1877.] 



AND HOB TIC UL T UBIS T. 



61 



We had left Mount Alexandria, some miles 

 behind, and turning towards Lake Alexandria, 

 intending to reach the coast, and from Rivoli 

 Bay, embark for Port Adelaide, South Australia. 

 We needed rest, my companion especially, who 

 complained of indisposition. After a short nap, 

 leaving him to sleep and recuperate, I started 

 off to explore the valley. It seemed appalling 

 to look down from the dizzy height to the yawn- 

 ing abyss below. It was deep enough to make 

 a samphire gatherer giddy ; and was as fearful 

 to peer over as Shakespear's Cliff. Thinking of 

 it now, I am reminded of the immense mountain 

 rifts, or canyons, Mr. Meehan so graphically de- 

 scribes in former "Traveling Recollections." The 

 declivity, as seen from the higliest point, ap- 

 peared to be of immeasurable depth — awful in 

 its unfathomed profundity. Making a consider- 

 able detour through the bush, and following a 

 kangaroo track, closely hedged on each side with 

 the beautiful Epacris splendens, Correa speciosa, 

 Boronia crenulata, Polygala grandis, Dillwynia 

 clavica, and Eriostemon pulchellum, made an 

 easy descent to the bottom of the chasm. 



A herd of sleek kangaroos were quietly graz- 

 ing among the rich and lu:»iriant herbage which 

 covered the deep alluvial valley. As I watched 

 the pranks and laughed at the gambols of the 

 young ones romping and frisking about like play- 

 ful kittens, I was startled with an immense dia- 

 mond snake. The devilish stare of its evil eyes 

 met mine, vis-a-vis. As if meditating mischief, 

 the Satanic fire of its terribly glaring orbs com- 

 pletely unnerved me for the moment. The ma- 

 lignant monster, partly uncoiling its loathsome 

 carcass, and elevating its head some six feet high, 

 stood at bay before me. Taking aim, as deliber- 

 ately as my shaky condition would allow, I fired 

 a heavy charge of swan-shot at "the enemy of 

 mankind," and destroyed " the evil one." The 

 unusual sound of mj' gun alarmed the timid 

 creatures, who bounded off at a tremendous pace, 

 along the valley. In their first moments of fright 

 the older animals stampeded away, forgetting 

 the little ones, who pitifully bleating, did their 

 best to keep up with them. Immediately after, 

 crushing through the bushes with true maternal 

 affection, the does returned to protect their 

 young, who thei» scampered off together. The 

 fly iflg leap of a full grown kangaroo when pur- 

 sued, will often measure from twenty to twenty- 

 six feet. Perched among the fronds of a Seafor- 

 thia elegans, in singiilar contrast to the serpent 

 beneath, was a flock of the lovely Wonga-Wonga 



Pigeons, (Leucosarica picata.) and the graceful 

 Crested Dove, (Ocephaps lophotes.) There are 

 upwards of twenty species of the pigeon tribe, 

 indigenous to Australia, all of which are exceed- 

 ingly beautiful. The Avifauna of the antipodes 

 are truly magnificent, and like the Flora, are 

 marvels of beauty, as they flit among the 

 flowers and disport their gay plumage in the 

 trees, and while thus pleasantly engaging our at- 

 tention, greatly excite our admiration. As I am 

 unable to do justice to them in my sketches, I 

 will confine my remarks chiefly to vegetable life; 

 with which I am more familiar. Not that I love 

 them any the less, but ray forte, as I previously 

 stated, is horticulture. 



It is not unusual for the observant traveler 

 when forcing his way through the fastnesses of 

 the primeval forest, to meet with remarkable in- 

 stances of plant growth. Many are exceedingly 

 beautiful, both in form, foliage and flower; while 

 others are singular oddities, if not marvels; they 

 are curious and interesting. So anomalous, or 

 paradoxical are some species, as to excite sur- 

 prise when we see them, while we pause and 

 ponder. The writer has frequently alluded to 

 their peculiarities when describing Antipodean 

 scenes. Vegetative types, much resembling their 

 congeners of the fossil flora, are comparatively 

 common to Australia, and afford subjects of com- 

 ment to speculative minds. 



When meditating on the long-ago, or pre-his- 

 toric times, a simple looker-on, often feels con- 

 fased when he sees the relics or remains of that 

 remote period before him. Thus perplexed, he 

 naturally asks the geologist for information, 

 whose comprehensive mind and searching eye, 

 reads in the fossilized book of nature, "Sermons 

 in stones," and in the earth's foundations re- 

 views the chronicles of the past. While referring 

 to the unnumbered cycles which have gone by 

 in the rounds of time, and which probably exceed 

 millions of years, he points to the ancient petri- 

 fied forms of a past flora, and compares the kin- 

 dred species of that era with existing alliances of 

 this. The erudite paleontologist, familiar with 

 the science of botany, readily deciphers the fossil 

 paleograph, so indelibly engraved and beautifully 

 embossed on the carboniferous tablets, and re- 

 cognizes in their structural impressions, similar 

 ligneous and herbaceous characteristics of the 

 present flora. To wit: the Araucaria, Dammara, 

 Cunninghamia, Casuariim, Phyllocladus, Xan- 

 thorrhoea, Cycas, Zamia, Macrozamia, B.ambusa, 

 Palm, Dracaena, Pandanus, Cordylino, &c., with 



