Part 3 (1/2)
CHAPTER III
A LAND OF CONTRADICTIONS--TRANSPORTATION TO AUSTRALIA
”How long is it since Mr Eyre o,” the gentleman answered, ”in the years 1839 and 1840 Mr Eyre had explored a portion of the western shore of Spencer Gulf, and while doing so, deter the shore of the Great Australian Bight One of the first difficulties that opposed hiullies, showing that in times of rain there was plenty of water, but no rain had fallen for a long tis were found, but these were generally brackish and the water was hardly drinkable
”Mr Eyre tried the experie of the sea, in the hope of obtaining fresh water, but his experiments in this direction were not successful By the time he had advanced two hundred miles, he had lost four of his horses The reduction in the number of his pack animals made it impossible for him to carry sufficient provisions for his party, and he therefore sent back his only white companion and three of his men Then he continued his journey with his overseer and three natives, one of the latter being his personal servant
”In order to be sure of water, Mr Eyre explored in advance of the party, and so any One by one the horses died of thirst, and the only way thethe dehich fell at night, by s
”The natives coht the two uns, killed the overseer, and ran away, leaving Mr Eyre with only his native servant and a very small stock of provisions They were then about midway on the journey; that is, they had still six hundred miles to travel to reach the settled parts of West Australia The entire supply of provisions that they had was four gallons of water, forty pounds of flour, and a portion of a dead horse
They had to go nearly two hundredany ame and fish, and a little flour paste Just as they were about to lie down and die in the desert they saw a sail in the distance
”They built a fire on the beach as a signal, and, luckily for them, it was observed The vessel came in quite near the land and sent a boat to their assistance The shi+p proved to be an Aht in pursuit of whales, and the captain invited the as they liked They remained there teeks, and were then put ashore at the saone on board The captain supplied them with all the provisions and water they could carry Mr Eyre was determined to complete his journey, if possible, and his faithful servant consented to reer, when they reached the first of the settlee's Sound”
”Has anybody else ever tried to make the same journey?” Harry asked
”Not under the same circumstances,” was the reply ”I believe that a well-equipped exploring party was sent out so the coast and look for gold Water and provisions were supplied every few days by a snaled by the travelers In this way, suffering froer and thirst was avoided and the anie The enterprise was not a successful one so far as the finding of gold was concerned, but I have little doubt that one of these days gold will be discovered there; and if it should be, so the asperities of this desolate coast”
”I have heard,” said Harry, ”that a great part of Australia is destitute of water Is that really the case?”
”Yes,” the gentleman answered; ”you have been correctly informed
Australia, is a waterless country, or, at any rate, that is the case with a great part of it The interior has never been fully explored for this reason, and there are thousands, I ht say millions, of square miles of Australian country where no human foot has ever trod Many atteion, but all have resulted in failure
”Water, as you know, is an absolute necessity for man and animals, and there is a limit to the amount which an expedition can carry, just as there is a limit to the food that one may take on a journey There are parts of Australia where rain seems never to fall, or, if it does, the intervals are so rare and irregular that no reliance can be placed on the wells hundreds of feet in depth, and it is certain that no ordinary a will procure water The atmosphere is dry, terribly dry, as all who have attempted to penetrate into the interior will tell you
”Instruments, and cases made of the best seasoned wood--wood that has been dried for years and years--crack and split and go to pieces in the dry atmosphere of the interior of Australia Leather becohtest pressure is put upon it One exploring expedition was obliged to turn back in consequence of the drying up and cracking of the wood contained in its instruments and their cases The evaporation from one's skin is very rapid under such circu thirst, which is no doubt intensified by the knowledge of the scarcity of water and the necessity of using the supply on hand with great care”
”I have heard,” said Ned, ”that Australia is a land of contradictions as coland and the United States I read in a book so in nature was the reverse of what it was in the countries I entle, ”and I will tell you several things to demonstrate the correctness of what you say In the first place Australia is on the other side of the world froht to prepare you for the other peculiarities Most countries are fertile in their interior; but, as I have told you, the interior of Australia is a land of desolation, where neither man nor beast can live I have been told that birds never fly in the interior of Australia; and certainly if I were a bird, I would not fly there nor anywhere near it
”We have very few rivers, and none of them come froether dried up There is only one river, the Murray, that can be relied upon to have any reasonable depth of water in it throughout the entire year The other rivers dwindle al, and, as I have said, entirely disappear The greater part of the country is absolutely without trees, and the dense forests which you have in America are practically unknown
We have suht when you have day When you are in your own country, and I aether than our heads; that is to say, our feet are pressing the ground on opposite sides of the earth, and so weupon each other”
”That is so,” re I noticed also that the shi+p's co along the northern heavens I observed, too, that the south as cold, and the north wind hot”
”You are quite right,” said the gentle the barometer, you have found that it falls with the northerly wind and rises with the southerly one When you travel over the country, you will find that the valleys are cool and the , and many of the beautiful flowers have no smell The leaves of the trees are nearly always perpendicular instead of horizontal, as in your country, and consequently one gets very little shade under an Australian tree”
”I have heard,” said Ned, ”that the trees shed their bark instead of their leaves Is that really so?”
”It is so with most of the trees,” was the reply; ”in fact, with nearly all of them A few shed their leaves every year, and on ed, while the bark is thrown off One tree is called the stringy bark, on account of the ragged appearance of its covering at the tientleroith the stones inside; but here in Australia we have cherries with the stones on the outside We have birds of beautiful pluht, and screech and hoot in the daytilish or Aical formation of the country is also peculiar, and the scientific ood deal puzzled at the state of affairs they find in Australia Would it not surprise you to learn that we have coal in this country as white as chalk?”
”That is, indeed, a surprise,” one of the youths remarked ”I wonder if the conditions are continued so that your chalk is black”
”The contrasts do not go quite so far as that,” said the gentleh, ”as the chalk of Australia is as white as that of England I don't mean to say that all our coal is white, but only the coal of certain localities It generally takes the stranger by surprise to see a grateful of white coal burning brightly, and throwing out smoke at the same time I must tell you that this coal is bituminous, and not anthracite”
”I hope,” said Ned, ”that row out of their sides, or from their breasts, and that they do not walk topsy-turvy, with their feet in the air”