Under the Southern Cross ... Second edition. Revised, enlarged and illustrated

Preface

. In the preface to the first edition, I remarked .* " The information given in these pages will, it is hoped, direct attention to the advantages of a closer intercourse, commercial and otherwise, between India and Australia." The publication of the present volume may, perhaps, be regarded as one among other indications that this expectation is being realised. The Government of India, in their review of Foreign Trade for the year 1878-79, observe : " Special attention to the development of trade between the two countries is very much wanted. They ought to be closely en rapport, but practically Australia is as distant from, and commercially almost as unknown to India, as Peru." Suiting the action to the word, the Government and the Calcutta merchants combined have resolved to send a qualified agent to the Melbourne Exhibition, with the special object of introducing Indian teas to the notice of the Australian public.

The appointment to the Governorship of Bombay of a statesman so familiar with the resources and capabilities of the Aus tralian colonies as Sir James Ferguson must be, augurs well, I think, for the future development of commerce between India and Australia. In the four chapters added to the present edition will he found some information about wheat cultivation in South Australia, a brief history of British emigration and colonisation during the present century, together with some particulars of the emigration of natives of India to British colonies and foreign territory, and a review of the trade between India and Australia during the past six years. The appendix contains a summary of PEEPACE. the land and mining regulations in force in the Colonies, and the important memorandum recently issued by the Government of India in reference to Mr. Brough Symth's reports on gold-mining in the Wynaad.

The map of Australia has been prepared for me in the Revenue Survey Office, and I am indebted for the six illustrations of Aus tralian scenery to Mr. R. F. Chisholm, the accomplished Superintendent of the Madras School of Arts. Five of the subjects were etched from photographs, but the sketch showing the process of reaping with Ridley's machine is adapted from an illustration to Mr. Harms' work on "South Australia." Mr. Chisholm informs m« that a good deal of the engraving was done by his Native pupils, a fact which speaks well for the practical uses, when intelligently directed, of Schools of Art in this country. Madras, 1st March 1880. CONTENTS.

Chapter I

The " Gibraltar of the East." PAGE. Aden— Its uninviting appearance— " You must stay here a week, Sir!" — Its strategical importance— Political significance of the dispatch of Indian troops to Europe — The defences — Shipwrecks in the Red Sea and near Cape Gnardafui — More fight-houses wanted — Defences of Perim — Its first occupation by the East India Com. pany — The Red Sea as a trade ronte— Local trade- Large imports of Coal — Deterioration of coal by exposure to the sun— Cultivation of Mokah Coffee — The trade in Ostrich feathers— How the wild Ostrich is captured. ... ... ... ... ...1-10

Chapter II

Life at Aden. The climate of Aden not so bad as it is painted— Absence of vegetation — Efforts of Government to cultivate vegetables for soldiers — Gardening under difficulties— •* The rain-fall and water-supply — The famous tanks- Use of condensed sea-water— Servants' wages paid partly in water — The Somalis — A diver's earnings- Opening of a Cafe Chantant — Things not to be seen at Aden — Schools and Churches ... ... ...11-20 CHAPTER HI. Bound for Australia. From Galle to King George's Sound — The Trade-winds— Readings of the thermometer— A good change of climate for invalids from India — Advantages of a holiday trip to Australia — The P. and 0. Steamer Assam — Our Australian Passengers — A Melbourne Politician— Loyalty of the Colonists—Political aims B CONTENTS. VI PAGE. of Young Australia — Danger of too much interference from the Home Government — Prospects of federation for purposes of defence— The revival of Protection — A politician's and merchant's views contrasted— Climate of Western Australia — Political condition of the colony — Advantages of transportation to " gentle men" convicts ... ... ... ... ...21-32

Chapter IV

A Glance at Western Australia. King George's Sound, the " finest harbour in the world"— A first greeting from Australia— The representatives of the Press— A race for the Telegraph Office — The town of Albany — Proposed railway to Perth — Sir John Coode's proposed harbour at Fremantle— A Governor's view of the political needs of the Colony — The Colonists' demand for responsible government — Convict element in the population — Agricultural condition of the Colony — The pearl-fisheries and trade in pearl-shells— The natives as pearl-divers — Convict labour — Travelling with a convicted murderer— A convict Editor —Some failings of the Colonists — A bright future in store ... ... ... ... ...33-49

Chapter V

A Model Colony. Glenelg as a port for Adelaide— The want of a good harbour — Port Victor and the traffic on the river Murray — Wakefield's scheme for the colonisation of South Australia— History of the South Australian Association— Assumption by the Home Government of the management of the Colony— Appointment of Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners — Lord John Russell's instructions to the Commissioners — His principles of colonial government — Former ignorance of the local authorities of the interior of the country —Lake Torrens mistaken for the " effects of mirage" —Construction of the overland telegraph from Adelaide to Port Darwin, and probabilities of a railway across Australia— Wheat cultivation in South Austra- CONTENTS. VII PAGE. ha — Extraordinary production of food supplies — Pre paration of land and harvesting crops — Dr. Forbes Watson's report on Indian Wheats — Similarity of climatic conditions in India and South Australia, and suggestions for the cultivation of Australian wheat on the plateaus of India— The discovery and development of Copper mines in the colony ...50-82

Chapter VI

First Impressions of Melbourne. Port Phillip Heads and Hobson's Bay— Arrival at Williamstown pier — " What do you think of Melbourne ?"— ■ Anxiety of the colonists to know what strangers think of them — Midwinter in June — Uninviting appearance of suburbs — Rapid growth of Melbourne — The present value of land— Systematic plan of the city — Principal public buildings— Hotels and clubs— Cost of living— The suburb of St. Kilda— A summary of impressions- Commercial depression in the colony — The " larrikin" dissected — " Doing the block" at Melbourne — " We've some good-looking women, sir, in this city." ...83-95 CHAPTER Vn. Victorian Polities and Politicians. State of political feeling — Mr. Berry and his opponents- Local meaning of " Liberal" and " Conservative"— A " National Reformer" — The revival of Protection- Fostering colonial industries by a protective tariff- Ministerial arguments for manufacturing iron pipes in the colony, and for clothing the Police in colonial-made cloth — " Bursting up" large landed estates — Effects of free-trade in land — Production of gold — A Protectionist's and a Freetrader's views of the situation compared— The farmers and the tax on agricultural machinery — A visit to some local manufactories — A few samples of protective duties — Probable collapse of Protection — The quarrel between the two Houses of Legislature— Ministers in private life — " Parliament men"-»Qualifications for members and voters in CONTENTS. PAGE. the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council respectively— The quarrel of labour with capital. ...96-110

Chapter VIII

Sports and Pastimes. The Australians a sport-loving people — Enthusiasm about their champion cricketers in England — The amusements of the day — Theatrical and operatic performances—Admiration of the colonists for Charles Kean, Walter Montgomery, Charles Mathews and G. V. Brooke— A testimonial to Mr. Lyster — The colonial game of football— Kreitmeyer's wax-works exhibition —A gallery of colonial portraits — Martyrdom of Bishop Patterson— Some notable bush-rangers — The tragic deaths of Morgan and Ben Hall — Probability of the bush-rangers becoming the Jack Sheppards and Dick Turpins of drama and romance— Wisdom of the Home Government in putting a stop to transportation—A race-meeting at Caulfield — The Victoria Amateur Turf Club and its objects— The performances of Australian race-horses compared with those of English race-horses — Importation of English stallions— Probable further Improvement of Australian horses— Flemington Race Course — The Victoria Turf Club and its rules — The standard weights for age in the colonies ,., ... .., ...111-129

Chapter IX

The Founders of Victoria. A forecast of the future of Australia— What our children may witness fifty years hence— Amor patriœ of the colonists — The late Edward Wilson — His work in connection with the Victorian Press — The separation movement — The first Australian Parliament— Port Phillip elects Earl Grey, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston and Sir Robert Peel, members of the Sydney Legislature — The colonists refuse to receive English convicts — Port Phillip constituted a separate colony known as Victoria— Patriotism and administrative capacity of the early settlers^rEdward Wilson's CONTENTS. IX PAGE. labours in acclimatisation— Extraordinary increase of rabbits, hares and sparrows — A " Rabbit Suppression Bill" passed by the Legislative Assembly — Melbourne as it was thirty years ago — The present drainage system— Successful application of town sewage to agri culture—Melbourne a sewerless but healthy city ...130-145

Chapter X

Among the Australian Farmers. The best farming districts in Victoria — The overland route between Melbourne and Adelaide — The railway journey to Hamilton— A political discussion on the road — The views of a landholder and a professional man contrasted — Threats of a sanguinary revolution — The secret of Mr. Berry's influence — An unsound commercial policy the rock ahead — Geelong and its grievance— Ballarat and its gold-mines — Chinamen as Colonists— The demand for house-servants from India — Sir Samuel Wilson's estates near Burrumbeet Lake- Beaufort— Ararat — Stawell — Gold-mining 2,000 feet below the surface — The Grampian Hills without young " Norval" — Reminiscences of Scotland — The Australian Dunkeld — A specimen of the aborigines of Australia — Hamilton — Introduction to the squatters— An important Parliamentary election — A Radical returned in the stronghold of Conservatism — How the young squatters amuse themselves ... ...146- ■163

CHAPTER XL

In a Squatter's Home. What is a " Squatter ?" — The privileges of a " free-selector" — Squatters and free-selectors natural enemies — Searching for an old acquaintance — Suspected of being a " loafer" — The charms of rural life in Australia — No home-sickness amongst settlers — A visit to a sheep-run — The Australian buggy — Civilization in the bush —Our amusements at Langford — The Victoria Land Tax Act and the squatters' objections to it — The cost of fencing estates — The wages of sheep-shearers- Scarcity of black population— No dependence to be CONTENTS. X PAGE, placed on native labour— The rule for valuing sheep stations — Particulars of some estates recently sold— An Australian father making provision for his sons as sheep-farmers — Farming on borrowed capital — The Banks and the squatters — An illustration of the benefits of a practical knowledge of sheep-farming— The class of men who make money in Australia... 164-181

Chapter XII

Gold-Mining. Ballarat—" A hundred millions worth of gold were found here" — A nugget of 1,217 ounces — The development of the gold-mining industry — Disputes between the Government and the miners — The present number of miners and the value of mining plant — Falling-off in the production of gold — Average earnings of alluvial and quartz miners — Going down a gold-mine — The history of the New Koh-i-noor Company — The process of quartz-crushing — Difficulty of extracting gold — " Cleaning-up" the batteries — Averages of gold-yield per ton of quartz — Ballarat and Wynaad quartz compared — A payable yield of gold in Australia — The treatment of pyrites — Professor Liversidge's experiments—Enormous waste of gold in "tailings" — The Victoria Commission on the treatment of pyritous quartz— Desirability of having gold bearing quartz-reefs in India examined by competent mining authorities ... ... ... ... ...182-199

Chapter XIII

In a Famous Wine District. The land journey from Melbourne to Sydney — The railways and their gauges — Prevalence of English names of places — Newmarket, Donnybrook, Craigieburn, Broadmeadows, &c. — A region of gum-trees — Things to be seen along the railway — The Valley of the Murray — Wodonga and Albury — Australian wines — An inspection of Mr. Fallon's cellars— The quality and price of different wines — Why Australians do not drink their own wines— The history of vine-culture— Obligations CONTENTS. XI PAGE. to German vignerons who have settled in the colony- Great natural strength of Australian wines, with statistics regarding proof-spirit — Area of vine cultivation in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria— Progress of cultivation checked by absence of export trade — Efforts made to obtain a reduction of wine duty in England — Suitability of Australian wines for blending purposes, and probability of wines becoming a staple export — Chinese or Indian labour wanted to produce the wine cheaper — Appearance of the Phylloxera Vastatrix in the vineyards, and proposed remedies. ... ... ,„ ...200-220

Chapter XIV

Coaching through the Bush. Waiting for the Coach— A dispute about an inside seat— The first stage — A halt for breakfast — Roads through the bush — Our horses — Our passengers — How to sleep safely outside a coach — The anatomy of an Australian coach — Coaches and coachmen importations from America — A lively bit of road — A story illustrative of the danger of travelling in a chimney-pot hat — The old Corduroy road between Geelong and Ballarat — A famous Wagga-Wagga whip — Talk about " Tichborne" —Letter-boxes in the bush — A bush romance— A halt for repairs— The discomforts of coaching ...221-232

Chapter XV

The "Claimant's" Australian Home, Reasons for thinking that young Tichborne was never an Australian butcher — Local evidence adverse to the claimant — Dr. Guy on " personal identity," in reference to the Tichborne case — Wagga-Wagga as it is to-day— Board and lodging for sixteen shillings a week — The Riverina trade— Disadvantages of two gauges on the railways — " Tichborne House" now a draper's shop — The counterpart of the claimant's home —The newspapers of Wagga-Wagga— Mrs. Leo Hunter on the opening of the railway— The character CONSENTS. XII PAGE. of Wagga-Wagga, past and present— A suspicious disappearance ... ... ... ...233-242

Chapter XVI

At Sydney. From Wagga-Wagga to Sydney — A Pullman's Car— A Chinese Doctor — The town of Goulburn — The Government tariff of railway refreshments — Arrival at Sydney — Capabilities of Port Jackson — The climate of New South Wales — Healthy appearance of the people — Trickett the Champion sculler — The beauty of Sydney harbour — Streets and public buildings — The Botanic Gardens — Government House and the Parks — Open-air Picnics — Sydney newspapers — The Theatres — Impressions of Sydney ... ... ... ...243-258

Chapter XVII

Botany Bay. Port Jackson's sponsor — Cook's landing at Botany Bay — The first convict settlement now a favourite retreat for pic-nic and wedding parties — The first batch of convicts — The object of the British Government in deporting convicts to Australia — Glimpses of early days at Botany Bay — Selecting a wife — Rum as a standard of value — Severe punishments— An Irish rebellion and its results — Convict theatricals — The deposition of Governor Bligh — Norfolk Island, as a penal settlement —The first clergyman, church and school — Marsden as a Missionary — Bishop Broughton and his labours for the church in Australia — The first newspapers— Immigration of free-men — Rapid growth of the convict settlement into a prosperous colony .., ...259-277 CHAPTER XVHI. Rapid Growth of a Colony. Progress in New South Wales— Population — Revenue — Expenditure— Public Debt— Agricultural returns- Area of land leased to squatters — Returns of live-stock — Fine quality of Sheep and Cattle— Some facts about " Walors"— Production of Coal— Large area of CONTENTS.

XIII PAGE. gold-bearing quartz — Mineral wealth of the colony- Manufacturing industries — Rapid growth of com merce — The San Francisco route and trade with America— Australian wool shipped via the Suez Canal ... ... ... ... ...278-292

Chapter XIX

The land for " Poor Whites." " Queensland as it is" — Climate — Rainfall — Agriculture— Sugar-cultivation— Enormous sheep-runs — Mining- Education— Suitability of Queensland for Eurasian emigrants — Government aid to immigration — The class of people wanted in the colony — Eurasian emigration to Sydney in 1854, and its results — Probability of future commerce between India and Australia — A new market for Indian tea and coffee — The Torres Straits route, and its convenience for commerce and passenger traffic — From Singapore to Sydney ...293-314

Chapter XX

Some facts about Tasmania. Statistics about Tasmania — Population— Trade — Prospects of gold-mining — Revenue, taxation and public debt- Pauperism and public charities— Savings' Banks — The use of the telegraph and railway — Successful acclimatisation of English fish — Average price of land in town and country — Yield per acre of principal crops- Returns of live-stock — Signs of improved farming- Birth, death and marriage statistics — Personal experiences of an Indian officer settled in Tasmania — Rise of prices in the last seven years— A concise statement of the advantages and disadvantages connected with settling in the colony — The failure of the " Castra scheme"— State and private schools — The demand for small farms suitable for settlers from India — Dearth of domestic servants— Tasmania a dull country — Its two chief advantages, (1) climate (2) possibility of making provision for " the boys" ... ...315-335 • c CONTENTS. XIV

Chapter XXI

State Education. PAGE. State education in Victoria : free, undenominational and compulsory — Subjects necessary for a standard education — Fees for extra subjects — The dnties of Boards of Advice in connection with State schools — A visit to a State school in Melbourne — Subjects taught in the six classes — The appointment, salaries and qualifications of teachers — Some educational statistics for the year 1876 — Opinions on the working of the Victorian system — State aid to education in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Queensland and Western Australia, where religious instruction is permissible under certain conditions ... ...336-353

Chapter XXII

The Aborigines of Australia. The Aborigines Protection Society— Sparseness of the Native population — Causes of its decrease since European colonisation — Reasons for believing the Aborigines will be extinguished in Victoria as they have been in Tasmania — Are the Aborigines an off -shoot from an Aryan race ? — Their physical characteristics- Illustration of their skill, strength and agility — Marriage customs — Infanticide and cannibalism — The Corrobboree dance— The Australian boomerang — The Australian weapon not the same as that used by the Egyptians' and Dravidian races in India— Hunting the kangaroo— Prospects of Missionary work amongst the Aborigines ... ... ... ... ...354-368 CHAPTER XXHI. Emigration and Colonisation. Rapid spread of English speaking races due to emigration and colonisation — German emigration and Russian annexation— The great Lord Chatham on the uses of colonies— The population of America in comparison with that of the chief States of Europe— An estimate of the political influence of America and Australia in CONTENTS.

XV The PAGE. the future — Early history of emigration to Australia —Distance of Australia from England regarded as the chief obstacle to colonisation — Funds for emigra tion provided by sales of colonial lands — Effect of the Irish famine on emigration to America — Emigration checked by the Crimean war and Indian mutiny — Gold discoveries in Australia, and their effect on colonisation — Total emigration during the present century equal to one-fourth of England's present population — The benefits of emigration and colonisation illustrated by the large sums of money remitted from America and Australia — Distribution of emigrants in the Aus tralian colonies — Operations of the Emigration Com missioners for a period of thirty years — Health of emigrants at sea — Free and assisted emigration- Conditions on which the various colonies now aid emi gration — Probability of further emigration owing to present agricultural distress in England and Ireland ... ... ... ... ...369-389

Chapter XXIV

The Indian Coolie as a Colonist. abolition of Slavery, in British colonies, the cause of coolie emigration — Number of Indian emigrants now resident in British and foreign colonies — Extent to which coolie labour has superseded slave labour — Probabilities of further emigration — History of the emigration movement to Mauritius, and its results as shown in the increased production of Sugar — Measures taken for increasing the number of females, and for inducing emigrants to settle in the colonies — Advan tages of emigration, (1) to the emigrants, (2) to the colonies, (3) to India itself — Policy of the Indian Government in regard to emigration, and the law by which emigration is regulated — Efforts made by Government to encourage emigration to Burmah as a famine relief measure — Probability of future emigration to Burmah and towards Central Asia — Hindu colonisation the best antidote to Russian aggression — Coolie emigration to Ceylon— Enormous rise in the CONTENTS.

XVI PAGE. value of land in that colony — Emigration from the plains of India to the tea and coffee districts on the Hills — Prospects of coolie emigration to Australia — Enormous area of territory in Northern Australia suitable for tropical agriculture — Emigration already commenced to Fiji — The Chinese and Indian coolie contrasted, and reasons for believing in the general superiority of the latter — Coolie emigration to South Africa, and its significance ... ... ...390-411

Chapter XXV

Commerce between India and Australia. General anxiety to develop trade between India and Australia — Efforts of Calcutta merchants to increase the tea trade — Imports from and exports to Australia for the past six years — Trade Statistics for Bengal, Bombay, Madras and Ceylon — India's chief exports— The trade in jute manufactures and the Australian demand for wool-packs, cornsacks and bagging- Heavy import duty in Victoria on rice — The trade in castor oil — The exports of tea and coffee — Possibility of an export trade in tobacco — Australian woollen manufactures and Indian dyes — Indian products at the Sydney exhibition — Australia's chief exports to India — Australian copper and iron — Suggestions for the establishment of woollen manufactories in India, to compete with America in the China trade — Possibility of obtaining wheat from Australia in times of scarcity in India— Australian beef and mutton for the Indian army — Decreasing consumption of Australian coal in India — A comparison of Australian tariffs... 412-432 ILLUSTRATIONS.

Reaping, Adelaide wheat plains 74 Collins Street, Melbourne 82 Government House, Melbourne ... ... ,., ,,, 90 The " Claimant's" Home at Wagga-Wagga 238 Rushcutters' Cove, Sydney Harbour 250 The Public Gardens, Hobart Town CONTENTS. XVII

Appendix

. Land Regulations. PAQE. New South Wales — Victoria — South Australia — Northern Territory — Queensland — Western Australia — Tasmania —New Zealand 435-445 Mining Regulations. New South Wales — Victoria — South Australia — Queensland — Tasmania — New Zealand 446-450 Gold-Mining in Southern India. Memorandum issued by the Government of India on Mr. Brough Smyth's reports on the Wynaad Gold fields 451-456 Emigration. Total Emigration from the United Kingdom from 1815 to 1878 inclusive 457 & 458 Distribution of Emigrants in the several Australian Colonies from 1838 to 1875 459 Statistics of the Australian Colonies. Tables of Statistics 460 &

Chapter I. The

" GIBRALTAR OF THE EAST." Aden — Its uninviting appearance — " You must stay here a week, Sir !" — Its strategical importance — Political significance of the dispatch of Indian troops to Europe — The defences — Shipwrecks in the Eed Sea and near Cape Guardafui — More light-houses wanted — Defences of Perim — Its first occupation by the East India Company — The Red Sea as a trade route — Local trade — Large imports of Coal — Deterioration of coal by exposure to the sun — Cultivation of Mokah Coffee — The trade in Ostrich feathers — How the wild Ostrich is captured. " Have a dive ! Have a dive !" What Anglo-Indian with experiences of the overland route will not associate these words with the grinning, curly-headed, amphibious vagabonds who disport themselves round the steamers anchored at Aden ?

I am prepared to admit that, viewed from the deck of a steamer, Aden is not a pleasant place to look at. A visit of a few hours to see the tanks, the camp, the fortifications, and the Parsee shops in the town, is, however, enjoyable enough, especially to passengers who have become a little weary of boardship life. But I must confess that when told that, owing to some delay in the arrival of a steamer, I, a perfect stranger to the place, should have to live a whole week at Aden, the announcement caused me no little consternation. I naturally began to inquire about the hotels. " 0 yes, there were some hotels," replied my in formant, but not in reassuring tones. " There was the Hotel De , and the Hotel De , kept by foreigners." He knew nothing about the cooking in these establish ments, nor whether the management was otherwise unexceptionable, but he thought I should find the hotels warm, and not very comfortable in other respects.

He had noted in one establishment that Monsieur le Di recteur generally appeared in the forenoon in pyjamas, and that Madame, his spouse, was also given to wearing somewhat scanty apparel. My friend's report was not altogether encouraging, and when he undertook to intro duce me to an English resident who lived in a large, cool house, situated on a prominent rock, I felt grateful to him, more especially when my newly made acquaint* ance insisted on my partaking of his hospitality during my unavoidable stay at Aden. Being detained at Aden, then, it occurred to me that I might as well "have a dive," as the Somali boys say, into its past and present history, witb a glance at its institutions and the most prominent features of its social life. I was enabled to do this the more readily after reading a proof copy of an interesting monograph on the " British Settlement of Aden" by Captain F. M. Hunter, Bombay Staff Corps, and Assistant Political Resi dent, which has been prepared for Dr. Hunter's Imperial Gazetteer of India.

Captain Hunter has collected a good deal of useful information about Aden and its neighbourhood, and the manners and customs of the inhabitants ; and I am glad to hear that his monograph is to appear intact as an appendix to the Gazetteer. The im portance of Aden, since the opening of the Suez Canal, has been made patent to the world. It has become the chief coaling and watering station for steamers in the Eastern seas. The prospect of a war in Europe, in the spring of last year, may be said to have at once opened the eyes of the British Government to the fact that, in the event of hostilities between England and Russia, Aden must be made a second Gibraltar. I was at Aden at the time the Indian troops were steaming up the Red Sea, when the local authorities were seriously con sidering the desirability and possibility of converting the CHAP. I.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 3 present " Camp," which guards the little peninsula from invasion from the mainland, into a large fortress capable of holding a garison of 10,000 men.

At the same time, it was announced that Socotra was to be " annexed," or rather re-annexed, for this island formed a portion of the East India Company's dominions in for mer days. That Socotra would form a healthier and pleasanter station than Aden for British troops, there can be no doubt, and it is surprising that the question of garrisoning the island was never considered before. It is generally admitted that Aden, like Gibraltar, ought to be practically impregnable, and for that reason some con siderable extension of the fortifications is likely to be made. Europe was staggered by the recent illustration of the fact that England can, at any moment, draw on the vast military resources of India to defend her interests, if need be, in Europe. The political effect of the dispatch of Indian troops to Malta cannot be gainsayed; and the success with which the expedition was carried out only adds to the strategical importance of Aden.

Apart from strategical considerations., let us glance for a moment at the commercial importance of Aden. Occupied originally as a coaling station for the steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Company engaged in carrying mails and passengers between England, India and China, it has now become the centre to which all the trade between Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia converges. Even in the days of Ptolemy it was a Roman " emporium." What must it become now that the Suez Canal enables the largest steamers to voyage direct from east to west ? It is impossible here to give the value of the trade now conducted through the Red Sea, but the importance of the new trade route has been set beyond all possibility of dispute. The mere transhipment trade at Aden in 1876-7 was valued at £2,000,000 ; while the actual trade of the port itself has trebled since the Canal was opened, the imports and exports in 1875-6 aggregating about three and half millions sterling.

Contrast these figures with those of the early days of our settlement in Aden, and it will be seen what vast changes have taken place. From 1839, when the British occupation took place, till 1850, " the settlement did not at first fulfil the promise its geographical position warranted in regard to the deve lopment of trade, and it was found impossible to divert traffic from its ancient channels, notwithstanding the increased safety to the persons and property of the mer chants frequenting Aden. Mokha and Hodaida continued to monopolise the valuable trade of Arabia and Africa ; and to remedy this, Aden was declared a free port in 1850 by an Act of the Government of India." The trade of the port then rapidly increased, though it was re served for the opening of the Suez Canal to demonstrate fully the capabilities and uses of Aden.