January 12, 1893] 



NATURE 



259 



all the cereals and fruits of the world, so that, in the words of 

 the old tradition, it has "all the conditions which make life a 

 pleasure." 



Australia measures from north to south 1900 miles, and 

 from east to west 2400 miles, and speaking generally, has a 

 rounded outline, the only great inlets on the coast-line being the 

 Gulf of Carpentaria and the Australian Bight. The total area 

 is rather greater than that of the United States, and almost 

 equal to the whole of Europe. On the east, north, and west, 

 jind at a short distance from the coast are found ranges of moun- 

 tains, of no great elevation, yet almost the only high land. On 

 the west and north-west coasts the mountains form a bold out- 

 line of granite, rarely more than 200 miles from the coast, and 

 attaining to heights of 2000 t ) 3000 feet. Between these and 

 the sea the land is low and good, but on the inland side is found 

 a vast table land which slopes towards the unknown interior so 

 gradually that the inclination is not easily seen, and no rivers 

 running to the interior have yet been discovered — all known 

 streams running to the sea. 



On the east coast we have also the mountain chain parallel 

 to the coist, but it is much higher and more extensive, and the 

 strip of low land by the coast is much narrower, often not more 

 than 30 miles wide, and at Point Danger the range comes right 

 to the sea. This grand chain of mountains is known generally 

 as the Great Dividing Range, and extends for about 1500 

 miles along the east coast. Near its southern extremity is the 

 Snowy Range, the only spot in Australia where snow may 

 always be found. The highest peak, Mount Kosciusko, 7170 

 feet, is also the highest land in Australia. The ravines on its 

 sides always contain snow, and the mountains near it, about 

 6000 feet high, are also covered with snow for the greater part 

 of the year. 



Of this great continent island, the Colony of New South 

 Wales holds the choicest portion — the southern part of the east 

 coast — the part where, with remarkable sagacity, the fir.^t settle- 

 ment was made. It has the best climate, all the most important 

 rivers in Australia, the great bulk of the coal land, unlimited 

 stores of all the useful minerals, and the finest pastoral and 

 agricultural lands for extra-tropical vegetation ; besides which, 

 its extensive highlands afford climatic conditions for all pur- 

 poses. It is naturally divided into three portions. The com- 

 paratively narrow coast district, from 30 to 150 miles wide, 

 abundantly watered by rivers and smaller streams coming down 

 from the mountains. The rainfall here, fed by winds from the 

 Great Pacific Ocean, is very abundant, from 40 inches in the 

 south to 70 in the north, and at Sydney 50 inches. The moun- 

 tains have doubtless very much to do with this abundant 

 precipitation, and at times the rains are so heavy that the 

 rivers, fed by mountain torrents, carry heavy and dangerous 

 floods. In years past wheat was largely and profitably grown, 

 but rust has of late so frequently appeared that little or no 

 wheat is grown, for it pays better to supply the city markets 

 with dairy produce, Indian corn, and various kirds of hay. In 

 the northern districts sugar-growing is a profitable industry, 

 and increasing rapidly. About Sydney enormous quantities of 

 oranges are grown for exportation. 



The second division includes the mountains and elevated 

 plains, and extends the whole length of the colony, varying in 

 width from 1 20 to 200 miles. On the south, with the exception 

 of the Monaro Tableland, the country is very rough and 

 mountainous, the highest points, Mount Kosciusko and the 

 Snowy Range, catch the rain and snow that feed the river 

 Murray and the Murrumbidgee. Wheat grows well here, but 

 nearly all the land is used for pastoral purposes. Proceeding 

 northwards, the mountains decrease in height and extend later- 

 ally. A part of the land is taken up for agriculture, some for 

 mining. In its natural slate the western country is open plain 

 or lightly-timbered, and large areas are covered with rich 

 volcanic soil which seems fit to grow anything, but the want of 

 labour and carriage, and the profit and security to be found in 

 raising wool and meat, has for the most part tempted capital 

 into squatting pursuits ; but since the railway has reached this 

 part of the country more attention is being given to agriculture, 

 and it is rapidly extending. Between Goulburn and Bathurst, 

 the western waters form the Lachlan and the eastern the 

 Hawkesbury rivers, and from Bathurst northwards to latitude 

 25° all the western waters go to form the various tributaries of 

 the Darling river. These mountains are from 2000 to 3000 

 feet, with some peaks rising to nearly 6000 feet. The central 

 parts of the western slopes are celebrated for rich soil and 



NO- I2II. VOL. 47] 



herbage, and here also the greater part of the gold-mining area, 

 as well as mines for other minerals have been found, including 

 coal, which is also found in great abundance, with iron and 

 lime, at Lithgow and other places. Deposits of copper, silver, 

 lead, tin, and mercury are also found in abundance. A very 

 large portion of the high land here is suitable for agriculture, 

 and is being taken up for that purpose by degrees. English 

 fruits — the apple, cherry, currant, &c. — grow to perfection here, 

 as well as in other parts of the mountain districts. 



The third division covers by far the greatest area, and consists 

 of the Great Western Plains, extending away to the Darling 

 river, and thence to the south Australian border. Here there 

 are but few known mineral deposits except copper, and the 

 enormous deposits of silver and lead at Broken Hill, and no 

 attempt at agriculture. All the land may be said to be held 

 for grazing purposes, and for that purpose, now that capital has 

 been invested in tanks and wells for water supply, this country 

 is unequalled. Sheep and cattle thrive in a remarkable degree, 

 and form a most profitable investment, the climate being dry 

 and wonderfully healthy for man and beast. 



These are the three great natural divisions, made so by the 

 conformation of the land and the climate. It will be evident 

 from what has been said of the elevation of the mountains that 

 snow is not a common feature upon them, and the only part 

 where snow lies for any considerable time is the extreme south. 

 As a necessary consequence, the river system is peculiar ; 

 indeed, it has often been asserted that Australia had no rivers — 

 at least none which were of any use as such ; but as we shall 

 presently see, this statement, like many others affecting Aus- 

 tralia, was made in ignorance. The necessity for increased 

 pasture had driven the early colonists to cross the Great 

 Dividing Range, aptly so-named, in search of pasture, in 1815, 

 and the desire to extend the new pastures beyond the Bathurst 

 Plains, which were the first discovered, led them on, and one 

 of the first questions that demanded their attention was to 

 account for the direction in which all the streams were flowing. 

 The shortest road to the sea was to south-west, and yet all the 

 water was running to north-west, and quite naturally it was 

 asked — Could there be a great inland sea into which these 

 rivers discharged? In 1818 Oxley started with a determination 

 to see where at least one of them went to ; so he followed the 

 Macquarie for more than 200 miles, and found that he was 

 going due north-west, further and further, as it seemed to him, 

 from the natural outlet on the south coast. At last the river 

 spread out to an apparently interminable marsh. Turn which 

 way he would his progress was stopped by a shallow fresh- 

 water sea, for sea he was at last convinced it must be, so great 

 was its extent, and he was obliged to turn back. He had got 

 there after two very wet reasons {1817 and 1818), and his inland 

 sea is now known as the Macquarie Marshes ; and the mystery 

 was not solved until Sturt, in 1829, found all these streams 

 trending to north-west unite in the Darling, and then turn to 

 south-west. 



Coming from mountains of such moderate elevation, these 

 streams are necessarily dependent upon the rainfall, and have 

 no snow to help them, so that in rainy seasons they become 

 important rivers and in dry ones sink into insignificance ; but 

 since most of the rains which feed these waters are, as it were, 

 offshoots of the tropical rains, they seldom fail altogether, and 

 as a rule the Darling is navigable for four months of each year, 

 and sometimes all through the year, up to and beyond Bourke. 

 The current is very slow, seldom reaching two miles per hour, 

 and therefore offers little hindrance to the steamers which carry 

 wool and stores. 



In the exploration of our rivers there was another surprise 

 when settlement extended south-west from Sydney. The 

 waters here were found to flow to the west, and the Lachlan 

 has for a considerable portion of its course a south-west direc- 

 tion, that is, at right-angles to the Macquarie and the Bogan. 

 Could the Lachlan, the Murrambidgee, and the snow-fed 

 Murray ultimately join the waters that ran north-west from 

 Bathurst? Sturt had not solved this question— he only followed 

 the Darling part of the way down— and it was left for Sir 

 Thomas Mitchell to find the junction of the two river systems 

 in 1835, and to prove that the Darling and the Murray were 

 united at and below Wentworth. 



After dealing with the rivers and harbours of New South 

 Wales, Mr. Russell discusses the temperature, rainfall, droughts, 

 and winds of the colony. Of the temperature he says : — 



