192 NORTH AUSTRALIAN EXPEDITION. [Nov. 10, 1856. 



desert, impassable, and fatal to any hopes of overland communication between 

 South Australia and the North-west Coast. In support of this idea. Captain 

 Stokes referred to Mr. Austin's expedition from Western Australia, where, 

 about the parallel 2(J5° and meridian 117°, he discovered the south-westerly- 

 boundary, evidently of the same sandy desert. It was an accumulation of 

 lakes in rainy reasons, and of dry mud and arid sands in the hot seasons. 

 Another indication of the extent of the desert, was the character of the central 

 part of the North-west Coast, which Captain Stokes was the first to visit in 

 the year 1841, when he was quite satisfied, from its singular resemblance to 

 the Pampas of South America, that all within was a desert ; and this would 

 give a fair idea of its westerly limit. Going back to Mr. Gregory's exploration 

 of the upper part of the Victoria, it appeared that he had met with a consider- 

 able extent of good country, which proved that the Victoria had not been 

 overrated. Australia was, it was well known, deficient in navigable rivers, 

 and when the Victoria was discovered and found navigable, it was regarded as 

 an important stream ; and, compared with the Murray in the south, it was 

 called the great river of North Australia. The Victoria has this advantage 

 Over the Murray, that it always had a navigable entrance, while the mouth of 

 the Murray was almost impassable. Mr. Gregory's discovery of so much good 

 country on the Victoria, favoured the proposal to establish penal settlements 

 in North Australia. He alluded to this, because the every-day police reports 

 convinced him that the ticket-of-leave system was a failure, and transportation 

 the only remedy. He would, in conclusion, express the hope that the same 

 success would attend Mr. Gregory in the further and more important part of 

 his expedition between the Victoria and the Albert. He should have much, 

 preferred that Mr. Gregory's instructions had confined him to tracing the chief 

 sources of the Victoria, especially towards the south-east, and then proceeding 

 eastwards to Carpentaria. If these had been his orders, what might have been 

 the result ? Instead of hearing of him still on the Victoria river, we would 

 have heard of his arrival on the Albert. 



The President said they were much indebted to Captain Stokes for his ob- 

 servations. When they remembered that Captain Stokes was present at the 

 discovery of that river himself, and had traced it on foot for some distance inland, 

 every word which fell from him must be of interest. 



Mb. Lateobe, p.r.g.s., congratulated the Society upon the success which 

 had thus far attended this effort. He considered that it had been conducted 

 upon the only principles which could induce them to look for good results, 

 and if, as Sir Roderick Murchison said, the expeditionary party hugged the 

 coast, they might really hope for great results. As to the interior, it appeared 

 now to be a perfect blank on the map ; he was afraid it would remain so, and 

 that they might write upon it " Sahara Australis," 



The peculiar character of the winds which proceeded from the great N.W. 

 interior to that part of New Holland with v hicli he was acquainted, showed 

 that this interior must be a desert — an arid waste, throwing off an intense 

 heat in summer, and, during the period of the winter rains, originating a 

 chilly wind, possessing many of the peculiar characteristics of the hot winds. 

 Like these, it appeared to move on a plane parallel to the earth's surface. It 

 exercised a similar influence upon vegetation, causing plants to drooi;> and the 

 leaves of the acacia to close, although the winds from southward, bringing 

 with them a far greater degree of cold, might produce no such effect. He 

 hoped that they would remain satisfied with the attempts already made to 

 penetrate directly into the interior beyond the head waters of known streams, 

 and not risk the loss of life and tempt the fate of Leichhardt. 



Sib Koderick Murchison, in reply to a question of the President regarding 

 the geology of North Australia, said he had little or no information to give 

 respecting it, since no details had yet arrived. There were, ir.dced, a few 



