86 



HOLLAND. 



Holland, 

 New. 



toiaials. 



not know whether their precise quality has been ascer- 

 tained. 



In so far as the country is yet explored, the vegeta- 

 ble creation is diffused more rarely than under corre- 

 sponding latitudes, and fewer products are convertible 

 to the use of mankind. It is disclosed only in scanty 

 patches, where the soil has undergone amelioration ; 

 and there it appears in all possible variety, from 

 the coarsest grass creeping on the ground to forests 

 consisting of trees of immense girth and altitude. It 

 is said of the eastern parts, that " all the plants of this 

 country are evergreens, and numbers of them are to 

 be seen covered with blossoms at all seasons of the 

 year." M. Leschenault remarks, " that in the districts 

 hitherto visited, and especially the western coast, there 

 liave never been found in great masses, either the majes- 

 ty of the virgin forests of the New World, the variety 

 and elegance of those of Asia, or the delicacy and 

 freshness of the woods in the temperate countries of 

 Europe. Vegetation is in general dark and sombre; 

 it resembles the shade of our evergreens or copses. 

 Fruits are for the most part ligneous ; the leaves of al- 

 most all the plants are linear, lanceolated, small, coria- 

 ceous, and spiny. This peculiar texture springs from 

 the aridity of soil and climate; and it is doubtless ow- 

 ing to the same causes that cryptogamous plants are 

 so rare." Most of the plants of New Holland consti- 

 tute new genera, and those belonging to genera alrea- 

 dy established are almost as many new species. Their 

 numbers and variety are amply described in the works 

 of M. Labillardiere and Mr Robert Brown, to which we 

 shall refer forjillustrations. A plant approaching the qua- 

 lities of,coflee has been found, two species of tobacco, 

 and a kind of indigo. Odoriferous gum exudes co- 

 piously from a tree abundantly disseminated, which is 

 used for different purposes by the natives, and has 

 gained some credit among the settlers for curing dy- 

 sentery. Wood of beautiful colours, fit for the finest 

 cabinet work and inlaying, is common ; and other kinds 

 have been employed in building vessels. But amidst 

 the great diversity of plants, only some small berries, a 

 few roots, and leaves, have yet been found which are 

 suitable food. The climate of New Holland is parti- 

 cularly noxious to European fruits, as most of those in- 

 troduced have speedily perished. Grain, however, 

 succeeds admirably, producing a certain and luxuriant 

 harvest, though the soil for the most part is soon ex- 

 hausted, and some of what was once brought under 

 culture is now completely abandoned. 



A field equally new is presented in the animal 

 world, where an infinity of beings are beheld on this 

 continent, its shores, and islands, that never were seen 

 before. Mollusca are so numerous, that, on one of the 

 latter, the French voyagers collected 180 species. 

 Great shoals of whales and dolphins fill the seas, but 

 in many parts they are rare. The phocte are so multi- 

 plied, that profitable fisheries have been instituted for 

 their skins and oil, though it is so indiscriminately fol- 

 lowed in destroying the young as to threaten the extir- 

 pation of the genera. Among birds, the black swan, 

 cassowary or emu, mountain eagle, and menura, are 

 the most remarkable. The first, which is black as jet, 

 except two or three white feathers of the wings, covers 

 the lakes and rivers in flocks during the greater part 

 of the year. The emu is seen both on the conti- 

 nent and the islands; and there is sometimes found an 

 enormous nest, two or three feet in diameter, belonging 

 to an unknown bird, perhaps of the flamingo kind. 

 Quadrupeds are exceedingly rare, both in species and 



Holland. 



New. 



numbers, compared with the extent of the country. 

 Besides the dog, which is akin to the shepherds' dog of 

 Europe, and never barks, it is supposed that another car- ~~ 

 nivorous animal of somewhat larger size approaches the 

 coast, which has not been seen. The members of the last 

 French expedition having prepared to pass a night on 

 Edel's land, inform us, that " suddenly a terrible roaring 

 froze us with terror ; it resembled the bellowing of an 

 ox, but was much louder, and seemed to come from thu 

 neighbouring reeds." Most probably this was an alli- 

 gator, both from the sound and situation. The greater 

 proportion of the quadrupeds of New Holland, though 

 absolutely new and unknown in other parts of the 

 world, belong to the opossum tribes. Those attract- 

 ing most attention are the kangaroo of various species ; 

 the wombat, and a singularly formed creature, the pa- 

 radox or duck-billed ant-eater. The first is hunted 

 for the sake of its flesh ; the second has been domesti- 

 cated by the settlers ; the third, an amphibious animal, 

 is now found more abundant in the late excursions 

 which have advanced furthest into the interior. Per- 

 haps we should add to the brute creation those in- 

 troduced into New Holland since the year 1788. 

 Three cows and a bull having strayed into the forests, 

 propagated there, and many thousands of wild cattle are 

 seen in great herds, which it is dangerous to approach. 

 Sheep and swine have succeeded well, but the coun- 

 try proves unfavourable to goats. So little of New 

 Holland has yet been explored, as to admit a strong 

 presumption of many interesting accessions to zoology 

 in addition to what it has already received. 



The most striking peculiarities are beheld in that Inhabitants 

 portion of the human race who inhabit these regions. 

 In stature, the New Hollander is of the middle size ; 

 with a large misshapen head, slender extremities, and 

 the belly projecting as if tumefied. The colour of 

 the skin is reddish at birth, and then deepens almost 

 to African blackness ; but this is not uniformly so, 

 and some are only of the copper or Malay cast : the 

 hair is long and black, not woolly ; the nose flat, nos- 

 trils wide, and the mouth immoderately large, with 

 thick lips. These, added to bushy eyebrows, and other 

 characteristics, give the natives a remarkable appear- 

 ance : Dampier, who says " they are of a very un- 

 pleasing aspect, having no one graceful feature in their 

 faces," seems inclined to doubt whether they should be 

 ranked with the human race ; and Mr Collins instances 

 " one man, who, but for the gift of speech, might very 

 well have passed for an oran-outang : he was remark- 

 ably hairy ; his arms appeared of an uncommon length : 

 in his gait he was not perfectly upright, and in his 

 whole manner seemed to have more of the brute and 

 less of the human species about him than any of his 

 countrymen." Yet the physiognomy of the New Hol- 

 landers is not disagreeable ; nay, it is said, that ihe de- 

 licacy which is to be found among white people, may 

 be traced on the sable cheeks of their females. Suste- 

 nance being so scanty, and clothing never employed, 

 a decided effect is seen in the want of physical strength, 

 and the consequences of perpetual exposure. In their 

 persons all are filthy ; the regular ablutions of many 

 eastern nations are not performed, and the disgust 

 of strangers is heightened by the custom of both sexes 

 rubbing fish oil into their skins as a protection against 

 the legions of insects swarming around them. Tattoo- 

 ing, so general in the South Seas, is not practised by 

 the New Hollanders ; but they have a mode of raising 

 tubercles on the skin, and both sexes ornament them- 

 selves with scars on the breast, back, and arms. The 



