COASTS OF AUSTRALIA. 
243 
tection of ships passing to our Indian possessions 
from Port Jackson, and admirably situated for 
the purposes of mercantile speculation. 
Such, then, are the first fruits of the voyages I 
have had the honour to direct. Much, however, 
of the coast yet remains to be examined ; and 
although, for the general purposes of navigation, 
it has been quite sufficiently explored, yet there 
are many spaces upon the chart left blank, that 
would be highly interesting to examine, and 
really important to know. We have but a slight 
knowledge also of the natural history of the conti- 
nent ; slight, however, as it is, no country has ever 
produced a more extraordinary assemblage of 
indigenous productions ; — no country has proved 
richer than Australia in every branch of natural 
history; and it has, besides, this advantage, that 
as the' greater part is yet entirely unknown, so 
much the more does it excite the interest of the 
geographer and naturalist. 
The examination of its vast interior can only 
be performed by degrees: want of navigable 
rivers will naturally impede such a task, but all 
these difficulties will be gradually overcome by 
the indefatigable zeal of our countrymen, of 
whose researches in all parts of the world the 
present times teem with such numerous ex- 
amples. 
