The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-07-21

sturt, who crossed the Australian desert
some years ago, records that he once hung
his thermometer graduated ia l27 degrees
In the shade, and that the mercnry rose
and broke the tube, The temperature must
have been ai least los degrees ln the open
air outside, which IS said IN be the Highest
tcmpsrntpre recorded in any part of tho
world.
For three months during that trip the
temperature averaged over iO1 degrees
Fnhrenhe.t In tho shade, and tho air was
every screw fell out Of mis- boxes, his
combs split up into hairs, the lend dropped
out of his pencils, his hair ceased to grow
md bis finger nails became as brittle as
A Desert Continent.
There Is no continent which has so much
dry land as Australia. II Is great dry
heart with n few patches Of green about
the edges. On the east side facing The PA
cihc Is n long range Of mountains, roughly
speaking running north aud south and the
most Of the good and lies between those
mountains and the sea West If the noun
tainR vast platcaus begin and extend an and
on ana on, spotted here with low rocky
ranges for more than 2tHO miles. The land
falls slightly as n goes toward the west,
but. at the end \ Is stll 1000 feet high.
II Is 20OO feet high at the east and lu
the Australian Alps or the Eastern range
II rises 10 more than 1000 feet, There h
a general slope toward the south Ia soma
the level OF the sea, but In others II Keeps
au altitude uf roo and coo feet, ending in
ellis at that height, which line the Aus
traliau blight for hundi eds OF miles.
All he rivers flow towards the coast Tho
most of them are short and unpuyig1b'e.
There Is Ia fact. only one big river s. $.
tenn IN the country that OF the Murray,
winch hoMs out the southeast end Of Aus
tralla. The Murray Is 1900 or 1900 miles
long II has extensive branches sometime
Ike the Mississippi Missouri, by which il
"A .HH No. Gs. i. lit =
the best sheep farms of Australia Nearly
all OF Its basin Ia taken up by squatters.
The greater part Of It Is fenced and In Ger,
tain sections the lands arc worth az much
AZ good farming lands In the United States
The Australian Lakes.
Australia has no fresh water lakes IA
speak Of. The biggest lakes are salt, and
there are very few Of these. Tho most OF
them lie in South Australia, In what Il
called the lake district region about
1000 miles long At the bottom Of this Il
Lake rOITcns about 100 miles long, with
Lake Gardiner to the west Of IT, North Of
Lake TOrrens IL Lake Eyre, which IL larger
ana 70 the northwest Lake Amadeus which
Is also Of good size. All these lakes are
salt They are surrounded by flats oi
treacheTons mud crusted with salt some
parts OF them are dry for years al a time
when wet season VIII III them and caus,
grass 70 spfout up all about them.
Most of the land north and west OF the
lakes Is desert. II you VIII draw line
across the continent from the lakes TO the
mouth Of the Victoria river YOU will block
90 one Of the biggest deserts OF the world.
| 7 he desert block viii be one-sixth as big as
the whole United States, and Il will contain
10 water and no vegetation OF any kind
except thorny scrub and thorny grasses
This Is the case with nearly all Western
Australia with the exception Of the small
settled portion at the southwest.
Queer Vegetation.
The scrubs are peculiar 10 Australia
They are a sort Of dwarf eucalyptus trees
or dwarf acacias. The most common are
the malice scrubs and the mulga scrubs
The malice scrubs look like willow OF
needs The bushes grow close together
SO that there are sften ten on square