52 
MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
per acr»; or, calculating the rent at ton per cent, in¬ 
terest on the value of the land, the price to purchase « 
out and out amounts to the magnificent sum ol -Id. per 
aero. The estimated grtuinz capabilities of tuose runs 
are 1920 head of cattle, or their equivalent ol sheep ; 
being in the same proportion as before, namely 100 
acres for each o.v. Many are surprised when told ,hat, 
in Australia, ten acres of land ou an average are re¬ 
quired for the support of a single ox ; for, say they, in 
Kn'dand, wo can sustain 50 upon an equal quantity. 
What then will he the surprise of sucli people when 
they are told of 1 to 100 -, they will not credit it: still 
less will thev, when informed that this very land is, w 
manv instances, of tlio most fertile and most productive 
nature—which is really the case. And yet the present 
capabilities of these tracts of land are not under esti¬ 
mated hv the Government. If so fertile, how come.-, it 
(it Mill'bo ashed) that it produces so littto’ I his 
question 1 will endeavour to answer, and then suggest 
the most likely moans hy which these quasi wilder¬ 
nesses mav bo made, if not a paradise, at least a hun¬ 
dred-fold move like one than at present. And instead 
of being useless, I feel assured that these very deserts 
are capable of becoming, and are yet destfnrd to become 
the home of countless thousands of our fellow-country¬ 
men, with their flocks and their herds. The tracts ot 
countrv alluded to, are situated to the westward of the 
great chain of mountains which stretches, from the 
northern to the southern extreme, and at an inconsider¬ 
able distance from the east coast of New Holland. If 
the map be taken up, it will at once he seen what a vast 
preponderance of the area of this country is situated 
beyond die lino of mountains alluded to, and conse- 
queutlv drained by watercourses and nvors which 
empty'into the ecoan at points remote from tho eastern 
coast—such as tho Murray, the Darling,, and other 
rivers, with their numerous tributanes, joining tho sea 
on tho south coast; besides rivers which are suppposeil 
to empty on the nordi and north-western coasts, llie 
greater portion of this vast tract is as yet a 
nita, an unknown land; but from the journeys of Sturt, 
Mitchell, and others, and from the fact of manv of those 
rivers and watercourses being occupied by sheep and 
cattle grariors through tho whole ol their courses, suf¬ 
ficient is know-u of them to alford us good grounds for 
forming a comparatively accurate estimate, or the re¬ 
mainder. There are good reasons for be)leving that the 
whole of tho countrv spoken of, has only recently been 
reclaimed, bv natural causes, from the bed of tho ocean, 
and that at no very remote period the present island ot 
New- Holland formed two, perhaps three, or oven 
four distinct Islands between which intervened 
several hundred miles of sea. The grounds from 
which such a conclusion is drawn are plain, such 
as rivers still in process of formation, the extreme 
depression of tho country, numerous deposits o, 
sea-shells not vet petrified, the salty nature, of the 
earth, of tho plants, &c.„ and various other indications 
which it is not now necessary to touch upon as the 
opinious of those most competent to judge are decidedly 
id favour of this view. 1 will take it for granted then, 
that the country in question was at no very ihstan day 
a mere sea bed, without a single plant, either herb, 
grass'- or tree growing upon it; the soa plants, oi 
couise, having perished when tho water left them. . 
The land thus left by tho sea would be lor a consider¬ 
able time unfit for tho'producrion of land plants. Grad- 
uallv, however, plants would begin to appear, at first 
onlv those which originally grew along the shores o. 
the'nrovious sea. This is remarkably instanced by the 
fact that tho Mescmbryantlieinum, or the plant com¬ 
monly known as “pig’s face,” or Hottentot 1- ig, is found 
in abundance there. Tills plant is common on the sea¬ 
shores of the whole coast of New Holland, and is no¬ 
where found In tho in terior, except in the very 
parts of which we are speaking ; and although 1 have 
never heard this fact alluded to as proof of the .precious 
submarine, yet I cannot help thinking that it is one ot 
the most unanswerable nature. It is found covering 
hundreds of miles of country, and always, in places 
farthest removed from the influence of tresh-water 
floods, which deprives the soil of some ol it saline 
qualities at every occurrence. These floods, winds, and 
birds gradually carry seeds from the higher lands, and 
as the soil becomes suited to their, support, taey spring 
up and reproduce themselves. Tins idea is again borne 
out bv the stunted and unhealthy growth of'all the 
species of plants and trees met with, and which belong 
to parts of the country not so circumstanced ; and 
wherever we find these trees and plants luxuriating 
“ beyond the common,” it may always be accounted tar 
bv the fact of tho particular locality being more than 
usualIv within tho influence of floods. As another 
proof that the seeds of plants are borne and dissemi¬ 
nated hv floods, 1 may mention that wherever belts of 
timber are found, it invariably happens that they grow 
ia a situation more depressed than the surrounding 
country, and always extend in the direction m which 
water would flow in case of flood. The pines, or rather 
pine scrubs as the settlers term them, are an exception 
to tliis rule, hut the exception may be easily accounted 
for. It must ho kept in mind that wc are still speaking 
of central Australia, that vast country tothe westvtol 
of the settled districts of New South M ales, or that 
part of New Holland supposed to have been originally 
submarine. Hero then we find at intervals extensive 
scrubs, or. more properly, ridges of pine or cypress 
trees (CuUitris pi/ramidalu and C. glavca). Dike the 
the trees previouslv mentioned, these pine ridges, white 
frequently extend for many nulcs in an uninterrupted 
line are always of an inconsiderable width, Mil almost 
invariably stretch in the same general direction as the 
nearest rivers or watercourses flow, bo general is this 
characteristic in some districts, that a person wishing to 
pass across a tract of country situated between two 
rivers needs no other compass to guide him., for U 
travelling towards and passing through these pme belt 
at right angles, he will he sure of. travelling at right 
an-ries to the general course of the rivers, end there,ore 
certain to pull lip the one ho is in search of. ibis guide 
must, however, he used with caution, because it some- 
must, however, ot* --- . ” , 
times happens that minor watercourses intervene, and 
interfere with their general aspect. I have fiequentl 
found, in my own experience, great assistance in traicll- 
ing from observing, and being aware of this natuia 
compass ; and as an old proverb has it. All work and 
no plav, makes Jack a dull hov, I will, notwithstand¬ 
ing tlio singularity of introducing personal narrate e 
into discussions like this, with vour permission, relate 
one instance, amongst many, feeling assured that rear 
generosity will not permit you to consider the feresa<® 
pedantic, and perhaps the story, will be a relief to some 
from the dry matter-of-fact discourse which mv sub- 
met demands. On one occasion I succeeded, princi¬ 
pally bv the guidance of these pme ridges, m crossing 
from a station on the Lachlan Hirer to one on the 
Mnrrumbidgee, the distance, being about, b ’™ r f i 
miles, and my only companion an intelligent aborigi¬ 
nal native of the place, whom I had indued to accom¬ 
pany me us a giide. My reasons for securing the 
services of this black fellow were twofold. Fm>t■ Be¬ 
cause Australian blacks are generally infallible m 
their knowledge of places which they have seen before, 
and almost always make the most correct 
this particular one had been my unerring taithful guide 
and amusing companion on former occasions: and 
second' because in this instance I not only desired las 
assistance as a guide, hut also as a commissariat officer 
for owing to the scarcity of provisions at thestahon 
from which I took my departure as well as the neigh¬ 
bouring ones, added to the tearfully vet and soft state 
of the country, I was unwilling to carry much grab, 
as bushnien rail their food, and Ins assistance in seco- 
rinw a calf, a kangaroo, or an oppossum, as wellas 
finding the eggs of wild fowl, ot which there was abun¬ 
dance, wouldAn the event of detention he of essential 
service. All these expectations ho fulfilled admirably, 
with the single exception of guiding me correctly. 
