CURRIJONG-TREE. 115 



the luxuriant little valley beneath, was very 

 beautiful. Having led our horses down, we 

 passed through an open forest country, which 

 presented a more agreeable prospect than any I 

 had yet seen. About this part of the country I 

 remarked the Indigo shrub (Indigofera Australis) 

 abundant, and I was told that indigo of good qua- 

 lity has been prepared from it at Bathurst. The 

 species of Eucalyptus, called "manna-tree" by the 

 colonists, (jEJ. inannifera,) was now occasionally 

 seen, but the season was not yet sufficiently ad- 

 vanced for its secretion, which is usually about 

 the months of December and January. The 

 Currijong-tree (^Hibiscus heterophyllus ?) was also 

 occasionally seen growing in a granite soil, and 

 more often in elevated than other situations : it 

 has a lively appearance, more especially con- 

 trasted with the other trees around it ; the bark 

 is rough, greyish, thick, and spongy, and the 

 wood is used by the aborigines for boats or 

 canoes. There are two species indigenous to 

 the colony ; from the bark of one, if not of 

 both, the natives manufacture durable rope for 

 nets, &c., as the Polynesian islanders use the 

 bark of another species of Hibiscus (H. Tilia- 

 ceus) for a similar purpose. 



By nine a. m. we passed a deserted station, 

 formerly called, and still known as " Vincent's 



I 2 



