42 TROPIC DAYS 



sistently seek to acquire it by exposure to the sun 

 seconded by anointings, will prevail. In the course of 

 a few generations — it would be idle to say how many — 

 the tj^pe will be fixed and the unguent superfluous; in 

 the meantime the use of coco-nut oil has become one 

 of the confirmed customs of the countrj'', as in Fiji and 

 elsewhere in the Pacific. 



If "beauty born of murmuring sound" may enhance 

 the charms of maidenhood, is it too much to expect 

 that sunburn, fervently desired, may not only perma- 

 nently darken the complexion, but affect the mien of 

 the race ? And thus in years to come the white 

 Australian may be of the past — transformed physically 

 by the supremacy of soil and sun, and improved in 

 disposition and character b}" economic observances as 

 irrefutable as the laws of Nature. The horses of our 

 dry, stom' uplands have already developed hoofs in 

 shape and texture well adapted to the country over 

 which they roam, and have become surer-footed and 

 more active and durable. Conditions and circumstances 

 which in a few generations effect desirable changes in 

 horses will assuredl}^ be influential in respect of the 

 physique and stamina and moralities of man. North 

 Queensland will estabhsh a type, just as Tierra del 

 Fuego did many centuries since, and the type \\'ill be 

 that which is best fitted to maintain itself. It will be 

 brown of complexion, hardy and alert. North Queens- 

 land is expansive and varied. It comprises a marvellous 

 range of geological phenomena, from which may be 

 expected remarkable variants. The sheep-grower of the 

 treeless downs will differ from the denizen of the steamy 

 coast who supplies him with sugar and bananas. The 

 man from among the limestone bluffs may be in tempera- 

 ment strange to the dweller on the black soil plains 

 and to the individual who lives among barren hills 



