JPAIllIAAlATtA DIST11ICT. Ol 



procured some excellent volatile oil from the leaves of the 

 "Woollybut" forwarded from Parramatta, and it was found that 

 the oil exhibited the remarkable property of imparting an indelible 

 transparent stain to paper, indicating that a resin was held in 

 solution. " This opinion," continues the report, " was strength- 

 ened by the unusually high specific gravity which it possesed, viz., 

 0940, and by the fact that its boiling points are also much above 

 the average, being 380 and 420 respectively. The taste of this 

 essential oil is aromatic and cooling, with but little pungency ; it 

 has a fragrant camphoraceous odour, and an oily consistency. The 

 yield from 100 Ibs. of leaves is 3 oz., 3i drs. In a kerosene lamp 

 this fluid gives a good bright clear flame, but somewhat inferior 

 to kerosene in intensity." It is strange that our "Woollybut, 

 (^E. lonr/ifolia), which is so little esteemed by the Parramat- 

 tonians, should be so highly valued at a distance, and the fact is 

 suggestive to us ; for in the vicinity of our town not farther 

 than General Macarthur's bush an abundance of leaves might 

 be gathered for following up the experiments so skilfully com- 

 menced at Melbourne. Amongst the other trees of our district, 

 nearly allied to the "Gums," are three species of "Apple," (Ango- 

 phora), and one of "Turpentine," (Syncarpia.) In some parts of 

 Xew South Wales the apple is valued by coachmakers and wheel- 

 wrights, being used extensively for the naves of wheels ; and the 

 " Turpentine," when properly seasoned, is likely to prove a 

 durable and strong wood. Carpenters complain that it is liable 

 to shrink and warp, but this arises from using the wood in a green 

 state, or from neglecting to fell the tree when it is least influenced 

 by the sap. The process of seasoning timber seems to be very 

 imperfectly understood here, and it is that circumstance, rather 

 than any defect in the wood, which causes people to undervalue 

 our colonial material for practical purposes. 



Before I pass over the Myrtaceous trees of the district, I 

 must notice what is called " The Broad-leaved Tea Tree," (Callis- 

 temon saliynus), the wood of which, being very hard, has been 

 successfully employed in xylography or engraving. One of the 

 Pittosporums, I have been informed, can be used for the same 

 purpose, but the species to which I refer seldom occurs near 

 Parramatta, and when it does, it is too small to be rendered avail- 

 able. In PYE'S creek, the " Native Myrtle" (Backliousia w//tti- 



