THE TROPICAL AND HUMID NORTH may be defined as that part of the Northern Territory which has a mean annual rainfall of over 20 inches. Two regions may be distinguished : the plateau and the coastal plain. On the first of these, savanna and, in the north, savanna forest prevail, and much land is suitable for cattle-raising. Minerals, including gold and tin, are found in various districts. On the coastal plain, which has a width of from 30 to 100 miles and a rainfall in places of 60 inches, sisal hemp, rice, and arrowroot are grown. Both soil and climate are believed to be adapted to the growth of cotton, but the same difficulties as in Queensland prevent its cultivation.
Cattle-raising and mining are the leading industries of these regions, which are as yet in an extremely undeveloped condition, and only contain about 3,000 inhabitants, two-thirds of whom are Chinese. The chief town is Palmerston, on Port Darwin, one
of the best harbours in Australia.
COMMUNICATIONS.—Adelaide may be regarded as the railway centre of South Australia. One line runs eastward from the capital across the highlands, and south-eastwards across the plains of the Murray Basin to Serviceton, where it connects with the Victorian railway system and sends off a branch to Mount Gambier. Another line going northwards from Adelaide has connections with Morgan, at the great bend of the Murray, Wallaroo, Port Pirie, Broken Hill, and Port Augusta, and finally comes to an end at Oodnadatta, north-west of Lake Eyre. In the Northern Territory, a railway runs from Port Darwin south-eastward to Pine Creek, distant over 1,000 miles from Oodnadatta, with which it is proposed to connect it.