OCEAN I A. OCEANIA is the name given by modern geographers to a sixth division of the globe, comprising all the islands and archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean from the Bonin Islands, S. of Japan (lat. 27° 40′ N.), to Macquarie Island, S.W. of New Zealand (lat. 54° 50′ S.), and from Sumatra (lon. 95° 25′ E.) to Easter Island, about 2000 m. off the coast of Chilé (lon. 110 W.) It thus embraces 82° of latitude and 160° of longitude. Its extreme length, from Achen_ Head in Sumatra to the meridian which passes through Cape San Lucas in Old California, is upwards of 11,000 m.; while the breadth, from north to south, is more than half that distance. The aggregate area and population are extremely uncertain, as many of the islands have been but recently discovered, while all of them are as yet very imperfectly explored. Probably, however, the former does not fall short of 4,500,000 sq. m., or one-fifth larger than the continent of Europe; while the latter is generally estimated at about 30,000,000, or less than the population of Great Britain at the last census. Divisions.-Oceania is now usually divided into four great sections, which are tolerably well defined, not only by geographical position, but also by various physical characteristics; for example, their geological formation, their botanical character, and the animals and races of man which inhabit them. These large divisions are-1. Australasia or Melanesia, in the south-west, embracing the continent of Australia, Papua, New Zealand, and numerous smaller islands contiguous to them; 2. Malaysia, also called the Eastern or Indian Archipelago, in the north-west, embracing the numerous islands and archipelagos that extend from the north-western shores of Australia and New Guinea to Further India and China; 3. Micronesia, formerly reckoned a part of Polynesia, in the north-east, and consisting of the numerous small islands lying north of the equator and east of the Malay Archipelago; 4. Polynesia, or the South Sea Islands, comprising the numerous archipelagos in the South Pacific Ocean east of Australasia. (See Johnston's Map of Oceania in his 'School Atlas of General Geography.') I. AUSTRALASIA. The first of the above-named divisions, termed Australasia from its southern position in relation to Asia, and Melanesia from the dark complexion of its inhabitants, lies about midway between Africa and South America, having Malaysia on the N.W., the Indian Ocean on the W. and S., and the South Pacific Ocean on the E. and N.E. It extends from the equator to lat. 54° 50′ S., and from lon. 113° to 180° E. The total area is supposed to amount to about 3,428,000 sq. m.—that is, to the area of Europe without the islands; and the population to about 2,500,000. This area embraces the continent of Australia, Tasmania or Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, Auckland Isles, Antipodes Island, Chatham Isles, Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Queen Charlotte Isles, Salomon Isles, the Louisiade Archipelago, New Britain, New Ireland, Admiralty Isles, Papua or New Guinea, Arroo Isles, and Timorlaut. "Viewed as a whole, this extensive region is characterised by a very spare population, by a paucity of rivers, by a great preponderance of sandy deserts, and by the singularity of its animal and vegetable products, which exhibit few species, and generally few individuals, but possess such a peculiar organisation that, in many instances, no parallel to it occurs in other regions of the globe." The aborigines consist of three distinct races-viz., 1. The natives of Australia, who are probably Turanians (p. 611); 2. The Papuans, in New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland, Salomon Islands, New Hebrides, the Louisiade Archipelago, and New Caledonia, forming, in the opinion of many, a distinct variety of the human race, whose numerous dialects have little affinity with any other language; and, 3. The Maories, in New Zealand, a Malayo-Polynesian race. AUSTRALIA. Geographical Position.-Australia, the smallest of the six continents, has Papua and Malaysia on the N., from which it is separated by Torres Strait and the Timor Sea; the Indian Ocean and Bass Strait (the latter separating it from Tasmania) on the W. and S.; and the Pacific Ocean on the E. Lat. 10° 40′-39° 8' S.; lon. 112°— 153° 47' E. In form, it is of an irregular onion shape, having its greatest extension from E. to W., in which direction it measures about 2500 m., while its extreme breadth from N. to S. does not exceed 1980 m. Sydney, the cap. of New South Wales (lat. 33° 54′ S.), is nearly on the same parallel as Cape Town, Santiago de Chilé, and Buenos Ayres. Area, Population, and Political Divisions. The area is estimated at 2,927,227 sq. m., or about five-sixths of the area of Europe, and the population at 1,395,994 (including 50,000 aborigines), being about one-fourth the population of Ireland. The entire continent is a possession of Great Britain, which, during the last eighty-five years, has established five highly prosperous colonies on its eastern and southern shores, viz.: NEW SOUTH WALES.-Sydney 140, Paramatta 8 (Port Jackson), Gouldburn 4 n. (Hawkesbury), Newcastle 10, Maitland 10 (Hunter), Bathurst 5 (Macquarie). VICTORIA.-Melbourne 130 n., Sandridge 5, Williamstown 6, Geelong 23 (Port Philip), Belfast 3, Portland 3 (Portland Bay), Sandhurst 18 n., Castlemaine 7 (Loddon), Ballarat 40 (Nurriwillan). SOUTH AUSTRALIA.-Adelaide 25 n., Port Adelaide 2 (G. of St Vincent), Kooringa 2 (Burra Creek), Wallaroo 2, Moonta 5 (Spencer Gulf). WESTERN AUSTRALIA. - Perth 3, Freemantle 2 (Swan River), Augusta (S.W. coast). QUEENSLAND.-Brisbane 20 (Moreton Bay), Ipswich 8 (Brisbane), Rockhampton 7 (Fitzroy), Somerset (N. coast), Burketon (Albert). NORTH AUSTRALIA.-Port Darwin (N. coast). Notes on Towns.-Sydney, on the southern shore of the magnificent harbour of Port Jackson, is a large, elegant, commercial city, containing numerous public buildings. Sydney was founded in 1788 as a penal settlement, the inlet of Port Jackson being better adapted for that purpose than Botany Bay, to which the convicts had been transported. At the urgent request of the Australian colonists, the penal settlement has been abolished. The commerce and importance of the city have greatly increased since the discovery of gold at Bathurst in 1851. The Botanic Garden, the finest in Australia, occupies thirty-eight acres of ground, and contains an immense collection of exotic plants from all countries. Paramatta, next to Sydney the oldest town in the colony, is noted for its orchards and vineries. Goulburn, 128 m. from Sydney, is the present terminus of the Great Southern Railway, and an episcopal city. Newcastle, at the mouth of the Hunter, and the principal shipping port north of Sydney, which it nearly equals in the extent of its tonnage, is chiefly noted for its valuable coal-mines, which give employment to a large number of workmen. Upwards of 1000 tons of coal are exported daily. Maitland, equal in size to Newcastle, and in an extremely fertile district termed the " Granary of New South Wales." Here the grape is widely cultivated, the other crops being maize, wheat, barley, oats, and potatoes. Coal of an excellent quality is found in the neighbourhood. Bathurst, the principal town in the recently-discovered gold region. Melbourne, cap. of Victoria, on the Yarra Yarra, three miles from its mouth in Port Philip, is the great emporium for all foreign goods intended for the colony. Since the discovery of the gold-diggings its commerce has been enormously developed. The exports in 1860 were valued at £12,962,000, about £8,624,000 of which represented gold. Sandridge, now the port of Melbourne, is situated on Hobson's Bay, about three miles from the cap., with which it is connected by a railway. Williamstown, the former port of Melbourne, situated on Hobson's Bay, opposite Sandridge, and eight miles from the cap., has a patent slip, graving-docks, and all conveniences for repairing vessels. Geelong, the most important town in Victoria next to Melbourne, which it surpasses in the convenience of its situation and the salubrity of its climate. It is the chief port for the wool of the colony. Sandhurst, a mining town in the Bendigo district, and a place of great trade, with a railway to the capital. It is the headquarters of a rich auriferous country. Castlemaine, a place of great importance in the early days of the gold-fields, has for some time past been retrograding, the yield of gold having greatly declined. Ballarat, the second most important town in the colony, owes its present position to its being the centre of perhaps the richest gold-yielding district in the world. The precious metal was discovered here in 1851. Adelaide, cap. of South Australia, on the Torrens, and about eight miles from Port Adelaide, its seaport, is a thriving commercial town, busily engaged in the exportation of wool and copper. Perth, on the Swan River, twelve miles above its mouth, is the cap. of Western Australia, but otherwise a place of little importance. Freemantle, at the mouth of the Swan River, is the port of Perth, and was, till 1868, a convict station. Brisbane, cap. of Queensland, a colony established in 1859, and now attracting numerous emigrants, is a rapidly increasing town. Ipswich, the second town in the colony, twenty-five miles west of Brisbane, which it rivals in the extent of its commerce. Rockhampton, on the Fitzroy, 400 m. north of Brisbane, may be regarded as the cap. of northern Queensland. It is the port of shipment for the produce of the Peak Downs copper and gold mines. Somerset, near Cape York, a commercial station, founded in 1865 by the Imperial Government in connection with that of Queensland as a naval rendezvous and coal depot, where her Majesty's ships may command the traffic through Torres Strait in the event of war with a foreign power. With the exception of Burketon, on the Albert River, flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria, this is now, since the abandonment of Port Essington, the only settlement north of Rockhampton. Port Darwin, on the N. coast of North Australia, and the only settlement in this extensive region (provisionally attached to the colony of South Australia), has a splendid harbour, suitable to vessels of the largest tonnage, with a comparatively healthy climate, good soil, and plenty of water and grass; but the only practicable communication with Adelaide, its mother city, is by sea, a journey of several thousands of miles. Surface and Mountains.-Australia is the smallest and least known of all the continents, with the exception of the south circum-polar. It is also, with the same exception, the only one lying entirely in the southern hemisphere. It lies S. E. of the great continent of the Old World, in the same way that South America lies S. E. of the great continent of the New; but while the latter is joined to the northern continent by a long continuous isthmus, the former is more loosely connected with Asia by a double row of immense islands. Like both the other southern continents, Australia terminates in a point at the south, to the east of which lie large islands; but New Zealand is more distant from Australia than Madagascar is from Africa, or the Falkland Islands from South America. It is essentially a level continent, and of very moderate elevation, consisting of an extensive low-lying interior, encircled by a border of more elevated land traversed by chains of mountains which rarely rise more than 5000 ft. above sea-level. Another peculiarity of this continent is, that along its north-eastern coast, at a distance of from 20 to 60 m. from the shore, is a broad wall of coral reef, some 1200 m. long, from a few hundred yards to a mile in width, and in depth reaching from the bed of the ocean to the surface. Between this reef and the coast ships can safely navigate, while the waves of the Pacific break against the outer side in long lines of white foam. The principal mountainrange lies along the eastern shore, at a distance varying from 50 to 150 m. Its average elevation is about 3500 ft., its loftiest summits |