8 REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE 
kindly furnished me by Mr. George B running (of the St. Kilda nurseries), 
have been planted thereon ; and their wealth of fiery bloom will after a 
few years afford a grand display. This magnificent plant from Broken 
Inlet, Western Australia, produces its flowers at a much earlier stage of 
growth than any other species of the genus with which I am acquainted; 
and its bloom resembles a ball of fire more than anything else to which 
I could compare it. I have seen the Flame Tree of Illawarra, Northern 
New South Wales and Queensland; and the brilliant scarlet masses of 
the Erythrina laurifolia growing upon the banks of the Rewa river in 
Fiji ; but they do not surpass the effect produced by the floral display 
of this Eucalyptus when in bloom. Another tree not to be excelled for 
the grandeur and wealth of its bloom is the “ Jacaranda mimoscef olia,” 
or Rose-wood of Brazil, which I also propose to plant on the lake 
islands. This tree, judging from the progress made by small specimens 
now in the Botanic Gardens will succeed here quite as well as in the 
Sydney Botanic Gardens, where a specimen over 20 feet in height is the 
great attraction in the flowering season. Its foliage of a fern-like ap- 
pearance, is exquisitely graceful ; and even when divested of flowers the 
feathery umbrageous branches render it a strikingly beautiful specimen 
of arboriculture ; while in the blooming season, the blossoms of a deli- 
cate blue, are so abundant as to completely cover the tree, making it, 
from a distance, appear one mass of cerulean flowers. These two trees, 
with Rhododendrons and other plants introduced to vary the monotony 
of the Pampas grass, will render the latter, conspicuous spots in the 
landscape, introducing that warmth of coloring so necessary to the finish 
of a perfect picture. 
The swans and wild fowl are doing well. Of the cygnets hatched 
last year, two only remain, one having been shot by some evil disposed 
person. The swans caused much trouble during the summer season, by 
going over the bank into the Yarra, travelling miles up the river; now, 
however, that the iron boundary fence of the Gardens has been erected 
along the bank of the Yarra, the swans are shut in, while the Gardens 
are protected from the rough characters who usually infested them, 
especially on Sundays, coming’ up the river in boats and idling about on 
the bank. The remainder of the iron fence now supplies the place of a 
wooden one which divided from Anderson street the 30 acres recently 
added to the Gardens. The promontories which jut into the small lake, 
dividing it from the large one, and joined by a bridge, have been 
lengthened, heightened, and made broader, for the purpose of giving 
variety to the scenery from various parts of the grounds, especially from 
