Brick-fielders. Snow in Sydney. 

 Vegetation. 



NEW SOUTH WALES. 



Wooden pears. Monotony of its 

 scenery. 



four winter months, witnessed no precipitation of 

 moisture except frosts in the mornings, and the 

 thermometer was often below the freezing point. 

 Violent winds occur, which have obtained the name 

 of brick-fielders. They are nothing more than a 

 kind of gust, peculiar to the environs of Sydney, 

 after a sultry day. During one of these gusts little 

 or no rain falls, though the wind frequently ap- 

 proaches a hurricane in force. These winds get 

 their name from bringing the dust from the brick- 

 fields, formerly in the suburbs of Sydney, but 

 which are now almost entirely built over. The 

 temperature during the blow generally falls twenty 

 or twenty-five degrees, in the space of as many 

 minutes; the dust is very great, and the wind so 

 strong, as to cause apprehension lest the houses 

 should be unroofed, or the chimneys thrown down. 

 Our standard barometer was carefully watched 

 during the coming on of two of these gusts, and 

 found to fall (V200 in., the first time, and the 

 second only 020 in. ; but the temperature fell 

 each time about ten degrees. They were not, 

 however, true brick-fielders, or such as a resident 

 would so denominate. 



Snow has been known to fall in Sydney, but so 

 rarely, that we were told some of the inhabitants 

 were doubtful as to its nature. On the mountains 

 it is not uncommon, and in the winter season is 

 always seen on those in the New England district, 

 which, although three or four degrees to the north- 

 ward of Sydney, enjoys a much cooler climate. 



I found at Sydney a great variety of opinions 

 existing about the climate. During our stay, the 

 weather was unfavourable for all astronomical ob- 

 servations, and almost the whole time cloudy or 

 rainy. It was amusing to find many of those to 

 whom I had the pleasure of an introduction, apo- 

 logizing for the badness of the weather. It brought 

 forcibly to my recollection, the fault that Captain 

 Basil Hall finds with the people of the United 

 States, but was far from being annoying to me. I 

 have but little doubt that the climate is, generally 

 speaking, a healthy one, and not unlike that of 

 some parts of our own country. The colony is 

 subject to occasional epidemics, and from the best 

 information I could procure, it is thought that the 

 mortality is about one in forty-three; this may be 

 called a very small proportion, when one takes into 

 consideration the great quantity of ardent spirits 

 that is consumed. 



The general appearance of the vegetation of 

 New South Wales presents many peculiarities. The 

 character of its productions is totally distinct from 

 those of the other portions of the globe. The gum 

 trees, Norfolk pines, and those of Moreton Bay, at- 

 tract attention from their scattered appearance, 

 and peculiar foliage. All these have a dark and 

 sombre hue. A remark made by one of our gentle- 

 men is characteristic of the former, " that they 

 were ghosts of trees." The leaves being set edge- 

 wise causes this appearance, and in consequence 

 give little or no shade. This peculiar position of 

 the leaf is more conspicuous in the eucalypti than 

 in other genera, for in them the leaves are all 

 pendant, while the leaves in the other genera are 

 usually upright, rigid, and somewhat as may be 

 seen in the acacias and other tribes. It was 

 observed that botli surfaces of the leaves were 

 much alike, having as it were, two upper surfaces. 

 Whether any physiological purpose has been as- 



signed for such an arrangement I have not been 

 informed. 



Among the most singular of the productions of 

 Australia are the wooden pears, as they are called. 

 These have a close external resemblance to the 

 fruit whose name they bear, but are ligneous 

 within. Another of the fruits is a cherry, whose 

 stone is external, and would be similar to our fruit 

 of that name were the kernel in its proper place. 

 The pit adheres firmly to the pulp, which is of the 

 size of a pistol-bullet, but the fruit shrinks when 

 ripe to that of a buck-shot. The pear grows on a 

 low shrub, the cherry on a large bush. 



I have before remarked how different the "forest," 

 so called in New South Wales, is from what is un- 

 derstood by the term elsewhere. The want of close 

 growth is not the only remarkable appearance, but 

 the absence of all decayed foliage is also extraor- 

 dinary. The ground is clear of any fallen leaves, 

 and every thing betokens that perennial verdure is 

 here the order of things. These two features coniT 

 bined, give the forests of Australia the air of a 

 neatly-kept park. Annual plants, (if so they can 

 be called,) abound in the forest, requiring, it is 

 said, more than a single year to bring their seeds 

 to maturity. There were instances we were told of 

 crops of grain remaining three years in the ground. 

 A few plants found in other parts of the world, are, 

 it is well known, only brought into existence after a 

 lapse of years, and others give repeated crops during 

 the same year. That these types, so rare in other 

 countries, should be abundant in Australia, is not 

 remarkable, when it is considered that they are but 

 instances of an almost complete diversity between 

 the natural history of this country and that of other 

 regions. 



The remark, that the leaves of the trees are wood, 

 and their wood, iron, is not inappropriate to most of 

 the plants of this country. It is not, however, to be 

 inferred that all the plants are different from those 

 of other countries ; so far from this being the case, 

 a considerable admixture of ordinary forms was 

 met with. Among these were a great variety of 

 grasses, some of which were before considered to 

 be peculiar to North America. Many other forms 

 decidedly North American were also met with ; a 

 circumstance which, from the difference of geogra- 

 phical position, distance, and climate, was not to be 

 expected. 



All seem to have been struck with the apparent 

 monotony of the scenery, foliage, and flora, although 

 in reality the latter presents great variety. The 

 general sentiment was, that they were fatigued by 

 it, which is not a little surprising, as the Australian 

 flora rivals in number of species that of Brazil. 

 This feeling may be accounted for by the over- 

 powering impression that is made by the gum trees, 

 whose foliiige is of a dark sombre green. There is 

 also something in the general absence of under- 

 brush ; and the trees are so distant from one 

 another that there is no need of roads, so that a 

 carriage may drive any where. 



The trees are in general tall in proportion to 

 their diameter, with an umbrella top, and have the 

 appearance of being thinly clad in foliage. No 

 woody vines are to be seen, nor any parasitic 

 plants. In many places a stunted growth of de- 

 tached shrubs, called in the colony "scrub," exists, 

 which might be termed one of their "forests" in a 

 dwarf shape. 



