AUSTIN 347 AUSTRALIA which he was made assistant chief. From 1903 to 1914 he was professor of commerce and statistics at George Wash- ington University, and since 1914 stat- istician of the foreign trade department of the National City Bank. He was a member of several economic societies. He wrote "Uncle Sam's Secrets," "Uncle Sam's Soldiers," "Colonial Systems of the World," "Commercial Japan," "Com- mercial South and Central America," "Great Canals of the World," "Manu- facturing Systems of the World," "Eco- nomics of World Trade," "International Commerce," and other works. AUSTIN, STEPHEN FULLER, an American pioneer, born in Austinville, Va., Nov. 31, 1793; a son of Moses Austin, the real founder of the State of Texas, who, about 1820, obtained permission from the Mexican Government to es- tablish an American colony in Texas, but died before his plans were accomplished. Stephen took up the work unfinished by his father, and located a thrifty colony on the site of the present city of Austin, in 1821. Subsequently he was a com- missioner to urge the admission of Texas into the Mexican Union; was imprisoned there for several months; and in 1835 was a commissioner to the United States Government to secure the recognition of Texas as an independent State. He died in Columbia, Tex,, Dec. 25, 1836, AUSTRALASIA, a division of the globe usually regarded as comprehending the islands of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, New Caledonia, the New Heb- rides, the Solomon Islands, New Ireland, New Britain, the Admiralty Islands, New Guinea, and the Arru Islands, be- sides numerous other islands and island groups; area, 3,470,000 square miles; pop. about 6,400,000. It forms one of three portions into which some geograph- ers have divided Oceania, the other two being Malaysia and Polynesia. AUSTRALIA (older name. New Hol- land), the largest island in the world, a sea-girt continent, lying between the In- dian and Pacific Oceans, S. E. of Asia. It is separated from New Guinea on the N. by Torres Strait, from Tasmania on the S. by Bass Strait. It is divided into two unequal parts by the Tropic of Cap- ricorn, and consequently belongs partly to the South Temperate, partly to the Torrid Zone. The Commonwealth con- sists of six colonies called the Original States of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania. The act pro- viding for a Federal Union constituting the Commonwealth was passed by the British Parliament in 1900. On Jan. 1, 1911, the north territory was transferred by South Australia to the Common- wealth, and on the same date a portion of New South Wales, consisting of 912 square miles, was vested in the Common- wealth for the purpose of fonning the Federal Territory containing the seat of the Commonwealth Government. This area was increased in 1917 to 940 square miles. Area and Population. — Their area and population in 1918 are given as follows: New South Wales. Victoria Queensland South Australia. . . Western Australia . Sq. M. 310,700 87,884 668,497 903,690 975,920 Pop. 1,897,08-: 1,416,982 705,588 439,272 511,125 The population of the smaller divisions is as follows: Tasmania, 202,842; Northern Terri- tory, 3,269; Federal Territory, 2,404. The estimated total population in 1919 was 5,140,543. Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, and Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, are the chief towns. Topography. — Although there are nu- merous spacious harbors on the coasts, there are few remarkable indentations; the principal being the Gulf of Carnen- taria, on the N., the Great Austra'lian Bight, and Spencer Gulf, on the S. The chief projections are Cape York Penin- sula and Arnhem Land in the N. Par- allel to the N. E. coast runs the Great Barrier Reef for 1,000 miles. Geology. — The interior, so far as ex- plored, is lai'gely composed of rocky tracts and barren plains with little or no water. The whole continent forms an immense plateau, highest in the E., low in the center, and with a narrow tract of land usually intervening between the elevated area and the sea. The base of the table-land is granite, which forms the surface rock in a gi'eat part of the S. W., and is common in the higher grounds along the E. side. Secondary (cretaceous) and tertiary rocks are largely developed in the interior. Silu- rian rocks occupy a large area in South Australia, on both sides of Spencer Gulf. The mountainous region in the S. E. and E. is mainly composed of volcanic, Silu- rian, carbonaceus, and carboniferous rocks yielding good coal. The highest and most extensive mountain system is a belt about 150 miles wide, skirting the whole eastern and southeastern border of the continent, and often called, in
