ir security, is never
less than ten per cent,--twelve and fifteen per cent being most common.
The speculative nature of nearly all kinds of business in the colonies
impairs general confidence, and people come to be unduly sharp,
requiring even heavier rates than those already named where there is any
chance of getting them. They simply illustrate the axiom, that a high
rate of interest signifies a high degree of risk. In the mean time the
banks flourish, occupying the largest and most costly business edifices
that are to be seen in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, or Adelaide.

We did not chance to see any specimens of that curious animal the
kangaroo while we were in Queensland, but this marsupial is represented
to be more numerous and more of a pest here than in any other part of
the country. We were told of a certain sheep-run known as Peak Downs
Station, where the proprietor had been obliged to wage a long-continued
war against them, instituting annual hunts over the extensive district
which he held. He was joined by his friends and neighbors in an annual
raid upon the animals, which lasted not infrequently for ten consecutive
days. He kept an account of the number of kangaroos destroyed upon his
lands, which had reached the almost incredible aggregate of thirty-eight
thousand in a few years. That special district absolutely swarmed with
these animals until the means mentioned for their destruction were
adopted. The kangaroo is very prolific in its wild state, and would, if
allowed to multiply undisturbed, soon drive the sheep from their
feeding-grounds. Its skin, when properly cured and dressed with the fur
on, makes good rugs suitable for domestic use. Leather is also made from
the skin, and when well tanned and carefully prepared is available for
many purposes, although as a regular industry the skin of the kangaroo
has never been made much use of in the form of leather; it is considered
very desirable as a fur robe, or when made up into a garment.

The Darling Downs of Queensland, several times alluded to in these
notes, consist of broad, undulating, grass-covered steppes, with a rich
black soil admirably suited for agricultural purposes. They are easily
reached from Brisbane by rail in a few hours, and at Warwick, the
principal town of the Downs, good hotel accommodations may be found.
Stanthorpe is the centre of the tin-mining industry of this region. For
a number of years surface diggings only were attempted here