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Rh planted? What about sago palms? And what about coco-nut palms? Granting that the Utingu coco-nut plantation, opposite Possession Island, may be on exceptionally suitable (cleared) scrub land (see Chapter XLVII), there are thousands of square miles of luxuriant scrub (or jungle) in the Peninsula, and a still greater area of brushwood and " heath," which latter could be inexpensively cleared. The coco-nut palm, so far as I know, is not fastidious in its demands for a rich soil. Its well-being seems to depend mainly on climatic conditions. As a matter of fact, these palms have been planted with success on many of the northern stations as well as in the clearings surrounding the stations of the Cape York Telegraph line. A friend who has given much attention to the cultiva- tion of fodder-stuffs suggests that cleared " wet desert " land might profitably be sown with lucerne to be baled and exported for the supply of drought-stricken, or at least less favoured regions.

I have in my mind the instance of the Mallee Scrub, Victoria, which the clearing of the scrub has transmuted into valuable wheat land, although to all appearance the soil is little better than sand. There is, in fact, one difference between the " Mallee Scrub " and what has been popularly named, or nicknamed, the " wet desert," and it is all in favour of the latter. Even where there is not much to choose between the light and sandy soils of the two areas, the northern desert, as its nickname implies, is abundantly watered. It may be that, with the clearing of the present vegetation, some or all of the " permanent " running streams will disappear in dry seasons, but I am confident that even in that case shallow wells would strike water. If so, the conditions in these northern latitudes would be favourable to the close settlement of a white agricultural or arboricultural population. But I should not advocate the initiation of the experiment with day labour. I hope, on the contrary, that it will one day be made by free men, driven by the force behind and the innate impulse to explore new fields, and assured that they or their offspring will be permitted to reap the benefit of their industry and enterprise.