Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/547

Rh abandon all but three; the party nearly died of starvation, and for a part of the time Colonel Warburton was so ill that he was strapped at full length on the back of his camel. The country was a fearful desert, the heat was intense, and for hundreds of miles there was not a drop of water.

"Forrest, Giles, and other explorers have traversed various parts of Western Australia; and it may now be said that though there is a very large area of unexplored or little-known land, the character of the whole continent is sufficiently well known for all practical purposes. Not more than half of it is inhabitable by Europeans, or ever will be. Some few districts now considered sterile may be made useful by irrigation, but the western half of the continent is an arid waste, where even the native black man cannot make a living."

Frank paused as he read to Fred the foregoing paragraphs.

"Perhaps you'll have to change the last statement," said Fred.

"Why so?" queried his cousin.

"Because it does not harmonize with the opinions of some of the