Reports of Committees. xliii 



and of that of the a,llicd Pimeka lignslnna, panr.iJJora, and micro- 

 cejyhaJa, samples of bark, all foui- species being of tall growth, and 

 hence of large yield of fibre. 



Sida pulchella (Boupl.), Brachycldtoii populneum (Rob, Brown), 

 and Commersonia Fmseri (Gtiy), ai-e the other native plants known to 

 be principally employed by the aborigines for obtaining cordage. 

 Considerable quantity of tlic bark of the former might be gathered 

 in the forests of this colony and of Tasmania ; the two other species 

 have but their scattered outposts on the eastern frontiers of Gipps 

 Land, the main body of plants extending through New South Wales 

 and Queensland. 



We possess in Victoria a fcAv species of asclepiadeous plants, 

 which yield a kind of cotton similar to that once by the ancients 

 spun into ropes, as microscopicallj'^ demonstrated from Pompeiian 

 relics ; but since allied European asclepiadea^ seem no longer em- 

 ployed in the older countries, it is not likely that we will derive ad- 

 vantages of those of these states. 



A perennial flax (Linum marginale, All. Cunn.) is by no means 

 rare in this colony, but it is not likely to possess any advantages over 

 the conunon flax, should, indeed, it bear comparison with the Euro- 

 pean cultivated one. 



The Ta.snianian stringybark trees, which, as I anticipated, have 

 been, by comparison with orighial specimens in Sir Joseph Banks' 

 herbarium, identified by j\Ir. Eichard Kippist with the original 

 Eucalyptus ohliqua of L'Heritier (having bean collected durnig 

 Cook's third vojMge at Adventure Bay, by David Nelson), yields, as 

 well as an allied species, w-hich bears amongst the colonists the name 

 of " Mountain Ash," a certainly fibrous, still, not tenacious bark, there- 

 fore not available for textile fibre, although, perhaps, for the manu- 

 facture of a coarse paper ; otherwise their bark, which moreover is 

 so readily separable, might be obtained in the utmost profusion. — 

 I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient servant, 



Feed. Mueller, Goveniment Botanist. 

 To Capt. Timins, 



Private Secretary to His Excellency 

 Sir Henry Barkly, K.C.B., (tc, &c., kc. 



Postscript. — Attention may also be directed to the fibre of some 

 species of stipa, common in this colony, and more particularly to the 

 fibre yielded by a sedge, Cypirus vayinatm, which occurs in the 

 greatest abundance on the Paver Murray and its tributaries, and in 

 many other parts of Victoria. The aborigines form very durable and 

 tenacious cordage from this sedge, and employ it extensively for 

 fishing nets. 



The useful fibrous properties of the Lepidosperma fjladiafuvi, and 

 another plant, the Lavatcra plehcja, were brought into notice by Mr. 

 Alexander Tolmer, of South Australia, Avho had observed the natives 



