IX THE EUCALYPTUS 125 
was everywhere, but here again it is a different variety, 
smaller than those I am familiar with, and shadeless. 
They look upon them here as strangers, and later on I 
had to defend the mudh-abused eucalyptus ; few even 
among Australians know its value, and that according 
to an eminent botanist, one species. Eucalyptus regnanas^ 
represents the loftiest tree in the world. One of these 
trees on the Cape Otway ranges measures a little under 
500 feet in height ; another has a circumference of 69 
feet at the base of the stem. In forest glens they run 
up sometimes for 100 feet before throwing out a single 
branch, while the oil from all of them is invaluable in 
cases of consumption, scarlet-fever, sprains, etc. 
Colonel Warren quotes from Scripture in reference 
to the medicinal value of the eucalyptus — ^^ The leaves 
of the tree shall be for the healing of the nations." 
Many, even of the bushmen, do not know that a small, 
weeping variety contains in its roots enough water to 
satisfy many a thirsty traveller. In some of the old 
watercourses in Western Australia you see a variant 
that is really beautiful, with vividly-green foliage and 
the purest white, curiously-twisted stems. Here too 
you see the lovely scarlet-flowering variety ; but the 
names of these trees and the uses to which they may 
be put are endless. 
The next evening I went to see the camp for the 
last time to wish the natives good-bye. Nature was 
folding her soft gray wings, and the bright moonlight 
played fantastic tricks as she guided us through the 
forest. The blacks had formed their camp on the 
banks of the river under the shadow of the tall jungle 
trees, and we were greeted on our arrival by a chorus 
of barking curs. It was a typical scene of wild native 
life, — the rough gunyahs of leaves and boughs, the 
flickering light of the fires, and the weird forms of 
Digitized by LnOOQ IC 
