over the greater part
of the island continent, and no alarm need be felt about the speedy
extirpation of the natives when we think of Western Australia with 26,209
inhabitants in a territory of 1,024,000 square miles, most of it fine
forest, and consequently fertile when subdued to the uses of civilization.

[Illustration: THE CANADIAN TROPHY.]

South Australia, with its 900,000 square miles of land, extending over
twenty-seven degrees of latitude from the Indian to the Southern Ocean,
and with a width of twelve degrees of longitude, is stated to be the
largest British colony, but has a population of only 225,000. The
appearance of the South Australian Court differs from the Victorian in the
greater predominance of raw materials and the smaller proportion of
manufactures. Copper in the ore as malachite, and in metal and
manufactured forms, is one of the principal features of the court. Emeu
eggs, of a greenish-blue color and handsomely mounted in silver as
goblets, vases and boxes, are the most peculiar: they formed quite a
striking feature at the Centennial. The resemblance of the climate to that
of California is indicated in the cultivation of wheat in immense fields,
which is cut by the header and threshed on the spot, also by the enormous
size of the French pears, which grow as large as upon our Pacific coast.
The olive also is becoming a staple, as in California, and the grape is
fully acclimated and makes a very alcoholic wine. The product in 1876 was
728,000 gallons.

Western Australia is among the latest settled, and has a territory of 1280
by 800 miles, of which the so-called "settled" district has an area about
the size of France, with 26,209 inhabitants. It can hardly be considered
to be crowded yet. Its mineral exhibits are lead, copper and tin ore;
silks, whalebone; skins, those of the numerous species of kangaroo and of
the dingo or native dog predominating. The woods are principally
eucalypti, as might be supposed, but endogenous trees are found toward the
north, and are shown. Corals and large tortoise-shells show also that the
land approaches the tropics. The collection of native implements includes
waddies and boomerangs, war- and fishing-spears, shields of several
kinds--including one almost peculiar to the Australians, made very narrow
and used for parrying rather than intercepting a missile. The netted bag
of chewed bulrush-root is similar to that shown at the Centennial, but the
dugong fishing-n