living tree was found to be 330 feet. A prostrate tree nearly 350 feet in length was discovered. The Jarrah tree of Western Australia, which is by far the most valuable for commercial purposes, and of which immense forests exist, is not nearly so picturesque in appearance as the Karri. The trees are rugged in appearance, and the general effect, taken in mass, is sombre. In the best forests the trees run from 50 feet to 60 feet in height to the first branch. There is a large and growing export of this timber to Europe, and the industry promises to be one of the most successful that has been established.
At Jarrahdale, which is about thirty miles from Perth, on the South-Western Railway, one company has five sawmills working night and day to execute the orders from England and elsewhere. Recent flotations of these Jarrah and Karri companies have been to some extent over-capitalised. But amalgamation and other measures are in a fair way to put this matter right; and it certainly seems to be the case that the chief difficulty in connection with the trade is to secure enough vessels to ship the timber in. Jarrah is unrivalled for piles, etc., in water or wet ground, and for wood paving. The French, for some reason best known to themselves, prefer karri for this latter purpose, but it is not highly esteemed in Western Australia, and on the deck of Port Melbourne pier, which is partly laid with it, it did not seem to me to have worn well. Jarrah resists the attacks of white ants, for which reason it is much used, especially in the goldfields country, for railway sleepers.
With the inrush of population caused by the gold discoveries agriculture has advanced rapidly. The mines have been developed principally by new arrivals from the other colonies and from Europe, but the local population has reaped a harvest in the increased demand for vegetable
