The entrance is half a mile in width, and there is unlimited anchorage with depths of from 3 to 30 fathoms. Situated out of the path of the hurricanes, the island, which is uninhabited, is sufficiently fertile to support a small population, and would form a valuable trading depôt for the various islands in the neighbouring Pacific.

CLIMATE.

1

THE

HE Tropic of Capricorn divides Australia into two parts. Of these, the northern or inter-tropical portion contains 1,145,000 square miles, comprising half of Queensland, the Northern Territory of South Australia, and the north-western divisions of Western Australia. The whole of New South Wales, Victoria, New Zealand, Tasmania, and South Australia proper, half of Queensland, and more than half of Western Australia, comprising 1,932,000 square miles, are without the tropics. In a region so extensive, very great varieties of climate are naturally to be expected, but it may be stated as a general law that the climate of Australasia is milder than that of corresponding lands in the Northern Hemisphere. During July, which is the coldest month in southern latitudes, one half of Australasia has a mean temperature ranging from 40° to 64°, and the other half from 64° to 80°. The following are the areas subject to the various average temperatures during the month referred to :-

The temperature during December ranges from 50° to above 95° Fahr., half of Australasia having a mean temperature below 83°. Dividing the land into zones of average summer temperature, the following are the areas which would fall to each :

Judging from the figures just given, it must be conceded that a considerable area of the continent is not adapted for colonisation by European The region with a mean summer temperature in excess of 95° Fahr. is the interior of the Northern Territory of South Australia north of

races.

the 20th parallel; and the whole of the country, excepting the seaboard, lying between the meridians of 120° and 140° and north of the 25th parallel, has a mean temperature in excess of 90° Fahr.

Climatically, as well as geographically, New South Wales is divided into three marked divisions. The coastal region, which lies between the parallels of 28° and 37° south latitude, has an average summer temperature ranging from 78° in the north to 67° in the south, with a winter temperature of from 59° to 52°. Taking the district generally, the difference between the mean summer and mean winter temperature may be set down as averaging not more than 20°, a range smaller than is found in most other parts of the world. The famed resorts on the Mediterranean seaboard bear no comparison with the Pacific slopes of New South Wales, either for natural salubrity or for the comparative mildness of the summer and winter.

Sydney, situated as it is midway between the extreme points of the state, in latitude 33° 51′ S., has a mean temperature of 63°, corresponding with that of Barcelona, the great maritime city of Spain, and of Toulon, in France; the former being in latitude 41° 22′ N., and the latter in 43° 7' N. At Sydney the mean summer temperature is 70-8°, and that of winter 53.9°. The range is thus 16.9° Fahr. At Naples, where the mean temperature for the year is about the same as at Sydney, the summer temperature reaches a mean of 74-4°, and the mean of winter is 47-6°, with a range of 26.8°. Thus the summer is warmer, and the winter much colder, than at Sydney. The highest temperature in the shade experienced in Sydney was 109°, and the lowest winter temperature 36°, giving a range of 73°. At Naples the range has been as great as 81°, the winter minimum falling sometimes below the freezing-point. The mean temperature of Sydney for a long series of years was spring 62°, summer 71°, autumn 64°, and winter 54°.

Passing from the coast to the table-land, a distinct climatic region is entered. Cooma, with a mean summer temperature of 65.4° and a mean winter temperature of 41.4°, may be taken as illustrative of the climate of the southern table-land, and Armidale of the northern. The firstnamed town stands in the centre of the Monaro plains, at an elevation of 2,637 feet above sea-level, and enjoys a summer as mild as either London or Paris, while its winters are far less severe. On the New England table-land, the climate of Armidale and other towns may be considered as nearly perfect as can be found. The yearly average temperature is scarcely 56.5°, while the summer only reaches 67-7°, and the winter falls to 44-4', a range of temperature approximating closely to that of the famous health-resorts in the south of France.

The climatic conditions of the western districts of the state are entirely different from those of the other two regions, and have often been cited as disagreeable. Compared with the equable temperature of the coastal district or of the table-land, there may appear some justification for such a reputation, but only by comparison. The climate of the great plains, in spite of the heat of part of the summer, is very

healthy. The town of Bourke may be taken as an example. Seated in the midst of the great plain of the interior, it illustrates peculiarly well the defects as well as the excellences of the climate of the whole region. Bourke has exactly the same latitude as Cairo, yet its mean summer temperature is 13° less, and its mean annual temperature 4° less than that of the Egyptian city. New Orleans also lies on the same parallel, but the American city is 4° hotter in summer. As regards winter. temperature, Bourke leaves little to be desired. The mean winter reading of the thermometer is 547°, and accompanied as this is by clear skies and an absence of snow, the season is both refreshing and enjoyable. The rainfall of New South Wales ranges from an annual average of 64 inches at Port Macquarie, on the northern coast, and Kiandra, in the Monaro district, to 9 inches at Milparinka, in the TransDarling country. The coastal districts average about 42 inches of rain per annum; on the table-land the mean rainfall is 32 inches, but in the western interior it is as low as 20 inches, while at the ten stations in the far west the average was only 14 inches. The average rainfall of Sydney during forty-two years was 50 inches, while during 1903 a fall of 38.57 inches was recorded.

The climate of Victoria does not differ greatly from that of New South Wales; the heat, however, is generally less intense in summer and the cold greater in winter. Melbourne, which stands in latitude 37° 50′ S., has a mean temperature of 573°, and therefore corresponds with Bathurst in New South Wales, Washington in the United States, Madrid, Lisbon, and Messina. The difference between summer and winter is, however, less at Melbourne than at any of the places mentioned. The mean temperature is 6° less than that of Sydney and 7° less than that of Adelaide-the result of a long series of observations being-Spring, 57°; summer, 65.3°; autumn, 58.7°; winter, 49-2°. The highest recorded temperature in the shade at Melbourne was 110.7°, and the lowest, 27°; but it is rare for the summer heat to exceed 85°, or the winter temperature in the day time to fall below 40°. Ballarat, the second city of Victoria, about 100 miles west from Melbourne, and situated at a height of about 1,400 feet above sealevel, has a minimum temperature of 29°, and a maximum of 104·5°, the average yearly mean being 54.1°. Bendigo, which is about 100 miles north of Melbourne, and 700 feet above the level of the sea, has a rather higher average temperature, ranging from a minimum of 31·2° to a maximum of 106.4°, the average yearly mean being 59.4°. At Wilson's Promontory, the most southerly point of Australia, the minimum heat is 38-6°, and the maximum 96.4°, the average yearly mean being 56.7°.

During the year 1903 the rainfall at Melbourne amounted to 28.43 inches; while for a long series of years it averaged 25.58 inches, with an average of 131 days during the year on which rain fell. At Echuca, during 1903, 20.71 inches fell, and 30.78 at Portland. At Wilson's Promontory the rainfall was 43-69 inches.