The unaccounted-for abseuce of Burke and Wills produced much excitement in the two southern colonies, and gave birth to three separate expeditions, with the view of bringing aid to the missing explorers. Two of these were fitted out by Victoria, and one by South Australia. The former two were intended to act in concert, and were sent round from Melbourne to Rockhampton, .in Queensland, in the Firefly of 200 tons. At Rockhampton, Walker and his party were landed, in order to make the gulf of Carpen taria overland, while the brig pursued her voyage to the head of the gulf, and landed Landsbo•ough and his party at the mouth of the river Albert, in the middle of Oct., 1861. 011 the 17th, Landsborough commenced his march, and following out his instructions to make for Stuart's "central" mount, followed up the Albert and Gregory rivers:and thence diverging more to the w., found that the water-supply had failed. Turning then southwards along the river Herbert, his small party of three whites and two aborigines in all were compelled to stop in lat. 20° 11+' s. by the menacing atti tude of the natives, and returned to their depot on the Albert, which they reached on Jan. 19, 1862. Here they learned that Walker had arrived on Dec. 7; bringing the important news that he had found traces of Burke's party on the Flinders; and Lands borough accordingly resolved to penetrate in an easterly direction. On Flinders, he found all traces obliterated by the rains, but notwithstanding ascended the river for 2S0 m., then crossed to the Thompson, followed it up for the greater part of its course, afterwards striking out eastwards to the Barcoo or Cooper, and failing to reach Cooper's creek on account of tile extreme drought, made for the settlements on the Darling, and arrived at Melbourne in Aug., 1862. tandsborough found the country between the gulf and the Thompson to consist of good soil thickly grassed; and, with rare exceptions, water was generally abundant.
The South Australian expedition was got up on a much larger scale, consisting of 8 men, 4 camels, 26 horses, 12 bullocks, and 100 sheep, and was put under the command of M'Kinlay, an experienced explorer. It started from Adelaide oil Aug. 16, 1861. and on Sept. 24, had passed the furthest settlements of the colony; crossed the formerly mysterious lake Torrens, which was at that time a dry desert; and came into a district abounding with lakes and creeks, and luxuriantly clad with grass whenever the rain afforded support to animal life. Here it was learned that the fate of Burke and WiM had been ascertained, and the party then held northwards for the gulf of Carpentaria_ Leaving the lake district, they entered the great desert, whose inhospitable nature had been so vividly described by Stun 10 years before; bnt curiously enough, in a district in which Sturkliad almost perished of thirst, M`Kinlay'spartywere almost carried away by a flood. In lat. 25' s., they emerged on au extensive country, abounding in grassy plains, watered by rivers, and intersected by hill ranges:' and in lat. 22' s. they entered upon a country of tropical character, reaching the Leichhardt, which they followed down till the deep and broad mangrove creeks and boggy flats which form a wide bor der round the beach of the gulf, hindered their further progress; so that, like all the explorers, with the exception of Stuart, a ,alimpse of the ocean was denied them. Irani the Leichhardt river they then proceeded in an e. by s. course, reaching
Bowen at Port Denison, in Queensland, in the beginning of Aug., 1862, and thence reached Adelaide by sea.
The results of these explorations of interior Australia agree in this, that there is a much larger extent of territory available for colonization than was formerly believed; that, in fact, by far the greater portion of the interior is more or less suitable for colo nization, and that only to that portion of it lying in the center in lat. 27" to 25° s. can the term desert be with justice permanently applied. Yet Sturt's desert was certainly no fancy, and his route to the center of the interior was through a barren waterless waste, while M'Kinlay, who followed nearly the same track, was delighted with abun dance of rich pasture and water. The truth seems to lie between the two extremes; Sturt's expedition was carried out during a year of unusual drought, while the recent expeditions here sketched took place during exceedingly moist seasons, the year 1861 and 1862 being the wettest the colonists of 'Victoria had ever known. Consequently, we should err in supposing the interior to be a mere desert on the one hail, or a bloom ing. well-watered expanse on the other. It is in reality a surface covered with soil more or less fertile; the basaltic rocks and clays being the most, and quartz, sandstone, and granite least fertile; and the rainfall is sufficient, in ordinary seasons, to revive the dor mant germs of vegetable life, and cover the surface with a crop of grass more or less luxuriant. On the other hand, the occasionally long continuance of drought, accom panied with an excessive amount of evaporation, wholly dries up some streams, con verts others into a series of pools, connected by threads of water, or "creeks," reduces extensive lakes to marshes or to shallow pools, in which the concentration of the solu ble salts of the soil renders the water so brackish as to be wholly undrinkable, and restores the verdant surface for a time. to the condition of a desert, herbage remaining only on the banks of creeks. The rainfall, which is the sole water-supply in the central districts, does not occur at regular intervals, but there is every reason to suppose that the excessive drought expenenced by Stull has not reappeared since 1845. Occa sionally, the fall of rain is so excessive as to convert the whole of the plain, as far as the eye can reach, into a shallow sea, however, soon disappears by the drainage of the rivers and creeks, or under the influence of the excessive evaporation, and in an almost incredibly short period thereafter, the ground is clothed with verdure. The climate of the northern districts is very different; there we have a temperature even higher, but its effect on vegetation is rendered very favorable by the frequent and moderate rains.