84 A US TR A LI AN BOTANY. 



A glance at any map 1 of Victoria will show that the 145 

 of longitude passes near Lake Moira, on the Murray, at the 

 northern boundary of Victoria, and cuts through Melbourne 

 on the south, dividing the colony as it were into halves. 

 If, therefore, we call that portion on the right hand side 

 of 1 45° eastern, and that on the left, western Victoria, the 

 process of description will be rendered much more easy. 

 To make this still more simple and capable of being under- 

 stood, if we cut out the northern portion of eastern Victoria, 



battering-rams. This noble tree was 302 feet high, and 96 feet in 

 circumference at the ground. Upon the stump, " on the 4th July," 

 thirty-two persons were engaged in dancing four sets of cotillons at one 

 time, and besides these, adds the account, there were musicians and 

 onlookers.' Again, in Dr. Lindley's Vegetable Kingdom, p. 551, 

 it is stated — ' The locust trees of the West Indies {Hymencea Courbaril) 

 have long been celebrated for their gigantic stature ; and other species 

 are the Colossi, of South American forests.' Martius represents a 

 scene in Brazil, where some trees of this kind occurred, of such 

 enormous dimensions, that fifteen Indians, with outstretched arms, 

 could only embrace one of them. At the bottom they were 84 feet in 

 circumference, and 60 feet where the boles became cylindrical. By 

 counting the concentric rings of such parts as were accessible, he 

 arrived at the conclusion that they were of the age of Homer, and 

 332 years old in the days of Pythagoras ; one estimate, indeed, reduced 

 their antiquity to 2052 years, while another carried it up to 4104, from 

 which he argued that the trees cannot but date far beyond the time of 

 our Saviour. Other famous trees have been known of enormous bulk 

 and great antiquity, one of which (Draccejia Draco) has been described 

 in the Glossary. 



1 For some of the information contained in this chapter as regards 

 the Eucalypti and Acacias in Victoria, I am indebted to a map, showing 

 the distribution of forest trees, compiled for the State Forest Board by 

 Mr. A. Everett, from the record maps in the office of the Surveyor- 

 General, A. J. Skene, Esq., and other authentic sources, under the direc- 

 tion of R. Brough Smyth, Esq., late of the Mining Department. The 

 notes by Baron von Mueller are interesting, and the map would be of 

 great use to tourists who take an interest in the vegetation of Victoria. 



♦ W. R. G. 



