Feb. 11, 1856.] ^ LANDOR. 31 



26th parallel, in long. 116° and 115° E. ; and lastly, back to the coast 

 by way of the Murchison River. 



The country traversed by Mr. Austin was very indifferent, and to 

 the westward it appeared to change for the worse. 



The salt-water lake above-mentioned pours its waters at the time of 

 heavy rains through Lake Moore, discovered by Mr. Gregory, and 

 thence through Cow-cow-ing Lake into the Swan Eiver. But the 

 river beds to the north of the salt-water lake run towards the Murchison 

 River, and Mr. Austin thinks that his route led him near the N.W. 

 border of the basin which supplies the Murchison. 



-Large numbers of natives come down these river beds at the latter 

 end of the dry season, and red kangaroos, emus, and turkeys were very 

 numerous in their neighbourhood. 



3. Notes on the Probable Condition of the Interior of Australia. By 



H. Landor. 



If you take a map of Australia, the first most striking feature is the absence 

 of large rivers debouching on the coast, from the mouth of the Murray west- 

 wards and northwards imtil the Yictoria River is reached. I put out of 

 the question the rivers of Western Australia, all of which, except one, are 

 mere surface drains. I have myself headed the sources of every one of them, 

 and know that they only contain running water in the summer, and have 

 their origin within 200 miles of the coast. The exception is the Blackwood, 

 which falls into the sea near Cape Lewin : this river has communication with 

 a chain of shallow lakes, that extends towards the interior farther than my 

 knowledge. 



Now on continuing our examination of the map, we find numerous rivers 

 on the northern coast and in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is obvious that 

 the watershed that throws these streams to the north and north-west has 

 also another side which throws its waters towards the south and the interior. 

 Why then do they never reach the coast ? They spread themselves out on the 

 flat surface of the interior, which is very little above the level of the sea, 

 and they collect into large shallow lakes, which have outlets in very wet 

 seasons by Shark Bay, the Blackwood, Spencer Gulf, and Eyre Lake into the 

 Darling. What proof is there of this ? I will name many proofs. First I 

 have passed over many miles of country of a hard clay formation, with small 

 prickly scrub on it, and coarse marshy grass, and marks of water-drift all 

 over it, small weeds and sticks lodged high in the scrub, on banks a little 

 higher than the general level of the plains ; and this over many hundred 

 square miles of country, which must be one vast lake in the winter or wet 

 season. The absence of animals of the burrowing marsupials, and of reptiles 

 that always swarm on such plains when they are not subject to periodical floods. 

 The want of kangaroos, which dare not venture too far into the country, lest 

 the waters of winter overtake them. The marks of the abrasion of the surface 

 by the trickling stream as it gradually runs away, when the rains are over. 

 All these signs indicate a state of things that cannot be mistaken ; but there 

 are meteorological reasons that make this condition of the interior an absolute 

 certainty, and these are the conditions of the hot winds that prevail in every 



