AUSTRALIAN FLAX. 281 



was profusely scattered, and a multitude of other 

 flowers, vying with each other in beautiful tints, 

 adorning the soil. 



The roads, or rather cattle-paths, to this plain, 

 led through defiles of hilly and picturesque 

 scenery; hills towered above us, clothed at some 

 parts densely, and at others thinly, with various 

 kinds of timber ; a number of trickling streams 

 ran murmuring through the vales, their banks 

 covered with a luxuriant vegetation, while the 

 rich pasturage afforded abundance of food for 

 the herds of cattle located here, and for the 

 kangaroos and emus, which are numerous in 

 these valleys and ranges. 



On the banks of the Tumat stream, shrubs of 

 the genus, Pomaderris, Westringia, Grevillea, 

 Veronica, and Acacia, were profusely in flower ; 

 and the flax plant, {Linum Australis ?) called 

 " Warruck" and " Brangara" by the natives, 

 grew luxuriantly about the flat, attaining the 

 height of from two to five feet, and the largest 

 circumference of stem, half an inch. This plant, 

 by cultivation, might form a valuable article of 

 commerce, and could be procured in any quan- 

 tity. The natives first pulling the bark from the 

 stem, remove the epidermis from the flax, and 

 dry it in the sun ; they then manufacture it into 

 small cord by rolling upon the thigh ; (a similar 



