A QUICK TRIP THROUGH " THE BUSH:' 313 



parrot, or the cry of a cockatoo, standing on one foot 

 and lifting his head to watch you pass. Everywhere 

 you are met with cautions not to touch that flower to 

 your lips lest it poison you ; not to break that branch 

 lest a tiny thorn may pierce your skin, and you die 

 in convulsions within an hour, and such like cheerful 

 advice. You are surrounded, in fact, with deadly plants, 

 which under a tropic sun distil the most potent poisons ; 

 and it is the vegetable, rather than the animal, kingdom 

 that the traveller has to fear. 



" The run " had been named by the owner, a friend 

 and countryman of mine, '• Devil's Station," because of 

 the savage wildness of the country covered with virgin 

 forests and untracked bush, and he confided to me that 

 he had never himself been entirely round his property. 

 The name was appropriate on account, as well, of this 

 deadly growth of plant life, suggesting to a superstitious 

 mind the magic influence of evil spirits. 



The English Government has hit upon the happiest 

 way to colonize this rich country, allowing to the first 

 comer, without regard to " race, color, or previous con- 

 dition of servitude," the right to take possession of any 

 unoccupied land, — ten, twenty, fifty, or one hundred 

 acres, as much as his resources will allow him to im- 

 prove to advantage, — demanding in return so small a 

 tax that it simply serves to establish and preserve the 

 royal property in the land. The settler becomes the 

 tenant of the Government, rulmg over these vast pos- 



