7 
fruit tree (Ekcocarpus cyaneus), the Zieria wood (from Zieria arborescens) , that of the 
Heath tree (Monotoca clliptica), and of the Australian Mulberry tree (Pseudomorus Austra- 
lasica). Samples of those kinds, which are met with on Wilson’s Promontory, have been 
procured for the Paris Exhibition, and these may give some additional proof that we possess 
woods here for any purpose, with the exception perhaps of such as are fit for larger ships’ 
masts. 
Many other plants of practical value were noticed during my last expedition, amongst 
them a kind of New Zealand Spinage (Tetragonia inermis) ; an undescribed Elder tree (Sam- 
bucus xanthocarpa) ; a sort of Hottentot fig (Mesembryanthemum prsecox), from the Murray 
desert, deserving cultivation for its agreeable fruit. To the series of native fruits enume- 
rated last year might be farther added Nitraria Billardierii, and several species of Exocarpus, 
Leucopogon, and Lissanthe. Under the name of Australian Sarsaparilla, either the stems 
of Hardenbergia monophylla, or of Muehlenbeckia appressa and complexa, are employed; 
whilst a plant closely allied to the American root (Smilax spinescens) remained hitherto 
unnoticed. . , 
Turning, finally, to our future prospects, as afforded to us by the enjoyment ot the 
serenest climate and by the extensive fertility of the soil, I venture to say, that no praise too 
high can be bestowed in a general view on the productiveness of our adopted country. We 
possess in the Southern hemisphere, w r hat the Ancients in the Northern called regiones 
feliee3,” those happy latitudes of a warm temperate zone, in which Nature with a prodigal 
hand offered prominently, amidst so many other gifts, the Cerealia, the Olive, and the Vine, 
and to which we there have added from the far East, the Orange, the Tea ; from India, the 
Rice ; and from the New World, the Maize, Cassava, Arrowroot, Tobacco, and so many 
other treasures of the vegetable world, on which mankind now rely for luxury and support. 
All these may be here successfully produced along with those which we enjoyed in the 
country of our youth, and will, I trust, with the mighty resources of our mineral wealth, 
render this country one of the most delightful and prosperous of the globe. 
I have the honor to be, 
Sir, 
Your most obedient humble Servant, 
FERDINAND MUELLER, 
Gcovernment Botanist. 
The Honorable 
The Colonial Secretary. 
