Right through the continent, from east to west, the box tree (EUCALYPTUS
MALLIODORA) is to be found. On the tableland the timber is altogether of
a different growth. The giants of the slopes of the seaward range are
replaced by low, stunted, and crooked trees, some of them, however,
possessing edible foliage. Most of the acacias are of this kind--the
ACACIA PENDULA or myall, the brigalow, the mulga, and yarran. The
CAESARIANSAE common all over Australia, under the name of the oak tree.

The difference between the products of the interior upland and the
coastal lowland is mainly induced by the difference of climate, those
grasses and herbs growing on the tableland, while repellent in appearance
and colour, compared to the richer herbage of the coast, possess
qualities that render them invaluable as fodder plants. Once let the
grasses of the coast lose their moisture from drought, and they become
sapless and worthless, but it is not so in the tableland. Months of dry
weather have no effect upon the fattening properties of the shrubs; the
stock, however, have to become used to feeding on them before their full
value is attained.

Amongst the fauna of Australia the distinction between coast and
tableland is not so well marked, most of the well-known species ranging
indifferently over the whole continent. In the kangaroos, differences in
size, colour and appearance can easily be detected in widely separated
localities, but they do not amount to anything very noticeable to the
ordinary observer. The smaller kinds, the wallaby and kangaroo rat, are
common everywhere on the continent. In birds, however, the difference is
great, the seeds and fruit on which some birds exist being only found in
either the coastal scrubs or lowland country, whilst many of the parrots
and pigeons of the interior could not live on the coast. So sharply is
the line drawn in some places, that on the dividing watersheds of the