THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF AUSTRALIA. 251 



but its potentialities are undoubtedly great, and as settlement advances 

 and railway communication extends and increases the whole of the west- 

 ern districts will doubtless be occupied by flourishing agriculturists, 

 to whom the soil will yield all the necessary products upon which the 

 prosperity of a country so much depends, with profit to producers and 

 immense advantage to the country. This, in my opinion, is a very 

 moderate and indeed limited forecast of the future of this part of our 

 continent. 



In the northern territory of South Australia there are no lofty ranges 

 or mountains of high elevation, although the physiography of that 

 part of the country possesses many features of great interest to geog- 

 raphers as well as to geologists. About Leichhardt's description of the 

 country there seems to be some doubt, owing, it is said, to an error 

 which unfortunately crept into the transcript of his notes. This, how- 

 ever, does not apply to the extensive observations made there by the 

 Hon. A. 0. Gregory, who was in a position to obtain a true and very 

 comprehensive knowledge of the subject. Mr. Gregory's investigations 

 show that the physical structure of this northern region consists of a 

 moderately high and continuous table-land, very broken and extremely 

 rugged, rising abruptly from the low-lying northern coast lands and 

 extending southerly to Central Australia. This description is sustained 

 by Captain Carrington, who, some few years ago, examined the rivers 

 of the northern territory. On the other hand, exception is taken to 

 this view by the late Rev. J. E. Tenison- Woods, who examined part of 

 the country on behalf of the Government in 1886. 



In his official report to the Government resident of the Northern 

 Territory, Mr. Tenison-Woods endeavors to "correct the erroneous idea 

 which has prevailed as to the physical" character of the region, point- 

 ing out that where he had been "there is no such thing as a continu- 

 ous table-land." " Patches of broken table-lands occur frequently at the 

 sources of rivers and creeks," but they are nothing more than frag- 

 ments, seldom exceeding 4 or 5 miles in width and from 120 to 300 feet 

 in height. Only once did he see a plateau of 370 feet in height. The 

 broken edge of these table-lands always faces northerly. "The coast 

 country is" generally "very low and flat," rising gently at the rate of 

 about 5 feet per mile. In places there are low ridges composed of 

 quartzite, slate, and sandstone that rise almost from the sea level to a 

 height of 50 feet or more, gradually increasing to 100. They run 

 northerly and southerly, trending to the eastward as they are traced to 

 the south. Small creeks and tributaries emanate from these ridges, 

 descending toward the permanently watered main valleys. The sources 

 of all the waters drained to the north are in the elevated lands of the 

 metalliferous ranges and the springs at the foot of the table-land. The 

 features of the country change south of Pine Creek, about 150 miles 

 from Palmerston, where there is a watershed about 800 feet above low 

 water sea level, beyond which the water courses flow southerly and 



