32 UNDERGROUND WATERS. 



trial shafts, and surface surveys, and found the storage 

 an extensive one, and the water in the drift sand had been 

 tested in one locality to a depth of about 50ft. of water 

 and find sand. I afterwards had an opportunity of deter- 

 mining the source of the supply as coming from the moun- 

 tains near Stanwel], Mount Morgan, and Lion Mountain. 

 Near Stanwell a large number of creeks unite, and the 

 combined waters percolate under the sandy bed of Neerkol 

 Creek. In the lower part of the valley of this creek, right 

 on to Rockhampton, the water flow is mostly underground. 

 The stream appears to pass under the Hats west of Kock- 

 hamptpn, and the railway at Yeppen, and probably finds 

 its way into the Pacific Ocean. 



The Artesian Wells of Western Queensland. 



The advancing surveys and delimitation of the great 

 Australian basin enable us now to form some conception 

 of the paramount interest which Queensland has in the 

 artesian water question of Australia. The total area of 

 this basin is about 481,000 square miles, of which near 

 three-fourths is in Queensland, and the remainder in New 

 South Wales and South Australia. Since the discovery 

 of the existence of this immense basin some hundreds of 

 artesian wells have been sunk, and the daily flow was given 

 recently as 529 million gallons ; this however, is probably 

 only a fractional part of the water percolating on the 

 catchment, going down to maintain the flow of the under- 

 ground streams, so that the artesian wells are not likely 

 to diminish in yield for want of water to maintain their 

 supply. The prominent features of these wells are the 

 great diversity of chemical contents of the waters, the 

 varieties of rocks bored through, and the temperature of 

 the waters at the surface. At Longreach, for instance, 

 where I designed and carried out works for laying on the 

 bore water to the town, the water is of high temperature, 

 also is so high in saline contents as to render it unsuitable 

 as a potable water. Still, it is found most pleasant for 

 bathing, of great use for domestic purposes, for fire ex- 

 tinction, and for manufacturing purposes. The beds passed 

 through by the boring were mostly shales down to the 

 water-bearing beds. 



