THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF AUSTRALIA. 253 



highest natural feature in the settled districts of the colony. It rises 

 abruptly from a low-lying coastal country, and owing to its isolated 

 position may be seen a long way off. Ellens Peak and Mount Tool- 

 brunup, some 2,320 and 3,341 feet respectively above sea level, mark 

 the culminating points of this range. To the southwest of it the Poron- 

 gorup Range is situated. The Leopold and Mueller ranges constitute 

 the principal heights in the Kimberly District. Mount Amherst, the 

 loftiest peak in the latter, is elevated some 2,533 feet above sea level. 

 Between the Paiiton and Elvire rivers there is situated a hill known by 

 the name of Mount Barratt, whose height is 2,297 feet, and Mount 

 Coglan, on the watershed of the Margaret and Ord rivers, has an ele- 

 vation of 2,084 feet. 



In the settled districts the country is generally level ; in places undu- 

 lating, but seldom mountainous. The land on the western seaboard is 

 also flat and the soil sandy. East of the Darling Range there is a 

 remarkable change in the character of the country, which continues to 

 improve as it extends inland. Vast forests of Jarrah and white and 

 red gums occupy the whole of the uncultivated portion of the south- 

 west districts, except a few sand plains that are here and there scat- 

 tered over the face of the country. 



From Israelite Bay, in the neighborhood of which is situated the 

 Russell Range, to Spencers Gulf no high ranges or even mountains of 

 moderate elevation exist, the only distinctive physical feature in the 

 topography of that enormous stretch of territory along the periphery 

 of the Great Australian Bight being a succession of sandstone cliffs 

 from 300 to 000 feet vertical. Most of the country within this exten- 

 sive region, especially north of the thirtieth parallel and west of the 

 one hundred and thirty-third meridian, consists of immense stony and 

 sandy desert, whose repulsive and inhospitable aspect is a signifi- 

 cant warning to the traveler who dares to step on the border and scan 

 the enormous expanse of eternal wildness beyond. Thick mallee scrub, 

 spinifex sandhills, claypans, dry salt lakes (as they are strangely 

 called), and bare, sandy plains invest the whole face of the country 

 with a dull and painful monotony. The soil is dry and the scanty veg- 

 etation usually parched and withered, for there is little water; indeed, 

 there is one stretch of country between Queen Victorias Spring and 

 the Boundary Dam, a distance of 325 miles, entirely destitute of water. 



The belt of country south of this region to the coast line improves 

 vastly in character, both as regards soil, and vegetation. This is espe- 

 cially applicable to the extensive ISTullabor Plains, at the head of the 

 bight, which are believed to be "eminently adapted in every way for 

 pastoral purposes and probably for the growth of cereals." The large 

 clayey deposits that exist in many places here will probably enable 

 settlers to conserve the water, and this feature in the physical structure 

 of the locality will, doubtless, greatly increase tbe value of the country as 

 settlement advances. The Nullabor Plains extend for about 250 miles 



