xvm 



Sttusftxntiani of IB^ta^tastii^. 



being found north of the Equator in the 

 Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands. The aca- 

 cias are social plants ; woods are often 

 entirely formed of them, a fact which in- 

 creases the commercial importance of 

 several species. Our illustration intro- 

 duces us to a grove of Acacias in Eastern 

 Australia, the burying-ground of Milmeri- 

 dien. ' On reaching the spot,' says Mit- 

 chell, in his Three Expeditions into Eastern. 

 Australia, * the natives became silent and 

 held down their heads. Nor did their cu- 

 riosity restrain them from passing on, al- 

 though I unfolded my sketch-boolc, which 

 they had not seen before, and remained 

 there half an hour for a purpose of which 

 they could have no idea. The burying- 

 ground was a fairy-like spot, in the midst 

 of a " scrub " of drooping Acacias. It was 

 extensive, and laid out in walks, which 

 were narrow and smooth, as if intended 

 only for" sprites," and they meandered in 

 gracefully curved lines among the heaps 

 of reddish earth which contrasted finely 

 with the Acacias and dark Casuarinas 

 around. Others girt with moss shot far 

 into the recesses of the bush, where slight 

 traces of still more ancient graves proved 

 the antiquity of these simple but touching 

 records of humanity. With all our art, 

 we could do no more for the dead than 

 these poor savages had done.' [B. S.J 



VEGETATION OF KAMTSCHATKA, 

 WITH TALL UMBELLIFERS — A 

 BIRCH FOREST IN THE DISTANCE. 



(Plate XVI.) 



[REFERENCE — a. b. Tall species of Nettle ; c. An- 

 gelica.] 



Gigantic umbelliferous plants are more 

 characteristic of the grassy plains of 

 Kamtschatka than of any other part of 



measure been displaced, on the Kamt- 

 schatka river, by plantations of hemp, 

 which also attains an astonishing height. 

 In the western plains, however, it abounds 

 in such quantities as to have preserved its 

 place in the domestic economy of the in- 

 habitants. The forest at the background 

 consists of Betula Ermanni, edged by low 

 willows. [B. s ] 



CACTUS VEGETATION ON THE BANKS 

 OF THE GILA, NEW MEXICO. 



(Plate XVII.) 



[REFERENCE — a. Cereus giganteus.'] 



The Cactacem or family of Cactuses fur- 

 nish perhaps the most singular plants of 

 the present creation. Though a few spe- 

 cies are found in the Old World, the bulk 

 of this natural order is confined to the 

 New ; and in no part of America do we 

 encounter a greater number both of spe- 

 cies and individuals than in Mexico, Cali- 

 fornia, and those countries until recently 

 part and parcel of Mexican territory. In 

 that region, but seldom visited by refresh- 

 ing showers of rain, the Cactus is the 

 leading plant, imparting a peculiar cha- 

 racter to the landscape. The greater 

 number of Cactuses are without leaves, 

 aud the generality present fleshy, globu- 

 lar, oblong compressed, or cylindrical I 

 | stems, densely covered with bundles of 

 ' spines. An estimate may be formed of 

 I the number of these spines, by stating 

 that a single specimen of an Echinocactus 

 I Yisnaga, the Toothpick Cactus, was found 

 [ to have 51 ,000, and a Pilocereus senilis, the 

 Old Man Cactus, 71,000. Yet the specimens 

 I on which they were counted were only 

 1 such as had been brought over to Eng- 

 land. The giants met with in Mexico and 

 surrounding regions have hundreds of 



the Bolschaja Reka district. The tallest , thousands of spines. Tne favourite haunts 



among them are the Heracleum dulce (? 

 and a species of Angelica of surprising 

 dimensions; it abounds in a few level 

 valleys of the western slopes, principally 

 in the district traversed by the Bannaja 

 Reka, a tributary of the Bolschaja Reka, 

 but is not met with again even in the 

 neighbourhood of its real home. This 

 stately herb is known throughout the 

 country by the Russian name of ' Medwe- 

 shie Koren' (Bear's root); its hollow stems 

 are dark reddish in the autumn. Another 

 plant is a tall, always gregariously grow- 

 ing nettle (Urtica dioica), which contri- 

 butes an essentially characteristic feature 

 to the country, but which does not occur 

 anywhere in such masses as in these west- 



of Cacti are the mountain ridges which in 

 tersect or border the Mexican tableland, 

 5,000 to 7,000 feet above the sea. The view 

 chosen as an illustration of this singular 

 vegetation is a landscape on the banks of 

 the river Gila, in the Colorado region of 

 New Mexico, representing the largest 

 form of all known Cactacem, the Cereus gi- 

 ganteus, which rises like a huge candela- 

 brum amongst the rocks and ravines of 

 that barren wilderness. In front is a 

 specimen which, though already nearly 

 sixty feet high, is still in vigorous health, 

 and sending forth young side branches. 

 On the right, a little towards the back- 

 ground, is a specimen in a decaying state, 

 showing the form of a woody skeleton 



ern districts. It is generally ten feet high. | and around them at short distances may 

 Its long stems yield a superior fibre for | be seen younger plants in various stages 

 nettle yarn, which in former times was I of development. A few Opuntias (Cactuses 

 the only material the Kamtschatkans had with compressed articulated stems), fea- 

 for fishing-nets ; lately it has in some ' thery Mimosem, the usual companions of 



