THE EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS. 
385 
particular plantation was on bad soil, and had not received any 
experienced care, yet the growth of the trees was truly marvellous. 
In this evergreen wood all round us were tall, reddish, smooth 
stems, with the bark hanging down in a ragged, untidy manner 
— for the tree sheds its bark in winter — and grey willow-like 
leaves waving on flexible boughs. For about twenty-five feet the 
stems of the trees in the inner part of the plantation rose up 
with no branches at all ; but in the outer part of the wood the 
trees sent out branches in the light and air nearly touching the 
ground. It produced a curious impression to walk in the dim 
twilight of this Australian- African forest, and to think that this 
was also a wood of the Miocene period. Beautiful is not the 
word I should apply to its appearance ; but, in exchange for 
bare, sun-baked earth, or deadly swamps, I must say these 
Eucalyptus forests are most grateful, and the smell delightfully 
resinous, warm, and gummy. The multitude of birds in the 
branches and their busy twitterings added much to the pleasant 
impression. I measured these trees as I walked along, and found 
them forty to forty-five inches in circumference ; those on the 
borders of the wood always, of course, a few inches larger. The 
flower of the Eucalyptus tribe is very like the myrtle flower ; it 
is full of honey, and attracts a multitude of flies and bees ; and 
the birds naturally follow, for they find not only food, but 
thick, warm, leafy cover in winter, and shelter from the burning 
sun in summer. Some species of the Eucalyptus have large 
and very beautiful flowers ; we noticed with delight the gor- 
geous, red, and staminous flower of the E. tetraptera bursting 
the pyramidal top of its square-sided flower-box.” 
An interesting communication regarding the Eucalyptus in 
South Africa has been forwarded to me by J. Mountfield 
Bennett, Esq., of Mountfield, Sussex : “ I have often seen the 
Eucalyptus globulus in South Africa. It does not do well on 
the coast, as has also been found in Jamaica, where it was only 
introduced six years ago, and trees are already found there 
sixty feet high. Up the country in South Africa, fifty miles N.W. 
round Pieter-Maritzburg, we find it growing to perfection. There 
are plantations of it all over that district. I was staying for 
six months at one of these, the property of Mr. Simmons, Secre- 
tary of State, who has twenty acres planted with trees. The 
great drawback to cultivators in South Africa is the liability of 
Eucalyptus plantations to destruction by fire when the grass 
is burnt, which is done once a year in the Veit. Bound every 
Boer’s house you may see this tree growing from a great distance. 
When one is lost, as I know from experience, it is the gladdest 
sight a sportsman can see, their dark foliage always assuring 
him a night’s lodging. Through the Transvaal the houses always 
have a few of them round the gardens. I may add that it is 
NEW SERIES, YOL. II. — NO. Till. C C 
