1836.] APPEARANCE OF THE FORESTS. 438 
Wales. Everywhere we have an open woodland, the ground 
being partially covered with a very thin pasture, with little 
appearance of verdure. The trees nearly all belong to one 
family, and mostly have their leaves placed in a vertical, instead 
of, as in Europe, in a nearly horizontal position: the foliage is 
scanty, and of a peculiar pale green tint, without any gloss. 
Hence the woods appear light and shadowless: this, although a 
loss of comfort to the traveller under the scorching rays of 
summer, is of importance to the farmer, as it allows grass to 
grow where it otherwise would not. The leaves are not shed 
periodically: this character appears common to the entire 
southern hemisphere, namely, South America, Australia, and 
the Cape of Good Hope. The inhabitants of this hemisphere, 
and of the intertropical regions, thus lose perhaps one of the 
most glorious, though to our eyes common, spectacles in the 
world—the first bursting into full foliage of the leafless tree. 
They may, however, say that we pay dearly for this by 
having the land covered with mere naked skeletons for so many 
months. This is too true; but ovr senses thus acquire a keen 
relish for the exquisite green of the spring, which the eyes of 
those living within the tropics, sated during the long year with 
the gorgeous productions of those glowing climates, can never 
experience. The greater number of the trees, with the exception 
of some of the Blue-gums, do not attain a large size; but they 
grow tall and tolerably straight, and stand well apart. The bark 
of some of the Kucalypti falls annually, or hangs dead in long 
shreds which swing about with the wind, and give to the woods 
a desolate and untidy appearance. I cannot imagine a more com- 
plete contrast, in every respect, than between the forests of Val- 
divia or Chiloe, and the woods of Australia. 
At sunset, a party of a score of the black aborigines passed by, 
each carrying, in their accustomed manner, a bundle of spears 
and other weapons. By giving a leading young man a shilling, 
they were easily detained, and threw their spears for my amuse- 
ment. They were all partly clothed, and several could speak a 
little English: their countenances were good-humoured and 
pleasant, and they appeared far from being such utterly degraded 
beings as they have usually been represented. Jn their own arts 
they are admirable. A cap being fixed at thirtv yards distance, 
