Epigraph: 'Pasture everywhere is so thin that settlers have already pushed far into the interior: moreover the country further inland becomes extremely poor. Agriculture can never succeed on an extended scale: therefore, as far as I can see, Australia must ultimately depend on being the centre of commerce for the Southern Hemisphere, and perhaps on her future manufactories. Possessing coal, she always has the motive power at hand. From the habitable country along the coast, and from her English extraction, she is sure to be a maritime nation.' Charles Darwin