1312 AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED. 



a total of 2,950,000 square miles. The boundaries of these colonies, with the exception 

 of that between Victoria and New South Wales, are not natural features, but lines of 

 latitude and longitude ; and it would be impossible to have it otherwise, owing to the 

 almost total absence of extensive natural features suitable for such divisions in the interior ; 

 for the great and continuous mountain ranges are all near the coast, and almost the 

 only extensive river-system is within the limits of New South Wales. 



The mountain chain on the east coast is the most extensive, and in it is the 

 highest land in Australia. Its solitary snow-capped peak, near the south-east corner of 

 the main-land namely, Mount Kosciusko is 7,351 feet high, and forms a starting-point, 

 whence the range extends southwards to Wilson's Promontory, and northwards with 

 scarcely a break to Cape York, in all, about 1,900 miles. It is in but few places more 

 than fifty miles from the coast, and rises abruptly on the sea-side to from 3,000 to 

 4,000 feet, and in a few isolated peaks, other than the Kosciusko Range, to 6,000 feet. 

 Down its steep eastern slopes, on which abundant rain falls, run many valuable 

 rivers, and on its western slopes is the only river -system in the interior of 

 Australia ; but the extremely gradual descent on the west gives a character to those 

 rivers marked by sluggishness and absence of volume. As an illustration of the gradual 

 descent, it may be stated that the town of Bathurst is 2,200 feet above the sea, and 

 Dubbo, which is 100 miles in a straight line down the descent, 865 feet, which shows a 

 descent of \Z% f ee t P er mile. Bourke is 200 miles still farther down the descent, and 

 is 456 feet above the sea, the fall in this section being at the rate of 2 feet per mile ; 

 and Wilcannia, 180 miles still farther down the slope, is 126 feet lower, showing a fall 

 of 8 inches to the mile ; but it is by river 535 miles from Bourke to Wilcannia, so 

 that the river falls only 3 inches per mile ; hence, these rivers are very sluggish in 

 their movements, and a heavy fall of rain takes a long time to drain off a condition 

 which makes the River after rain navigable for a longer period than it otherwise would 

 be. The Darling is navigable to Walgett, which is 2,345 miles by river from the sea. 

 Its numerous tributaries have so far not been made use of for navigation, indeed, they 

 are not very suitable for it, although they are of considerable extent, for, omitting 

 smaller ones, the Macquarie is 750 miles long ; the Namoi, 600 ; the Barwon, 450 ; the 

 Gwyclir, 445 ; the Mackintyre, 350 ; and the Culgoa, 950. ' These all diverge from the 

 main stream, a short distance above Bourke, in latitude 30, and spread out like the 

 branches of a tree towards the Main Range, and receive the whole of its western 

 drainage from latitude 24 to 34. The average rain-fall at Bourke is 18 inches, thence 

 easterly it gradually increases, and along the mountains is from 30 to 40 inches. But 

 rain is the only source of water for this river-system, there being no snow, or at most 

 only an occasional and slight fall in winter, and, therefore, whenever the rain fails all 

 these rivers cease running. 



The other great branch of the River, the Murray, takes its rise in the Kosciusko 

 Range, and is the only snow-fed river in Australia, and judged by the volume of its 

 water, it is a much finer river than the Darling, but it is not so long and drains a 

 much smaller area; it is navigable to Albury, 1,703 miles from its mouth, and one of its 

 tributaries, the Murrumbidgee, is navigable to Wagga Wagga, a distance of 500 miles, 

 and has a total length of 1,350 miles. Another, the Lachlan, is 700 miles, and the 



