TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 89 



Notes of an Excursion to the supposed Tomb of Ezekiel. By T. K. Lynch. 



The traveller arrived at Kiffell on the 4th of May, 1848, a palace which was tra- 

 ditionally supposed to be the burial-place of the prophet Ezekiel. After traversing 

 many miles of ground, he at last came in sight of the fort, which he entered, and 

 requested to be conducted to the tomb of the prophet. The chief of the inhabitants of 

 the town, who were few, consequently accompanied him to the place, and, having tra- 

 versed a spacious court, they entered a large hall, supjjorted on two rows of pilastered 

 columns, and in the recess at the extreme end of the hall was a case resembling that 

 of a gigantic opera-glass, which contained a copy of the five books of Moses. The 

 whole of this precious manuscript was written on a single scroll, which, for conve- 

 nience sake, was rolled into one case as it was uncovered from another. Leading 

 out from this hall, on the south side, was a littie dark chamber, which contained the 

 tomb itself — ' the very grave of Ezekiel ' — enclosed in a wooden case, which was 

 covered with English chintz, by no means of the finest texture or newest pattern. 

 Above the tomb arose the spiral dome, which internally was handsome, gilt and 

 enamelled, and was illuminated by many small lamps, kept constantly burning, 

 suspended over the sarcophagus. Around this hall, besides several small dark 

 closets for private devotions, there was another mysterious chamber, which was 

 lighted up by a single lamp, and contained three graves, said to be those of the 

 principal Jews who accompanied Ezekiel. 



On certain Places in the Pacific, in connexion with the Great-Circle Sailing, 

 By the Rev. C. G. Nicolay, F.R.G.S. 



On the Interior of Australia. By Augustus Petermann. 



At a time when the exploration of the unknown interior of Australia was earnestly 

 thought of, the probable character of that extensive region became a subject of 

 particular interest and of legitimate inquiry. Scarcely one-third part of Australia 

 could be said to have been even partially explored, and by far the largest portion 

 was therefore entirely unknown. This unknown interior of Australia had frequently 

 been a matter of speculation, at first founded on very few facts. But as our 

 knowledge increased, and actual facts became more numerous, the theories had been 

 modified. One of these hypotheses was, that the interior, to a certain extent, 

 consisted of a shoal sea. It was in 1814, only forty years since, when the ex- 

 ploration of inner Australia might be said to have been systematically commenced, 

 that Mr. Oxley, the first Surveyor-general of New South Wales, a man of acknow- 

 ledged ability and merit, pushed his investigations into the interior of that 

 continent. By tracing down the rivers Lachlan and Macquarie, he was checked 

 in his progress westward by marshes of great extent, beyond which he could 

 not see any land. He was therefore led to infer that the interior was occupied by a 

 shoal sea, of which the marshes were the borders, and into which the rivers he had been 

 tracing discharged themselves. This opinion was probably supported by the fact that 

 the mouth of the largest of the Australian rivers, the Murray, had been overlooked by 

 Capt. Flinders, and was not discovered till fifteen years after Mr. Oxley's discoveries, 

 by Capt. Sturt. In 1845, Mr. Eyre, one ofthe most distinguished explorers of Australia, 

 announced that he had arrived at dift'erent conclusions, namely, that the interior would 

 be found generally to be of a very low level, consisting of sand alternating with many 

 basins of dried salt lakes, or such as were covered only by shallow salt water or mud, 

 as was the case with Lake Torrens. He also said that it was more than probable 

 there might be many detached, and even high ranges, similar to the Gawler Range, 

 and that, interspersed among these ranges, intervals of a better or even of a rich and 

 fertile country, might be met with. In 1850, Mr. J. B. Jukes, in his valuable 

 work on 'The Physical Structure of Austraha,' stated his opinion to be that the 

 interior consisted of immense desert plains, which seemed to extend to the sea coast 

 round the Gulf of Carpentaria on the north, to that ofthe great Australian bight on 

 the south, and to stretch along the north-west coast to Collier Bay. The general 

 opinion at present entertained on this point seemed to be very similar to that of 

 Mr. Jukes, excepting, perhaps, that it was thought that the deserts did not reach so 

 far to the north, and the northern parts were copsidered to consist of some fertile 



