Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/305

 SOUTH AUSTRALIA 285 1843. The copper declined as prices fell. It was 322,983 in 1885, when rates were 50 a ton, but 762,386 ten years before with over 90. In 1886 most of the mines were closed. Between 250 and 400 miles north of Adelaide a very rich copper district exists. Lead is very abundant. Manganese, nickel, bismuth, antimony, and silver have been mined. Tin is seen in granitic places. Iron occurs in almost all formations and in all conditions. There is abundance of hrematite, micaceous, bog, and other ores rich in the metal. Taltsker and other mines paid in silver. The wonderful Silverton, of Barrier Ranges, in a desert, is just outside the boundary, though 300 miles only from Adelaide while 600 from Sydney. Gold was got from a quartz vein at the Victoria mine, near Adelaide, as early as 1846, but did not pay the company. Partial gold working has been conducted at Echunga, &c. , in southern hills. There are rich alluvial and quartz gold mines in Northern Territory, at from 100 to 150 miles south of Port Darwin. For the year 1884 the yield was 77,935. Of 1349 miners 1205 were Chinese. Gold is now worked at Waukaringa, 225 miles north of Adelaide. Copper, tin, and silver are found in Northern Territory. Among other minerals asbestos, roofing slates, and fine marbles may be named. Some forty years ago precious stones, especially garnets and sapphires, were gathered in the Barossa Hills. Carbonaceous material is found at the Coorong, &c., yielding 50 per cent, of oil. Lake Eyre has a rude coal. Kapunda marble quarry is a success. In 1885 there were 16,493 acres leased for minerals. The value of minerals exported in 1885 was 338,132. Agriculture. This is essentially an agricultural colon}'. In its first establishment, farming was intended as the main occupation. The land was cut up for sale into eighty-acre lots with the view of settling the people on arrival, and concentrating them, instead of having them scattered as in the neighbouring colonies, in which pastoral pursuits completely dwarfed the farming industry. This wise provision made the colony for years the supplier of breadstuff's to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Auckland. As neigh- bours became wheat-producers, Adelaide merchants had to seek markets in Natal, Mauritius, the Cape, or even Europe. At all times the state has lent every assistance to agriculture. As the colony suffers more from drought than anything else, public reser- voirs are constructed and artesian wells are sunk. Forest culture has especially attracted Government attention. Reforesting and the establishment of nurseries for the trees, fruits, and vegetables of other lands go hand in hand. Forest reserves already amount to 150,000 acres. Hundreds of thousands of trees are annually planted. The land system, sound at the beginning, has been repeatedly amended, especially with a view to the advancement of pastoral interests. Instead of cash sales, as formerly, conditional purchases may be made, extending over a long period, subject to conditions of residence and cultivation. At the end of 1884 only ten million acres had been purchased. There were, however, 53,000,000 acres enclosed, chiefly for pasturage, and 2,785,490 under cultivation. The crop for March 1885 was as follows: wheat, 1,942,653 acres; fallow, 450,536; hay, 308,429; artificial grasses, 23,217; barley, 15,697; lucerne, 8649; oats, 7264; orchard, 5825; potatoes, 5666; pease, 4601 ; vineyard, 4590. The culture indicates a warm and dry climate, different from New Zealand or the tropical coast of Queensland. The product of South Australian fields is so much smaller per acre than in any of the neighbouring colonies that only an open level country of cheap land, with effective machinery at moderate cost, could be managed at a profit. Going northward from Adelaide the country becomes too dry for roots, and then too precarious even for wheat. The county of Adelaide is very favour- ably placed for vineyards, oliveyards, and orchards. About half the olive trees and a third of the almond trees are there. Of 3,704,107 grape vines in the colony, Adelaide county had 2,158,468, and Light, in the neighbouring hills, had 860,356. There were in 1884 473,535 gallons of wine made. The commissioners lately reported that the light white wines kept sound and good, while full-bodied red wines continue to improve with age. The Water Conservation Department is of great service to agriculture. Tropical cultivation receives some attention already in Northern Territory. The Chinese raise rice crops, there being heavy rains near the coast. Daly river has excellent soil and climate for sugar and coffee. The pastoral progress has been considerable, notwithstanding want of moisture. In 1885 there were 1528 leases over 214,916 square miles, besides 257 annual leases with 11,214 square miles. There were then 168,420 horses, 389,726 cattle, 163,807 pigs, 6,696,406 sheep (twenty sheep per head of population). Of these the settled counties had 151,058 horses, 179,206 cattle, and 4,995,394 sheep. In Northern Territory, with 136,000 cattle, there were in December 1885 6000 horses and 40, 000 sheep, that country, excepting in the dry interior, being unfitted for wool- bearers. The total export of wool grown in South Australia had only the value of 1,671,775 in 1885. The prices obtained were a fourth less than ten years before. The rabbit pest is felt as seriously in pastoral as in agricultural operations. Kangaroos are far less troublesome to stockholders than in Queensland. Where water can be procured by darns, reservoirs, or wells stock can be kept, since, where the grass fails, cotton bush and various saline plants supply sufficient food. An artesian well lately was sunk 1220 feet. Wool is remarkably fine there. While a South Australia merino has 2720 serrations to an inch of wool, a Leicester sheep has but 1850. Fauna. South Australia is not separated from the neighbour- ing colonies by any natural boundaries ; hence the fauna includes many animals which are also to be found in the land lying to the east and west. The northern half of the colony lies within the tropics, and possesses a tropical fauna, which is, however, practic- ally identical with that of northern Queensland. In spite of its immense extent north and south, and a corresponding diversity in climate, the colony is poorer in animal life than its neighbours. It possesses thirty-five genera of mammals. These include both genera of the order Monotremata, the Echidna, or spiny ant- eater, and the Ornithorhynchus, or duck-billed platypus, both of which are found also in eastern Australia and Tasmania. The other order of Mammalia associated with Australia, the Marsupialia, is well represented in South Australia. It contains seven genera of MaarofodAda or kangaroos, including the wallaby and kangaroo rat, four genera of Phalangistidas, or opossums, and five species of Dosyuridx, or "native cats." Two genera of this family are peculiar to the region the Chastocercus and the Antichinomys ; the latter is found in the interior. It is a mouse-like animal with large ears, and is remarkable for the elongation of its fore-arm and hind-foot and for the complete absence of the hallux. The Phascolomys, or wombat, one of the largest of the marsupials, is also found in South Australia, and the curious Myrmecobius, or ant- eater of Western Australia. This remarkable animal is about the size of a squirrel ; it possesses fifty-two teeth (a greater number than any known quadruped), and, unlike the other members of its order, the female has no pouch, the young hanging from nipples concealed amongst the hair of her abdomen. The Cheeropus, with peculiarly slender limbs and a pouch opening backwards, is found in the interior. The remaining Mammalia consist of the dingo, or native dog, and a few species of Muridss, the mouse family, and Cheiroptera, or bats. There are about 700 species of birds, including 60 species of parrots. Of the 9 families peculiar to the Australian region, 5 are well represented, including the Mcliphagidm (honey-suckers), Cacatuidse (cockatoos), Platyccrcidss (broad-tailed and grass parroquets), Megapodidx (mound-makers 1 ) and Casuaridaz (cassowaries). The last-named family is represented by the Droms&us, or emu, which is hunted in some parts of the colony. Reptiles are fairly represented : there are fifteen species of poisonous snakes. The lizards are very peculiar; South and Western Australia contain twelve peculiar genera. No tailed Amphibia exist in the continent, but frogs and toads are plentiful. Flora. The plant species resemble those of the eastern colonies and Western Australia, but are more limited in variety. The colony, from its dryness, lacks a number known elsewhere. Enormous areas are almost destitute of forests or of timber trees. The Eucalyptus family, so valuable for timber and gum as well as for sanitary reasons, are fairly represented. Acacias are abundant, the bark of some being an article of commerce. Flinders range has much of the valuable sugar-gum, Eucalyptus Corynocalyx, which is being now preserved in forest reserves. Its timber is very hard and strong, not warping, resisting damp and ants. The head-flowered stringybark, Euc. capitellata, has a persistent bark. A sort of stringybark, Euc. tetrodonta, is found in Northern Territory. The gouty-stem tree (Adansonia) or monkey-bread of the north is a sort of baobab. About 500 northern plants are Indian. The Tamarindus indica occurs in Arnhem land, with native rice, rattans, and wild nutmeg. The cedar is of the Indian variety. Pines are numerous in the south, palms in the north ; among the most beautiful is the Kcntia acuminata. Banksias are very common in sandy districts. Flowering shrubs are common in the south. There are 130 known grasses in Northern Territory. Fisheries. Whaling was formerly an important industry about Encounter Bay, as sealing was in Kangaroo Island. The whales have migrated, and the'seals are exterminated. On the northern side trepang or beche-de-mer fishery has commenced, and pearl fisheries have been established. Of fish within colonial waters there are forty-two peculiar genera. The tropical north has similar fish to those of North Queensland, while those of southern bays resemble many of the species of Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales. There are the barracouta, bonito, bream, carp, catfish, rock cod and Murray cod, conger, crayfish, cuttle, dogfish, eel, flatfish, flat- head, flounder, flying-fish, gadfish, grayling, gurnard, hake, John Dory, ray, salmon (so-called), schnapper, seahorse, shark, sole, squid, swordfish, whiting, &c. Though called by English names, the fish do not always correspond to those in Europe. The Murray cod is a noble freshwater fish. Commerce. There is little speculative trade, the shipping being employed in the conveyance of the exports of the colony and* the introduction of needful supplies. The imports during 1884 amounted to 5,749,353, of which 2,983,296 came from the United 1 One genus of this remarkable family the Lipoa is confined to the district