THE SOUTH TKMI'EKATi; ZONK 323 



Australia 



Australia comprises much the greater part of Australasia, 

 equalling in area the whole United States exclusive of Alaska. 

 The northern portion lies within the tropics, while its southern- 

 most part corresponds in latitude to New York City. The climate, 

 therefore, ranges from a true tropical one at the north, to a warm 

 temperate one in the south, comparable to that of the Mediter- 

 ranean, or southern California. 



Australia is lacking in high mountains and there is a dearth of 

 large rivers and lakes, and much of the country is occupied by 

 monotonous plains of great extent, and largely arid. The highest 

 elevations are near the eastern coast, where a succession of high- 

 lands and mountain ranges extends from the York Peninsula to 

 Victoria and Tasmania. Along the coast of North Queensland are 

 some definite mountain ranges, but for the most part the high- 

 land is a plateau sloping westward to the interior with more or less 

 definite escarpments near the coast. These escarpments are some- 

 times deeply indented by abrupt gorges, such as may be seen in the 

 Blue Mountains west of Sydney. The highest point in Australia, 

 Mt. Kosciusco (7,300 ft.) is in New South Wales near the Victoria 

 border. The eastern highlands and the coastal strip, have, as a 

 rule, a good rainfall, but there are no large rivers. The heaviest 

 rainfall in Australia is in the coastal region of North Queensland, 

 at the foot of the Bellenden-Ker range. At one station, Babinda, 

 visited by the writer, the annual precipitation sometimes exceeds 

 200 inches. 



Inland, however, the rainfall diminishes rapidly, and a third of 

 the continent, some 1,000,000 square miles, is said to receive 1. 38 

 than ten inches annually, while another third has less t han t unity. 

 This means that a large part of Australia must be considered as 

 too arid for most agricultural purposes except under irrigation. 

 Vast areas, however, are adapted to grazing, and sheep raising is 

 at present the most important industry of the commonwealth. 

 There is a more or less pronounced wet and dry season in most 

 parts of Australia. In the south, the rains come mostly in the 

 winter months — May-September, — while at the north, summer Is 

 the rainiest period. 



The rain-forests of North Queensland contain many wide- 



