BY C, HEDLEY, ESQ. 



13 



children have been reared on this when accidents have cut off from 

 them other supplies. The natives speak of this valuable plant 

 as " Damp j-ampy, and amongst whites it is known as native 

 arrowroot, 



Xanthorrhcea arborea, R. Br. — Another resource for food is the 

 heart of the grass-tree, which, when cut out, has much the same 

 appearance and flavor as has the heart of the better known cabbage 

 palm tree. This was one of the plants the natives used when com- 

 pelled to make fire by friction. 



Adriana acerifolia, Hook. — This euphorbiaceous shrub has been 

 pointed out to me as being one whose leaves were' dried and then 

 smoked by the blacks as a substitute for tobacco. 



Polygonum sp. (probably P. orientale) was pointed out to me 

 as being one of those which the blacks used in obtaining fish, and 

 that when a quantity of it is pounded up and thrown into a waterhole, 

 it rapidly brings all the fish to the surface in a dying condition, 

 without impairing their wholesomeness ,as food. The same 

 property is said to reside in the barks of several of the wattles. 



The following additional plants, growing in the Port Curtis 

 district, yield to the blacks edible fruits, even if they are not other- 

 wise noteworthy, namely : — Careya Australis, F. v. M., the Moonta, 

 a small tree which has ovoid fruit l^in. in greatest diameter ; Ficus 

 rubiginosa, Desf. the " Pingy ;" the rough-leaved fig F. aspera, 

 Foost., the Boorkol, with purple fruit ; the cluster fig, F. glom 

 erata, Willd, which last furnishes the settlers with excellent jelly ; 

 Sarcocephalus cordalus, Miq. the Leichhardfc tree, having fleshy 

 heads of fruit ; Mesembryanthemum asquilaterale, Haw. ; Grewia 

 polygonum, with deeply bi-lobed fruit ; Geniostoma Australianum, 

 F. v. M. ; Carissa ovata, R. Br. ; and Eustrephus augustifolia. 



Other economic plants with their names in the language of the 

 Port Curtis tribe are Acacia aulacoearpa, A. Cunn., known amongst 

 them as " Dilka ; " Melaleuca leucodendron, Linn., " Bethar 

 Petalostigma quadriloculare, F. v. M., the emu apple, which they 

 speak of as the Tronganongan ; Eucalyptus tessellaris, F.v.M., the 

 Wonkara ; Spondias pleiogyna, F. v. M., or Burdekin plum, the 

 ^Soongi ; and Hibiscus radiatus, Cav., with its dark centred 

 delicate pink-colored flowers, the Quootham. 



