Australians, not the world’s silent sufferers, like to dwell on their geographic uniqueness as the world’s smallest, oldest, flattest, hottest and driest continent. The result is the world’s highest degree of urbanisation, with 90% of the population living in conurbations along the east coast strip. European settlement in 1788 was a disaster for the indigenous population, who, after 65,000 years of highly successful and uninterrupted habitation, had no preparation for the arrival of settlers. The plagues that followed them occurred at regular intervals with devastating results, whole tribes being wiped out. Coastal aboriginals were riddled with syphilis, which had been acquired in the usual way from sailors, whalers and explorers. It was later discovered that inland tribes had endemic non-venereal syphili,s which arose in warm climates...
6 min read (1150 words)
