Extending from lat. 38° 45′ to 55° 58′ S., it is about 1200 miles long, by 550 miles wide at its broadest part. The area is estimated at 300,000 square miles; and the population at 400,000. The northern extremity is nearly on the same parallel as Cape Egmont in New Zealand, Cape Wilson the southern extremity of Australia, Amsterdam Island midway between Australia and Cape Colony, and is 260 miles S. of Cape Agulhas, the southern extremity of Africa; while Cape Horn, in Tierra del Fuego, is 1470 miles S. of Cape Agulhas. The whole of Patagonia, north of Tierra del Fuego, is now claimed as a colonial possession of Chilé, which has given it the name of the Territorial Colony of Magellan; capital, Punta Arenas, on the Strait of Magellan (see p. 661). Patagonia has been very imperfectly explored; but it is known that the western shore is deeply indented by the ocean, and lined by numerous islands and bold projecting headlands; that the Andes extend in one immense unbroken chain along the western side, having an elevation ranging from 8000 feet in the north, to less than 3000 feet in the south, and containing numer ous volcanic peaks, among the loftiest of which are Minchinmadava and Yanteles (p. 638); and that the mountainous region is densely clothed with forests, the climate being excessively moist, owing to the prevalence of westerly winds. The eastern part of the country, on the other hand, is arid and sterile, the surface consisting of a series of terraces of tertiary sandstone, clay, earth, and gravel. Wheat, maize, and pulse, are raised in small quantities on the right bank of the Rio Negro, which separates the country from the territory of La Plata. Large flocks of wild cattle and horses roam over the country, but the guanaco is the characteristic quadruped of Patagonia; and wolves, foxes, pumas, armadilloes, and numerous mice are found; birds comprise the condor, hawk, ibis, emu, and vast numbers of sea-fowl; while seals and other marine animals frequent the coasts. The Patagonian Indians, described by the early voyagers as a race of giants, are a tall muscular race, generally averaging about six feet in height, leading a nomadic life, and subsisting by the produce of the chace and by fishing. The shortness of their limbs, and the disproportionate length of the upper part of the body, make them appear remarkably tall on horseback, as they almost always are when out of doors; but the natives of the mountain region, and of the Fuegian Archipelago, are a stunted race, sunk in the deepest degradation (p. 637).

River System of South America.

The rivers of South America belong to four great basins-viz. those of the Pacific, Atlantic, Carribbean Sea, and the continental basin of Lake Titicaca.

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 lat. 27° 44′ N. (Bonin Is.) to 56° S. (Macquarie Is.); and from lon. 95° E. (Sumatra) to 110° W. (Easter I.).

It thus embraces 84° of latitude, and 153° of longitude. Its extreme length from Achen in Sumatra to the meridian which passes through Cape San Lucas in Old California is upwards of 10,000 miles; while the breadth, from north to south, is more than half that distance. The aggregate area and population are extremely doubtful, 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 square miles, or one-fifth larger than the continent of Europe; while the latter is generally estimated at about 21,000,000, thus not exceeding the population of Great Britain at the last census. Antarctica, however,

or the supposed continent lying within the Antarctic Circle, and including Enderby Land, South Shetland, Louis Philippe Land, Trinity Land, and Grahain Land, is not included within the limits of Oceania-(see p. 25).

Divisions. Oceania is now usually divided into four great sections, which are tolerably well defined, not only by geographical position, but also by the plants, animals, and races of man which inhabit them. (See Map of Oceania in Johnston's School Atlas of General Geography.)

These large divisions are-1. Australasia or Melanesia, in the south-west, embracing the continent of Australia, Papua, Tasmania, New Zealand, and numerous smaller islands contiguous to them. 2. Malaysia, also called the Eastern, or the 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, and between the equator and the 30th degree of S. latitude.

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. 56 S., and from lon. 113° to 180° E. The total area is supposed to amount to about 3,428,000 square miles-that is, to the area of Europe without the islands; and the population to about 2,460,000.

This area embraces the continent of Australia, Tasmania or Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, Auckland Isles, 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 Timor Laut. "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 two races-viz., Alfourous, Papuans, or native Australians, in the continent of Australia, New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland, the Louisiade Archipelago, New Caledonia, and the Feejee group, forming, in the opinion of many, a distinct variety of the human race, whose numerous dialects have little affinity with any other language; and the Maoris, in New Zealand, a Malayo-Polynesian race.

AUSTRALIA.

Geographical Position.-Australia, the smallest of the six continents, or the largest island on the globe, has Papua and Malaysia on the N. (but separated from them 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° 41'-39° 8' S.; lon. 113°-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 miles, while its extreme breadth from N. to S. does not exceed 1980 miles. Cape York, in Torres Strait, is the most northern extremity; Steep Point, its most western; Cape Wilson, in Bass Strait, its most southern; and Cape Byron, in New South Wales, its most eastern. Sydney, the capital of New South Wales (lat., 33° 51′ S.), is nearly on the same parallel as Cape Town, Santiago de Chilé, Buenos Ayres, and Adelaide, the capital of South Australia; and on the same meridian as Jeddo, in Japan, and Wellesley island, in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Area and Population. The area is estimated at 3,000,000 square miles, or five-sixths of the area of Europe; and the population (including the aborigines, who are supposed to number only 10,000) to nearly one million.

Political Divisions.-The whole Australian continent is a possession of Great Britain, which has established several important and, of late, highly prosperous colonies on its eastern and southern coasts. These, with their respective areas, population, and dates of establishment, are exhibited in the preceding table.

The

North Australia, with its solitary settlement of Port Essington, colonised in 1838, was abandoned eleven years afterwards. chief towns of the other colonies are as follows:

NEW SOUTH WALES.-Sydney 100, Paramatta 5 (Port Jackson), Liverpool 5, n. (Botany Bay), Windsor 2, Goulburn, n. (Hawkesbury), Newcastle, Maitland 5 (Hunter), Port Macquarie (Hastings), Bathurst 4 (Macquarie).

VICTORIA.-Melbourne 92, n., Williamstown 4, Geelong 23, Brighton (Port Philip), Alberton, Portland 3 (S. coast), Mitchellstown, n. (Murray), Sandhurst 9, n., Castlemaine (Loddon), Ballarat (Nurriwillan).

SOUTH AUSTRALIA.-Adelaide 16, n., Port Adelaide 10, Gawler, Brighton (Gulf of St Vincent), Wellington, Port Elliot, Goolwa (Murray), Port Lincoln (Spencer Gulf), Kapunda (Light), Kooringa (Burra-burra mines). WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Perth 2, Freemantle, Guildford, Toodyay, York (Swan River), Albany (King George Sound), Australind, Augusta (S. E. coast).

QUEENSLAND OR MORETON BAY.-Brisbane 2 (Brisbane, affl. Moreton

Bay).

Notes on Towns.-Sydney, capital of the colony of New South Wales, on the southern shore of the magnificent harbour of Port Jackson, is a large, elegant, commercial city, containing numerous public buildings, amongst which are the Governor's residence, Parliament House, and the University, which, in granting degrees, enjoys the same status as the home universities. 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 principal exports of Sydney consist of gold, wool, hides, tallow, and the produce of the southern whale fishery. Paramatta, at the head of Port Jackson, contains the summer residence of the Governor of New South Wales, and gives its name to a soft woollen fabric here manufactured, and has in the vicinity large salt and copper-smelting works. Newcastle, so named from its valuable coal mines, the produce of which is largely exported. Maitland, consisting of East and West Maitland, is a thriving town on both sides of the river Hunter, and surrounded by an extensive agricultural country. Bathurst, the principal town in the recently-discovered gold region; the road to it from Sydney crosses the Blue Mountains, through the Victoria Pass. Melbourne, capital of Victoria, on the Yarra Yarra, eight miles from its mouth în 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. It has a great extent of wharf accommodation, and ship-building docks are in contemplation; contains an endowed University, the Governor's residence, and Parliament House; and enjoys railway, steam, and telegraphic communication with several other towns in the colony. The exports in 1858 were valued at £14,017,000, about £11,000,000 of which represented gold. Such is the extraordinary mortality among children, that during the summer months the natural increase of the population is wholly arrested-the number of births scarcely exceeding that of the deaths. Williamston, the port of Melbourne, at the month of the Yarra Yarra, is an active bustling place. Geelong is 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; but since the discovery of gold in its vicinity, and the consequent development of Melbourne, its commerce has greatly declined. Sandhurst, a mining