108 T^i^c South AiLstraUan Naturalist. 



wallabies and kangaroos will not become a menace to the 

 grass and crops. On the return journey ViA'onne Bay was 

 visited. Here the Government has built a fine jetty with the 

 idea of opening up the south of the island. Some yacca gum 

 is shipped from this part, and as yet but little else. Most of 

 the country seen by the party Avas wild bush, so far untouched 

 except by the yacca gum chopper. The prevalence of the 

 yacca or grass tree (Xanthorrhoea Tatcana), with blackened 

 stem, its waving plumes, and its long, flowering stalk (or 

 ^'waddy") standing high above the surrounding scrub, gives 

 a strange and characteristic appearance to the island land- 

 scape. 



The botanists of the party were surprised and delighted 

 to find so many plants in full flower at this season of the year. 

 On the other hand, very few insects were taken. Many com- 

 mon flowers, abundant on the mainland, Avere conspicuously 

 absent. Perhaps the commonest flower was a little yellow 

 ^'golden pennant" (Loudonia aurea and L. Behrii). All over 

 the island the party saw its little yellow banners turning red 

 with age. A conspicuous plant is the ^'Tomato bush" (f)idy- 

 motheca pleiococca), bearing little tomato-like fruits. The 

 prevailing colours of the scrub are subdued greens, browns, 

 and dull greys, but here and there the young irrowths of malice 

 shoots light up the scene with brilliant yellow, brown, and 

 glowing red tints. An occasional patch of the glorious crim- 

 son flowered bottle brush (Callistemon rugulosus-coccinea) 

 adds a patch of colour to the scene. 



Mention should be made of the ''oil mallee of the island." 

 This is a narrow-leaved mallee (Eucalyptus cneorifolia). The 

 trees are pollarded in the warm weather, the leafy branches 

 l)eing cut off to a lensgrth of about 2 ft. 6in. These leaves are 

 packed into large stills with water. The steam and oil, con- 

 densed by passing through a long pipe immersed in cold water, 

 run out as a mixture of oil and water, Avhich rapidly separate. 

 The oil is then dipped up and put through a second distillation, 

 the final result being a crystal clear oil containing a very large 

 percentage of the valuable eucalyptol. Many other trees in 

 Victoria and South Australia yield oil, but it' is claimed that 

 the Kangaroo Island product is superior, as containing a 

 greater percentage of the valuable eucalyptol and a lower per- 

 centage of the less valuable phellandrene. The oil mallee is 

 not found all over the island, but seems to grow mainly within 

 a. radius of about 25 miles from Kingscote. 



