344 



AUSTRALASIA. 



illcof the 18th century, the Englishmen Byron, \Val- 

 lis, and Carteret, and the Frenchman Hoiigainville 

 exerted themselves to extend the knowledge of A. 

 HuL James Cook (q. v.), who draaanM%pted the 

 world trtun 1768 to 1775), coiitrilniied most to the 

 mure accurate examination of this portion of the 

 globe, corrected the knowledge of Europeans with 

 i-ew-.ird to the islands already known, again discovt red 

 islands before seen, and was the original discoverer 

 of New Caledonia and the Sandwich islands. After 

 the time of Cook, both the French and English ex 

 cited themselves to give the world a better acquain- 

 tance with A. Among the later navigators, Entre- 

 casteaux, Grant, La Peyrouse, Baudin, Flinders, 

 Krusenstern, and KoLzebue have added to our know- 

 ledge of A. There are, doubtless, many islands still 

 in these seas, which no European has seen, and of 

 those known, only the coasts have yet been explored. 

 The South sea and the Pacific ocean, between the 

 eastern shore of Asia and the western shore of Ame- 

 rica, contains all the islands of A. which occupy a 

 space of ISO" in length, and 85" in breadth, as they 

 extend from 50 S. to 35 N. lat., and from 95 to 

 230 E. Ion. The superficial contents are estimated 

 at about 3,500,000 square miles; of which New 

 Holland alone is almost equal in size to Europe. 

 We may regard all these islands as continuous chains 

 of mountains, which rise from the sea, and, running 

 in a direction from N. to S. E., in a double row, like 

 hills and promontories, surround New Holland. The 

 line nearest the main land of New Holland begins 

 with New Guinea, and ends with New Zealand; the 

 second line begins at the Ladrones, and passes on to 

 Navigator's islands and the Friendly islands, whence 

 it takes a direction from the west towards the east. 

 From these almost continuous rows of islands the 

 Sandwich islands are wholly separated. The soil of 

 A. is fruitful, especially in the islands of the torrid 

 eone. Plants transported hither from Europe flour- 

 ish. Some of the islands are low and flat ; others 

 have steep, rocky shores, and are filled with moun- 

 tains, some composed of primitive rocks, others of 

 flotz and basalt. The highest known are the Mauna 

 Roa, in the Sandwich islands, and Peak Egmont, in 

 New Zealand, the height of which amounts to 14,000 

 feet. Several of these islands are of volcanic origin : 

 others are raised from the bottom of the sea by suc- 

 cessive layers of coral, or carried to their present 

 height by accumulations of the same substance on 

 the original rocks at the bottom of the deep. The 

 coral formations extend- to a distance from their 

 coasts, and constitute reefs, so that it is dangerous 

 to approach them. The mountains of A. have not yet 

 been explored, and their structure investigated. The 

 shores of New Holland, New Guinea, and New Zea- 

 land, and the mountains in their vicinity, have been 

 examined by naturalists but slightly. The residence of 

 Europeans in the other islands, also, has been too short 

 to allow them to make accurate observations. In later 

 times, the English have made an attempt to pass from 

 the eastern coast of New Holland, where their colonies 

 are situated to the interior. The mountains extend- 

 ing from north to south, on the west of these colonies, 

 called the Blue hills, consist of steep crags, fearful 

 precipices, and ranges of heights of successively in- 

 creasing elevation, which made all early attempts to 

 become acquainted with the interior of no avail. At 

 length, Nov. 3, 1813, Mr Evans, an Englishman, 

 succeeded in ascending them, and, in 1815. a road 

 was completed over them. On the whole, naturalists 

 have only penetrated into the interior about 140 miles 

 from the eastern shore, though the distance to the 

 western shore is more than 2700 miles. There is 

 a remarkable want of large streams in this portion of 

 the world, though the islands in general are not de- 



ficient in wnler. The rivers of New Holland are 

 small arms of the sea. which extend far into the in- 

 terior, retain the salt ness of the ocean, experience 

 the ebb and flow of the tide, and receive some insig 

 nificant streams on the const. The largest river ot 

 New Holland is the Hawkesbury, in Broken Bay, 

 which is navigable for the largest ships 46 miles up 

 the country, and is 150 rods wide. Beyond the Blue 

 hills, the river Alaoquarric lias been discos ered. which 

 is lo^t, with other rivers, in the morasses. New 1 lol- 

 land probably contains, according to the account of 

 Oxley, a large lake in the interior, similar to the 

 Caspian, into which the rivers flow. The climate ot 

 A., as it lies partly in the southern temperate zone, 

 and partly in the torrid, is in some parts warm, though 

 the heat is generally less oppressive than in the same 

 latitudes in Asia and Africa. In other parts, it \<> 

 temperate, mild, and healthy. Those countries of A. 

 which lie in the southern hemisphere are colder than 

 those in the northern. The productions are, in part, 

 the same with those of other countries of the same 

 latitude ; in part, peculiar to itself; for instance, birds 

 without wings, having hair instead of feathers ; quad- 

 rupeds with the beaks of birds, while eagles, &c. 

 The mammalia and beasts of prey are few. The 

 principal mammalia are the kangaroo, weighing from 

 100 to 150 pounds ; the wombat (both of which have 

 a pouch under the belly, a characteristic belonging to 

 many of the quadrupeds of New Holland) ; the orni- 

 thorynchus, perhaps the most singular animal in UK; 

 world, to which nature has given the body of a 

 quadruped, and the head, or, at least, the beak 01' 

 a bird ; the dasyure, the dingo, or New Holland dog, 

 the New Holland flying-squirrel, several species o;' 

 opossum, the kangaroo rat, hogs, dogs, rats, bats, 

 whales, sea bears, sea lions, and sea elephants. 

 Horses, oxen, sheep, and goats, were introduced thither 

 by Europeans. Among the birds which are distin- 

 guished for the splendour of their colours and variety 

 of their plumage, are several kinds of parrots and 

 birds of paradise ; the New Holland cassiowary, which 

 weighs 70 pounds, and surpasses the East Indian birds 

 in size and in the beauty of its plumage ; the splendid 

 moenura, remarkable for the elegance of its tail ; and 

 the black swan. There are also hens, doves, and 

 ducks. The coasts are well stocked with fish, of 

 which there are several kinds peculiar to them. The 

 varieties of insects and shell fish are very great. The 

 richness of the vegetable kingdom is still greater ; 

 in New Holland alone, 1000 new plants have been 

 discovered. The smaller islands are still richer than 

 New Holland in esculent plants. Among these are 

 the sago, areca, cocoa, and eucalyptus trees, which 

 attain a height of 1 80 feet, and a circumference of 

 30 feet ; the cajaputi, gum tree, bread fruit, guavas, 

 bananas, rotang ; casuarina, or club trees, of which the 

 natives make the most durable weapons and furniture ; 

 paper-mulberry trees, from the finest bark of which 

 cloth is manufactured ; lemons, oranges, figs, sugar 

 cane, betel pepper, and another kind of pepper, of 

 which an intoxicating drink, called ava, is made ; 

 cotton trees; New Zealand flax, which forms an ex- 

 cellent cord ; yams, arum. These form the principal 

 articles of agriculture in the Sandwich islands. The 

 Europeans have introduced European plants, grains, 

 and garden fruits, almonds, pomegranates, tobacco, 

 hemp, flax, hops, &c. Jn the mineral kingdom, though 

 little examination has been given to it, there have 

 been found copper and iron, granite, porphyry, basalt, 

 chalcedony, agate, jade, or oriental kidney stone, 

 marble, lime, rock salt, &c. A. is very thinly inha- 

 bited. There are, on an average, about two inhabitant* 

 to a square mile, as the whole number is estimated at 

 only 1,700,000. They consist, principally, of two 

 distinct classes; one or Negroes, called Fitjiuas, and 



