Great Britain encourages the trade of her colonies, and gets about three-fourths of the traffic of the commonwealth, the imports being manufactured goods. Of the foreign trade the United States has about half, nearly all of which is landed at San Francisco and Puget Sound. Wool, cattle products, and coal are exported to the United States, and the latter sends to Australia structural steel--mainly rails--printing-paper, and coal-oil. _Melbourne_ is the largest city. _Sydney_ is the port at which most of the ocean trade is landed. _Brisbane_, mainly a coal and a wool market, is connected with British Columbia by an ocean cable. Steamships by way of the Suez Canal generally call at _Perth_ and _Adelaide_. _Hobart_ and _Launcestown_ are the markets of Tasmania. =New Zealand.=--This colony is one of the most prosperous and best administered states in existence. The cultivable lands produce enough wheat for home use, and an excess for export. Cattle and sheep are the chief resource, however, and pretty nearly everything--meat, hides, wool, horn, and bones--is exported. Dairy products are not forgotten, and under the management of an association, these are of the best quality. New Zealand flax (_Phormium tenax_), a kind of marsh hemp, yields a fibre used in making cordage. The kauri pine furnishes the chief supply of lumber. A fossil kauri gum is collected for export; it makes a varnish almost equal to Japanese lacquer. Gold is mined, and there being no mint, all the bullion is exported. The only manufactures are those which are connected with the meat export and the dairy industry. The exports noted more than pay for the manufactured goods. Most of the trade is carried on with Great Britain. _Wellington_, the capital, and _Auckland_ are the centres of trade. =New Guinea.=--This island, one of the largest in the world, is somewhat larger than the State of Texas, or about one-third larger than Germany or France. The gold-mines first led to the exploration and settlement of the island, but it was soon apparent that the agricultural resources were even more valuable, and it was divided among the British, Germans, and Dutch. The western part of the island is distinctly Asian in character; the eastern and southern parts resemble Australia. Coffee, rice, and tobacco plantations have been established in the former; grazing is the chief industry in the latter. Ebony and bamboo are among the forest products. =British Possessions.=--The Fiji Islands are among the most important British possessions. They number about eighty habitable and twice as many small islands. Sugar is the chief export product, and it goes mainly to Australia and New Zealand. Cocoanuts are also a large item of export trade. _Suva_ is the chief trading-port. The Tonga Islands are nominally independent, but are practically a British protectorate. Among other British possessions are Cook, Gilbert, and Ellice archipelagoes, and Pitcairn Island.