The few lakes of the interior are great "sinks," or marshes, much like Humboldt Sink, in Nevada. They are shallow, reed-grown, and briny, and they are bordered by mud flats and quicksands between which there is little to choose. An unfortunate victim will sink in the one quite as quickly as in the other. But even the lakes are gradually going the way of all lakes. In this case, however, their disappearance is due largely to the dust storms that little by little are burying them.

Only a very small part of the central region can be reclaimed; for where there is so little rain there can be but little either of surface or of ground waters. During the intensely hot summer season the smaller streams disappear entirely and the larger ones become a succession of stagnant pools along the dry washes.

A giant fig-tree, 140 feet in circumference
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The eastern part of the continent, on account of its greater extent of coast, is far richer in resources than the central section. It contains not only a greater proportion of land fit for grazing and cultivation, but also very rich mines. Perhaps these have not a greater wealth of minerals than the mines of the central section, but they are so situated that they can be more easily worked.

The great island of Tasmania ought also to be included in the Australian continent; for it is separated from it by a narrow and not very deep strait. In its general features Tasmania resembles eastern Australia; and, indeed, it is one of the most productive and delightful parts of the world.

Of the whole Australian continent scarcely one part in fourteen is fit for human habitation, not because the soil is lacking in elements of fertility but because there is not enough rainfall. As a matter of fact, the rain-bearing winds bring rain only to the eastern and southeastern part of the continent. Any map will show that nearly all the cities, towns, herding-grounds, and settlements are in that part of the continent, and they are there because the rainfall is there.

The rest of Australia is like the Sahara in one respect; it is a desert. Beyond that fact the resemblance between the two ceases; indeed, they could scarcely be more unlike; for, while the Sahara is much like any other desert, Australia is unlike any other part of the world.

Not very much is known about the interior because but few explorers have been able to penetrate the continent. Many have tried to explore its fastnesses, it is true, and many bones are bleaching in its furnace-like desert. Even a century after the eastern part had become dotted with settlements the interior was so little known that the government of South Australia offered a reward of ten thousand pounds to any one who would start from Adelaide and cross the island due north. Now, ten thousand pounds, or fifty thousand dollars, is a large sum of money, and there were many efforts to obtain it.