Opposed by country as yet unfamiliar to them, they found their onward path hindered by many totally unforeseen conditions.

Ranges and ravines clothed with an almost impenetrable jungle, which was infested with the venomous leaves of the stinging tree and the hooked spikes of the lawyer vine, confronted them.

The land was densely populated with the most savage and relentless natives on the continent, who resented the invasion from the outset.

Death tracked them steadily throughout, and claimed ten out of the thirteen of the devoted party as his victims.
The country through which their course lay is now dotted with mining-fields and townships, and fertile spaces of tilled tropical plantations.

The coast-line rich in harbours is the busy haunt of steamers, and the narrow waterway between the mainland and the great barrier reef the home of many lightships.