Ii^ustiialia.
0 <144 028 squavQ inilGS. In the absence of a c^mplet
notaetrical suirey these uumboi-s can only be regarded
closest approsimatiou to tlia truth obtaiuable.
COAST LINE.—Australia possesses a coast line of a total lengtli of
about 10,000 miles, or about 1 mile of coast line to every 300 square
miles of its area. The proportion iu England is 1 to 32, and in
Durope 1 to 190. In South America and Africa it stands as low as
1 to 482 and 1 to 760 respaotirely. It will thus be seen that the proportion
ot sea-coast to surface in Australia U considerably less than
obtains in Europe, but greater than that of America and Africa.
This feature of compactness, accompanied as it is with the absence of
large navigable rivera, cannot be regarded among the facts that tend
to accelevate the civilization of the whole continent; indeed, this is
one of many reasons wliy the vast intorior is stUl comparatively a
Ierra, incognita. , , ,, , -,i
Projecting Point^-The most important are-Capes York, Melville,
Bowling Green, Sandy Cape, Capes Byron, H.o«-e, Wilson, Ot^vay,
Nelson, Jervis, Spencer, Catastrophe, Leevuvin, Naturaliste, Steep
Point, Peron Penius.ila, North West Cape, Capes Leveque, Voltaire,
Bougainville, Londonderry, I'ord, Coburg Peninsula, Point Dale, and
Capes Wilberforco and Ai'nhem.
lrdentation3.-The principal indentationsare-Tbe Gulf of Carpentaria,
Princess Charlotte Bay, Halifax Hay, Broad Sound, Hervey
is at once an island and a continent. Regarded with
reference to its environmcnt its character is insular; bnt
^ equalling as it does about four-fifths of the snpei-ficial extent
of Europe, it may fairly be ranked as a continent. The name
signifies South Land. This refers to its position with regard to
the nations of antiquity, the beliefs and traditionsof which, if not the
actual discoveries, created the gradual association of the terms.
DISOOVERY.-Whcther its existence was actually demonstrated by the
rlier civilizations of the northern hemisphere is buned so deeply under
myths of the past that nothing beyond a very strong probability can
be arrived at with regard to the date when the first manners, doubtless
coasting down the Malay Peninsula and the islands which intervene, caught a
apse of its shores. In the traditions of bygone ages there is ample evidence
- firm-rooted belief in the eadstence of a great unknown South Land; that
the popular faith, however, rested upon anything firmer than mere fable, there
is but scanty evideuce now to show. Among the early writers who refer to
.."TerraAusti^ilisincognita" are Strabo (B.C. 50), Pomponins Mela (A.D.45),
Pliny {A.D. 77), and Ptolemy (A.D. 150) j but whether they were
fe: t-versing actually ascertained fact or merely echoing the floating myths of
that and preceding ages, does not appear. Coming down to the 18tb
-...^tury we find reference made to the Great South Land by the celebrated
Venetian traveller, Mai-co Polo, who doubtless had heard of its existence from
mariners who had seen its shores.
.,:;.;. POSITION,-Australia is situated wholly to the south of the Equator, and lies
'".fween the parallels of 10" and 89° south latitude, and the meridmns of 113» and
^ IH' east longitude. It will, therefore, be seen that it extends over about 29
i - " degrees of latitude and about 41 degrees of longitude. It is also noticeable that
• the whole of the northern parts of Queensland and Western Australia, together
i ' with the Northern Territory, which has been annesed provisionally to South
Australia, come within the Toirid Zone, while the southern part of the continent,
inclnding'New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia (proper) and the southern
parts of Queensland md Western Austi-alia lies within the South Temperate Zone.
BOUNDARIES -Aus t r a l i a is bounded on the north by Torres Strait, which separates
it from New Guinea, and the Indian Ocean; on the south by Bass Strait, which
divides it from Tasmania, and the Southern Ocean; on the east by the Pacific
Ocean • and on the west by the Indian Ocean.
FORM AND DIMEN8I0NS.-Australia presents a compact form, with little or no
-esularity in its outline. The most noticeable breaks in its contour are caused by
the Gulf of Cai-pentaria, Spencer and Cambridge Gulfs and Sharks Bay. Its greatest
l«n<rthis in the direction of east and west. Between Cape Byron on the east, and Steep
p l f on the west, it shows an extreme length of about 2,400 miles; and between Cape
Tr,- k on the north and Cape Wilson on the south, it has a width of about 2,000 mües. The
ag d«tances a « of course very much less. It includes a superficial area of about
triffo- Bay, Port PhUHp, St. Vincent Gulf, Spencer Gulf, Great Austrab"
Bay, Port FhuUp, !5C. Vincenl truii, opeucer u-uu, «.«o,»
Bight,. Geogi^_ aphe , Bay. Sharks c.. Bay, Bxmouth T? .V Gulf,il,.lf King I?;-™ Sound,Sm.t
Collier Bay, Admiralty Gulf, Cambridge Gulf, Van Diemen Gnlf, and
Arnhem Bay.
Straits.—Torres, Bass, Backstairs Passage, Clarence, and Dundaa.
Islands.—The principal islands and island groups are—Groote
Eylandt (Great Island), Wellesley Island, Great Sandy Island,
Moreton and Stradbroke Islands, Flinders Island, Barren Island,
Tasmania, King Island, Kangaroo Island, Recherche Archipel^o,
Dirk Eartog Island, Banow Island, Dampier Archipelago, and
Bathurst and Melville Islands.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.—Australia presents no features on the stnpendoas
scale that obtains in America and Asia. The tablelands
and mountain ranges of the Old World impress us with their extent
and elevation, and the vast scales on which the great Cordillera and
Lake systems of the Now World are formed, awe us with their
grandeur and imposing magnitude. The natural agents which m the
ages that have gone gave to the exterior of our globe that variety
which WB recognise mt h pleasure in HU and dale, mcuntain-top, and
fathomless abyss, apjiear to have reined in their forces when impressing
on Australia its physical contour. With the exception of the
elevated regions in the neighbourhood of the sea-coast, there is little
of the wild and rugged beauty of scenery that is found in the high