scientific men of Australia," was the reply. "Here is something I have just found in a late number of a Melbourne newspaper."
Frank listened with interest while Fred read the following:
"At a recent meeting of commercial and pastoral men in Sydney, an interesting paper on the Australian Desert was read by Mr. E. Favenc. Here are some passages from it: 'In looking back at the past history of Australia, the many disillusions that have taken place with regard to our knowledge of its geographical formation are very striking. In no particular is this more noticeable than in the gradual disappearance of the dreaded desert. Each successive adventurer has turned back with the tale that beyond his farthest point it was impossible to penetrate, only for after-generations to reverse his opinion and reclaim the waste land for habitation and settlement. In a pastoral community, from the earliest ages, the necessity of fresh grazing-lands for the increasing flocks and herds has existed; and the residents on the border-land of civilization soon found out that the herbs and shrubs of the interior possessed qualities hitherto unappreciated and unrecognized, and country looked upon as unfit to sustain animal life became eagerly sought after as first-class fattening country. That this has been the experience of New South Wales and Queensland has resulted in the shadowy desert being driven into the heart of South and Western Australia.
"'That immense areas of spinifex of the worst description exist in the interior, which may well be called desert, there is no doubt; but as yet we have no evidence to show that they are not belts. All through the alleged desert blacks are found all the year round. Although they can exist on a very small allowance of water, they cannot live without it, and this proves the existence of a permanent supply throughout the continent, although the springs that are the source of the supplies may be but scanty drainage and hard to find. Wherever large reservoirs are found—the standing waters of the interior—fish form one of the principal native dishes, and they are as a rule so fat as to be almost uneatable. On these waters, too, wild feathered game are in profusion, from the larger species—geese, pelicans, native companions, etc.—down to the smaller kinds, the little pigmy goose and the plover.
"'Country, then, which can sustain human and animal life throughout the year can scarcely be classed as an irreclaimable desert; and when we know from experience that even at their driest stages the edible grasses of this region can keep stock in good condition, and in the case of some of the grasses even fatten, the future occupation of the whole of the continent does not seem so very problematical. The wonderful success that has attended boring efforts to the northward of the Great Bight, long considered as the driest country in Australia, and stigmatized by Eyre as the most awful desert ever trodden by man, now being rapidly stocked with sheep, points out the way to the gradual reclamation of the desert. The knowledge we already have of some of the inland springs, slight as it is, proves the existence of these subterranean supplies throughout the continent. These springs are not what are known as surface springs—that is, the residue of a former exceptionally wet season, issuing from the foot of some well-soaked hill or ridge—but strong volumes of water that vary not in any season, totally unaffected by drought; in fact, running stronger during dry weather. I think, therefore, that in most cases a judicious selection of the site for boring will bring about a successful result; and in this country, so deficient in surface drainage, we shall find that Nature has provided a store that will render the settlers independent of variable seasons.'"
"That reminds me," said Frank, "of what Doctor Bronson was say-
