Miscellanea . 
353 
rapidly increasing intercourse between our Australian and our 
Indian possessions. Grand as is the future prospect of inter¬ 
course with India, the Eastern Islands, and China, Port Essing- 
ton is not, however, to be viewed merely in reference to com¬ 
merce. As a place of refuge in a wide ocean, it has a strong 
claim upon our nation; and it has already, even in its infant 
state, been the means of saving the lives of crews who had taken 
to their boats even as far off as Torres’ Straits. In this respect, 
indeed, a more intimate acquaintance with the Gulf of Carpen¬ 
taria and Torres’ Straits, so dangerous from the adjacent coral 
reefs to ships which try that passage, may lead to the discovery 
of an additional harbour in its vicinity. But independently of 
this consideration, Port Essington ought to be viewed as a most 
advantageous naval station for Great Britain, in case of war, and 
with the extension of steam navigation, it is further to be re¬ 
garded as the point by which, in all probability, our future cor¬ 
respondence with our South Australian colonies might be most 
expeditiously and beneficially carried on. 
With such attractions, therefore, held out to them, and seeing 
in this port (undoubtedly one of the finest in Australia) a pro¬ 
bable outlet for their own productions, it is quite natural that the 
legislature of Sydney should have made the recommendation to 
which I have alluded, and which all geographers must heartily 
wish may be carried into effect, however they may differ in the 
mode of accomplishing it. 
Before the feasibility of any scheme can be judged of. we 
must fairly picture to ourselves all the physical conditions and 
general outline of Australia. In all other continents of so large 
a size, many large rivers occur; but with the exception of the 
Barling and its tributaries, which flow to the west and south¬ 
west, and where the region is comparatively narrow, all the ex¬ 
plorations of the northern and western coasts, where the country 
has a breadth from E. to W. of 2000 miles, prove the non-exis¬ 
tence of the mouths of great streams : on the east coast, on the 
contrary, rapid flowing streams with short courses abound. These 
results seem indeed to follow, from what we already know of the 
outline and nature of the surface. The only great and persistent 
VOL. II. NO. X. 2 c 
