4 
Captain Denham, as an exploring navigator, touched likewise at the Great Western 
Bay, from the shores of which Mr. Milne carried away many plants for the rich museum 
formed by Sir William Hooker in the Royal Botanic Garden of Kew, and these were 
identified for the “ Flora Australicnsis,” by Bentham. In 1863 I received some 
plants gathered on the River Gascoyne by Mr. Maitland Brown; and in 1877 I 
made personally an overland tour from Champion Bay to Freycinet Harbor under the 
auspices of the West Australian Government; but although rather extensive collections 
were formed, I was prevented, partly by the extraordinary dryness of the season (water 
existing then only in a single well on a line of nearly 100 miles between the Murchison 
River and the Bay), and also partly by prior arrangements for early forest services in the 
South, from extending my stay for more than two days. Under such circumstances 
most of the region, particularly that in the vicinity of the Gascoyne River and its 
tributaries, remained to be explored yet for its vegetation, and happily this was 
accomplished last year, to a large extent, by the Honorable John Forrest, who while 
carrying on his trigonometric survey through the Gascoyne country found means also 
for investigating the Flora there, setting thus a splendid example to survey parties 
elsewhere for enlarging their scope of action by securing material for elucidating the 
vegetable resources of new regions while mapping them, — the native Flora always being 
largely exponent of the rural capabilities of a country. 
Some smaller botanic contributions, hitherto obtained from several other collectors 
at Sharks Bay, are noted in the pages of the present enumeration. The latter is, however, 
far from claiming exhaustiveness, inasmuch as the ample space along so wide a bay 
needs traversing in all directions, and in every month of the year, before a complete 
insight into its Flora can be gained. We know, however, now enough already of the 
general character of the vegetation for allowing to point to much resemblance which 
the Gascoyne country bears to a portion of Riverina in pastoral aspects ; we have also 
now full assurance that the deleterious bushes of Gastrolobium and Oxylobium neither 
extend so far North, nor are replaced by any congeneric hurtful species there. Grasses 
and Salt bushes are largely represented in the Gascoyne District, and contain many 
nutritive kinds. The herbage is remarkably varied, and in some respects excellent. 
Scientifically, Mr. Forrest’s collections proved important, not only as exhibiting many 
altogether new forms of plants, but also as showing that more tropical species than we 
anticipated pass the circle of Capricorn on the western side of Australia ; thus we are 
able to record as extra-tropical, or rather sub-tropical, from thence, representatives of 
Cleome, Waltheria, Ficus, Sesbania, Tephrosia, Aeschynomene, Erytlrrina, Canavalia, 
Vigna, Rhynchosia, Canthium, Oldenlandia, Melothria, Cucumis. Pterocaulon, Flaveria, 
Gymnanthera, Evolvulus, Buechnera, and Clerodendron, all these genera being new for 
extra-tropical West Australia. On the other hand, various southern forms, such as 
Marian thus, Pileanthus, Loudonia, Anigozanthus, Wurmbea, Lyginia, were not known to 
proceed so far North. The occurrence of two new Verticordias (Fringe-myrtles) in an 
almost sub-tropic region is also very interesting, as this beautiful genus of plants, in all its 
species except two, is restricted to extra-tropical Western Australia. Two Banksias, 
with various other plants, reach from the Murchison River for more than half-way to 
Sharks Bay, whereas one species of each of the genera Adenanthos, Persoonia, 
Petrophila, Styphelia, Candollea (Stylidium), Euphrasia, Anthocercis, Conostylis, 
Arnocrinum, Xerotes and Lepidobolus approach rather closely to Freycinet Harbor. 
The extreme scantiness of Epacrideae, Candolleaceae, and Ferns is perhaps not less 
remarkable than the absence of Orchideae in any of our collections from the Sharks 
