AUSTRALIA 



4iv> 



AUSTRALIA 



toria, the New England Range and the Liver- 

 pool Range. Beginning near the western boun- 

 dary of Victoria, this chain of highlands ex- 

 tends nearly parallel with the coast as far as 

 Cape York. On the average it is about 150 

 miles in width, and is distant from the coast 

 from fifty to 300 miles. It performs the regular 

 "great divide" function, separating the rivers 

 flowing into the Pacific from those flowing into 

 tin- interior or into the Indian Ocean. On the 

 whole this mountain system is little higher 

 than the White Mountains, though its loftiest 

 peak, Mount Kosciusko, in Victoria, is 7,350 

 feet in height. These are not steep, craggy 

 mountains like the great divides of the other 

 continents, but for the most part rounded 

 summits. Some of them, however, are lofty 

 enough to be snow-clad for a large part of the 

 year, and certain sheltered ravines can boast 

 eternal snow. 



To the west of this mountain country is the 

 great Australian lowland, lowest in the south- 

 east, and rising gradually to the north and 

 west. The eastern part of this lowland region 

 is the basin of the Murray River system; the 

 western, the region of interior drainage, an 

 and stretch which has no outlet for its rivers. 

 For a length of 1,000 miles along the southern 

 coast not even a little stream empties into the 

 sea, and the most of the river beds are dried 

 and cracked mud. This lowland region, though 

 called the Great Australian Plain, is not a level 

 expanse like the North American prairies, but 

 is broken by low ranges of hills. 



The westernmost section is a great plateau, 

 which constitutes over half of the continent 

 and has an average elevation of about 1,000 

 feet. Along its seaward edge runs a ridge of 

 high land parallel with the coast. The highest 

 western plateau region is 5,200 

 feet in height. 



Rivers and Lakes. The river system 



ia is not large, and rivers of any importance 

 are very few. Tin- Murray, with its tributaries, 

 the Darling, tin- Lirhlaii and tin- Murrum- 

 1'idgee, constitutes by far the largest system, 

 drains about one-seventh of th. rontm< -ni. 

 Its source streams rise on the western slopes 

 of the Eastern Mountains, and even in the dry 

 seasons are fed by the snows of tin- mountain 

 tops. East of the great divide there are a 

 number of short rivers which, considering th. ir 

 length, rarry doun to th.- sea a surprisingly 

 volume Iii the season of melt- 



ing snows sudd- n ov< i flows are very common. 

 Flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria and 



draining the tropical lowland of the north are 

 the Leichhardt, Flinders, Gilbert and Mitchell 

 rivers, while on the west the Murchison, Gas- 

 coyne, Ashburton and Fortescue empty into the 

 Indian Ocean. 



Most interesting, though not most important, 

 are the streams of the interior drainage region, 

 of which Cooper Creek is the largest. These 

 can scarcely be said to "empty" into anything, 

 for they seldom carry water, but at such times 

 as streams do flow over their dry courses they 

 discharge into Lake Eyre, the largest lake in 

 Australia. The water of this lake, which has 

 no outlet and lies below sea level, is salty. 

 Eighty miles long and forty miles wide during 

 the rainy season, Lake Eyre undergoes a con- 

 siderable shrinkage during the dry months 

 when the region all about it becomes practi- 

 cally a desert. Other lakes without outlet in 

 this same section are Torrens, Gairdner, 

 Blanche and Frome, named for early explorers. 



Climatic Conditions. A large, compact land 

 mass tends always to a more extreme climate 

 than one which is in all parts not far from the 

 tempering influence of the sea, and Australia 

 typifies this condition. The northern section 

 of the country is tropical, the central part 

 semi-tropical and the south temperate, but 

 latitude is not as great a factor in controlling 

 temperature as are altitude and distance from 

 the sea. In summer, which corresponds to the 

 winter of the northern hemisphere, the heat 

 is very great throughout much of the conti- 

 nent, for the sun is at that time not only most 

 nearly vertical above it, but is also at its 

 closest approach to the earth. The interior 

 section thus has an average summer tempera- 

 ture of about 95. This portion cools down 

 rapidly with the approach of winter, and vio- 

 lent cold winds, commonly known as "southerly 

 bursters," blow from it to the more temperate 

 eastern coast section. The coast regions, in- 

 deed, whether eastern or western, have a cli- 

 mate which is in the main delightful and most 

 hful. for even during the hot season the 

 invigorating. 



Kamfall is very unevenly distributed. On 



one side of the Great Divide every growing 



plant may be parched and dying, while on the 



r side torrents may be falling and crops 



suffering from the overflow of rivers. The 



n to the north is very well 



watered, the east has sufficient and sometimes 



< than sufficient rainfall, and the west 



coast in places is not arid, but the vast int. 



ns, stretching south to the Great Aus- 



