234 
MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
expedition like that which is now proceeding 
from the Victoria River to the Albert, could 
never do much towards unravelling the engirna 
of the interior. Doubts would still remain as 
to the existence of rivers, or ranges in different 
localities ; but by tne plan proposed, which the 
peculiarities in the formation of the Australian 
Continent so greatly favour, an exploration of 
the entire coast ranges would show how tlio 
waters are disposed of, and lead to conclusions, 
as to whether the interior is a desert, and if not, 
we should then know from what point it would 
be best to approach the interior, and ascertain 
whether there is a Caspian, or what really 
becomes of the waters of a tract of country 1000 
miles long by 1000 wide. It may be well to 
observe that, since the last expedition into 
Australia, gold lias been found over the whole of 
the country with which wc are acquainted, 
Gold, it is'said, is, or rather was, more gene¬ 
rally diffused throughout the crust of the earth 
than any other metal, but in all the continents, 
with the exception of Australia, it has been an 
object of desire,—it has beou sought for and 
made use of by all the nations of the earth, 
save only by the aborigines of this country. 
What conclusion then can be arrived at ? but, 
that whilst all the other parts of the world have 
been for thousands of yearn ransacked for gold, 
until there is little left, Australia, as regards its 
gold, and even other minerals, is in a virgin 
state; its gold has scarcely been touched, and it 
may therefora be concluded that as much may 
he found in proportion to its extent as has, 
supplied the wants of man ever since its use was 
known, so that in all future expeditions, with 
the aid of a geologist and a few diggers, gold¬ 
fields more or less rich might bo found. 
When it is considered what vast sums of 
money have been expended ou the compara¬ 
tively useless explorations at tho North Pole— 
ships with hundreds of men and every facility 
that money and science could provide—(one of 
those expeditions, I am informed on good au¬ 
thority, would cost from £15,000 to £20,000 per 
annum)—there really seems no reason why an 
undertaking of so much greater interest should 
not be attempted without regard to the expense, 
which has hitherto been the great obstacle to a 
thorough and sufficient exploration ; and I feel 
convinced that nothing more is required than a 
strong and proper representation, to enlist the 
whole of the scientific world in some such 
scheme as that now suggested. 
The manner in which the waters falling in¬ 
wards from the 1000 miles of eastern coast range, 
are disposed of, by being found to belong mostly 
to the system of the Murray, is rather an extra¬ 
ordinary feature in the geography of the world, 
and it may bo that the discovery of other extra¬ 
ordinary arrangements of the surface of this 
continent may tend to throw great light upon 
the science of physical geology'—perhaps the 
most, neglected of all the sciences—hut now that 
the facts which appertain to practical geology 
have been so largely accumulated, we want 
geographical facts to lead us to more important 
and interesting speculations; to lead us to a 
knowledge of the history of the progressive 
formation of the dry land in all its diversities : 
and whilst I am upon this part of my subject, it. 
may not perhaps be considered out of place, if I 
venture to trouble you with a few speculations 
of my own upou the physical geography of the 
unknown regions I have just been speaking 
about. Reasoning from analog}', 1 should be 
disposed to surmise, that, whereas the waters at 
the hack of the east coast flow from north to 
south, so the waters ou the west coast may flow 
from south to north; and for this reason—with 
the exception of the irregularity caused by the 
Gulf of Carpentaria and the York Peninsula, 
there is an extraordinary parallelism in the 
coasts of the Australian Continent and in the 
course of those of its rivers with which we are 
acquainted: the coasts are made up of two sets 
of parallel lines of 3 lines each ; now the open¬ 
ings on the south side of tho continent where 
the Murray disembogues, correspond in position 
with the openings on the north const where the 
Fits Roy, Prince Regent, Victoria, and other 
rivers disembogue, and in like manner as the 
Murray drains the eastern side, the Fitz Roy, or 
some other river, may drain the western side. 
It seems pretty evident that the course of rivers 
in Australia is due to accumulation; Captain 
Sturt found that the sand dunes in the interior 
extended in unbroken lines NF.1V, in fact 
parallel to N.E. and S.W. portions of the coast, 
and as it is these accumulations that influence 
the course of rivers, this seems a further ground 
for conjecture that the waters which fall from 
the southern and western coast ranges may be 
tributaries to a river which takes the direction 
of these dunes or lines of accumulation, and 
traversing the western side of the continent, 
finds an outlet on the north coast. This theory 
is in some measure supported hv the fact, that 
the dip of the country from the elevated southern 
coast is inwards—that is, northerly; so it is not 
impossible that waters falling to the north from 
this great Australian wall may be the sources of 
my imaginary river, for to find a river running 
inwards is not at all unusual in Australia. This, 
however, is only one tlieojy amongst many, for 
in the early part of the present year a paper ou 
the “ Possible Condition of tho Interior of Aus¬ 
tralia,” by Mr. H. Landon, was read before the 
Geographical Society. I mention this to shew 
that the subject is exciting considerable atten¬ 
tion, hut then the necessary funds are not 
forthcoming. 
Before I sit down, therefore, I may perhaps be 
permitted to take this opportunity of urging 
upon, the officers and members of this Institu¬ 
tion, that the subject of a great and final ex¬ 
ploration of the interior of Australia is worthy 
of their best attention and consideration: and 
it comes within my knowledge that a great 
number of hardy and experienced bushmen 
would bo ready to join in any properly organised 
scheme, and there would not be wanting gentle¬ 
men, not only well used to command and con¬ 
trol, hut also well acquainted with hush life, 
and familiar with exposure and danger, to enlist 
in such an enterprise if we could induce her 
Majesty’s Government- to advance some £20,000 
or £30.000 (or about one year of the expense of' 
a North Pole Expedition) towards this great 
scientific undertaking, which, I may remark, 
could be far better conducted by those who have 
experience in these colonies than by strangers. 
