204 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



AUSTRALIA. 



Surveys have been made on the Stevenson River, in the 

 south, and on the Daly River, in the north, the valley of the 

 latter being deseribed as a rich and grassy district. A north- 

 western expedition, under Mr. W. O. Hodgkinson, starting 

 from Queensland, has explored the country from the Flinders 

 and Concurry rivers to the frontiers of South Australia, fol- 

 lowing the course of theDiamantina River, and finding great 

 areas of good pasture-land, with beautiful lakes, bounded on 

 the west by a sandstone range named the Cairns Mountains. 

 The Herbert River flows for a short distance through South 

 Australia, but afterwards unites with one of the sources of 

 the great Mulligan River flowing through Queensland. The 

 expedition returned in October, 1876, to the lalls of the 

 Leichhardt. 



An extension of Mr. Hodgkinson's work has been planned. 

 The expedition was to start about the end of September 

 from near the head-waters of the Gregory River, which emp- 

 ties into the Gulf of Carpentaria, pushing eastward to Ten- 

 nant Creek, and along the telegraph line to the waters of 

 the Daly ; thence eastward to the Nicholson River, in this 

 way twice crossing the broad strip of unknown land between 

 the transcontinental telegraph line and the Gregory River. 



The end in view in all these surveys is, in addition to the 

 acquiring of exact knowledge of the geography, the discov- 

 ery of new pasture-lands. 



Mr. Alexander Forrest crossed the Hampton Plains, in 

 West Australia, last year, hoping to find pasture-land, but 

 his investigations established the fact that the interior of 

 West Australia is all desert. 



The Katharine River was explored in 1876 by Mr. G. R. 

 McMinn, Chief Geographer of the Northern Territory. Mr. 

 McMinn is convinced of the identity of the Daly and Kath- 

 arine rivers. 



To the southwest of the Katharine River worthless low- 

 land plains were found covered with a growth of scrub and 

 spinifex. 



Mr. E. Giles's report of his return trip across West Austra- 

 lia last year, with a carefully executed map of his route, has 

 been published by the government as a parliamentary paper. 



