14 



being barely sufficient to fill the Murray river — the re- 

 mainder being dissipated by evaporation. 



Some idea might be formed of the inland lakes by the 

 description given of Alexandrina, which, though it covered 

 an area of 1500 square miles, was nowhere more than eight 

 feet deep. 



Two large rivers had been found to empty themselves 

 into the Gulf of Carpentaria, and had been navigated 

 about three hundred miles inland. It was uncertain, 

 however, whether they were not filled at the time by 

 " freshes." 



Opposite Van Dieman's Land the rivers were not subject 

 to any important changes, as neither droughts nor floods 

 prevailed in that part to any extent. 



The climate of the country was allowed by all observers 

 to be beautiful in the extreme — agues, fevers, and other 

 diseases, the result of marsh miasmata, were almost 

 unknown. The heat, however, was most severe, being 

 often as high as 160° in the sun, and 130° in the shade. 

 This, necessarily, produced most rapid evaporation, but 

 notwithstanding this the dew point was usually very high. 

 As there were no snowy mountains, by which the excessive 

 heat of the atmosphere was reduced, it usually happened 

 that long intervals occurred between the falls of rain, and 

 that these were far more heavy than in more temperate 

 climates. The quantity which fell in the course of a day 

 was almost incredible here, but it rarely happened that the 

 average yearly amount was greater than that of Europe. 



The most interesting of Australian peculiarities were 

 those connected with animal and vegetable life. The forest 

 trees were entirely different from those found elsewhere, 

 not only in general appearance but in every other charac- 

 teristic. The most prominent was the fact, that both sides 

 of their leaves were equally dull — the stomates being as 

 abundant on the upper as on the lower surface. This took 

 away considerably from the beauty of the woods, and was 

 always the first thing which attracted the attention of the 

 European settler. 



The birds were likewise peculiar — the majority being 

 Paroquets. Though abundantly noisy, they had no taste 

 for music, and were useful chiefly in leading travellers to 

 water, which they did by collecting, and screaming, in 

 immense numbers round every pool. The Emu — in some 

 respects resembling the Ostrich — was the largest known, 

 and was much prized for its flesh, and the sport it afforded 

 the hunters. 



