106 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



teak tree will take first place for size and magnificence, without 

 taking into consideration its beautiful burden of epiphytal plants. 

 It grows to a great height, and its trunk is often a solid 6 feet, 

 furnishing excellent timber for building purposes. The house at 

 which I was staying was built entirely of teak, sawn and dressed 

 within 200 yards of the spot. Another very serviceable tree is 

 the Mountain Ash, the wood of which is useful for fencing. 

 Palisade fences are in some places built to keep back the native 

 vermin in the scrubs. The small Wallaby, or " Paddymelon," is 

 the principal nuisance. The Buoyong is a handsome tree, and a 

 very remarkable one from the way in which the butt is fissured 

 and ridged. The roots appear to leave the ground some yards 

 away and run up to meet the trunk, forming narrow but solid 

 partitions. Thus a tree that is 4 feet thick at 12 feet from the 

 ground would spread over a surface of perhaps 6 yards in 

 diameter. In clearing, the settlers surmount this by erecting a 

 platform about 10 feet up, and from there proceed to cut the tree 

 through. The platform is simply a plank, with one end resting 

 in a niche cut in the tree, the other end being supported by two 

 forked saplings. The Buoyong, together with the teak and ash, 

 is very subject to the ravages of white ants ; the giant semicircular, 

 dark-brown coloured nests of these little insects are like great 

 exudations on the tree. The ants' nests are also plentiful on the 

 charred stumps left in the clearings. 



The " Big Scrub " was once the home of the Red Cedar, but 

 thousands of trees have been removed, and now not a single 

 specimen above a foot in diameter could be found. The 

 beautiful red timber is well known to all. The tree also is 

 beautiful, with its straight smooth stem and broad finger-like 

 leaves. In spring the young leaves, thrown forth from the tips 

 of the branches, are of a rich purple colour, and I am told that 

 one plan used by the cedar-getters to discover the whereabouts 

 of the cedars was to watch for this colour amidst the sea of 

 vegetation. Then tracks had to be cut from one to another, to 

 allow of teams entering to draw away the logs. These tracks are 

 still seen penetrating the scrub in all directions. Many other 

 trees besides those already mentioned constitute the " Big Scrub." 

 There are the Native Tamarind, the Fig tree, the Bean, the Beef- 

 wood, the Yellow Cedar, and the Stinging Trees. The last- 

 mentioned are worthy of note because of their peculiar properties. 

 There are two varieties, one growing to some size, the other being 

 of the nature of a shrub. The large heart-shaped leaves of the 

 former are covered with minute hair-like spines, which give them 

 a light colour and a downy appearance ; the smaller species has 

 smaller leaves, with serrated edges. The sting inflicted is very 

 severe. If a hand or arm is badly stung the limb will swell and 

 remain benumbed for a long time after. More than once I fell 



