188 AUSTRALIA 



always loose, and extremely clear, and the trees reach 

 huge dimensions, rising sometimes to 300-400 feet, 

 furnishing an excellent timber. The strong tap-root 

 is able to reach the ground-water at great depths. 

 They may be truly represented as the most useful trees 

 of Australia. 



From tropical Queensland to New South Wales the 

 land covered by savana woods is extremely favourable 

 to agriculture, and the range of produce that can be 

 raised with success is enormous, including sugar-cane, 

 cotton, pine apple, mango, and other equatorial produce, 

 as well as mediterranean, and even northern crops and 

 fruits in the south. The eucalyptus savana is equally 

 favourable to grazing and derived industries. The belt 

 characterized by it, on account of its extent and fertility, 

 may be said to be the greatest agricultural asset of 

 Australia. 



South-eastern Temperate Rain-forest. The seaward 

 slopes of the eastern highlands, south of the tropics to 

 Cape Moore, receive rain fairly regularly throughout 

 the year, and enjoy a mild, moist, and equable climate, 

 which determines the development of temperate rain- 

 forests. This hilly coastal strip is soon followed inland 

 by the mountain ranges. 



The Australian temperate rain-forest has a physiog- 

 nomy of its own, distinct from that of any other in the 

 world. This is due again to the presence of the colossal 

 gum-trees, 300-400 feet high, which compose an irregular 

 and light canopy, far above the lower tier. The latter 

 which resembles the rain-forest proper, is characterized 

 by an abundance of graceful tree-ferns, the cyatheas, 

 alsophilas, dicksonias, and todeas, of arboreal com- 

 positae, acacias, and proteaceae, together with large 

 climbing ferns and grasses, while the undergrowth is 



