The Gold Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria

Abstract

TWENTY short years ago, the territory of Southern Australia comprised within the colony of Victoria offered comparatively little attraction to the emigrant. Its population had increased but slowly during the half century which had passed away since the discovery of Port Phillip Bay. Graziers, shepherds, and farmers were its chief occupants, and by them the value of its soil was estimated very much according to the number of cattle or of sheep which each acre could maintain. But to-day everything is changed. The land is dotted with hamlets, villages, and towns, and is intersected with roads and railways. The population has increased from 77,000 in 1851, to 660,000 in 1867. In the former year only 57,000 acres were under cultivation, in the latter the area had risen to 631,000. This growth in the population has been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the value of the imports and exports, which are now ten times what they were; while the value of rateable property in town and country districts is estimated at about £42,000,000.

The Gold Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria.

By R. B. Smyth. (Melbourne: J. Ferres. London; Trübner and Co.)