Retracking of overland returns from the SEASAT altimeter using algorithms originally developed for recovering elevations over ice has led to the successful recovery of high quality continental topography over Australia and other continents. Cross-over analysis both before and after orbit adjustment shows the altimetric data over land to have a 2--3 m quality. Direct comparison of gridded SEASAT data with surface data re-averaged in the same way shows excellent agreement except where SEASAT data are sparse, due either to poor track spacing or to dropouts caused by loss of tracker lock over steeply sloping ground. These results suggest that useful topographic data can be derived from SEASAT and the more recent GEOSAT altimeters for parts of the world where surface data are few or of poor quality. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1990