ds to any one who
would start from Adelaide and cross the island due north. Now, ten
thousand pounds, or fifty thousand dollars, is a large sum of money,
and there were many efforts to obtain it.

In 1860 an explorer named Stuart, whose name is remembered in a high
peak which he discovered, traversed more than half the distance. It was
a record trip, but illness forced Stuart to turn back. Another
expedition, headed by four plucky men, Burke, Wills, Grery, and King,
were more lucky on their outward trip. They reached tide-water near the
head of the Gulf of Carpenteria, thereby accomplishing the task. The
return trip was tragic. When they had reached the relief depot at which
they had planned to have supplies awaiting them, they found nothing.
They wandered about until all but King died from exposure and
starvation. A year or two later Stuart made a third attempt and found
what is now an "overland route," for a telegraph line has been built
along it from Adelaide to the north coast, and this connects with an
ocean cable to London.

[Illustration: A mother kangaroo with a young kangaroo in her pocket]

The plant and animal life of Australia forms one of its most remarkable
features. Both plants and animals are of the kind that lived many ages
ago. One of the curiosities of forest life is the "gum," or eucalyptus,
a belt of which almost surrounds the continent. In its native home the
blue gum is a most beautiful tree that sometimes grows to a height of
three hundred feet. When the tree begins its growth the stem is nearly
square in shape and the leaves are almost circular. After a short time,
however, the branches and trunk become circular and the leaves long and
lance-shaped. They hang with their edges instead of their flat surfaces
to the light, which also is true of many other Australian trees. The
eucalyptus sheds--not its leaves every year, but its bark instead.

Many plants which in other continents are small shrubs in Australia are
trees. The tulip, the fern, the honeysuckle, and the lily are examples.
They all grow in tree form and are of considerable size. There is no
turf grass except that which is cultivated. The wild grasses are of the
"bunch" or clump species, and some of these have blades so sharp that
they cut cruelly. One species, the porcupine grass, bears a name that
does not belie its character. Much of the coast lands are covered with a
growth of thorny "scrub" that has made cultivation both difficul