THE NORTH-AUSTRALIAN EXPEDITION. 239 



140th meridian, the interior country appearing to consist of a table- 

 land of sandstone formation, averaging 800 feet above the sea-level, 

 along the edge of which small rivers take their rise, and traverse the 

 short space which intervenes between the table-land and the ocean. 



49. This table-land appears to form the continuation of the interior 

 desert which exists to the south of the Victoria, the geological struc- 

 ture being the same, though from its greater proximity to the coast, 



_ a less arid climate, the soil supports a 

 greater amount of vegetation, and consequently it did not exhibit those 

 remarkable ridges of drifting sand which characterize the more inland 

 portions. 



50. It was this inhospitable region, destitute of the requisites for 

 the support of the party, which compelled the Expedition to deviate 

 so much towards the coast, and by following the northern slope, take 

 advantage of the watercourses which there take their rise, and originate 

 the numerous small rivers crossed by Dr. Leichhardt in his journey 

 along the coast .of the Gulf of Carpentaria. 



51. I was desirous, had the nature of the country justified the at- 

 tempt, of taking a more inland course than that traversed, but the 

 absence of tributaries on the eastern side of the upper valley of the 

 Victoria, had warned me that the country in that direction was im- 

 practicable at the period of the year, as the wet season had terminated 

 before the return from the exploration of the interior. 



52. The route of the Expedition was perhaps that which will tend 

 more to develope the physical character of the northern portion of the 

 continent, as the distance to which the rivers extend from the coast 

 has now been approximately ascertained, as none of the watercourses 

 could extend any considerable distance into the interior beyond the line 



traversed by the party. 



53. The insignificant size of the watercourses crossed between the 

 Victoria and Albert Eivers, is almost a proof that no country available 

 for the purposes of settlement exists to the south of the line traversed, 

 while the small quantity of available land seen to the north, and the 

 unfavourable account given by Leichhardt of the parallel line on which 

 he travelled near the coast, renders it improbable that any considerable 

 tract of land suitable for settlement exists on the south-west shore of 



the Gulf of Carpentaria. 



54. On the western shores of the Gulf, the extensive development 



