AUSTRALIA. 



AUSTRALIA. 



090 



commonly a sandy soil of indifferent fertility, but the hilly districts 

 of the country, which in a few places, as at Hlaw.ira, Newcastle, and 

 Port Macquarie, descend to the coast, are of a better description, 

 except where they are composed of bare rocks. The valleys have 

 commonly a strong soil, which in its natural state is covered with 

 large trees, and displays a very vigorous vegetation ; when cultivated 

 it gives good crops of grain. South of 33 S. lat. the ridges of the 

 hills and the valleys between them are parallel to the principal range, 

 and here the rivers, of which the greatest part are only torrents, run 

 in longitudinal valleys, which circumstance gives them a much longer 

 course than they would have if they flowed directly to the sea. Thus 

 the Hawkesbury River has a course of about 200 miles. Its sources 

 are in the mountains which inclose the alpine lakes of George and 

 Bathurst, of which the former is upwards of 12 miles long and about 

 5 miles broad. After the union of several small rivulets the river is 

 called Wallandilly or Wollondilly. After flowing several miles nearly 

 east, it runs for perhaps 150 milea north and north-east, gradually 

 approaching the sea. Near 34 lat. it is joined by the Cox River, and 

 after this junction is called Warragamba. After its junction with the 

 Cataract River, which joins it on the right, it again changes its name 

 to that i.f Nepean, and before it makes the last great bend to the east- 

 south-ea- 1 it takes the name of Hawkesbury ; its ccstuary is called 

 Broken Bay. The Shoal-haven River, which rises south of 36, runs 

 for about 80 milea parallel to the sea from south-south-west to north- 

 north-east, till having approached the Wallandilly it suddenly 

 changes its direction, and flows nearly east till it discharges its waters 

 into Shoal-haven. 



North of 33 lat. the principal valleys are transverse, and the course 

 of the rivers is consequently west and east. The Hunter River runs 

 about 140 miles in that direction, declining however considerably 

 towards the south. Its entire length from its source in the Liverpool 

 Range is above 200 miles. It is navigable for small vessels up to 

 Morpeth, about 35 miles from its mouth. Its two principal tributaries, 

 the William and the Patterson, both of which join it on the left, are 

 navigable for a somewhat greater distance. At the mouth of the 

 Hunter is the town of Newcastle, the chief shipping-town of the 

 Hunter coal district. In the vicinity are extensive beds of good coal, 

 which are largely wrought. Much of the copper from the Burra 

 Burra and other South Australian mines is smelted here. Up the 

 Hunter the land is much more fertile than along the coast, and the 

 towns of East and West Maitlaud and Morpeth are the centres of 

 thriving agricultural districts. The Manning River to the north of 

 the Hunter, and the Hastings, which falls into Macquarie Bay still 

 farther north, also run nearly east and west : neither exceeds 100 

 miles in length. Port Stephens, about 20 miles north of the Hunter, 

 is a bar-harbour, but convenient for small coasting vessels, and the 

 outlet of the produce of the Australian Agricultural Company, a part 

 of whose extensive territory stretches along its northern bank, and 

 for a considerable distance up the river Karuah, of which it is the 

 sestuary. The sestuary of the Hastings forms the small harbour of 

 Port Macquarie. 



North of Port Macquarie the country changes greatly in character. 

 The mountains are very lofty, some of them attaining an altitude of 

 6000 feet, while the formations arc granitic, trappean, and schistose. 

 The streams are numerous and among them the Bellengen, the Clarence, 

 the Richmond, and the Tweed are navigable for coasting vessels. The 

 vegetation is more luxuriant, assuming more and more of a tropical 

 character as we proceed northward. The timber is of a larger and 

 more useful character. Moreton Bay especially is characterised by 

 its pines, of which the finest are the Moreton Bay Pine (Araucaria 

 Cunninghamii) and the Bunya Bunya (A. Bidwellii). The cedars are 

 also in great repute for the beauty of their wood, and the chestnuts are 

 much valued. Cotton, coffee, sugar, and tobacco grow vigorously in 

 this part of Australia ; except tobacco however they are little 

 cultivated, in consequence of the impossibility of obtaining labourers. 

 Moreton Bay is a fine harbour 60 miles long from north to south by 

 from 3 to '20 miles wide. The islands Moreton and Stradbrooke stretch 

 across its mouth, leaving on the south merely a narrow passage 

 navigable only by boats, but on the north there is an entrance 

 sufficiently wide and deep for ships of the largest size. Between the 

 islands lies a dangerous sand-bar. The navigable rivers Brisbane and 

 Logan, with several smaller streams, fall into the bay. The Brisbane 

 is a large and important river, having its farthest source in the coast 

 range near 152 E. long., and being fed in its course by numerous 

 tributaries. It is navigable by vessels drawing 16 feet of water 20 

 milea from its mouth, where the ship navigation is stopped by a rocky 

 shoal, but boats ascend 40 miles higher. The Moretou Bay district 

 and the country northward appear to be free from the droughts 

 which are so destructive in the southern parts of the country. 



North of Moreton Bay the mountains recede to the west, and 

 about '25 S. lat. become much lower, losing in fact in a great measure 

 the character of mountains, and permitting a comparatively easy 

 access to the extensive pastoral regions which Sir Thomas Mitchell 

 and Dr. Leichhardt here discovered in the interior. On this part of 

 the coast, near 22' S. lat., is PortBowen, near Broad Sound, the outlet 

 of the Nogoa and some other streams. Port Bowen is well adapted 

 for steam navigation, and appears likely some day to become an 

 important harbour. The country northward w almost unknown. The 



OEOO. mv. vor,. i. 



entire north-eastern coast, from 23 S. lat., is bordered by small 

 islands and rocks forming what is known as the Great Barrier Reef. 



Sir T. L. Mitchell spent the year 1846 in an exploiting journey into 

 the interior of Tropical Australia, making his way immediately to 

 the westward of the mountain range which bounds the country we 

 have just been noticing. He had to pass over a great deal of dry and 

 barren land, but he also discovered a great extent of singularly 

 beautiful and rich country, especially about the head of a river which 

 he discovered near 25 S. lat., and which he named the Victoria ; it 

 trended to the north-west. Mitchell however was unable to continue 

 his way to the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria, the main object of 

 the journey ; but as he was strongly of opinion that the Victoria 

 would be found to fall into the Gulf of Carpentaria, Mr. Kennedy was 

 on the return of the expedition despatched to continue the search 

 along its banks. He found that the Victoria, called by the- natives 

 the Barcoo, soon turned to the south-west towards the interior. He 

 followed it for about 100 miles beyond the point where it was left by 

 Mitchell, and until it dwindled away and was lost in the sand 

 in 26 15' 9" S. lat., when owing to the failure of water he also was 

 compelled to return. Making his way homeward by a route much to 

 the west of that by which he as well as Mitchell had before proceeded, 

 he discovered a wide extent of rich and well-watered pastoral country. 

 Leichhardt also in his journey from Moreton Bay to Port Essington 

 crossed a vast extent of fertile and beautiful country, traversed by 

 several well-filled rivers ; and in his last and fatal journey he found a 

 country of remarkable beauty and fertility a discovery which he with 

 characteristic ardour returned 300 miles to the nearest frontier station 

 to report. The richness of this part of Australia is therefore well 

 established, and although the frequent failure of the streams is at 

 present a complete bar to any successful ' squatting ' settlements, little 

 appears to be wanting for the development of its resources besides 

 the construction of dams by which the channels of many of the 

 streams might be at once converted into canals for the reservation of 

 the water, and of reservoirs, for which the undulations of the land 

 afford peculiar facilities. 



We now return to the south and west coasts. To the west of 

 Wilson's Promontory and the Australian Alps rise several chains of 

 hills with intervening fertile plains and valleys. The chief are the 

 Pyrenees, the Grampians, and the Victoria Range. The Grampians, 

 which stretch north and south near 142 20' E. long., are the loftiest of 

 these western mountains, the highest summit being Mount Williams, 

 4500 feet. From this chain descend several rivers. The most consider- 

 able of these is the Glenelg which descends from the western slopes ; it 

 has a large body of water, but on account of sand-banks is unnavigable. 

 The Wimmera and other streams which flow northward from the 

 Grampians are lost in shallow lagoons which are formed in the barren 

 sands of the northern part of Victoria. Ths Yarra Yarra which rises 

 in the mountains east of Melbourne flows past that city, below which 

 it is navigable. The country north of thesa mountains which forms 

 the north-western portion of the province of Victoria was named by 

 Sir Thomas Mitchell, who first explored it, Australia Felix, on account 

 of its apparent fertility. This tract affords very fine and extensive 

 cattle-runs, but between it and the Murray is a dry and barren tract. 



West of the Glenelg, in the colony of South Australia, near the 

 coast, are low ranges of wooded hills and grassy plains, with more 

 extensive and very rich plains farther inland, together with luxuriant 

 forests which extend to the foot of the Burr Mountains, the highest 

 of which are 1000 feet above the sea. An isolated mountain, Mount 

 Gambier, has an extinct crater on its summit. Between this and the 

 Murray are low ranges of hills generally running parallel to the shore, 

 and separated from each other by level plains, which are subject to 

 inundations, but afford excellent pastures. Between the Murray and 

 the Gulf of St. Vincent are several ridges of mountains, extending 

 from Bryan Range in the north to Wakefield Range which terminates 

 in Encounter Bay. Mount Brown, near the head of Spencer Gulf, is 

 3000 feet high. Beyond the mountains, and curving round their base?, 

 is the remarkable depression known as Torrens Lake. At least a third 

 of the tract between the Murray and the Gulf of St. Vincent is 

 computed to be barren. In the narrow tract between the mountains 

 and the eastern shore of the Gulf of St. Vincent stands the city of 

 Adelaide. On the western shore of Spencer Gulf is Port Lincoln, the 

 best harbour in South Australia, and around it is much fertile country. 

 Off the entrance of Spencer Gulf lies Kangaroo Island. West of this 

 to Streaky Bay is a mountainous tract known as Gawlor's Range, the 

 summits of which increase in height towards the west, where they 

 attain an elevation of 2000 feet. West of Streaky Bay, and extending 

 into Western Australia, is a waste and dreary country, covered merely 

 with scrub. 



The whole of the western end of the continent is included in 

 Western Australia. The coast from Port Lincoln to King George's 

 Sound forms the Great Australian Bight, and presents a very 

 remarkable appearance ; from Streaky Bay to Cape Arid, about COO 

 miles, there is an unbroken line of clifls from 300 to 500 feet high. 

 The interior here as far as it has been explored consists of apparently 

 interminable plains, no river is visible and no freah water procurable. 

 Immediately west of the Great Australian Bight lies thu Archipelago 

 of the Recherche. About King George's Sound, at the mouth of 

 which is the town of Albany, the country improves considerably ; tho 



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