AUSTRALIA. 



AUSTRALIA. 



Large tracts of country are covered with shells and the claws of cray- 

 fish, and the soil, although an alluvial deposit, is superficially sandy. 

 They bear the appearance not only of being frequently inundated, 

 but also of the floods having subsided upon them. On their surface 

 no accumulation of rubbish is observed, so as to indicate a rush of 

 waters to any one point ; but numerous minor channels are traced, 

 which evidently distribute the floods equally and generally over every 

 part of the area which is subject to them. 



" My impression," says Captain Sturt, " when travelling the country 

 to the west and north-west of the marshes of the Macquarie, was, 

 that I was traversing a country of comparatively recent formation. 

 The sandy nature of the soil, the great want of vegetable decay, the 

 salsolaceoua character of the plants, the appearance of its isolated 

 hills and flooded tracts, and its trifling elevation above the sea, 

 severally contributed to strengthen this impression on my mind : " 

 and this seems to be the impression produced on the minds of all 

 scientific travellers who have explored any part of this tract. 



It would appear that these plains insensibly decrease in elevation 

 above the level of the sea, as they approach the southern shores of the 

 continent. The cataracts of the Macquarie are 680 feet above the 

 sea ; the station on the Lachlan, where Mr. Oxley formed a dep6t, 

 500 feet ; and the maximum height of the high banks of the Murray, 

 where that river begins its southern course, is only 300 feet. 



The rivers which traverse this region descend from the terraces aa 

 large and full watercourses, but after having run in the lowlands a 

 considerable distance they change their character. Instead of in- 

 creasing in breadth, depth, and volume of water, they begin to 

 diminish in all these respects. This is partly to be attributed to the 

 sandy soil through which they flow, and partly to the want of tribu- 

 taries to replace their loss of water. The streams draw their chief 

 supply indeed from the swamps which lie about the heads of their 

 various feeders. Captain Sturt observed that in the course of 340 

 miles the Murrumbidgee was not joined by one stream of running 

 water. 



A still more remarkable characteristic of this region is, that some 

 of its large rivers terminate in marshes covered with reeds. Captain 

 Sturt describes the termination of the Macquarie in the following 

 terms : " At some distance inland, in the marshes, the reeds were of 

 great height. The channel of the river continued as deep and broad 

 as ever ; but the flood did not appear to have risen more than a foot 

 above the banks, which were now almost on a level with the water, 

 and the current was so sluggish as to be scarcely perceptible. These 

 general appearances continued for about three miles, when our course 

 was suddenly and most unexpectedly checked. The channel, which 

 had promised so well without any change in its breadth or depth, 

 ceased altogether ; and while we were yet lost in astonishment at so 

 abrupt a termination of it, the boat grounded. Examining this spot 

 with peculiar attention, two creeks were discovered, so small as 

 scarcely to deserve the name, and which would, under ordinary 

 circumstances, have been overlooked. One branched off to the north, 

 the other to the west. The former extended about thirty yards, and 

 the latter about twenty yards, where they terminated." It has been 

 already mentioned that the Barcoo or Victoria, discovered by Sir 

 Thomas Mitchell in 1846, disappears in the sands of the interior. It 

 was traced by Kennedy till it gradually dwindled away in a number 

 of small creeks and channels, and finally came to an end in 142" 20' 

 E. long., 28 15' S. lat. ; in seasons of flood however it may probably 

 extend much farther. This river was named the Victoria by Sir 

 Thomas Mitchell, in ignorance of the native name ; but as the name 

 of Victoria had already been given to a considerable river (previously 

 noticed) which falls into Cambridge Gulf, on the north coast, it is to 

 be hoped that the native name will be restored to Mitchell's river, as 

 these repetitions of names cause considerable confusion. 



The farthest point to which the interior has yet been explored is 

 24 30' S. lat., 137 59' E. long. Here Captain Start found a bound- 

 less arid plain, covered with bare ridges of drift sand sometimes 

 100 feet high, running in parallel lines as far as the sight could 

 reach. The dryness and the heat were almost intolerable. In the 

 midst of this plain, near 26 30' S. lat., 139 30' E. long., was a 

 remarkable atony and quite sterile desert, which extended, as far as 

 he could ascertain, about 80 miles in length and 35 miles in width. 

 Near 27 35' S. lat. Captain Sturt discovered a sheet of water which 

 he called Cooper's Creek, extending east and west for nearly 80 miles, 

 and ending on each side hi arid sands. It has been supposed that 

 this creek may be in seasons of flood connected with the singular 

 horse-shoe shaped depression known as Lake Torrens, which as already 

 mentioned in part encompasses the mountains at the In 

 Spencer Gulf, and that on the other side it might unite with Start's 

 Stony Desert. Lake Ton-ens, it may bo as well to mention, though 

 called a lake, is not filled with water, but is merely an extensive 

 depression, the bed of which u fur the most part dry, with occasional 

 Unconnected pools and muddy L>. ,, O f great floods it 



wimM I"; filled with water, which it is possible may find an 



1 .If. In a country where rain was abundant 

 Lake TorreiiH would of course be a pen ,., according to the 



i-y acceptation of that term. 



\\ cannot close our notice of the interior without adding a few 

 words respecting the recent proposition for its further exploration. 



We have seen how much has been done in the exploration of largo 

 portions of this vast continent, and even of the inhospitable interior. 

 As yet however no successful attempt has been made to connect 

 these various discoveries. Of the unhappy fate of the noble-hearted 

 Leichhardt and his brave companions, the last who adventured on 

 the almost desperate effort to traverse this continent, there can now 

 be no longer any doubt. An endeavour is however about to be made 

 to solve the problem of the actual character of the interior of 

 Australia, and happily it is to be made on such a scale, and with such 

 precaution, that we may reasonably anticipate that it will not be 

 unsuccessful. The expedition, which is sanctioned by the govern- 

 ment and warmly supported by the Geographical Society, will bo 

 commanded by General Haug, a German officer of great ability and 

 scientific attainments. It is to have, as means of transport, air-boats 

 for the rivers, ; while, for the first time in these Australian inland 

 expeditions, the beasts of burden will consist of mules and camels 

 the latter apparently so admirably adapted for traversing sandy wastes 

 where the obtaining of water-is the chief difficulty. The expedition 

 is to start from Shark Bay, on the western coast ; ascend the river 

 Gascoigne, and cross the mountains which here extend from north 

 to south across Western Australia ; and then make its way to Cam- 

 bridge Gulf. Thence it will again proceed towards the interior 

 by way of the Victoria of Captain Stokes, which it is to ascend to its 

 source. It will then cross the great plains and traverse the interior, 

 so as to connect the surveys heretofore made. That it may be 

 successful to the fullest extent anticipated by its ardent suggestors 

 must be the earnest hope of every one who wishes well to the colony, 

 or is interested in the extension of geographical knowledge. 



The large rivers traversing the lowlands, which always have water 

 in their channels, are the Murray, the Murrumbidgee, the Lachlau, 

 the Macquarie, and the Darling. 



The Murray is by far the most remarkable of the Australian rivers. 

 Its course is considerably more than 1000 miles long, and it appears 

 to receive the waters of the entire river system of the interior of New 

 South Wales ; it thus drams an area of not less than 500,000 square 

 miles ; yet it eventually spreads out at its mouth into a shallow cestuary, 

 known as Lake Victoria, which disembogues into the sea without afford 

 ing even a navigable boat-channel. The Murray has its source in the 

 Australian Alps, and its early course is generally westward. It reaches 

 the lowlands near 36 S. lat., 147 E. long., not far from the rising 

 town of Albury. Its course from this place is exceedingly tortuous, 

 the curvatures being short, abrupt, and very numerous. The 

 whole of the upper course is obstructed by sand shoals and ' snags," 

 formed by trunks of trees and other objects which have caught in the 

 bed of the stream ; but there appears to be no insuperable obstacle to 

 the clearance of the channel if there were sufficient intercourse to 

 render it profitable. It would however be a costly and tedious 

 process, and useless also unless an embankment was formed, as the 

 river is subject to annual overflowings, when the country for a con- 

 siderable space on both sides is converted into a swamp. These 

 floods prevent agricultural operations being carried on along the 

 banks of the Murray, above the junction of the Murrumbidgee. 

 Attempts have been made to raise wheat on the sandy heights, but 

 they have not been successful. On its left bank the Murray receives 

 in this part of its course the Ovens, the Goulbum, the Campaspe, and 

 several other streams ; on its right is the vast impassable tract known 

 as Murrumbidgee, which lies between the Murray and the Murrum- 

 bidgee rivers. No river here falls into the Murray on the right bank, 

 but there are numerous creeks which pass from the Murray to the 

 Edward River, which is a great arm of the Murray which runs between 

 the main stream and the Murrumbidgee for many miles, and receives 

 near its eastern end the Billibong River. A large portion of the level 

 country between the Murray and the Murrumbidgee is a swamp ; much 

 of the remainder is cut up by the Edward, and the many connected 

 channels, and the innumerable lagoons, or ' billibongs ' as they are 

 called by the settlers. Many of these lagoons have on the top a thick 

 crust of salt ; indeed the whole of the Murray district is rich in this 

 mineral. The soil is generally a gray clay. The Murray receives the 

 Murrumbidgee, a stream of greater length but much less volume than 

 itself, in about 143 E. long. The river is here about 350 feet broad, 

 from 12 to 20 feet deep, and flows at the rate of 2J miles an hour. 

 In 141 30' E. long, it is joined also on the right bank by the Darling, 

 which is here 100 yards wide and rather more than 12 feet deep. As 

 far as the junction of the Darling the Murray continues to flow to the 

 west-north-west, but afterwards it passes between some limestone cliffs 

 and its course is changed to the south-west, and the river is considerably 

 increased in size. " After passing the meridian 140 it trends to the 

 south ; and in this direction it flows without receiving any tributary 

 of consequence till it expands at its mouth into the Lake Victoria, 

 which is 50 miles long and 40 miles broad, but generally very shallow. 

 The water of the lake is brackish, and it communicates with the sea 

 at Encounter Bay by a passage impracticable even for the smallest 

 boats. The river Murray however is navigable for vessels of consider- 

 able burden, being for 50 miles from the head of the lake 350 yards 

 broad and from 20 to 25 feet deep. It appears certain indeed that it is 

 navigable forsteamers of light draught up to its junction with the Dar- 

 ling ; and recent explorations have shown that it is probably navigable 

 for a much greater extent. A project was a short time back started for 



