100 TiMEHRI. 



tion would be essential than it is at present possible to de- 

 pend upon. The owner of the house might not be willing 

 to admit strangers ; and from the exposed position, 

 camping in the open might not be beneficial for all. The 

 planting of a few more trees along the top of the 

 mound, would not only vastly improve its appearance, but 

 v^^ould secure a grateful shade from the intense heat of 

 the sun. From its situation, a settlement would be fully- 

 exposed to the breeze, and its natural drainage would 

 necessarily be most efficient. 



Our reminiscences of Seba, in spite of its delightful- 

 ness, were not altogether pleasant, for it was here, that 

 a wretched-looking sow ruined more than a dozen of the 

 birds' skins that had been prepared. The specimens had 

 been placed in the sun to be dried, on a part of the bare 

 rock ; and while some of us were rambling over the hill, 

 and others were busy preparing breakfast, the pig came 

 upon the scene, and, all unnoticed for a long time, mangled 

 nearly the entire set, a few feathers only being left of 

 some and a wing or tail of others. As they were 

 poisoned with arsenic, the poor brute must have suffered 

 considerably afterwards. 



All along the river, through the rapids at Mallali, and 

 for some considerable distance above, the timber 

 which forms the great and almost the only trade 

 of the district, is met with being floated down stream ; 

 and occasionally a boat may be encountered in con- 

 nexion with the gold industry, which, however, has 

 not, up to the present, been of any importance on this 

 river, though Mr. Gray's placer at the head of the Appa- 

 paroo creek is still being worked and is said to give a 

 little more than enough to pay its expenses. 



