AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED. 



EARLY DISCOVERIES. 



TORRKS STRAITS TO-DAY. 



N the story of Australian 

 discovery which we are 

 about to record we find that 

 this great Continent is practi- 

 cally the prize of the latest 

 comer. Nation after nation fol- 

 lowed in each other's wake, but all unwitting of the treasure-trove which lay concealed 

 behind its uninviting shores. Like the soul of the licentiate in the immortal story of 

 " Gil Bias " one only could pierce the meaning of the inscription which marked the 

 depository of a fortune. Chinese and Malay, Portuguese and Spaniard, Dutchman and 

 Frenchman, urged as much by maritime passion and love of adventure as by national 

 pride and greed of gain, sought that Great Southern Land which is even now but passing 

 through the first stage of its infancy. At one time the Dutchman seemed to hold its future 



