BY F. MAXSON BAILEY, F.L.S. 



the river. The scenery was grand in the extreme, and for its 

 striking beauty Avas, in a great measure, indebted to the great 

 variety of pahiis, but not being able to procure fruits I could 

 only guess at even the genera to which they belonged. I was 

 particularly taken, in more senses than one, by a grand "lawyer 

 cane," a species of Korthalsia — a genus, so far as at present 

 known, not belonging to Australia. It is in all probability K. 

 -Zippelii, niunir, but the plants were neither in tioAver or fruit 

 at the time. The growth is far handsomer than any of the 

 •Queensland lawyer-canes (Calamus), its stems are rather stout, 

 and although climbing, run up erect at some distance from the 

 trunk of the tree it climbs — thus, when viewed from a distance 

 its stem appears independent of the tree. The leaves are simply- 

 pinnate, very long, bearing alternate or sub-opposite, tlabellate, 

 cuneate, plicate leatiets, often exceeding lOin. in length, enlarg- 

 ing gradually from the base to a width of Oin., with entire 

 margins, then tapering to an elongated point, the sides of which 

 are irregularly jagged or sharply toothed, the whole under side 

 of the leatiets white. Rhachis brown, armed with distant, 

 recurved prickles in threes or tAvos, alternating with which are 

 others of snuiUer size. Each leaf is terminated with a long 

 thong bearing similar prickles, biit more closely set on the 

 rhachis. On the bank of this river I saAv the only fern-tree met 

 with during the trip. The trunk was about 12it.high, but after 

 spending some time in obtaining specimens it was found to be 

 -only a form of our common species — Alsophila australis, /.'. l!r. 

 The absence of fern-trees along the coast is only what one would 

 ■expect, as these plants are usually found in the gully-scrubs, 

 often some distance from the coast. Near the mouth of the 

 river Avas a very dense groAvth of that historic palm Nipa fruti- 

 cans, ]\'iiniili., Avith fruit-heads nearly Hft. in diameter, of a 

 rich glossy broAvn colour ; the leaAes, howcAer, did not attain the 

 height ascribed to them in other parts of the tropics. I could 

 not hear of the natives using the fruit as food, but the leaves are 

 used for thatching most of their houses on the coast. On the 

 Avide sandy beach of the bay into Avhich the ]\Iambare River 

 empties one may pick up a large collection of both HoAvers and 

 fruit, but it Avas of only a very few that I could find the trees or 



