The transportation of convicts to Australia was phased out between 1840 and 1868, the cont

inent of Australia had been divided into FIVE separate colonies, each not seeing eye-to-eye and exhibiting more loyalty to London to each other. A major force within the colonies was the squatocracy--the rich officers and settlers a. k. a. opportunists who had followed the explorers into fertile hinterlands. They simply laid claim to or squatted upon enormous tracts of land, often 20,000 acres and more. Free for all, mate with lots of social tension. Development of Australia was at a steady but unspectacular rate. Then came the GOLD RUSH period!

Gold was originally discovered in Australia by Rev. W. B. Clarke in 1841, but the news was sup-pressed. The Governor Sir George Gipps had said to him--"Put it away, Mr. Clarke, or we shall all have our throats cut!" In 1851, Edward Hargraves, an Australian veteran of the California U.S.A. gold rush, went to the tributaries of the MacOuarie River near Bathurst, 170 km. west of Sydney--and found gold, and the rush was on. Each colony tried to find their own. In Victoria, gold was found in Castlemaine, Ballarat and Bendigo. Gold rushes flared like bushfire around the continent for the next two decades. For all the chaos of the diggings, there was also considerable order, honesty, discipline and political solidarity between the diggers--contrasting with the lynch law of California U. S. A.. The rest of the world, on hearing tales of giant nuggets and creeks paved with gold, set sail to Australia! In 1852 alone, 95,000 new arrivals flooded into New South Wales and Victoria. The largest minority were the Chinese, who were much resented by the other settlers for their willingness to work hard, for keeping to themselves, and for their "sheer numbers").

On 1st January, 1901, not only a new century but also a new nation would be born--Australia. In September 1900, Queen Victoria of England regally proclaimed the birth of a new nation. The table at which she signed this proclamation was then shipped from London to Sydney, where on the 1st January, 1901 at Centennial Park, Sydney, the Federal Commonwealth of Australia was inaugurated by the first governor-general of Australia--Lord Hopetoun.

New nation, however, still attached to Mother England. Like a little child stepping out, Australia's constitution was rather tame compared to the United States of America. The Queen of Britain remained the head of state, retaining the power over all foreign affairs; her direct representative in Australia was the Governor-General. British parliamentary legislation could overrule any laws passed by the Commonwealth of Australia. Few Australians objected to this arrangement, for each of the six colonies felt more at ease dealing with England ("motherland") than with dealing with one another. For her part, Mother England did not let the "baby" new nation escape the interests of imperialism. She expected and got continuing sup-port in her military involvements and ample returns on her substantial investments in Australia.

For the longer term, a capital city was needed and both Sydney and Melbourne each wished that it to be in its own state. However, neither of the longstanding rivals would permit it in the other's backyard! After considerable backbiting, a separate Australian Capital Territory was proposed at a point between the two cities. Hence the future city of Canberra (meaning "meeting place" in Aboriginal language), to be the Australian Capital Territory, was thus allocated on the beautiful Monaro Tablelands area.

The word "squatted" in Para. I probably means ______ .

A．sold

B．occupy

C．own

D．crouch