20 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



prevailing perception may be of lush grasses mingled with 

 the soft odour of their frail flowers ; or the resin and honey 

 of blossoming bloodwoods ; or the essence from myriads of 

 other eucalyptus leaves massaged by the winds. The in- 

 comparable beach-loving calophyllums yield a profuse 

 but tender fragrance reminiscent of English meadow-sweet, 

 and the flowers of a vigorous trailer (Canavila obtusifolia\ 

 for ever exploring the bare sand at high-water mark, 

 resembles the sweet-pea in form and perfume. The 

 white cedar (Melia composite?} is a welcome and not un- 

 worthy substitute in appearance and perfume for English 

 lilac. The aromatic pandanus and many varieties of 

 acacia, each has its appointed time and season ; while 

 at odd intervals the air is saturated with the rich and 

 far-spreading incense of the melaleuca, and for many 

 weeks together with the honeyed excellence of the swamp 

 mahogany ( Tristania suavoslens] and the over-rich cloyness 

 of the cockatoo apple (Carey a aus traits). Strong and 

 spicy are the odours of the plants and trees that gather 

 on the edge of and crowd in the jungle, the so-called 

 native ginger, nutmeg, quandong, milkwood, bean-tree, the 

 kirri-cue of the blacks (Eupomatia laurina\ koie-yan 

 (Faraday a splendidd), with its great white flowers and 

 snowy fruit, and many others. Hoya, heavy and indo- 

 lent, trails across and dangles from the rocks ; the river 

 mangrove dispenses its sweetness in an unexpected 

 locality ; and from the heart of the jungle come wafts of 

 warm breath, which, mingling with exhalation from foliage 

 and flower, is diffused broadcast. The odour of the jungle 

 is definite earthy somewhat, but of earth clean, whole- 

 some and moist the smell of moss, fern and fungus 

 blended with balsam, spice and sweetness. 



Many a time, home-returning at night when the black 

 contours of the island loomed up in the distance against 

 the pure tropic sky tremulous with myriads of unsullied 

 stars has its tepid fragrance drifted across the water as a 

 salutation and a greeting. It has long been a fancy of 

 mine that the island has a distinctive odour, soft and pliant, 



