I hope it will be understood that I started with the supposition that the continent of Australia was formerly an archipelago of islands, but that some convulsion, by which the central land has been raised, has caused the changes I have suggested.

It was still a matter of conjecture what the real character of Central Australia really was, for its depths had been but superficially explored before my recent attempt.

My own opinion, when I commenced my last expedition, inclined me to the belief, and perhaps this opinion was fostered by the hope that such would prove to be the case, as well as by the reports of the distant natives, which invariably went to confirm it, that the interior was occupied by a sea of greater or less extent, and very probably by large tracts of desert country.
With such a conviction I commenced my recent labours, although I was not prepared for the extent of desert I encountered--with such a conviction I returned to the abodes of civilized man.

I am still of opinion that there is more than one sea in the interior of the Australian continent, but such may not be the case.

All I can say is, Would that I had discovered such a feature, for I could then have done more upon its waters tenfold, than I was enabled to accomplish in the gloomy and burning deserts over which I wandered during more than thirteen months.