THE State of New South Wales is highly favoured in having vast deposits of coal adjacent to and within easy reach of the coastal ports. Not only is the quality of the fuel generally superior to any found in the other States, but it is greater in extent than in any other part of the Continent. For interesting and reliable details of the history of the discovery of coal, the geology of the coal-bearing strata, analysis of the various coals and other valuable data, the readers are referred to the book recently issued by the New South Wales Government, entitled" The Mineral Resources of New South Wales," by Edward F. Pittman, A.R.S.M., &c., by the direction of the Hon. J. L. Fegan, M.P., Minister for Mines.