MAY 1770 PLANTS AND INSECTS 271 



into the country, and sent out a strong tide. Here we found 

 a great variety of plants, several, however, the same as those 

 we ourselves had before seen in the islands between the 

 tropics, and others known to be natives of the East Indies, 

 a sure mark that we were upon the point of leaving the 

 southern temperate zone, and that for the future we must 

 expect to meet with plants some of which, at least, had 

 been before seen by Europeans. The soil in general was 

 very sandy and dry ; though it produced a large variety of 

 plants, yet it was never covered with a thick verdure. Fresh 

 water we saw none, but several swamps and bogs of salt 

 water. In these, and upon the sides of the lagoons, grew 

 many mangrove trees, in the branches of which were many 

 nests of ants, of which one sort were quite green. These, 

 when the branches were disturbed, came out in large numbers, 

 and revenged themselves very sufficiently upon their dis- 

 turbers, biting more sharply than any I have felt in Europe. 

 The mangroves had also another trap which most of us fell 

 into. This was a small kind of caterpillar, green and beset 

 with many hairs, numbers of which sat together upon the 

 leaves, ranged by the side of each other, like soldiers drawn up; 

 twenty or thirty, perhaps, on one leaf. If these wrathful 

 militia were touched ever so gently, they did not fail to 

 make the person offending sensible of their anger, every 

 hair in them stinging much as nettles do, but with a more 

 acute, though less lasting, smart. 



Upon the sides of the hills were many of the trees yield- 

 ing a gum like Sanguis draconis. 1 They differed, however, 

 from those seen on the 1st of May, in having their leaves 

 longer, and hanging down like those of the weeping willow. 

 Notwithstanding that, I believe that they were of the same 

 species. There was, however, much less gum upon them. 

 Only one tree that I saw had any, contrary to all theory 

 which teaches that the hotter a climate is the more gums 

 exude. The same observation, however, held good in the 

 plant yielding the yellow gum, 2 of which, though we saw 

 vast numbers, we did not see any that showed signs of gum 



1 Eucalypti. z Xanthorrhcea : it has not been mentioned before. 



