they sweep, for instance, in a cold clayey soil, the radiation of heat is
very rapid.

Before quitting this subject it may be as well to mention that my own
impression, which the most recent information bears out, is that instead
of an inland sea, there is in the centre of Australia a vast desert, the
head of which, near Lake Torrens, is not more than three hundred feet
above the level of the sea. The coast being surrounded by hilly ranges,
the great falls of rain that must occasionally occur in the interior, may
convert a vast extent of the central and lowest portion, towards the
north side of the continent, into a great morass, or lake, which, from
the northerly dip, must discharge its waters slowly into the Gulf of
Carpentaria, without possessing sufficient stability to mark either its
bed or boundaries.

FRIENDLY NATIVES.

To return to the party of natives which has given rise to this
digression. They had clearly never seen a white person before; for they
stepped up to one man of fair complexion, who had his trousers turned up
over his knees, and began rubbing his skin to see whether it was painted.
They came fearlessly to our party, as they were collecting shells at the
extremity of a long flat. One of the officers, who happened to be very
thirsty, placed such confidence in their friendly manner, that he allowed
them to conduct him alone to a small well near the beach, but the water
was too salt to be drunk. The force of habit is astonishing: natives
drink this brackish fluid and find it very refreshing. The small quantity
that suffices them is also surprising, though they will drink enormously
when they can get it.