320 EXPLORATION OF THE INTERIOR. 



glorious region beyond, to which all our sublimest 

 aspirations tend, and where all our holiest desires 

 may be satisfied. 



The recent formation of this part of the country 

 was very striking. We met no rocks during our 

 walk ; a porphyritic pebble or two being the only 

 stones noticed ; they were flattened, evidently shew- 

 ing that the water by which they were carried had 

 a slow motion, which supports the view I have put 

 forward in an early page of this volume, (see 

 page 12) with reference to the gradual northerly 

 discharge of the accumulated waters of Central Aus- 

 tralia. 



My position was in lat. 17° 58 J' S. long. T ^^' E. 

 of Port Essington, or 139° 25' E. of Greenwich ; 

 and within four hundred miles from the centre of 

 the continent. What an admirable point of de- 

 parture for exploring the interior ! A few camels, 

 with skins for conveying water, would be the means 

 of efi'ecting this great end in a very short time. 

 In one month these ships of the desert, as they have 

 been appropriately called, might accomplish, at a 

 trifling expense, that which has been attempted in 

 vain by the outlay of so much money. When we 

 consider that Australia is our own continent, and 

 that now, after sixty years of occupation, we are in 

 total ignorance of the interior, though thousands 

 are annually spent in geographical research, it 

 seems not unreasonable to expect that so important 

 a question should at length be set at rest. 



