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Ca))adian Record of Science. 



hiffhest interest. Moreover, we have here the remains of 

 extinct civilizations to deal with, and altliough much has 

 been done in this direction, much remains to be done, and 

 in the extensive region already referred to the physique, 

 the traditions, and the customs of the natives will repay 

 careful investigation. 



AUSTRALIA. 



The southern continent of Australia is in the hands of 

 men of the same origin as those who have developed 

 to such a wonderful extent the resources of Canada and 

 the United States, and therefore we look for equally satis- 

 factory results so far as the characteristics of that 

 continent permit. The five colonies which divide among 

 them the three million square miles of the continent have 

 each of them efficient government surveys, which are 

 rapidly mapping their features and investigating their 

 geology : but Australia has a trying economic problem to 

 solve. In none of the colonies is the water supply quite 

 adequate ; in all are stretches of desert country of greater 

 or less extent. The centre and western half of the 

 continent are covered by a desert more waterless and 

 more repellent than even the Sahara ; so far as >our 

 present knowledge goes, one-third of the continent is 

 uninhabitable. This desert area has been crossed by 

 explorers, at the expense of great sufferings, in various 

 directions, each with the same dreary tale of almost 

 featureless sandy desert, covered here and there witli 

 spinifex and scrub, worse than useless. There are 

 hundreds of thousands of square miles still unknown, but 

 there is no reason to believe that these areas possess any 

 features that differ essentially from those which have 

 been found along the routes that have been explored. 



There have been one or two well-equipped scientific 

 expeditions in recent years that have collected valuable 

 data with regard to the physical characteristics, the 



