TUMAT COUNTRY. 259 



but they are so very shy, as to render it difficult 

 to get within shot of them. 



The following morning (December 9th) I pro- 

 ceeded through the " Tumat country." On leav- 

 ing Darbylara much swampy land was passed, 

 varied by plains and hills, abounding in pas- 

 turage, in which the kangaroo-grass (Anthisteria 

 australis) grew to the height of four feet, and 

 numerous creeks emptying their waters into the 

 stream of the Tumat. The numerous lagoons 

 and flats, swamps or marshes, (for by all these 

 names they seem equally known,) had a fresh 

 green appearance, occasioned by the young 

 reeds springing up, which are greedily devoured 

 by cattle and horses, as in that stage of growth 

 they are sweet, and contain abundance of muci- 

 lage ; as they advance in growth, the verdure 

 they possessed is succeeded by arid brown stems, 

 surmounted by feathered blossoms, which wave 

 and bend with a rustling noise to the breeze 

 that sweeps by them. The road continued 

 through a pleasing country, abounding in vales 

 rich with vegetation, about which hills, thinly 

 scattered with trees, but densely clothed with 

 herbage, rose, of different forms and heights, 

 varied by the " Swamp oaks," " Water gum," 

 and other Eucalypti, which, by their greener 



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