Vol. XXX, No. 6 



WASHINGTON 



December, 1916 



LONELY AUSTRALIA: THE UNIQUE 

 CONTINENT 



By Herbert E. GreCxORY 



A USTRALIA is the most isolated of 



/\ all inhabited continents and is re- 

 ^/T^mote from the center of all of 

 the world's activities. Northward the 

 sailing distance to Japan is approximately 

 3,000 nautical miles ; to India, 2,500 miles. 

 South America is 7,000 miles to the east ; 

 and Africa an equal distance west. 



From London to the capital of Aus- 

 tralia ships by the Suez route traverse 

 approximately 11,000 miles of water and 

 by the Panama Canal, 12,734 miles. From 

 California ports the routes via Samoa, or 

 Fiji, or Tahiti cover a quarter of the cir- 

 cumference of the earth. Australia's 

 only large civilized neighbor within a 

 radius of 1,000 miles is Java. 



The continent, lying thus far outside 

 the ordinary routes of travel, is rarely 

 visited by Americans. For most of us 

 knowledge of this fascinating land is ob- 

 tained by a study of a few pages in the 

 back of school geographies — pages de- 

 scriptive of "Australia and New Zealand" 

 and accompanied by a map of "Australia 

 and the Islands of the Pacific" on a scale 

 too small for the recognition of signifi- 

 cant features. 



AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND ARE 

 UNLIKE 



One of the first surprises awaiting the 

 tourist from the Northern Hemisphere is 

 to find that Australia and New Zealand 

 may not be grouped as two islands of 



like appearance, differing mainly in size ; 

 near neighbors which may be treated as 

 a unit. New Zealand is nearly twice as 

 far from Australia as Bermuda is from 

 New York, and is not only east but also 

 south. 



Four days' travel across a chilly sea is 

 required for the traverse from Welling- 

 ton to Sydney, and after exchanging the 

 chill midsummer climate of the New Zea- 

 land Lake region for the heat of Ade- 

 laide, one readily accepts the evidence of 

 the map that the southern coast of the 

 Australian mainland has the latitude of 

 central New Jersey, while the southern- 

 most of the three islands which comprise 

 the Dominion of New Zealand occupies 

 the position of southern Newfoundland 

 (see map, page 477). 



In climate and vegetation the two do- 

 minions are as unlike as Norway and 

 South Carolina. New Zealand is a land 

 of mountains, gorges, rivers, and fiords. 

 The higher peaks of the South Island are 

 eternally snow-capped and the glaciers of 

 its southern Alps rival those of Switzer- 

 land. The surrounding seas are too cold 

 for corals. Among the mountains of the 

 North Island volcanic fires are still active 

 and the geysers and hot springs are little 

 less impressive than those of the Yellow- 

 stone Park. The aboriginal inhabitants 

 of New Zealand, at the time of their dis- 

 covery by Captain Cook, were the most 

 advanced of all the South Pacific races, 



