AUSTRALIA. 



247 



The droughts, which occur at irregular intervals, 

 and sometimes continue for two years in succession, 

 are a still more serious evil to which New South 

 Wales is exposed ; and if famine is not to be anti- 

 cipated, from the abundance of animal food, and 

 the facility with which supplies can be obtained 

 from Van Dieman's Land, Java, and Bengal, still 

 they must occasion much inconvenience and serious 

 fluctuations in the grain market. 



The geology and mineralogy of New Holland are 

 yet but imperfectly known. It may be stated 

 generally, that Australia is of diluvian, as contra- 

 distinguished from what geologists understand by 

 volcanic origin ; but whether the land has been left 

 dry by the receding of the mighty deep, or whether, 

 as in Chili or other parts of America, some power- 

 ful submarine action has raised the earth above the 

 ocean level, either by one shock, or by a series of 

 successive shocks, must, in our present ignorance, 

 be a matter of mere conjecture. Like other parts 

 of the globe, Australia appears to have experienced 

 the effect of an universal deluge, previous to which 

 it was tenanted by a different and more numerous 

 class of animals than are now found on its surface; 

 and it also appears that the receding waters of the 

 great ocean, in their progress to the South Pole, 

 had rested for a longer period on New Holland than 

 on the northern hemisphere. In many parts of the 

 coast, extensive beds of marine shells of the same 

 kinds as those at present living in the adjacent 

 seas, are found, and in the interior caverns have 

 been discovered containing the bones of extinct 

 races of animals, thus refuting the notion that New 

 Holland is comparatively of recent origin. Ex- 

 tensive masses of granite occur on the eastern 

 coast of the island ; trap porphyry and serpen- 

 tine have also been discovered in several places. 

 Immense beds of sandstone are to be found in the 

 vicinity of Sydney, and this rock appears to con- 

 stitute the greater part of the Blue Mountains. 

 Limestone is abundant, and in some districts it 

 passes into marble. But by far the most valuable 

 mineral yet found in Australia is coal, of which a 

 considerable quantity is wrought at Newcastle, 

 and indications of it have been traced in many 

 other parts of the country. The district, indeed, 

 to the south of Hunter's river is an extensive coal- 

 field, the cliffs on the sea-shore presenting an in- 

 teresting section of this stratum. The seams of 

 coal are distinctly visible on the abrupt face of the 

 cliffs, forming the south headland of the harbour 

 of Newcastle, and may be traced for nine miles, 

 when they abruptly terminate, by suddenly bend- 

 ing downwards, and sinking below the level of the 

 sea. From this place, a low sandy beach and low- 

 land extend to the entrance of Lake Macquarie, 

 the south head of which rises into high cliffs, in 

 which the coal strata again present themselves. 

 The coal is of vegetable origin, the foliage and 

 fibres of the plants being often quite distinct. In 

 the alternating strata of the coal are found nodules 

 of clay and ironstone. Beds of coal and iron are 

 also met along the banks of the Paramatta and 

 other rivers; and in the vicinity of the mountains 

 from which many of them flow, these minerals also 

 abound, communicating a ferruginous taste to the 

 smaller streams, and indicating the stores which 

 are yet to be explored. Copper and other metals 

 have also been found, but as yet coal is the only 

 mineral which has been worked, although the day 

 is probably not far distant, when iron will form a 

 staple product of Australia. Rock-crystals, gar- 



nets, and agates have been found, but none of the 

 more precious gems. 



In its animul and vegetable productions, Australia 

 is very peculiar. There is a total absence of all 

 the larger quadrupeds, such as elephants, lions, 

 tigers, bears, deer, &c. The largest four-footed 

 animals yet discovered in the island are the kan- 

 garoos, of which there are many varieties, from the 

 "kangaroo rat" to the "forester," which stands 

 from four to five feet high. There are more than 

 forty species of the Marsupial or pouched family 

 in New Holland, of which scarcely any congeners 

 occur elsewhere. Two-thirds of the Australian 

 quadrupeds make their way by springing in the air. 

 All the kangaroos, when using any degree of speed 

 in their movements, proceed by prodigious leaps, 

 sometimes exceeding twenty paces, and this can he 

 kept up for some time, so as to outstrip the fleet- 

 est greyhound. The kangaroos are purely herb- 

 ivorous, grazing like deer or cattle, and aie mild 

 and docile, except in self-defence. Their flesh is 

 much esteemed ; but they are fast disappearing 

 before the settlers, or, as the natives say, " where 

 white man sit down, kangaroo go away." The 

 Opossum tribe are very numerous, and somewhat 

 similar to those found in America. The native 

 dog is somewhat like the Indian jackall, with a 

 head like a fox, and erect ears, the colour being 

 generally a reddish brown. It is very destructive 

 to sheep and poultry, and is therefore destroyed 

 without mercy by the settlers. The wombat, a 

 kind of bear or badger, the porcupine ant-eater, 

 and also a species of sloth, are to be found in New 

 Holland. But the most singular animal of New 

 South Wales, indeed the most extraordinary in 

 the world, is the ornithoryncus, or duck-bill, culled 

 by the inhabitants the water-mole, which is chiefly 

 found near Port Jackson. It combines the char- 

 acteristics of a bird and a quadruped. It lays eggs 

 like the one, yet suckles its young like the other I 

 It presents the perfect bill of a duck, engrafted, 

 as it were, upon the body of an otter or mole-like 

 animal. Its size is equal to that of a full-grown 

 cat, but its short feet and tail give it the appear- 

 ance of being smaller. It swims well, and indeed 

 seldom quits the water, as it crawls with difficulty 

 on land. The foot of the male is armed with a 

 spur like a cock's, through which passes a poison- 

 ous liquor, rendering the animal dangerous. The 

 birds of New Holland are numerous and in great 

 variety. The emu or cassowary, a species of os- 

 trich, is one of the most singular, but it is fast dis- 

 appearing. The most common birds belong to the 

 Melliphagous or honey-sucking family. Many of 

 the warblers are uncommonly beautiful; the two 

 most magnificent are the rifle bird, and the ring 

 oriole. The pigeons, for variety and beauty of 

 plumage, are unequalled in any part of the world, 

 as are also the pariots, parrakeets, and cockatoos. 

 The spotted grosbeak is a splendid bird, as is 

 also the lyre-tail. This gigantic crane is a stately 

 bird, and is seen frequently on the borders of rivers 

 or lakes, where also the black swan is found. 

 Eagles, hawks, bustards, plovers, pheasants, snipes, 

 &c., are common. The aquatic tribes are nearly 

 similar to those found in other countries. Insects 

 are numerous, and appioximate more to those of 

 Africa and Asia, than America. Locusts are com- 

 mon in some parts of the colony. Of bees, there 

 are three kinds, all without stings. English bees, 

 which have been recently introduced, multiply fast. 

 Ants are of several varieties: '.he largest aie nearly 



