WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144196, 12 September 1913, Page 4

WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

WITH THE TRANSCONTINENTAL ■ SURVEY. Bv Cardunia Rocks, on the. route of tho - " Kalgoorlie-Port • Augusta railway, section off the. “Transcontinental,-: there is a camp of surveyors, hardy, cheerful men,(skilled pioneers, for the armies of- traders. tq follow. -They' arc seventy miles out in the. wilderness, in a desortSiduclr can be changed into a garden by that - magic . transformer, ■ water. A cadet attached to'tho survey party has closely: observed, the country,, and has given a brisk summary of his impressions, to a relative in SVellington (says the Post). Hero is the text of the letter ;

SEVERAL MINES “SHAKY.”

Tho mining industry is declining, and.the Government does so much to stimulate prospecting, and help poor syndicates, that the alines Department cannot show a profit. Several of the big mines in Kalgoorlie are getting pretty shaky, and the only thing that prevented a big strike last Christmas was the knowledge that some of the mines would not* live through it; the men saw they would be kiliiug the hen that'laid the golden egg. We are in a God-forsaken country. The first fifty; miles from Kalgoorlie is all tho same—greenstone country—and said to be auriferous; gold mine-s, however, are-conspicuous in their absence. Perhaps this may be explained by the tact that nearly all: this country is covered by a layer of oement j list under the surface, ranging in thickness, from 10ft. to 30ft. This is principally made up of lima and cronstone, and is a fairly recent deposit.-. Thus, you see, every time a prospector wants to get a look at the native rock he has to sink a shaft through this'cement. Also; probably -through-, this layer: on the’surface, very few reefs actually outcrop; except in hills, where, they: are exposed by ages of weathering. MILLIONS OF ACRES WATERLESS. 1 wont down one mine last. Christmas', in - which tho main reef . comes only within fifty feet-of, the: surface.. By a strobe' of . luck this reef was struck while working another small cross reef, which outcropped. The soil is : all the same over this stretch of country,' and of the same class that is rushed for wheat in the rain belt.: It is a fairly heavy 'red loam. It seems the sheer irony of fate that-with-in' the good rainfall area this sort of laud is very patchy, while out here there are millions of acres—no exaggeration—and without one single pateh of; sand plain, to break the monotony of them. After tho fifty miles big granite rocks begin to appear, and as you proceed tho'country gradually changes from greehstone country to granite, but just as flat as ever, and just as unpioturosquei This class of country continues to the 100 miles. ■The timber on this first hundred miles of country is all of the eucalyptus family. It is' mostly salmon gum, a tree which averages in. this part of the State about Ift. 6in. through and 60ft. high. It is a fine tree to look at, and has a salmon-coloured bark, from which it derives its’name. The wood, however; is useless for anything except burning, as it is very suspectihle to tlio attack of white ants. The other trees are extremely like the salmon gum, and are very closely related —gimlet gum, white gum, and morrel. All these timbers are used for firewood by the big mines, and tho land is cleared within a radius of forty miles of Kalgoorlie, except where the State has reserved forests. NIGGARDLY CLOUDS.

The only grass that grows about here is at the foot of granite rocks, and occasionally in the bed of some driedup watercourse. It is not, strictly speaking, grass, but more of a weed, and a good deal of the greenstuff taken for grass when it is young turns out to be everlasting flower. 1 The whole trouble of tho country is the water supply. There are no rainfall records, but 1 should say it might average five

or six inches per annum, with a sporting chance of getting none- at afl, or, four inches in one hour, from a thunderstorm. Th« thunderstorms out here are mostly of the dry variety—much 'lightning and flourish of trumpets, but very little rain. A larger quantity of salt and blue bush in this- belt, I>.:t ir icnot of the quality "stock, care for,- and, even if-it were, it would bo of no-avail,: as. it .is l impossible .to get, fresh water except by surface catchment. All un-, derground :.water is salt, and surface water is' too’ expensive to;catch, • and ■ also the supply is too uncertain, r ■ GREAT LIMESTONE PLATEAU. .• From the. 100 miles to the-200 miles there is nothing but malice, spinifex, and sand—otherwise desert. 1 have not been out that far, but I- have details of a man who had ; hcon through, with a Government boring party. In this run of country the. land drops from 1300 ft. .to ,600 ft.. -ahqverses 'level;-and there starts the Great Limestone Plateau- This tremendous- limestone deposit stretches right into South Australia. and is bounded on the north by latitude fiOdeg., and in the south runs into the.sea.- Thus there is a line of cliffs along -the- sea coast. .At Euda the sea has receded so much that the cliffs are now about twenty miles inland. ■ . v ' , ' V~’ ; ''

i This' limestone plateau is- said to contain some of the. rincst pastoral Tand’TiT Australia. It is ; mostly open country, with not a stick on it except saltbush* bluehush, and grass. In - the hollows one finds a few mulga, myall, and rayaporum. ; Water is again.-the question out here. The Government, however, hare proved that, a sub-artesian, supply may be struck at 800 ft., but it does 'not "rise. They also found -,,another supply on the bed rock (about lOOOfti down), which wdT.rito tbiwithriu 400 ft. of .the surface. ‘ - - --((

•All this country' has been takennp on, the pastoral- lease system—mostly hy speculators, I think—and is .not, likely to be -improved ’ for, some years. The terms are 8s per annum for .each 1000 acres, year-to-year lease,, within fortv miles of tile lino, and until 1928 outside that boundary. Boring' is au expensive item—the contract for bores for this lihe was, let the other-day at £2 16s 9d per foot. It will; also require au engine to raise the water to the surface. ’ ’ ’•