A GLANCE AT VASTNESS

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 15119, 13 August 1913, Page 5

A GLANCE AT VASTNESS

■-■ IX WESTERN AUSTRALIA. WITH THE TRANSCONTINENTAL SURVEY. GOLD ON "THE" DECLINE. By Cardunia Rocks, on" the-route of tl,e . Augusta railwav, section of the ■'Transcontinental,'-'' tJiere is a. camp of surveyors, liarclv, cnecrlul men, skilled pioneers for tho armies of traders to follow. They are seventy miles out in the wilderness, in a desert which can be changed into a garden by t! lat m agic transformer, water A cadet attached to the survey party has closely observed the country, and Juts glV en a brisk summary of his impressions to a. relative in Wellington. -Here is the text'of the letter:— SEVERAL SIINES "SHAKY." 'I he mining industry is declining, ami the Government doe-s so much to simulate prospecting, and helo poor syndicates, that the Alines Department cannot show a prolit. Several of the b:g mines in Kalgoorlie arc getting pretty shaky, and the onlv thirig that prevented a big strike last Christmas Mas the knowledge that some of the mines would not. live through it; the men saw they would be killing the hen that laid the golden egg. We are'in a God-iorsakoiiTcountrv—-we are. The first fifty miles .from Kalgoorlie is all the same—greenstone country—and said to be auriferous; yokl mines, however, are conspicuous in their absence. Perhans this" mav be explained by the fact" that nearly all this country is covered by a laver of cement just under the surface, -ranging m thickness from ten to thirty feet. J his is principally made ur> of lime and cronstoue, and is a fairly recent deposit. Thus, von 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 tew ,-eefs actually outcron. excont in lulls where they are exposed bv ages of weathering, i MILLIONS OF ACRES WATERLESS. I went down one mine bust Christmas, in wh.ch their main reef comes onlv ivithiu fifty feet of the surface. Bv a stroke of luck this reef' was' struck .vhile working another small cross reef, ivhich outcropped. The soil is all the ;ame over this, stretch of country, and if the same class that is lushed for ,vhoai in the main belt. lb is a fairly leavy red loam. It seem.s the. sheer rony of fate that within the. good rainfall area this sort of land is very ■latchy, while out here there are ndlions of 'acres—no exaggeration—mil without one single patch of sand plain to break the monotony ofthein. After the 50 miles big granite rocks icgin to appear, and as you proceed, ;he. country gradually changes. " from greenstone to granite, but just as flat is ever, ajul just as unpicturcsque.

This class of countrv continues to the 100 miles. The timber on this first hundred miles oi- country is all of the eucalyptus iamily. It is mestlv salmon gum, a. tree -winch averages in this i>art of the State aeout Ift Gin through and 60ffc high. It is a fine tree to look at, and has a salmon-coloured hark, from which it derives its name. The wood, however, is useless for anything except burning, as it is very susceptible to the 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 hv the big mines, and the land is cleared within a radius of 40 miles of Kalgoorhe, except where the State has reserved forests.

NIGGARDLY CLOUDS. The only grass that grows about hero is at the foot of granite- rocks, and occasionally in the bed of somo dricd-up watercourse. It is not, strictly speaking, grass, but more of. a weed, and a good deal of the greenstuff taken fot>.grass when it is young turns out to be everlasting flower. The whole, trouble of the countrv is the water supply. There are no' rainfall records, but I should say it might average five or six inches' per annum, with a sporting chance of getting none at all, or four inches in one hour from a thunderstorm. The thunderstorms out here are mostlv of the drv variety —much lightning and flourish o'f trumpets, but verv little rain. A large quantity of salt and blue bush grows in this belt, but it is not of the quality stock care for. and. even it it were, it would he of no avail, as it is impossible to get fresh water except by surfneo "" catchment. All underground water is salt, and surface water is too expensive to catch, and I also tlie supply is too uncertain. GREAT LIMESTONE PLATEAU. From the 100 miles to the 200 miles there is nothing but mallee, spinifex, and sand—otherwise desert. 1 have not been out that far, but I liave details of a man who had been through with a Government boring party. In this run of country the land drabs from 1300 ft to 600 ft above sea level, and there starts the Great Limestone Plateau. This tremendous limestone deposit stretches right into South Australia, and is bounded on the north bv latitude 30deg. and in the. south runs mto the sea. Thus there is a line of cliffs along the sea coast. At Eucla the sea has receded so much that the cliffs arc npw about twenty miles inland. /This limestone plateau is said to contain some of the finest pastoral land in Australia. It is mostly ooen country, with not a stick on it excent saltbush, blue bush, and grass. -In the hollows one finds a few mulgo, myall, and myaporum. Water is again'the question out here.. The- Government, however, have proved that a subartesian supply may be struck at 300 ft, but it does not rise. l They also found another supply on the bed'rock (about 1000 ft down), which will rise to within 400 ft of the surface. All this country has been taken up on the pastoral lease sysytem—mostly by speculators, I think—and is not likely to be improved for somo years. The terms are a? per annum for each ]f)3o acres, year lease within 40, miles of the line, and until 1928 outside that boundary. Boring is an expensive item—the contract for bores for this lino was let the other day at £2 16s 9d per font. It will also' require an engine to raise the water to the .surface.