Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/189

Rh Q U E Q U E 171 county is drained either by the Barrow, which has its source in the Slieve Bloom Mountains, and forms at various points the boundary with King's County, Kildare, and Carlow, or by the Nore, which enters the county from Tipperary near Borris-in-Ossory, and flows east and then south till it reaches Kilkenny. The lakes are few and small, the largest being Lough Anaghmore on the north- western boundary. The Grand Canal enters the county at Portarlington, and runs southwards to the Barrow in Kildare, a branch passing westwards 12 miles to Mount- mellick. Agriculture. The climate is dry and salubrious. Originally a great extent of the surface was occupied with bog, but by draining much of it has been converted into good land. For the most part it is very fertile except in the hilly districts towards the north, and there is some remarkably rich land in the south-east. The total extent under crops in 1884 was 129,617 acres, of which 73,536 acres were under tillage and 56,081 acres under meadow and clover. Of the 42,755 acres under corn crops 639 acres were under wheat, 24,467 acres under oats and 17,639 acres under barley. Of the 30,601 acres under green crops, 15,888 were under potatoes, and 12,077 under turnips. Dairy farming is extensively carried on. The total number of cattle in 1883 was 78,496, of which 20,421 were milch cows. There were 70,530 sheep, 33,834 pigs, 5433 goats, and 249,619 poultry. Horses and mules numbered 14,494, and asses 5742. Agriculture forms the chief occupation, but the manufacture of woollen and cotton goods is carried on to a small extent. Railways. The Great Southern and Western Railway crosses the country from north-east to south-west with stations at Portarling- ton, Maryborough, Mountrath, and Ballybrophy. At Portarlington a branch passes westward to Mountmellick ; there is also a branch passing southward from Maryborough, and another passing west- ward from Ballybrophy. Administration. The county is divided into eleven baronies, and contains 53 parishes and 1156 townlands. Ecclesiastically it is in the dioceses of Leighlin and Ossory, with portions in those of Kil- dare, Killaloe, and Dublin. Judicially it is in the home circuit. Assizes are held at Maryborough, the county town, and quarter sessions at Abbeyleix, Borris-in-Ossory, Carlow-Graigue, Mary- borough, Mountmellick, and Stradbally. There are fifteen petty sessions districts. The poor-law unions of Abbeyleix and Donagh- more are wholly within the county, and portions of those of Athy, Carlow, Mountmellick, and lloscrea. The county is included in the Dublin military district, and there is a barrack station at Maryborough. Population. Within the last forty years the population has diminished by more than one-half. In 1841 it numbered 153,930, which in 1871 had diminished to 79,765, and in 1881 to 73,121. The following were the largest towns : Mountmellick( 3126), Mary- borough (2872), Portarlington (partly in King's County) (2357), and Mountrath (1865). History. Anciently the territory now included in Queen's County was divided between the districts of Leix, Offaly, Clamnaliere, and Ossory. In the reign of Philip and Mary, it was made shire ground under the name of Queen's County, in honour of the sovereign, the place chosen for the county town being named Maryborough. Three miles south of Stradbally is Dun of Clopook, an ancient dun or fort occupying the whole extent of the hill, and there is another large fort at Lugacurren, Aghaboe, where there are the ruins of the abbey, was formerly the seat of the bishopric of Ossory. There are no remains of the Abbey of Timahoe founded by St Mochua in the 6th century, but in the neighbourhood of the site there is a fine round tower. Among the principal old castles are the fortress of the O'Moores in ruins occupying the precipitous rock of Dunamase, three miles east of Maryborough, Borris-in- Ossory on the Nore, and Lea castle on the Barrow, 2 miles below Portarlington, erected by the Fitzgeraldsinl260, burnt by Edward Bruce in 1315, again rebuilt, and in 1650 laid in ruins by the soldiers of Cromwell. IIL QUEENSLAND, a British colony, the north-eastern portion of Australia, is situated between New South Wales and Torres Strait, and between the Pacific Ocean and the Northern Territory of South Australia. Its southern boundary is about 29 S. lat. ; its western is 141 E. long, from 29 to 26 S. lat, and 138 E. thence to the Gulf of Carpentaria ; its northern is about 9 S. including the Torres Straits islands. In extreme length it is 1400 miles; in breadth, 1000. Its area is 669,520 square miles, or about 5 times that of the United Kingdom. The popula- tion is under 300,000. With a seaboard of over 2500 miles, it is well favoured with ports on the Pacific side. Moreton Bay receives the Brisbane river, on whose banks Brisbane, the capital, stands. Maryborough port is on the Mary, which flows into Wide Bay; Bundaberg, on the Burnett ; Gladstone, on Port Curtis ; Rockhampton, up the Fitzroy (Keppel Bay) ; Mackay, on the Pioneer ; Bowen, on Port Denison ; Townsville, on Cleveland Bay. Cairns and Port Douglas are near Trinity Bay ; Card well is on Rockingham Bay; Cooktown, on the Endeavour; Thursday Island port, near Cape York ; and Normanton, near the Gulf of Car- pentaria. The new gulf port is at Point Parker. The quiet Inner Passage, between the shore and the Great Barrier Reef, 1200 miles long, favours the north-eastern Queensland ports. Ipswich, Toowoomba, Oxley, Been- leigh, Maryborough, and Mackay are farming centres; Warwick, Roma, Clermont, Blackall, Aramac, Hughenden, and Mitchell are pastoral ones. Gympie, Charters Towers, Ravenswood, and Palmerville are gold-mining towns; while Stanthorpe and Herberton have tin mines. Town- ships are laid out by Government as occasion requires. There are fifteen large districts, viz., Moreton, Darling Downs, Wide Bay, Burnett, Maranoa, Warrego, and South Gregory, southward ; Port Curtis, Leichhardt, South Kennedy, Mitchell, and North Gregory, central ; North Kennedy, Burke, and Cook, northward. Cape York Peninsula is the northern limit. A few persons were sent to the Brisbane in 1826; but the Moreton Bay dis- trict of New South Wales was thrown open to coloniza- tion in 1842. It was named " Queensland " on its separa- tion from the mother colony in 1859. A natural but unfounded prejudice against its supposed warmer position retarded its progress, or confined its few inhabitants to pastoral pursuits. The discovery of abundant wealth in minerals and sugar-lands, with the growing conviction of its singular salubrity, greatly advanced the immigration prospects of the colony. A broad plateau, of from 2000 to 5000 feet in height, extends from north to south, at from 20 to 100 miles from the coast, forming the Main Range. This region is the seat of mining, and will be of agriculture. The Coast Range is less elevated. A plateau goes westward from the Great Dividing Range, throwing most of its waters northward to the gulf. The Main Range sends numerous but short streams to the Pacific, and a few long ones south-westward, lost in earth or shallow lakes, unless feeding the river Darling. Going northward, the leading rivers, in order, are the Logan, Brisbane, Mary, Burnett, Fitzroy, Burdekin, Herbert, Johnstone, and Endeavour. The Fitzroy receives the Mackenzie and Dawson ; the Burdekin is supplied by the Cape, Belyando, and Suttor. The chief gulf streams are the Mitchell, Flinders, Leichhardt, and Albert. The great dry western plains have the Barcoo, Diamantina, Georgina, Warrego, Maranoa, and Condamine. There are few lakes. A succession of elevated and nearly treeless downs of remarkable fertility contrasts with the heavily timbered country favoured by the rains. Cape York Peninsula is an epitome of Queensland. There is good land alternating with bad. The hills are rich in gold, silver, copper, tin, and coal. The forests are valuable, and the scrub is dense. Flats near the mouths of the many streams are admirable for sugar-cane and rice, while rising slopes suit coffee trees. West of the range dividing the gulf waters from the Pacific is a sandy grassless region where the only vegetation is a poisonous pea. Suddenly the traveller passes from this desert to the glorious downs around Hughenden, a garden-land beside the Flinders. Farther north-west is the charming Leichhardt river district, and the marvellous mineral Cloncurry highland. Southward of that again is the country of the Diamantina and