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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



In this region I had my first view of the Australian bushman, and. 

 he is certainly the lowest of all the natives I met during the whole trip. 

 I could admire his boomerang and the way he threw it, and also his 

 almost ape-like agility in climbing trees, but he hardly seems to be 

 reassuring material for civilized citizenship. 



Although a year's field study of the cycads about Cairns and north 

 of Cairns would doubtless have proved productive, I had no more time, 



Fig. 6. Platycerium, the Stag Horn Fern. 



and had to hasten to meet my boat sailing from Sydney on December 

 16, 1911. There are few cycads south of Sydney, and consequently, a 

 steamer stop of three days at Melbourne finished the work in Australia. 

 Although Melbourne is about 1,500 miles south of the Tropic of 

 Capricorn, the climate is mild, and palms, tree ferns, cycads and 

 araucarias flourish in the botanical gardens. The director, Mr. Cronin, 

 was particularly proud of the tree fern display, which could hardly be 



