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rest by the river side we notice footprints of the opossum, kangaroo 

 rat, and native cat, we are startled now and then by the harsh note 

 of the laughing-jackass, and the bronze wing pigeon starts up 

 hurriedly from amidst clusters of Rhagodia nutans, on the red fruit 

 of which it feeds. We have always felt an interest in this bird 

 since reading Sturt's account of it in his " Expedition into South 

 Australia," which we will give in his own words : — 



" As the sun declined we got into open forest ground, and travelled forwards, ia 

 momentary expectation from appearances of coming in sight of water; but we 

 were obliged to pull up at sunset on the outskirts of a large plain without having 

 our expectations realised. The day had- been extremely warm, and our animals 

 were as thirsty as ourselves. Hope never forsakes the human breast, and thence 

 It was that, after we had secured the horses, we began to wander around our 

 lonely bivouac. It was almost dark when one of our men came to inform me that 

 he had found a small puddle of water, to which he had been led by a pigeon. It 

 was indeed small enough, probably the remains of a passing shower, it was, how- 

 ever, sufficient for our necessities, and I thanked Providence for its bounty to us." 



Of the habits of this bird, and indeed of every native bird and 

 animal which not long since was common around Melbourne, we 

 know but little, it being the unmanly and inhuman practice, one 

 which we condemn most earnestly, for persons newly arrived in the 

 colony to destroy every thing they meet with. We could say 

 much, as we feel strongly, on the cruelty of this practice, particu- 

 larly as we have so much to learn of the habits of every creature 

 inhabiting a colony so little known as that in which we reside. 



This month we may find in flower everywhere Linum marginale 

 (flax) ; Hypericum involutum (St. John's wort) ; Pelargonium Aus- 

 trale, a pretty little geranium with a delicious perfume ; Scutellaria 

 humilis (skull-cap) ; Solanum laciniatum (kangaroo apple) ; Mentha 

 Australis; Erpetion hederaceum (the little white violet which clothes 

 the Yarra banks); Galium Australe (bedstraw); Senecio adoratus, 

 with a host of others. We will conclude this chapter with a glean- 

 ing from a gem, " The Mystery of the Beautiful:" — 



"Let each one go to Nature as often as possible, casting aside, for a little while, 

 at least, his worldly cares ; let him go in confidence and faith, and he will not seek 

 in vain." 



