9 



our deserts, and thereby to mitigate the distressing drought, and 

 to annihilate perhaps even that occasionally excessive dry heat 

 evolved by the sun's rays from the naked ground throughout 

 extensive regions of the interior, and wafted with the current of 

 air to the east and south, miseries from which the prevalence of 

 sea breezes renders the more littoral tracts of West and North. 

 Australia almost free." Again : "Even the rugged escarpments 

 of the desolate ranges of Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco, might 

 become wooded : even the Sahara itself, if it could not be con- 

 quered and rendered habitable, might have the extent of its 

 oasis vastly augmented ; fertility might be secured again to the 

 Holy Land, and rain to the Asiatic plateau or the desert of Ata- 

 cama, or timber and fuel be furnished to Natal and La Plata." 

 A great many of these trees are valuable for their timber, their 

 barks, their secretion of gum-resins, and for the essential oils 

 obtained from their leaves, each of which has been treated of, 

 more or less, in detail, under their respective headings, in the 

 following pages. 



Before quitting this part of the subject, it may be desirable 

 to speak in detail of the Eucalyptus globulus, for the reason that 

 this is the species which has been introduced into Southern 

 Europe, Algeria, etc., and is therefore better known outside of 

 Australia than any of the other varieties ; and has consequently 

 been made the subject of closer investigation. It may here be 

 remarked that the introduction of this and other species of the 

 .genus into other countries is mainly due to the exertions of 

 Baron Von Mueller. 



The Eucalyptus globulus, Labillardiere the Blue Gumtree 

 (so called from the peculiar hue of its foliage) of Victoria and 

 Tasmania (but not of New South Wales and West Australia), is 

 restricted to the two former colonies. The Eucalyptus mega- 

 carpa, Ferd. Mueller, which constitutes the blue gumtree of 

 Western Australia, rivals that of Victoria and Tasmania in size, 

 but is otherwise very distinct. The blue gumtree in Victoria 

 often reaches to nearly 300 feet, and to 120 feet without a 

 lateral branch, presenting a most noble object in the landscape. 

 A plank of this wood was imported into England for the Great 

 Exhibition ; it measured 100 feet in length, two feet six inches 

 broad, and three inches in thickness, and sold for more than 

 100. Its leaves are from four to seven inches long, and one 

 inch in breadth, shining on both surfaces. Like its congeners, 



B 



