282 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 



ranges of hills or mountains. It is not known growing in a wild state 

 further to the sonth than the range dividing the falls of the waters of 

 the rivers Brisbane and Burnett ; but in the Wide Bay District, in the 

 twenty-seventh parallel, it grows very thickly over an extent of country, 

 about thirty miles by twelve, which is in consequence called the * Bimya' 

 Bimya country.' 



*' The tree is easily distinguished, as it far outtops every other kind 

 of tree in the scrub ; and instead of the branches pointing downwards 

 as in the Moreton Bay Pine {Araitcaria Cunninghami) ^ they grow 

 straight out from the tree, or rather with a curve or inclination up- 

 w^ards. 



"•Its height is immense ; Leichhardt mentions their being 160 feet 



high before there were any branches, for in its wild state the branches 



only grow near the top of the tree, owing to the want of light in the 



Nscrub, but if planted out in an open space they feather quite to the 



ground. 



" The wood can be used for the same purposes as Pine, and is rather 

 more durable ; it makes excellent sheep-hurdles. The leaves are of a 

 rich dark green, and sharp-pointed, so much so as to be prickly. The 

 coney or frnit, is very large, and grows on the extreme tip of the tree. 

 This fruit is only plentiful every third year. In appearance it is like 

 an immense Pir cone, and is, before it is quite ripe, of a beautiful 

 green colour. Measurement of the cone sent to the great French Ex- 

 hibition : — 12 inches in length; 22 inches round the broadest part, 

 transversely; 19|^ round in the narrowest part. The shape is a de- 

 pressed globe. 



" When the proper season arrives, the natives assemble in great 

 numbers fi*om very great distances all around, for the purpose of eat- 

 ing the fruit, which they generally roast. Each tribe has its own pe- 

 culiar set of trees, and each family its own allotment among them. 

 These are handed down from generation to generation w^ith the greatest 

 exactness, and if any one is found in a tree not belonging to hifflj ^ 

 fight, or ' pullen pullen,' is the inevitable consequence. 



" This is believed to be the only hereditary personal property pos- 

 sessed by the Aborigines, and it is therefore generally respected, and 

 this makes the * Bunya-Bunya ' interesting, 



"C..P. D. Parkinson." 



