t across them, one from Sydney,
one from Windsor, about thirty miles north from Sydney. The passing of
the Blue Mountains opened up to Australia the great tableland, on which
the chief mineral discoveries were to be made, and the vast interior
plains, which were to produce merino wool of such quality as no other
land can equal.

From that onwards exploration was steadily pushed on. Sometimes the
explorers went out into the wilderness with horses, sometimes with
camels; other tracts of land were explored by boat expeditions,
following the track of one of the slow rivers. The perils always were of
thirst and hunger. Very rarely did the blacks give any serious trouble.
But many explorers perished from privation, such as Burke and Wills (who
led out a great expedition from Melbourne, which was designed to cross
the continent from north to south) and Dr. Leichhardt. Even now there
is some danger in penetrating to some of the wilder parts of the
interior of Australia without a skilful guide, who knows where water can
be found, and deaths from thirst in the Bush are not infrequent.

One device has saved many lives. The wildest and loneliest part of the
continent is traversed by a telegraph line, which brings the European
cable-messages from Port Darwin, on the north coast, to Adelaide, in the
south. Men lost in the Bush near to that line make for its route and cut
the wire. That causes an interruption on the line; a line-repairer is
sent out from the nearest repairing-station, and finds the lost man
camped near the break. Sometimes he is too late, and finds him dead.

In the west, around the great goldfields, where water is very scarce,
white explorers have sometimes adopted a way to get help which is far
more objectionable. The natives in those regions are very reluctant to
show the locality of the waterholes. The supply is scanty, and they have
learned to regard the white man as wasteful and inconsiderate in regard
to water. But a white explorer or traveller has been known to catch a
native, and, filling his mouth with salt, to expose him to the heat of
the sun until the tortures of thirst forced him to lead the white party
to a native well. But these are rare dark spots on the picture. The
records of Australian exploration, as a whole, are bright with heroism.

The early pioneer in Australia--called a "squatter" because he squatted
on the land where he chose--enjoyed a picturesque life. Taking all his
household goods wit