13 16 A I 'STR. /A. ISIA ILL t 'STRA TED. 



are elevated lands, but not wholly so, for the temperature of all Australia is lower, as 

 shewn above, than would be expected from the latitude. The cause of this is, no doubt, 

 the greater extent of ocean in the South, which does not become so heated as the land 

 in the Northern Hemisphere, and also to the free circulation of great ocean currents from 

 the Southern Ocean. It must be remembered that the towns mentioned are all on the 

 sea-coast, and therefore have a humid atmosphere, especially those on the east coast, 

 but all of them are within from three to five hours' travelling of a much cooler and 

 drier atmosphere on the mountains, at places where invalids can find, to a greater or 

 less extent, the surroundings of civilization. The mountains near Sydney are generally 

 admitted to be excellent in this respect ; and for natural advantages in chest diseases 

 there can be no doubt that, in Queensland, Toowoomba is the best available position in 

 that colony ; here the mean temperature is 62. 4, but it is rather cold in winter, the 

 temperature at times falling to 30 about 8 lower than Sydney, and in summer rising 

 to 101, but its elevation 1,960 feet and situation make the air particularly good for 

 invalids, and the climate is dry, having the humidity on the average of 72 ; at Mount 

 Victoria, about 80 miles west of Sydney, the mean shade temperature is 55.6, the 

 lowest 26 7', and the highest 100; the elevation is 3,490 feet. 



The tides in Australia present some interesting peculiarities. At Perth, for instance, 

 in Western Australia, and thence south to Cape Leeuwin, they have no regular tides ; 

 once a day generally the water rises two or three feet and falls again, but the state 

 of the wind seems to be the great factor in the state of the tide. At King George's 

 Sound we find regular tides, the springs rising four feet, and the higher tide being at 

 i oh. after full moon; at Adelaide the time is 4.30 and the rise eight feet, but with a 

 strong westerly wind setting into Spencer's Gulf the rise is greater, and has been known 

 to reach 12 feet. At Portland the time is i2h., and the rise is 4 feet, but tides are 

 uncertain, and in winter with east-south-east wind there is seldom more . than one tide in 

 a day. In the Yarra River at Melbourne, the time is 2 h. 48 m., and the rise 2 feet 8 

 inches ; while at Port Dalrymple, north coast of Tasmania, the tide rises 10 feet, and the 

 time is I2h. 5111. ; at Hobart the time approximates to that of the east coast of 

 Australia, along which the great tidal wave arrives from the eastward about the same 

 hour; Jervis Bay time is 8 h. 20111., rise 9 feet; at Fort Denison, Sydney Harbour, the 

 time 8 h. 30 m., and the rise 7 feet; Newcastle, gh. and 7 feet; Port Stephens, 9 h. and 

 6 feet; Moreton Bay, gh. 3m., and 7 feet; at Rockhampton, 9 h. 4111., and 15 feet; at 

 Cape York, 1 1 h. 15 m., and 10 feet; on the east side of the Gulf of Carpentaria the 

 time is from 7 to 8h., and the rise about 12 feet. At the head of the Gulf there is 

 but one tide in each day, and that of a very complex character; the rise is about 12 

 feet. On the west side of the Gulf, times are from 7 h. to gh., and the rise 5 to 8 

 feet ; at Port Essington we begin to get into the most remarkable tidal district of 

 Australia ; from this point going westward the tides are very great, in places rising 38 

 feet, and consequently most dangerous currents are set up. Captain Stokes reported a 

 current of eight knots an hour at Cove Bay, not far from the Fitzroy River ; and at 

 Hanover Bay, the same authority makes the highest tide 38 feet, and the hour 1 1 h. 

 30 m. At Port Darwin the extreme rise is 24 feet; at Roebuck Bay, the point at which 

 the cable lands, the time is i2h. 30111., and the rise is 30 feet, thence westward round 



