ARE NATURALLY EXPOSED IN NEW HOLLAND. 295 



XXI. Latitude about 30' S. — Elevation under 590 feet. 

 December 10 <o December 14. 



Obse?-vations. — Dec. 14. Heavy rain. 



Plants observed. — Cyclogyne Swainsonioicles, Canthium olei- 

 folium, Malva ovata, Thysanotus elatior, Hakea longicuspis, 

 Morgania glabra, Heterodendron olesefolium, Polymeria longi- 

 folia. 



The reader will doubtless be surprised to find how low a tem- 

 perature was occasionally observed on this journey. In the end 

 of April (our October) in latitude 28° S., within 4^° of the 

 Tropic, at an insignificant elevation, the thermometer stood at 

 26'' at sun-rise, and was as low as 43° at nine v. m. ; neverthe- 

 less, the country produced wild Indigo, Mimosas, Casuarinas, 

 arborescent Myrtleblooms, and Loranths. A degree nearer the 

 Tropic in May (our November) the thermometer at sun-rise 

 marked 20°, 19°, 18°, 17°, 16°, 12°, and on two separate days 

 even ll°! On the 22nd oi^l.a.j the river teas frozen, and yet 

 herbage was luxuriant, and the country produced Mimosas, 

 Eucalypti, Acacias, the tropical Bottle-tree (Delabechea), a Ca- 

 landrinia, and even a Loranth. On the 23rd of May, the thermo- 

 meter at sun-rise marking 12", Acacia conferta was coming into 

 flower, and Eucalypti, with the usual Australian vegetation, were 

 abundant. On the 30th of May, at the elevation of 1118 feet, 

 the almost tropical Delabechea was found growing, with the 

 temperature at sun-rise 22° and at nine p.m. 31°, so that it must 

 have been exposed to a night's frost gradually increasing through 

 12°. And this was evidently the rule during the months of May, 

 June, and July (our November, December, and January) ; in 

 latitude 26° S. among Tristanias, Pbebaliums, Zamias, Hoveas, 

 Myoporums, and Acacias, the evening temperature was observed 

 to be 29°, 22°, 37°, 29°, 25°, falling during the night to 26", 21°, 

 12°, 14°, 20° ; in latitude 25° S. the tents were frozen into boards 

 at the elevation of 1421 feet, the thermometer, July 5, sunk 

 during the night from 38° to 1 6°, and there grew Cryptandras, 

 Acacias, Bursarias, Boronias, Stenochiles, and the like. Cym- 

 bidium canaliculatum, the only orchidaceous epiphyte observed, 

 was in flower under a night temperature of 33" and 34° ; that by 



