A QUICK TRIP THROUGH ''THE BUSH/' 317 



or system, our host pointed out all those varieties of 

 giant mj'rtle and pine, which are unequalled elsewhere 

 in the world ; the eucalyptus, — one variety of which is 

 noted for its abundant sap, the growing well of the 

 traveller ; and one for its height, often reaching four 

 hundred feet, and rivalling its neighbor, the Welling- 

 tonia Gigantea, which grows to even greater heights. 

 Hundreds of varieties of acacia studded the plain, filled 

 in with Australian white lilies of sweetest perfume. 

 We were passing through little clumps of fig-trees, 

 whence a wax-like gum exuded ; of iialukas, bearing a 

 sort of manna; and of silk-trees, whose long green 

 threads swept the ground like hair. 



At eleven, or so, we met another of our scouts waiting 

 to advise us of the proximity of the game for which 

 we were in pursuit ; and by his advice we left our 

 mustangs under guard of one of the natives, and, rifle 

 in hand, began threading the undergrow^th, often so dense 

 and low that we were obliged to advance on hands and 

 knees, stopping every now and then, as the guide listened, 

 his ear near the ground, for any sound of game in the 

 neighborhood. After an hour of this painful advance, the 

 guide told us we had reached the spot where he thought 

 the kangaroos would shortly come ; and we lay as he 

 placed us, each behind and, in fact, in a bush, so that 

 we could not see one another, so well were we hidden. 

 It was uncomfortable, but necessary. The guide then 

 began the clever imitation of a magpie's note at regular 



