Page:Journals of Several Expeditions Made in Western Australia.djvu/21

 ; in which case, a proper direction must given to the water-course. The chief and real source of regret, as to the rivers of Western Australia is that no great volume of water—no St. Lawrence—has yet been discovered, along whose surface the Australian barks might glide with swiftness and security, and where the light pendants of all nations of the world might freely wave.

That the navigable qualities of West Australian rivers may be made much more available than hitherto, is not improbable. A species of boat has recently been constructed, adapted to still water navigation, which lies on, rather than sinks into, the water, is capable of being moved at the rate of ten miles an hour with little difficulty, and attended with a very trifling agitation of the sustaining surface.

Lagoons and salt lakes are scattered every where amidst the valleys and the forests; the former constitute the necessary drains of some encircling region; and the latter may be looked upon as depositaries from whence wealth and commercial eminence may hereafter be derived to the settlement.

From the unaffected style in which each little adventure is narrated in the accompanying Journals, it is possible that a conclusion might be drawn contrary to the real intentions of the