Australia has MANY PECULIARITIES. It has only one large river, and
even that in summer becomes a series of isolated pools. It has no high
mountain range, its principal mountains being only a series of
ramparts marking off the lower coast lands from the interior plateau.
Again, its native quadrupeds are entirely different from those of
other continents, being almost all, whether little or big,
"marsupials," or "pouch-bearers," like the kangaroo. Its birds are
mostly songless. Its flowers, for the most part, have no scent. Its
trees are leaved vertically and cast no shade. Its indigenous
inhabitants have made no progress toward civilisation. When Europeans
first came to the country they found no native animal that could be
put to any use, nor any native fruit, vegetable, or grain that could
be utilised for food. Still, all European domestic animals thrive
abundantly in the country, and so do all European fruits, grasses,
grains, and vegetables. The English rabbits, indeed, have become a
terrible pest. As many as 25,000,000 of them have been killed in a
year without any apparent diminution in their numbers. Over $1,000,000
a year has at times been spent to exterminate them, all to no effect.