1928 September National Geographic Magazine Lonely Australia Unique Continent

Description: Yes we combine shipping for multiple purchases.Add multiple items to your cart and the combined shipping total will automatically be calculated. 1928 September National Geographic Magazine Lonely Australia Unique Continent ...ica, and one-fourth of the British Em-pire.SOME COMPARISONS WITH THE UNITEDSTATESThe continent is almost exactly thesize and is nearly the shape of the UnitedStates (see map. page 4/6)-Of outlying provinces. Australia hasthe tropical land of Papua to offset arcticAlaska. The Commonwealth is respon-sible also for the rich little Lord HoweIsland and for Soo inhabitants offolk Island, descendants of Tahitianwomen and British sailors—mutineers ofthe famous ship Bounty.Australia is the most level in surfaceand regular in outline of all the conti-nents. and even of most large islands. Itis also the lowest continent, with an aver-age elevation about that of Ohio. Itssurface lacks variety. The change fromone type of topography is so gradual andsignificant natural features are so fewand so widely spaced that, with the ex-ception of the Murray River, they are-,vr TUP ISOLATION Ot*map SHOW ING i Hl.peaks, profound canyons, and act^ \°canoes are lacking; its rivers aie mmpressive and its permanent lakes smaiand few in number; it is a continent com-posed of plains interrupted by ndges anmountain knobs.Unique vegetation of remarkable va-riety and beauty (see page 486), animallife of by-gone geological periods (seepage 502), and an aboriginal population,the lowest in the scale of beings havinghuman form, stand out as features dis-tinctly Australian—a never-ending sourceot interest to the geographer.Australia is a large country. It is aboutfourteen times the size of France or Ger-many, twenty-five times the size of Italy,ungary. or Ecuador, and two and one-halt tunes the size of Argentina’ its./on?lK1*nor the Southern Hemi-nf K?’ tS area 1S eEurope, one-third of all North Amer-475CORALS FROM THE AUSTRALIAN BARRIER REEF, NORTH QUEENSLANDAges of time and the lives of mvriads of coral polyps have gone to make up countlessforms like these in the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland, the largest coralformation in the world, 1,200 miles in length. The explorer Captain James Cook almost losthis ship on the reef in 1870: but today, when the openings through it are known and charted,as well as the channel which it protects, the barrier is regarded as a boon to coasting vessels.told that all the maples. oaks, chestnuts,elms, birches, and cedars, and er en a\ tand cherries, were but species of Wegenus hickory...The Australian is likewise embai assectby these prolific variations of cuca ’The trees in general are ‘ gums u ngums, red gums, blue gums, spottedcabbage gums—or iroubark, string}woolly bark, smooth bark, and when c isUnctions are necessary we get such com-binations as narrow-leaved-red-ironbai k,or broad-leaved-yellow-stringy-bark.LEAVES THAT GROW VERTICALLY INSTEADOF HORIZONTALLYWhere conditions are favorable, theeucalypts form forests of straight, slen-der trees; where soil is poor, they arewide-spaced and branch like the Cah-lornia oaks; on sand plains they developdu enormous root, from which spring anumber of thin round stems leading to acanopy of scattering leaves; and evenwhere soil and rain are practically absentthe genus is represented.Eucalypts are evergreens, which shedtheir bark, but not their leaves; but theyare not shade trees. The leaves areplaced in inclined rather than in hori-zontal positions, and the passage of lightis but little obstructed. For this reason,smaller trees and bushes and grass growunderneath, and the woods in places as-sume the appearance of a jungle fromwhich arise the towering shafts of trees.It is interesting to note that primitivetypes of eucalyptus, as well as the youngof more modern types, have horizontalleaves, pointing to a time in the geologicpast when the climate was more congenialand no precautions to conserve moistureneed be taken.The eucalypts include some ol thetallest trees in the world. The VictorianForests Department records trees which49iPhotograph by George Bell5TRALIAN-BUII.T TORPEDO-BOAT DESTROYER “TORRENS”----is to make the continent able to defend.--...it undertakes to equip and maintain acruiser, three unarmored cruisers, six torpedo-boat destroyers,it sei ^Krpo.^c- the Australian Commonwealth Lnavragre,ement "ith tlle mother country,naw consisting of a battle cand two submarines.to thewhichzoological andin Australianfsque hillsides, orbotanical gardens,_-vustrallantheerX>-U-eC ’ ”°1 gl,arded by “keep offS,g’,1S' The ti™ is occupied byPlavin writing letters.^’PPer5 fishin e Sa™es’. eating lunch orers or inser-i s\7mming> studying flow-Southern niuc^ to learn from thea,1(lthe at5 HCnt Of the use P^ksthe expense R1?ent ot' recreation withoutIslands. ' f country clubs and ConeyThe dayiT LAB0RER ls KINGPA-'er and tootl’V?8 opposed the em-’ llstralia T|1a w°rkers, is king int-T Pract ^i"’110nS-through the laborglslative, and ' .C0nt''01 the executive.Judicial machinery of thecities, the States, and the Commonwealth.Much of the legislation enacted duringthe past ten years—for example, shorten-ing of hours, increase in wages, restric-tion of child labor, safeguarding from ac-cident, and employer’s liability—finds itscounterpart in the United States. Cer-tain other features of industrial life areunfamiliar to Americans.Forty-eight hours is the recognizedmaximum for a week’s work ; but in cer-tain occupations forty-four, forty-two,forty, and even thirty-six hours are con-sidered full time. Some of the largerbuilding trades have a forty-four-hourweek, and it is probable that this figurewill become the recognized standard forall labor. Of the “four sacred eights’’ inthe original slogan—“eight hours work,eight hours' play, eight hours rest, andFUNNIESTWO AND A HALF TONS OFThe rabbit now has only thefence, for his own. ]'© Underwood &Vndenwtarana station, Australia,,, .--..... But eren'hereOOtLlan.dSfbo'-dcrillS the desert, which it is unprofitable.';'Tor rabbits are now sent frozen to FnJt ° iSS1iOn.a* rabbit trapper and his dogs a -• [orfurs and felt.1 10 Wand, their carcasses for food and their' 1' * MH$ iWErnii4 • nsLONELY AUSTRALIA; THE Tmn^tQUE CONTINENTtotal of food exports from the Commonwealth. Along the country roads rabbitsmay be seen hung on the fences awaitingthe passage of the rabbit carts which con-vey them to the packing-houses to beprepared for shipment as frozen meatand hides. Practically all are exported(the Australian docs not eat “vermin”),and during 1913 frozen rabbit and hareto the value of $1400,000 and skins tothe value of $3,000,000 were sent fromCommonwealth ports.On the assumption that a temperateclimate and 20 inches of rain he requiredfor Australian agriculture, there is avail-able for crops only 4.80.000 square miles,307,000,000 acres, or 16 per cent of thecontinent. As thus viewed, Australia forthe farmer is somewhat larger than Ger-many and Austria-Hungary and equal tothe combined areas of Louisiana. Texas,Oklahoma. Kansas. Nebraska, and SouthDakota (see also page 537).There remain, however, within the tem-perate zone 34.7.000 square miles, or 860,-000,000 acres, with rainfall less than 20inches. How may this enormous area inthe temperate zone of good soil and fa-vorable temperature be reclaimed forfarming, or at least made available forgrazing? As might be expected from thespirit of the Australian people, this pro-digious task is being vigorously attacked.Much is being done with dry farmingand by the selection of drought-resistingplants; but the hopes of reclaiming des-ert lands to agriculture are based, as indie United States, on irrigation.d he problems which confront the Aus-tralian reclamation engineer are exceed-U1gly difficult. Of mountain ranges suit-able for collection of water there is onea plateau-like affair, 2.000 to 4..000 feet]1bh. with knobs here and there reachingabove 6.000 feet, but without importantaccumulations of snow. The range is sonear the Pacific coast that no large belts0 agricultural land arc found on its well-watered eastern slopes. The task beforey1(j Australian is comparable with that in-■\?x<:d bl irrigating Arizona and Newt, Cx,co after the Rio Grande, the Sanlan, the Colorado, and the Gila hadfurrowed'ln^r ^nd the mountains nowrid^-dotted\)lah"sg reduced t0•"chen^c^LuHh W°rlcl S glTat irrigationdertakeii bv \i St ambltious yet un-of the waters^of H k\r1S the in?Poundin£of the chief t T Murrumbidgee, oneThis nro pl tnl}Utaricompletion i’ WBC1 1S rapidly nearingthe great Pin-1'°-'7constructl’on of/80 feet In riniU.ck dam—2-.° feet high,lt creT TLTU''ddth-of iSfeetatf ■ T1.’0,,Sh lts dimensions are less,X bnn/lr °f the RooseveIt dam ofam spo’ ' ’ nA resembles in structure”, i1' ■11e art‘ficial lake formedat burnnjuck is 41 miles long.brom the dam the water is to be leddown the channel of the Murrumbidgee200 miles to Berembed. where it will' bediverted among 250,000 acres of choicefaim lands which are now awaiting set-tlement.Lnlike the American system, whichlimits governmental control of irrigationprojects to the selling of water and land,the government of New South Wales be-comes the parent of an irrigation colony.It plans and builds villages, lays out andcontrols race-courses and athletic fields,builds houses and fences, sells trees andseed and lumber, loans money, stock, andagricultural implements, grants reducedfreight and passenger charges on rail-ways. builds and operates butter fac-tories, cheese factories, and canneries,and provides scholarships at the univer-sity.the largest artesian basinDevond the reach of streams from thecoastal mountains, the lane -tiet ..venvard for nearly 2.000 miles without"womherlng^ter^for^lfi0” drvTrn ing if domestic and stockL cm be obtained, and large areassupplies can be 0]f onlyare suitable ioi c

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