STRINGY BARK TREES. 169 



in stripping large and perfect sheets of bark from 

 the trees, and as this material is used by the colo- 

 nists for the covering of huts and other pur- 

 poses, the natives are often employed by them 

 to procure it. The bark of two species of the 

 Eucalyptus called "stringy bark" and "box- 

 tree" by the colonists, (more particularly the for- 

 mer,) is preferred, as from them it is more readily 

 stripped in pieces of the large size usually re- 

 quired. If the aborigines wanted to pass a 

 river, I observed them strip off sheets of bark 

 with great expedition, upon which they crossed, 

 paddling themselves with a piece of wood, some- 

 times placing piles of mud at each end of the 

 rude bark to prevent the ingress of the water, if 

 there was any thing in it they wished to keep 

 dry : having all the services they require out of 

 the rudely constructed vessels, they desert and 

 leave them either to be carried down the stream 

 or rot on the banks, being aware that another 

 canoe of the same rude construction is always 

 ready when it may be required. 



When the bark of the " stringy bark" (or, 

 according to its native name in this part of the 

 colony, Dether) is waved, it is rejected by the 

 stock-keepers, fencers, &c., as unserviceable, 

 the timber being then found twisted, and not 

 capable of being split into straight pieces for 



