STILL ROOM ON THE EARTH.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10582, 11 October 1910, Page 1

STILL ROOM ON THE EARTH.

600,000 SQUARE MILES OF EMPIRE ' , OPENED UP. i ; ... ■" ■ ' A tract of 600,000 square miles ; of Empire, .1 hitherto believed- >to be • unfit for the white man, js declared by A.; W. Canning; an Australian explorer,. to; be capable of: supporting t a great white population. « , _' * The land question, is in. the. northern ot .• Western,: Australia; "It is- suitable for dairy yvork/for-tlie growing of wlieat, cotton, nee, sugar, aud,.all tropical- ,;Crops,,"« jMi . says:. •• - "Tiler a-veFage-: level 1 of- the iland is above -the, sea. The climate is pferfeet.'.' J ■ Mr Canning Vas deputed -by • the'.Go-; vemment'pf Western Australia to-make a '"stbek r6ad"rdhrougli.vtlie' prbvince in; a region wlncli was' generallyi considered, i ail impossible .country; ■■■.■ -■! t •He' has:' l completed-this, and is now • in London, 'a tall, slim man, w itli a face burnt brown by the sun, and crisp, curling'hair tinning to iron-grey. As lie stood in the offices of tli'e Commonweal tli.of -Australia, he looked the -typical 'blue-eyed pioneer ;of. Empire. ; He 1 didi' not talk of adventures, though .there- must have been, many pemls.'on the way.; ■ He told the. plain' story of' how lie constructed' a, cliam of t wells from! Wilnna ••.(about-450 miles north of Perth) to-tlie River Sturt; near Kimberley.' ■' - =* - "I was two years-Kengaged on the job,* and I have left;-wells-right across tor 800 miles, so vtliat there are suffi-; cieni to yyater stock,' andean immense; -area; is opened up; ; Manv- of these swells! wilL f yield?' more :.tliaii r 7000 - gallons., -per, hour.. ■ They -arc, on. an); average, 14 miles apart, and at each there; is sufiiciont water for herds -of from ,300• to : 500 head of cattle'. At. one;well. at a•deptli of; unite feet JL got :,4300 .'gallons, per hour- We had to take all: our own equipment and food supplies for -two, vears-' Our party consisted of' twenty-. six 1 men,' and. we took 62' camels and,4oo goats with us. Tinned meat was; an •impossibility ; we lived. on?goats'- flesh; ■ and' had? the milk, ot the goats also. ; To prove that the climate is good and j the water - plentiful, there was not onecase of serious illness. .In the prelimi- ■ nary. expedition one ;man was speared ; by tjie natives, who were; hostile to us > at first." We have mad'e :a. new- highway- between Northern - and Southern : Australia., with a waterway, that will ; enable people to prospect -on both sides • in a, land which is possiblv rich in minerals, and lias the finest pastoral territory in the world. • ■ ■■ "A great deal of what is called the desert .is 'covered- with . edible spimfex, while saltbusli —one of ' the best foods for sheep—is also found." Mr Canning was enthusiastic over the . future.of?tlie'nortlie'rni-region; where' at ■ present the population numbers about IflOO

"I have been nine years right outback." he: said,"and,-it is untrue to say'.that :lt is not a white man's country. . The days are hot, but -the air is dry, and'one can;work easily; m 120deg: I'have lived afl'niy life "in ;a hot country;' and' 'have gone a day or two days Without water and have not felt any the worse: Once I lost a camel and w-alked '2lO miles in five days,- carrying my ' own water, and again I went for eight-v Smiles 'without a-drink." ■. When the railway comes —as come it Canning sees'-the vision of a great colony' of farmers 1 flourishing m what was popularly supposed, to be A desert, and sending-their produce, to the countries of>thevworld;