THE YOUNG NATUEALIST 



127 



The violet was the " ion" of the 

 Greeks, where it was plentiful and 

 highly esteemed. It was first presented 

 as a floral offering, or tribute to Jove 

 by the maids of Ionia, whence the 

 name. In mythology it was said to be 

 this flower that the earth brought forth 

 as food for lo when she was changed 

 into a cow. Indeed there is no limit 

 except the exigencies of space as to 

 what might be said about the modest 

 violet." 



NOTES ON THE NATURAL 



HISTORY OP AUSTRALIA. 



Communicated by J. P. Soutter, 

 Bishop Auckland. 



The following Notes are extracted from a 

 letter of a brother of mine who recently 

 emigrated to Queensland, Australia, and 

 has settled about 150 miles up the country 

 from Brisbane. He has strong natural 

 history predilections, which are now being 

 gratified to the full, and the statements 

 being from his own personal observation 

 may be interesting to the readers of the 

 Young Naturalist. 



" Cressbrook" where he is located "is 

 one of the oldest stations in the colony, 

 in fact Mr. Mc. Connell was the first 

 white settler in this part of the country, 

 it is upwards of 40 years' since he settled 

 here. It stands in the centre of a large 

 plain, the area of which is a little over 160 

 square miles, all of which is in our run. 

 The length of the creek on which the 

 station stands is only 18 miles, but from its 

 source to its junction, with the Brisbane 

 River it is exceedingly interesting, quite a 

 paradise. The banks are mostly composed 

 of sandy loam, although here and there, 



there is an outcrop of conglomerate rock, 

 and in one place a sort of ironstone comes 

 to the surface. At the source are very good 

 copper mines, but they are not much 

 worked, owing chiefly to the difficulty of 

 getting machinery, also the transit of 

 materials, but when the projected new 

 railway comes up, the working will be carried 

 on. But to the creek — Botanically it is 

 rich, especially in ferns, in one patch six feet 

 square I found eleven different varieties, the 

 common Maiden Hair grows like weeds, 

 the bsmks in some places are clothed with 

 it, I have seen seven varieties of the A diantum 

 here. Flowing plants along the creek are 

 scarce, which may be accounted for by the 

 dense tree growth, but the most lovely 

 grasses take their places. 



The timber consists principally of the 

 swamp oak, Moreton bay chesnut, Moreton 

 bay jessamine, the turpentine tree, and two 

 species of acacia. The Moreton bay chest- 

 nut is a most lovely tree, it grows to a 

 height of 50 to 80 feet, with pinnate, very 

 dark green foliage, the flowers golden, 

 tipped with scarlet, the fruit like a pea-pod 

 about six inches long, some attain a length 

 of twelve inches, with from four to six seeds 

 about the size of a black-bird's egg. Cress- 

 brook is surrounded by mountains, the 

 highest of which is Mount Brisbane ; the 

 mountains of Australia are all wooded to 

 the summit. Some of the finest trees grow 

 on their slopes, and the whole of the country 

 is trees, trees, trees ! Great gaunt twisted 

 gum trees, intermixed with the turpentine, 

 the native apples, and the iron bark trees. 

 The latter is the most imposing of all, the 

 trunk is usually straight and shapely, with 

 a fine rough bark, not unlike the bark of the 

 Scotch fir. They grow to a great height, 

 often over 120 feet, the wood is very hard 

 and heavy, red in colour, and burns well, 

 it is a useful timber and is extensively used 

 for building houses, bridges &c. The bark, 

 which comes oft readily, does well for roof- 



