EXTRACTS. 136 



been upwards of flfty-fonr hours on shore, with no other provision than some 

 bits of biscuit. When Le had recovered from the state of stupor into which 

 be had been thrown by so loug a privation of nourishment, he told his com- 

 panions that he had lost himself on the first day ; but that near the fire which 

 he had found buruiu», there was a little rill of fresh water, at which he had 

 quenched his thirst, and urged by hunger, he had ranged about in the neigh- 

 bourhood, and in the thickets liad discovered a shrub which furnished hiui 

 with some small fruit, but in a ijuautity insufficient for the supply of his 

 necessities. To that shrub, the plant we have here defined and figured, M. 

 Lauillardie^, who originally described it, attached the name of the re- 

 covered Naturalist, as much out of compliment to him, as with a view to 

 perpetuate the remembrance of the circumstances under which it had beeu 

 discovered. 



" At the little spring of water — a rare discovery in the midst of an arid 

 waste, — he passed the first night, and the next day was wholly spent iu a fruit- 

 less attempt to gain the landing-place. ' In all this painful preregrination,' 

 says Lauillardiere, ' M. Riche did not meet with a drop of water, although 

 he saw in those wilds, at some distance from him. Emus, Kangaroos, and even 

 some of the aboriginal inhabitants, who, however, fied before him as he ad- 

 vanced :— but chance (rather, a kind Providence) happily conducted him iu 

 the evening to the same little rill, where lie spent a second night.' Notwith- 

 standing the distress to which his situation had reduced him, exposed as he 

 was to all the horrors of famine, M. Riche carried during these two days ' a 

 numerous collection of very interesting productions' of the country he had 

 traversed ; ' but during the third day, his strength sunk so rapidly,' before he 

 reached the boats, that ' he was obliged to abandon the whole collection, not 

 being able to reserve even the most precious articles.' 



"This first landing on the inhospitable shores of Nuyt's Land by the French, 

 was not, however, wholly lost to science; for M. Labillarijiere, amidst his 

 anxiety to urge the prosecution of the search for his lost countryman, did uot 

 fail to make some observation on the few birds that inhabit the shores, nor to 

 form some little collection of the fine plants which, uotwiihslauding the aridity 

 of the soil, were nevertheless able to maintain an existence. Thus, among 

 other plants, with which that painful excursion first made us acquainted, may 

 be enumerated, besides our I.eucopogon, Ijauksia repens and uivea ; Chori- 

 zema ilicifolia; Eucalyptus cornuta and Anigozantbus rnfa. The last notice 

 wc find of M. Riche, after his return to France, is from Labillardiere 

 himself, namely, ' that he fell a victim to his love for science, havini; made, 

 when already in a very advanced stage of consumption, a long and fatiguing' 

 journey, in which he cbnsulted his scientific zeal more than the state of his 

 health.' 



"Mr. Brown has substantially perpetuated his memory, by giving his 

 name to a very singular plant likewise of this Order, growing abundantly on 

 the summit and sides of Mount Wellington,* near Hobart Town, Van Die- 

 men's Land, which would therefore be almost hardy in our gardens, to which, 

 however, it remains yet to be introduced." 



.0. Primula amienu. Purple Caucasian Primrose. Pentandria Monogynia. 

 Primulacca;. This most desirable addition to the cultivated species of a 

 universally admired genus, vvas obtained by Mr. Neii.l, from Mr. Goldie, 

 who brought it from St. Petersburgh. It (lowered beautifully in the cold 

 frame at Canon Mills, Edinburgh, in April, 1833, i)roducing an umbel of 

 eighteen perfect flowers. Flowers: Corolla very hand.some, purplish-lilac in 

 bud, or when recently expanded ; more blue after a few days; tube purple oil 

 the outside, yellow within. Culture : increased by division of the plant ; soil, 

 sandy loam. Primula, from Primus the first; tiiiie of flowering. 



a. EjMcriH nivalif, itiowy Epacris. Pentandria Monogynia. Epacrideae. 

 This exceedingly beautiful species was introduced into the garden of Messrs 

 LoniiiGEs'ii l.y II. },l. Dvek, Esq. in 18^9. It forms a huge bush, and pro- 

 duces a vast profusion of line blossoms from April to the end of Summer. 



• Tlii. rnnarkiilil.- mountain i» ahoul llir Mmr i-l.valion nl.ovr the levrl of lli» 

 wim";m,,n{l',"-A\" '" *^°"'""'' '""^ '•" """""" '» covered with snow during the 



