SOUTH-EASTERN TEMPERATE RAIN-FOREST 189 



crowded with ferns. In the valleys, the second tier 

 consists almost exclusively of those tree- and herb-ferns 

 which have given the name to the famous fern-gullies of 

 south-eastern Australia. 



The orange and vine, and cereals, chiefly maize, are 

 grown, and dairy farming, and many other such indus- 

 tries, give an unlimited scope to the agriculture of this 

 wealthy territory. 



Northern Portion of the Eastern Highlands. Within 

 the tropics, the eastern part of the Queensland highlands 

 receives the benefit of the south-east trades and of the 

 summer monsoon, but it is only along narrow and 

 short strips here and there that the rainfall is sufficient 

 to support the true selva or rain-forest. The general 

 vegetation is of that lighter type of tropical forest called 

 'jungle ' in India and ' bush ' in Australia. The euca- 

 lypti, acacias, and banksias play here quite a secondary 

 part in the vegetation : they are replaced by true 

 tropical species allied to those of the Indo- Malay an flora ; 

 among them is found a stinging- tree or tree-nettle. 

 Near the tropic appear several kinds of araucarias, one 

 of which gives an edible nut. As may be expected, all 

 tropical produce can be freely grown here. 



Tasmania consists of a high tableland about 3,000 feet 

 in elevation, rising and falling in step-like terraces, and 

 surrounded by a broken and difficult hill-land. The 

 whole island is fairly well watered, especially in the 

 west, and its climate is mild. The central plateau is 

 a grass-land of park-like aspect, while the mountain 

 girdle is clad with forests similar to those of south- 

 eastern Australia, where the giant eucalypti and the 

 tree-ferns are most conspicuous. In the west and south, 

 evergreen beeches and conifers, mostly peculiar to the 

 island, impart to the forests the appearance of those 



