Railroad through the Gippsland Forest. 



CHAPTER II, 



Configuration and Climate. 



Dimensions op Australia — Mount Kosciusko — The Murray River System — Wind Laws— The Hot 

 Wind— Intense Heat Periods— The Early Explorers— Sturt's Experience — Blacks and Bush Fires 

 — Droughts— Unexplored Australia. 



JT is not possible to understand Australia without a glance at the physical 

 conditions of the continent. A good angel and a bad, an evil influence 

 and a beneficial, are ever in contention in nature here. From the surround- 

 ing sea come cool and grateful clouds ; from the heated interior come hot 

 blasts, licking up life and absorbing the watery vapours which would otherwise 

 fall as rain. Sea and land are ever in conflict. 



Australia measures from north to south 1700 miles, and from east to 

 west 2400 miles — the total area being somewhat greater than that of the 

 United States of America, and somewhat less than the whole of Europe. 



c 2 



