ars later, it met with a very favourable
reception; and, in the following year, an Act was passed by the Imperial
Parliament giving to the British Government power to constitute the new
colony. Again, as in the case of Port Phillip, delays occurred; and, in
1856, a change of Ministry caused the matter to be almost forgotten. It
was not until the year 1859 that the territory to the north of the
twenty-ninth parallel of latitude was proclaimed a separate colony,
under the title of QUEENSLAND.

[Illustration: PARLIAMENT HOUSE, BRISBANE.]

In the December of that year Sir George F. Bowen, the first Governor,
arrived; and the little town of Brisbane, with its 7,000 inhabitants,
was raised to the dignity of being a capital, the seat of government of
a territory containing more than 670,000 square miles, though inhabited
by only 25,000 persons. A few months later Queensland received its
Constitution, which differed but little from that of New South Wales.
There were established two Houses of Legislature, one consisting of
members nominated by the Governor, and the other elected by the people.

#7. Gold.#--In 1858 it was reported that gold had been discovered far to
the north, on the banks of the Fitzroy River, and in a short time many
vessels arrived in Keppel Bay, their holds and decks crowded with men,
who eagerly landed and hastened to Canoona, a place about sixty or
seventy miles up the river. Ere long there were about fifteen thousand
diggers on the scene; but it was soon discovered that the gold was
confined to a very small area, and by no means plentiful; and those who
had spent all their money in getting to the place were in a wretched
plight. A large population had been hurriedly gathered in an isolated
region, without provisions, or the possibility of obtaining them; their
expectations of the goldfield had been disappointed, and for some time
the Fitzroy River was one great scene of misery and starvation till the
Governments of New South Wales and Victoria sent vessels to convey the
unfortunate diggers away from the place. Some, however, in the extremity
of the famine, had selected portions of the fertile land on the banks of
the river, and had begun to cultivate them as farms. They were pleased
with the district, and, having settled down on their land, founded what
is now the thriving city of Rockhampton.

A great amount of success, however, attended a subsequent effort in
1867. The Government of Queensland off