Islands

the Marshall Archipelago, the Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Ellice the Fiji Islands, the Phoenix Islands, the Islands, the Samoan Islands, the Tonga the Sandwich Islands, Palmyra, Samarang, Christmas, Easter, Malden, Manikiki, the Islands, the Society Islands, the Low Arch i the Marques as Islands, Pitcairn Island, many hundreds of others, the majority of unnamed being very small. The chief native are the Malay (in the Indian Archipelago), Papuan (in New Guinea), the Australian, New Zealand (allied to the Malayan), the and the Mic rones i an. A large proof the smaller islands are of coral form a and many of them are atolls, or annular reefs. aborigines retain but few traces of any ancient although in the opinion of some they at one time have po e ed considerable cul- In several of the islands, and notably in Carolines and at Easter Island, prehistoric statues and ruins of gigantic works of stone abound. Most of the native Austral a were, at the time of their discovery, cannibals, many are cannibals still, Very few of them any distinct religious system; but nearly all minor groups were governed directly or inby a semi-religious caste, which maintained influence by means of the institution called viz. the ceremonial setting aside or consecraof people, places, and things for particular Violations of tabu, always very rare on of the supernatural penalties which were to follow its infraction, were, when they usually punished with death. Christian has made great progre throughout Austral asia, to-day most of the natives are, at least nom i either Roman Catholics or members of Nonconformist sects. @ Australia. Eotent, Configuration, Islands.— the smallest of the continents and the of the islands of the world, has an area of miles, and is, therefore, of about the same as the United States of North America, if the lake surface of the latter be left out of the The population of Australia in did not, however, exceed 3,773,801 exclusive the aborigines, who are rapidly dying out, who do not now, in all probability, number than fifty you sand souls. The general of the island is that of an irregular with the concave side, formed by the Australian Bight, facing to the south. The between the extreme north at Cape York 10° 40’ 8.) to the extreme south at Wilson (lat. 39° 10’ 8.) is about 1,930 miles; and the extreme east at Cape Byron Gong. 35’ E.) to the extreme west at Steep Point 113° 15’ E.) about 2,450 miles. The coast is very irregular or deeply indented, except on north, and the estimated length of coast-line not exceed 10,000 miles, The islands—if Tas which lies to the south, and is separated the continent by Ba Strait, 130 miles wide, excluded—are neither numerous nor important. 260 ) On Albany umber land ton Island, and nest Hartog and Island, Island, Islands, are inlet, Collier the northern from Great over tered, it are north, it summits, least tracts interior almost as the neverthele , topped are New (Mount the (Mount (Bogong, 5,575 William, mountains Range the mountains (Mount In the signs area, minerals, and nearly one where, Valuable New quantities (where million Yarra-Yarra occurs morphic Australia. the east they include Prince of Wales Island, Island, the Cumber land Islands, the North- Islands, Great Sandy Island, and More- Island; on the south, ad Island, Kangaroo Nuyt’s Archipelago, Recherché Archipelago, Eclipse Island; on the west, Peel Island, Rott- Island, the Abrolhos or Houtman Rocks, Dirk Island, Barrow Island, Dampier Archipelago, Expedition Island; and on the north, Bathurst Melville Island, Goulburn Island, We el Groote Eylandt, the Sir Edward Pellew and the Wellesley Islands. The chief bays the Great Australian Bight, with its deepest Spencer Gulf, on the south; King’s Sound, Bay, and Cambridge Gulf on the west; and Gulf of Carpentaria on the north. Along the part of the east coast, and at a distance it of from fifty to two hundred miles, runs the Barrier Reef, which forms a coral breakwater 1,200 miles long, with a deep and well-shelthough somewhat intricate, channei between and the shore. The most important peninsulas those of Cape York and Arnhem Land, on the and Eyria and York, on the south. Physical Features.—-Australia, although much of may be described as hilly, is, as regards great the least mountainous, as it is also the well-watered, of the continents. The elevated lie chiefly in the eastern half, much of the of the western half being a sandy and waterle plain, known in its northern part the Great Sandy Desert, and in its southern as Great Victoria Desert. Most of the coast, is hilly, the hills being generally by plateaux. The chief ranges or groups the South Australian Highlands, in Victoria and South Wales, including the Interior Ranges Arrow smith and Mount Lyell, 2,000 ft.), Great Dividing Chain, the Muniong Range Kosciusko, 7,308 ft.), the Australian Alps 6,500 ft., Hotham, 6,100 ft., The Twins, ft.), the Grampians, the Pyrenees (Mount 5,600 ft.), and the Blue Mountains; the of South Australia, including the Lofty (2,334 ft.) and the Flinders Range (3,000 ft.); Coast Range of Queensland (5,000 ft.); and the in the north-west of Western Australia Labouchere, 3,400 ft., Mount Bruce, 3,800 ft.). the south-eastern part of South Australia, near Victorian frontier, are several extinct volcanoes, Geology.— Australia, which geologically shows of vast antiquity, is, over great part of its extraordinarily rich in the valuable and useful in asbestos and the porphyries, in coal, in precious stones, Gold is found largely in all parts of New South Wales, over at least half of Victoria, in Queensland almost every and to some extent in the other colonies, veins of silver exist on the confines of South Wales and South Australia. Enormous of tin are found in New South Wales the stanniferous area is estimated at acres), in the beds of the tributaries of the in Victoria, and elsewhere. Copper most plentifully in South Australia, in meta and palsozoic rocks, and in Queensland, 289 where timony, sulphide, in New the form colonies. shale, oil per Wales, {n Queensland, sandstone. the colonies Australia. sulphuret rubies cobalt, molybdenite; men; sardonyx, phyries, zinc. stones. Hydrography.—Much rerently larly size. few exceptions. receives rumbidgee miles, territory, Wales the south-eastern a peculiarly in the generally South Wales of hematite, Coal which yields ton, is found and in Queensland. Fine except New of mercury, and sapphires; manganese, South Queensland—cobalt, agates, slate, and There are watered, lacking in navigable The chief on its right and Darling, and drains or about and Victoria. Australia. fine form enclosed and of all upwards over in trachytic diamonds South Tropic ag South Wales kaolin, Australia—bismuth sapphires, basalt; many and the river, Rising bank nearly three-quarters It portion malachite of oxide, in Victoria. is also worked kinds, including of 150 a wide area Opal conglomerate have Australia of CPP Td a —e WwW MAP also bismuth, Victoria—osmium, gypsum, nickel, garnets, and Western fine marbles of Australia whole continent rivers of the Murray, in the Muniong the waters has a length 270,000 is the principal of the ( abounds. An sulphuret, and quartz, abounds Iron, chiefly in in the same kerosene gallons of crude of New South is freely met with and been found in all and Western 130 Melville we Nort s T OF AUSTRALIA, SHOWING po e es galena, and zinc, with zinc, bitumen, and and bitucinnabar, zinc, topazes, por- Australia, and building is very indifis singuany considerable is one of the Range, it of the Murof about 1,300 square miles of of New South drainer of continent. The 261 ) central more ina, evaporating notable Frome, section and really little sometimes De id “apne — te hern contains laide, for section taria, Norman, rivers; into empty third northward into evaporation; ward which distance sandbanks. continent including _ Wales, Australia. southern section is mainly drained or le intermittent streams as the Diamant- Alberga, and Cooper, into the large land-locked basins of South Australia. of these are Lakes Torrens, Kyre, Gairdner, Gregory, and Blanche. The south-western of the continent has no rivers uf importance, the Swan river is the only stream which navigable. The north-western section better off; but most of the rivers there dry. The chief are the Ash burton, Grey, and the Fitzroy. The northern Prat = Sas rg uroteKylandf EE, =Carpente ria PENA"! HV sleatey_t art RES e ye S44 H (a, Soe MS * t ae, ¢ ‘ Me tenenee EE THE POLITICAL DIVISIONS, the more permanent rivers, Roper, and Victoria, the first of which is navigable a distance of over 100 miles. The north-eastern is drained chiefly into the Gulf of whither flow the Mitchell, Staaten, Flinders, Leichhardt, Albert, and but, to some extent also, into the which the Brisbane and several smaller themselves. Speaking generally, the of the continent drains either southward into the sea; the central half lakes, or gets rid of most of its moisture and the western sixth drains into the Indian Ocean. Many minor would otherwise be navigable for inland, have their mouths choked Climate. — About two-fifths of the Australian lie within the tropics. The remainder, the whole of Victoria and New enjoys one of the most pleasant and salubrious by such Most is is a are the section Ade- Carpen- Gilbert, other Pacific, streams eastern or drains by we strivers, a short by South 290 climates general owing mean Wales but the breeze however, high to where frost there annual the exceptionally depre ion perhaps annual Sydney inches; on parts the at in and sequent through pool. winds, Happily, summer, three unbearable. interior paniment Sep alf of and the 119°, parts climates, ment meteorological tinent, all also as wited plains which tracted first le Among are Buoalyptus or ironwood, pumerous Australia, ( 262 in the world—a climate which bears a resemblance to that of South Italy, though, to the greater extent of the territory, the temperature is more varied. In New South the mean heat in summer is about 80° F., near the coast this is agreeably tempered by sea-breeze, which usually blows all day, a land following at night. On the inland plains, the mercury in summer often rises as as 180° in the shade, and mounts almost daily 100° during that season. In winter, nearly every south of Sydney there is occasional hoar and snow. In the hills snow is common; and are places, such as Kiandra, where the mean temperature falls as low as 46°, and where thermometer sometimes falls to 5°. The air is dry and pure; perhaps owing to the and aridity of large tracts in the interior, to the influence of the trade winds. The rainfall is very unequally distributed. At it is about 80 inches; at Melbourne, 40 at Adelaide, 21 inches; at Perth, 31 inches; some of the interior plains, almost nil; and in of the hilly districts, enormous. Nearly all lowlands are liable to long-continued droughts uncertain periods. The streams then disappear the parched earth; the herbage turns brown; the cattle die of thirst, or of exhaustion conupon their unavailing efforts to struggle the mud to the waters of some fast-vanishing With these droughts come the terrible hot which feel like a blast from a furnace. the hot winds are rare, occurring only in and then lasting not more than two or days; but while they last life is almost They lull, however, at night. On the plains a fire is the almost invariable accomof the hot wind. Often this fire reaches aap roportions, One, in 1851, devastated the settled portion of what is now the colony Victoria, caused immense lo of life and stock, even threatened Melbourne. On February 6th, day of this fire, the thermometer stood at about but fell rapidly at night to 80°. In the northern of the island there are, as in most tropical regular wet and dry seasons, The Govern- Observatory at Sydney prepares elaborate statistics relating to the entire conand receives daily reports from stations in dist riots and in New Zealand and Tasmania. It publishes a daily weather-chart of Austral asia, the British Meteorological Office does of Europe, Flora.—The natural flora of Australia is strangely to the peouliarities of the climate. The great are largely covered with gra es, the roots of have the power of lying dormant during pro droughts, and of reviving in response to the shower or heavy dew. Where the droughts are frequent there is magnificent forest vegetation. the most notable trees and shrubs which indigenous are many myrtacem, including the globulus, or blue-gum; the Xanthorrhea, gra -tree; the tea-tree, the yellow-wood, the certain cedars, the sago-palm, the cabbage » many mimosas and other legumino , and orchidex, figs, bananas, yams, etc.; but ) Australia. in one part or another of the vast island almost everything will thrive, and the whole flora of tropical co pees lands has been succe fully intro. uced. Fauna.—The fauna of Australia differs in nearly every respect from that of any other region on the world’s surface. Monkeys, Carnivora, and Ungulates are replaced by Marsupials and Monotremes; the rodents are modified forms of rats and mice; the bats alone po e no special interest, as they are forms common to the whole Eastern hemisphere. There are many characteristic birds, of which the chief are the Lyre-birds, the Scrub-birds, various arakeets, the Mound-birds, the Ca owaries, the ‘'rog Mouths, the Black Swan, etc. There are many poisonous snakes, and thirty-six genera of lizards are peculiar to Australia. There are three peculiar genera of fresh-water turtles, but no tailed Amphibia, though frogs and toads are numerous. The most remarkable fish is Ceratodus (q.v.). Australia is poor in butterflies; richer in beetles, the long i cor us abounding throughout the region. Population.—The aboriginal population is a very low and dark-coloured branch of the Me lanes i an stock—of cannibal proclivities, and of the most debased habits, The people are, however, very rapidly dying out, and are not now supposed toc number more than 60,000 souls, of whom about 10,000 are in Queensland. The non-aboriginal popuesc is principally of British ancestry or irth (about 91 per cent.), of German ancestry or birth, and of Chinese birth. The number of Chinese on the continent is estimated at 22,000. Geographical Exploration and Progre .—The mainland of Australia, though it was seen by De Gonnerville, a French navigator, as early as 1503, seems to have been first touched at in 1606 by the Dutch yacht Duyfhen, which, returning from an exploring expedition along the coast of New Guinea, made the land somewhere near the mouth of Batavia river on the east shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Godinho de Eredia had sighted Cape Van Diemen, on Melville Island, in 1601, and parts of the coast of the new continent, then known as New Holland, were traced by English, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish navigators in 1605. In 1606, also, De Torres pa ed through the strait which now bears his name, and sighted Cape York. These discoveries were followed up in 1616 by the Dutch navigator Dirk Hartog, in the ship Endraaght. He visited the west coast, and left an inscribed plate on what is now Dirk Hartog Island, near the mouth of Shark’s Bay, Western Australia. In 1618 Zeachen, another Hollander, discovered Arnhem Land on the north, and, as some say, of Van Diemen’s Land on the south of the continent. The discovery of the Great Barrier Reef, by Harris, followed in 1619; and of long stretches of the north coast by the Dutch ve els Leewvin and Arnhem, in 1622 and 1623. In 1627 Pieter Nuyts followed the south coast for a you sand miles; in the next year the Dutch ship Vianen was off what is now Port E ington; and in 1629 Pelsart, in the ship Batavia, was wrecked on the west coast. Abel Jan oon Tasman, commi ioned by A. van Sas sce of Batavia, to explore the extent south of the: 291 new in and Diemen’s named languished 1663 of with 1696 south-west leagués sumed 1699; north a the the 1786 a following ports, 8), mand Phillip, his 18th, the also by Flinders, 1798-99. tury Ba time In one-fifth Three made then reason by seem In the of running, 1824 terior being began In Mitchell Up was, the governors (as 1821-25; Gipps, the Australia The is Australia. ( 263). land, sailed from Batavia on August 14, 1642, the yacht Heemskirk, with the tender Zedhen, discovered Tasmania, which he named Van Land, as well as New Zealand, which he Staten Land. Thenceforward exploration for more than half a century, but in Thevenot published his chart of the west coast “ Holland i a Nova,” and in 1688 Dampier fell in the northern part of the continent; while in Willem de Vlaming visited the north and coasts, and sailed a distance of 18 up the Swan river. Exploration was rewith vigour by Dampier in the Roebuck in by the Dutch in 1705, when much of the coast was charted; and by Roggewein, with Dutch squadron, in 1721-22. Captain Cook, with Discovery and He solution, examined much of east coast in the course of his voyages; and in it was determined by Parliament to establish penal settlement at Botany Bay, whither, in the year, the first convict fleet of six trans two men-of-war (the Sirius, 20, and Supply, and three storeships sailed under the com of the first governor, Commodore Arthur R.N., with Captain John Hunter, R.N., as captain. The squadron arrived on January 1788; a few days later two French ve els, Bou ole and Astrolabe, under La Perouse, arrived. The coasts were further explored these expeditions, and by that of Ba and who named the continent “ Australia,” in The last year of the eighteenth cenwitne ed Grant's survey of all the coast, from Land to Cape North umber land. From that forward the exploration of the interior began. 1810 there were 10,454 Europe ans in Australia, of them being convicts and 1,100 soldiers. years later the first succe ful attempt was to cro the Blue Mountains. They had until been considered impa able, not so much by of their height, which is inconsiderable, as reason of the steepne of their summits, which not to have been traversed even by the natives. 1817 Oxley traced the Lachlan river, and in 1818 Macquarie river, and constructed the first map Australia. In 1821 the first stage-coach was and the population stood at 29,783. In Me rs. Howell and Hume made many new in discoveries; by 1826 three newspapers were published in the colony; and in 1829 Sturt his first exploring expedition on the west. the next year he began his second, and in 1831 discovered the Peel and Darling rivers. to about this time the settled part of the colony with the exception of the small settlement on west, under a single government, the succe ive being Phillip, 1788-92; Grose, Paters on locum tenentes), Hunter, 1795-1800; King, 1800~; Bligh, 1806-08; Macquarie, 1810-21; Brisbane, Darling, 1825-31; Bourke, 1831-37; and 1888-46; but in 1833, by Act of Parliament, continent was divided into West and South; and South Australia was actually proa separate colony on December 28, 1836. erection of other separate colonies followed, as shown below. In the meantime, exploration was Gellibrand, 1836 and trans-continental 1844, pentaria land 61; M’Kinlay, For rest, west part was The ment, colony); 1836; treated gether Federal wealth Territory over homogeneous affinities af from by complexion beard, within some stature, may favourable occupying productive of Darling others over lands desert, stantial the to tablished community traditions, usages, and and their speech, Australian po e ing same structural tems apparently language. where stance, Australis. continued by Mitchell in 1885; by He e and who perished, and by Mitchell again, in; by Earle, Eyre, Strelecki, and Ro in 1841; by Landor and Lefray in 1843. Leichardt's expedition left Sydney in October, and reached the shores of the Gulf of Car._ in November, 18145. Other important in expeditions have been those of Stuart, 1860- Burke, 1860; Howett, 1861; Walker, 1861; 1862; Mac in tyre, 1864-66; Giles, 1872; 1869-75; and War burton. Much of the central portion is still, however, unknown. Political Divisions.—The whole Continent forms of the British Empire,and so much of it as settled formed, until 1829, a single colony. colonies, and dates of their separate establish are now—New South Wales (the original Western Australia, 1829; South Australia, Victoria, 1851; Queensland, 1859. Bach is under its proper head. In 1899 they (to with Tasmania) agreed to establish a constitution, and in 1900 the Common of Australia was established. In 1901 the of Papua (British New Guinea) was taken by the Federal Government. [FEDERATION.) The aborigines of Australia form a tolerably division of mankind, whose nearest are with the Me lanes i an or Dark peoples the Oceanic world. But they are distinguished all other Negro or Negroid races especially the combination of a black or nearly black with wavy hair, never woolly, and a full Some writers distinguish two types, and given limits certain differences are observed, being tall, stout, and vigorous, others of low feeble, and debased. But these differences be sufficiently explained by the more or le environment of the several groups, some the region the Murray basin, roaming the steppe near the ‘The subunity of race seems be further esby a of social weapons, implements, especially by common all the idioms the phonetic and sys- ABORIGINAL FROM GUZENSLAND. and being derived from one original stock Their mental capacity also stands every at about the same level, as shown, for inby the fact that scarcely any have radical 292 terms $+1; continent indicated barous puberty; ABORIGINAL the rights lives The darts boomerang, certain tooing scarifications manent mented red, funeral, political any is affairs retaining group. mortality The lent, lent, apelis comprehensive Brough ee sions by the Celebes Islands of Australia. for the numerals above four 2 + 2, and so on, to the other. The by this fact is shown rites practised on the by the prevalence WOMAN FROM QUEENSLAND. women, who are the merest or privileges, and condemned in ministering to the wants most prevalent weapons with bone or flint heads; or returning throwing-stick, districts, and not used of a rude description, or incisions artificially welts, is generally by painting the body or yellow ochre, according festive, or warlike occasions. organisation of any so-called “ kings” or even commonly a erted. The by a council of elders, almost absolute control The natives appear of the soul, but not universe is full of spirits, some harmle and even to be conjured or thwarted of the wizard or medicine works on the Australian Smyth’s Aborigines and E. M. Curr's Australian Australian region, one into which the surface szoologists. It contains Austro-malayan, including and Lombock on the on the east; (2) the Australia and Tasmania; ( 264 two; thus, three is from one end of the low state of culture also by the bar youths at the age of of infanticide and in many places of cannibalism; by the wretched character of the dwellings, often _ little more than screens of foliage set up to windward; by their omnivorous diet, ranging from grubs and vermin to snakes and human flesh; lastly by their peculiar marriage customs (MARRIAGE) and their treatment of drudges with no to spend their of their masters. are spears, clubs, and the characteristic is limited to in warfare. Tat consisting of a few raised to per practised, and supple with white, black, to the various ‘There is no kind, nor are there hereditary chiefs, as tribe regulates its each head of a family over the domestic to believe in the imin a presiding deity. some good or ben evo feeble, others malevoby the charms and man. The most race are J. R. af Victoria, London, Race, Melbourne, of the six prime divi of the earth is divided four sub-regions: (1) the islands from west, to the Solomon Australian, consisting (3) the Polynesian, ) Austria. including all the tropical islands of the Pacific; and (4) the New Zealand sub-region, consisting of New Zealand, with Auckland, Chas am, and Norfolk Islands. Austria. Originally given to a smal] district on the south bank of the Danube, this name now includes all the lands which have been at various times annexed to the Austrian crown. These are: Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, the coast districts (Goerz- Gradisca, Istria, and Trieste), Tyrol and Vorarlberg, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Galicia, Bukowina, and Dalmatia. The term is frequently, though incorrectly, used in a still more extended sense to indicate all the dominions of the Emperor Francis Joseph I. These include, in addition, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the kingdom of Hungary, made up of the “ crown-lands ” of Hungary, Transylvania, (Siebenbiirgen), Fiume, Croatia, and Slavonia. Austria and Hungary are separated by the river Leitha, whence they are often called Cis-Lei than i a and ‘Trans-Lei than i a respectively, and are so intimately connected, geographically and politically, that it will be found more convenient to consider them together. The present article therefore treats of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the ruler of which is officially styled “Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, etc., and Apostolic King of Hungary.” The monarchy is, with the exception of Ru ia, the largest of the European states. It extends from long. 9° to long. 26° E., and from lat. 42° to lat. 51° N., comprising an area of 240,942 English square miles. These figures do not include the territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an area of 20,000 sq. m., which, though nominally still provinces of the Ottoman Empire, have since 1878 been governed and administered entirely by Austria. Mountains.—Next to Switzerland, Austria is by far the most mountainous land in Europe, no le than four-fifths of its area being more than 6,000 feet above the sea-level. The chief ranges are (1) the Alps, in the south-western region, distinguished as the Rhetian, Noric, Carnic, Julian, and Dinario Alps, the highest peak being the Ortler Spitze, 12,814 feet, in the first-named division; (2) the Car path i ans in the E. and N.E., culminating in the Eisthaler Thurm, 8,378 feet, and (3) the Hercynian system, in Bohemia, Silesia, and Moravia, including the Erzgebirge and the Riesengebirge with its crowning peak, the Schneekoppe, 5,330 feet. Rivers.—Owing to the conformation of the great watersheds formed by the ranges above described, the rivers flow in three directions, north, south, and east. The most important is the Danube, which, entering the empire at its confluence with the Inn, by Pa au, on the Bavarian frontier, traverses it for a distance of 820 miles (rather le than half of its total length), quitting Austrian territory at the Iron Gate, a gorge formed by the near approach of the Eastern Car path i ans and a branch of the Balkan range, on the confines of Bulgaria and Wall a chia. During this part of its course the Danube falls 766 feet. The largest of its many tributaries is the Thei , which drains the eastern plains of Lower Hungary, rising on the borders of Galicia, and 293 flowing navigable of the river Austrian Balaton Hungary, and miles is sometimes In is so produces of Gulf aes States, the in European are which copper, The of exceptionally Styria, of extended olive and besides The one-third nearly alone leading dance of timber mountain land country wild have regions. bear, scarce), others vulture, the numerous plentiful The Hungary. etocked Austria. ( 265 into the Danube below Peterwardein; it is throughout nearly the whole 500 miles its length. It is worthy of note, as illustrating inland situation of the empire, that not one of any importance debouches into the sea in territory. Lakes.—The largest is the Platten See, or Lake (the ancient Volcea Palus), in south-west 48 miles in length; it is very shallow, slightly salt. The Neusiedler See, about 30 S.E. of Vienna, within the Hungarian border, remarkable for the changes in its level, which varies to the extent of five or six feet. Lake Zirknitz, in the mountains of Illyria, there a total disappearance of the waters in summer, that the bottom is brought under cultivation and a harvest of clover and rice. Coast-line.—This is limited to the eastern shore the Adriatic—Austria’s only sea — from the of Trieste to Cattaro in Dalmatia. The coast about one-fifth of the total frontier ne. The climate differs considerably in the different but is generally good and healthy, except in swampy districts of Lower Hungary. Miner a is abound in both Austria and Hungary; the amount of the precious metals no other country can compare with them. There gold mines now yielding a fair amount of ore, were worked by the Romans of old. Iron, lead, salt, and coal are widely diffused. richest quicksilver mine in Europe, after that Almaden in Spain, is at Idria in Carniola. An good quality of iron, obtained in Carinthia, and Carniola, goes by the name “native steel.” Flora.—The variations in the climate produce an range in the vegetable world, from the and palm on the mild Adriatic coast to flax other northern plants in Galicia and Bohemia, the distinct flora of the Alpine regions. number of plants is estimated at 12,000, about of which are flowering species. Of these one-half are found in Lower Austria, which produces some 1,700 flowering plants. Ausiria. ( 266 Maria The res a over most of the European sovereigns, including Frederick the Great. Maria The res a married Duke Francis of Lorraine and Tuscany, her descendants being consequently named the Hapsburg-Iothringen (Lorraine) line. She died in 1780, and was followed on the throne by her two sons, Joseph II, (died 1790) and Leopold IL (died 1792). hen the Holy Roman Empire was extinguished by Napoleon in 1804 pold’s-son, Franz I., a umed the title of Emperor (Kaiser) of Austria. He died in 1835. His son, Ferdinand I., abdicated in 1848, when his nephew, the present Emperor Franz ‘Josef 1., succeeded to the united thrones. The crown of Hungary, it may be observed, 18 conferred by a separate ceremony at the Hungarian capital, The chief event of the present reign was the war with Pru ia in 1866, which was occasioned by difficulties arising out of the joint administration of the shih err of Schleswig and Holstein, taken from enmark in 1864. The war terminated in the defeat of Austria at Kiniggritz, and the formation of the North German Confederation, and Austria ceased to be reckoned as a German power. In 1898 the Empre was a a inated. In 1905 a severance of the two countries seemed imminent, In 1908 Bosnia and Herzegovina were annexed, which led to strained relations between Servia and Austria in 1909, itution and Government.—Although united under the sway of one monarch, the Empire of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary are not by any means amalgamated. At the date of the union (1724) Austria was an absolute, Hungary a limited monarchy. No attempt to combine the two countries under an identical system has been found succe ful, but after many political vici itudes the government is now, by virtue of a law of 1867, established in a form which may be described as constitutionalism on a dual basis, [AUSGLEICH. ] The Austrian parliament, or Reichsrath, consists of two chambers, The Upper House (Herrenhaus) is composed of princes of the imperial house, heads of noble families, the archbishops, certain bishops, and a number of men distinguished in church, state, science, or art, nominated for life by the emperor. The Lower House So erorunetea us) contains 516 members, elected by universal suf. frage, male citizens over 24 years of age with a year's residence in the place of election being i a to vote, — e Hungarian parliament, or. Reichstag, also two house she ae (Forendih ) composed of the higher c and nobility, and the lower (Képviseléhés) of 453 members elected by male citizens over 20 years of age who pay a direct tax. The two parliaments elect annually a body of 120 members, 20 from each upper and 40 from each lower house, which is known as the Delegations, and meets alternately at Vienna and Pesth to discu affairs relating to the whole monarchy. The legislative power is vested in the sovereign and the two houses in each country, the executive in the sovereign alone. Each of the Austrian crown-lands has a Landtag for the management of local affairs, bat. in Hungary only Croatia and Slavonia (together) have ) Austria. such a body. The number of members varies according to locality, from 20 in Vorarlberg to 240 in Bohemia. oy The Ministers of Foreign Affairs, War, and Im-_ perial Finance act for the whole monarchy, under the presidency of the first-named. Austria has the following 9 Ministries:—Interior, Finance, Commerce, Agriculture, National Defenoe, Justice, Instruction, Railways, and Labour, besides 2 Ministers without portfolios, and a separate Minister for Galicia. Hungary has the first eight as in Austria, with a separate Minister for Croatia snd Slavonia, and a “ Minister a latere.”” The last of these is established at Vienna, and forms a connecting link between the sovereign and the Hunarian Government. All the others are at Buda- Besth, the Hungarian capital. Religion.—Perfect liberty of faith and conscience is allowed. Every recognised religious body enjoys freedom of worship and management of its affairs, The ‘recognised ” bodies are the Roman Catholic, Greek - Oriental, Evangelical (Luther an and Reformed), Greg or i an-Armenian, and Jewish churches throughout the monarchy, together with the old Catholics and the Evangelical Brotherhood in Austria, and the Unitarians in Hungary. The Roman Catholics constitute about 80 per cent. of the population in Austria, and about 50 per cent. in Hungary. All the churches are alike independent of the state. Edueation.—(1) Elemertary schools. The erection of these is incumbent on the several school districts. Attendance is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14 (with slight variations in some states), There are two grades in Austria, and three in Hungary. “ Religion and Morals” forms one of the obligatory subjects in all. In 1900 the attend. ance in Austria was 89:4 per cent. In Hungary, in 1900, it was 80°3. School-fees vary considerably in different localities, but are generally very low. In Hungary they average 12 per cent. of the total cost of education. (2) Gymnasia and realschulen. These are preparatory for the universities and technical schools; the curriculum extends over 7 or 8 years. They are mostly maintained by the state, or enjoy a subvention from it. (3) Universities and colleges. There are in all 11 universities, 8 in Austria and 3 in Hungary. The oldest.is at Pre burg (once the Hungarian capital), founded in ' 1467, and the largest is at Vienna, with over 7,000": students. There are four faculties, viz. theology,- law, medicine, and philosophy. Of theological colleges, Austria has 48 and Hungary 49; the latter country also po e es 10 schools of law. There are seven government technical high schools of engineering and chemistry, and nearly 2,000 technical institutes for teaching agriculture, forestry, mining, -and other industries, art, music, etc. It is to be noted that there are no establishments for the education of boys of the upper cla es on @ par with our public schools; the majority of cat a are propinaehi a home, = examined ically at t e gymnasium to test their pro,: Oda culture has never attemned the importance which the natural opportunities appear to indicate. Only 6:2 per cent. of the entire 295 Austro-Hungarian gari an in country of of quated progre , obstacles gradually ranks countries, The valued Hungary, wines wine national cally beech, large Hungary, Austria as reputation. courage private ment established breeds. for in are wealthy ments. There noblemen the horses Transylvania. number. horses Alpine There this limited received 1763 Bohemia. not of monarchy, soast, boats, florins and is property, Despite portant Austria. ( 287) area is unproductive. The Hun plains consist of soil equal to any in Euro fertility, and might long since have placed the in the foremost rank among the corn-lands the world. Exce ive duties, imperfect means communication, and too rigid adherence to anti methods, have all contributed to check but under the present régime the first two have been removed, and the third is pa ing away. Austria-Hungary now third of the European grain-producing being surpa ed by Ru ia and France. cereals and animals exported in 1907 were at about £10,000,000. Vines are extensively cultivated, especially in which produces Tokay, one of the finest known. The average annual production of is more than 180 million gallons. Forestry is naturally a considerable feature of industry, and is thoroughly and system at i studied. ‘The timber of various kinds (oak, maple, and pine form the bulk) reaches the annual aggregate of 7,240 million cubic feet. Pastures of almost unlimited extent abound in Transylvania, Galicia, and Dulmatia. and Hungary have for centuries been noted horse-breeding countries, and still bear a high The Ministers of Agriculture both enb reeding, by a system of annual grants to owners of stallions. There are three govern studs in Austria, and three in Hungary, for the improvement of the various Most of these studs have been in existence about a century. Annual horse shows are held each district, at which money prizes and medals awarded by government commi ioners. Many landowners have private breeding establish- The Austrian Stud Book is i ued annually. is a great partiality for Arab blood, several having devoted much time and money to maintenance of the purest breed. The best for general purposes are said to come from Hungary supplies the greatest In the whole monarchy the number of is estimated at more than 3} millions. Cattle are reared chiefly by the peasantry in the districts, especially the Tyrol and Styria. is room for much greater development in department of farming, which is unnece arily to certain provinces. Sheep-farming a notable impulse by the introduction in of the merino sheep into Moruvia, Silesia, and At the present time these countries do maintain their superiority, and the greater part the sheep are raised in Hungary. Total for the about 14,000,000. Fishing is an important industry on the Adriatic and employs 12,500 fishermen, with 3,200 the “takes” realising as much as 2,500,000 in the course of the year (1 florin = 1s. 8d.). Mining is one of the chief industries of Austria, might be carried on to a greater extent than now the case. The mines are partly state and partly owned by private individuals. the facts that mining has been an impursuit for centuries, and that the mineral wealth surpa ed output should this lands exception Hungary ties tion four imported. keeps be ample, iron £2,330,000. are 6,000 there 8,300 duction 816,000 Bochnia Sugatag mine wide, forms long etc., facilities, among £1,300,000, men. last some woven, Moravia fabrics the and reputation of the made Beet About at trade, There 907. as a commercial of sea-board, development much improvement native The anard confidence of Austria. of the monarchy is enormous—it is not in any European country—the annual is quite insignificant. Coal, in particular, receive far more attention. Seeing that mineral is found plentifully in all the Crown of both Austria and Hungary —with the single of Salaburg—it seems strange that should import increasingly large quant i of this mineral every year. The con sump of coal in Hungary is between three and million tons, of which about 20 per cent, is In the iron mines the same lack of enterprise the production below what might reasonably expected. Taking Hungary again as an exwe find that the total output of gold, silver, and other metals is worth little more than In getting this, some 68,000 miners employed, including about 2,080 women and children under 16 years of age. In Austria are about 127,000 miners, besides about engaged at smelting works. The proof pig-iron in the whole monarchy is tons. Salt mines are worked at Halios, Wieliczka, and in Galicia, Maros Ujvar in Transylvania, in Hungary, and many other places. The at Boohnia is nearly two miles long, a furlong and 1,000 feet deep, while that at Wieliczka a regular underground town, about a mile and half a mile wide, with streets, churches, cut out of the salt. With all these natural the monarchy only takes the fifth place salt producers. The annual value is about and the industry employs some 10,000 It is a government monopoly, Manufactures havé advanced greatly during the 25 years. One of the oldest is that of Fnen, of which is still spun, and the greater part by hand labour. Bohemia, Silesia, and are the chief seats of this industry. Cotton are produced in increasing quantities in same districts, and woollen cloths in Moravia Lower Austria. Bohemia has a world-wide for the manufacture of various kinds gla , and the Tyrol has long been noted for production of carved woodwork. Paper is chiefly in Bohemia and in or near Vienna. sugar is manufactured principally in Bohemia. 86,000 persons are engaged in the trade some 230 factories. Brewing is an important especially in Lower Austria and Bohemia. were about 1,300 breweries at work in Commerce.—Austria has never taken high rank nation. The mountainous character many of her provinces, and her relatively small have offered serious natural obstacles to in this direction. Of late, however, been done by commercial legislation and of the means of transport, to foster industries, with marked beneficial results. chief want. now appears to be an increase of phad in the employment of capital, and greater in commercial undertakings independent government aid or patronage, 296 Austria. (268 Nearly two-thirds of the whole foreign commerce of the monarchy is carried on with Germany; its next best markets are Roumania, Ru ia, Italy and Bervia. The direct trade with Great Britain is comparatively small, the exports from Austria to this country average about £2,000,000, and the goods imported direct from Great Britain about £1,500,000. The staples exported to Britain are wheat, flour, and wood; the main imports from Britain are cotton goods, iron, and machinery. For the purposes of foreign trade Austria-Hun- By forms a single customs union, embracing also osnia, Herzegovina, and the gaa elie of Lich ten stein, but exclusive of Trieste and Fiume, which are free ports, The shipping trade is limited by the small accommodation. The progre made in the last few yeurs is shown by the following figures; in 1880 Austria owned 113 steam and 8,097 sailing ve els; in 1907 these numbers had increased to 296 and 13,983 respectively, over 100 of the steamers being of sen-going cla . At Trieste alone in 1906 there entered 10,090 ve els, with an aggregate of 3,420,175 tons, and cleared 10,091 ve els, 3,426,407 tons. About 89 per cent. of this tonnage was Austrian, the rest mainly French, Italian, and English. No bounties or subsidies are granted in aid of ship-building, but materials and fittings are imported free of duty. Communications.—Although Austria claims the credit of having po e ed the first (horse) railway on the continent of Europe, that between Linz and Budweis, completed in 1827, her railway system was until quite recently a long way behind that of some of her neighbours. Within the last twenty years, however, the increase has been very great, particularly in Hungary, where the length of lines, which in 1867 was only about 1,400 miles, now amounts to 12,100 miles, The total mileage for the whole monarchy was, in 1907, 25,526 miles, besides 1,014 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Part of this consists of state railways, part of railways owned and worked by companies, and part of lines owned by companies. The number of pa engers carried in 1907 was over 814,000,000, and the goods amounted to 205,000,000 tons, This may compare rather unfavourably with the traffic returns of other nations, but it is to be borne in mind that the Austrians, and more especially the Hungarians, are scattered over a wide tract of country, where distances are great, and incentives to travel fewer than in many other lands. Railway fares, too, were till recently far too high for the means of the lower orders of the ‘population. This last fact led the Hungarian inister of Public Works and Communications to introduce in 1889 the radical reform known as the “Zone Tariff,” wherein the station from which the traveller starts is taken as the centre of 14 zones, the fare being the same to all other stations in any ‘tone, ¢¢. at any equal radial distance. The intro- ‘duction of this system (limited to the railways under state control) was followed by a large increase of traffic, and the example has been followed by the adoption of a modification of it, known as the “ Kreuzer Tariff,” on the Austrian state lines, but ) Austria. neither system can yet be said to have out of the experimental stage. It should be added, however, that some of the railway companies are adopting similar tariffs. The reduction of fares in Hungary is said to have been at the rate of about 40 per cent., but, on the other hand, return tickets and some other privileges have been abolished. The roads amount in total length to 63,920 miles, They are of varying degrees of excellence, some of those in the Alps, from the Tyrol and Illyria to Lombardy, being admirably constructed, while in Hungary, mainly for want of suitable material, many of the roads are of very poor quality. Waterways.—The Danube is navigable for sailing ve els below Pesth, and for specially buiJt steamers as far as Ulm. The Danube Steam Navigation Company, the principal steamboat owners in Vienna, carried in 1907 over 2 millions of pa engers, and over 2 million tons of freight. On the Elbe the freight reached to about 500,000 tons. Several other rivers are navigable through part of their length. In Austria there are 2,400 miles of rivers and canals open to timber rafts only, 4,200 miles to barges, etc., including 830 to steamers, giving a total of 6,600 miles; in Hungary 3,200 miles. Canals are almost confined to the Hungarian plains. The most important are the Bega Canal, and the Franzens Canal betweep the Thei and the Danube. The Schwarzenberg Canal, which connects the Elbe and Danube navivations, is for timber only. There are many smaller mes, constructed chiefly for the purpose of draining the Hungarian marshes. Army.—The military system comprises (1) the Active Army; (2) the Austrian Landwehr, and (8) the Hungarian Landwehr, or “Honvéd.” The whole is organised into fifteen army corps, each corps consisting of two divisions of the active army, and one division of Austrian or Hungarian Landwehr. In the event of war these corps would form three armies, one of five and two of four corps; the fourteenth corps being specially a igned to the Tyrol and the fifteenth to Bosnia and Herzegovina, There is also a separate military command at Zara, in Dalmatia, for local defence. The total number of infantry divisions would he 48, on a general mobilisation, but about 17 of these are non-existent during peace. The cavalry are formed into brigades of two regiments, attached to the army corps, and five independent cavalry divisions. There are in all 42 regiments, 15 of Dragoons, 16 of Hu ars, and 11 of Uhlans, each having six field squadrons of five officers and 171 men (peace strength), besides a dépét squadron and the cadre of a reserve squadron; there are also 11 officers and 80 men on the regimental and “divisional” staff (three squadrons form a “ division”), and two escort detachments of an officer and 43 rank and file each. Thus a cavalry regiment at full strength requires some 1,500 horses. Their arms are the carbine and the cavalry sword. In the Honvéd cavalry the squadrons are, at peace strength, only one-fourth of their full numbers, and. their fifth and sixth squadrons are not intended to take the field with the regiment, but to act as 297 divisional other active There 153 batteries. garrison companies artillery The contain besides (Rifle) 26 other observed, ated, The specially with intended, district. Austrian important from integral battalions, “active efficient Landwehr ments after Active In Bosnia Total Austrian Hungarian Navy.—All in the Ministry The tained flotilla partly partly ‘for the ments strength number severai The and cadets, about Art Austria, ( 269 cavairy with the Honvéd divisions; in respects they resemble the Hu ars of the army. are 14 regiments of corps artillery, having heavy, 28 light, 16 horse, and 12 mountain Besides these there are 12 battalions of (fortre ) artillery, each with 5 active and one company cadre. There is no in the Landwehr. infantry regiments, of which there are 102, 2 active and 3 reserve battalions a piece, the dépét battalion. The Tyrolese Jeger Regiment has 7 battalions, and there are battalions of rifles. Hungary, it may be is the country in which Hu ars origin while Austria first produced the “ rifleman.” Landwehr of the Tyrol and Vorarlberg is of a local character; it is organised expre ly a view to mountain warfare, and is not as a rule, to be employed outside its own With this exception, the Landwehr, both and Hungarian, while differing in some details of economy and administration the active army, must be reckoned as an part of the regular military system, its etc., being intimately a ociated with their ” comrades in a manner designed to insure combination when mobilised. The Austrian is (since 1889) organised in 22 regiof from three to five battalions, and named the chief town in each battalion district. Army - 8 8 2 a ee and Herzegovina Active Army - - « ‘ - Landwehr - + - + + + « - Landwebr- - - + + + © -& Total Peace Establishment ~~ -. é matters connected with the navy are hands of the naval department of the of War. navy is mainly a coast defensive force, main in a state of high efficiency, and including a of monitors for the Danube. It is recruited by a levy from the seafaring population and by voluntary enlistment. ‘The chief port navy is Pola, and there are other establish up on the Dalmatian coast. In 1908 the was 12 battleships, 9 cruisers, and a of torpedo boats. Three battleships and torpedo boats are in hand. personnel of the navy is as follows:—Officers 816; doctors, chaplains, etc., 685; men, 11,500. The naval arsenal is at Pola. and Music.—Few names of more than local ) Austrogea. The battalions are numbered throughout from 1 to 82. The recruits of the Landwehr battalions are, in peace, eight weeks with the “ instructional cadres.” The Hungarian Landwehr bas 92 battalions and 34 “of the second line” intended as reserves, besides 10 Hu ar regiments. Most of this is potential rather than actual strength, battalions being represented in peace by cadres of a few men. The aries weapon is the Minnlicher magazine rifle,: The forces include 10 battalions of Engineers, & of Pioneers, 15 divisions of train, and ambulance, provision, and other departmental corps. Recruiting is conducted on the basis of universal liability commencing at the age of 21, the term of service being three years with the colours, seven in the reserve, and two in the landwehr. Recruits who voluntarily enlist and provide their own equipment may reduce their service with the colours to one year. The various nationalities affect recruiting in certain definite ways; thus, Poland supplies the bulk of the Uhlans, Hungary the Hu ars, and the mountain districts the Rifles. There are no corps @élite corresponding with the “Guards ” of other European armies. Outside the active and Landwehr troops is the organisation of the Zandsturm, In this are included all males between the ages of 19 and 42, who are not otherwise serving. The accompanying table gives the actual strength of the army for 1908:— Officers Men. Horses. Ca ell's Encyclopedia of General Information Vol. 1