GRASSY PLAINS. 
35 
In some parts of the large plains we had crossed 
in the morning, I had observed trades of the 
remains of timber, of a larger growth than any now 
found in the same vicinity, and even in places where 
none at present exists. Can these plains of such 
very great extent, and now so open and exposed, 
have been once clothed with timber ? and if so, by 
what cause, or process, have they been so completely 
denuded, as not to leave a single tree within a range 
of many miles ? In my various wanderings in 
Australia, I have frequently met with very similar 
appearances ; and somewhat analogous to these, are 
the singular little grassy openings, or plains, which 
are constantly met with in the midst of the densest 
Eucalyptus scrub. 
Every traveller in those dreary regions has 
appreciated these, (to him) comparatively speaking, 
oastees of the desert — for it is in them alone, that he 
can hope to obtain any food for his jaded horse ; 
without, however, their affording under ordinary 
circumstances, the prospect of water for himself. 
Forcing his way through the dense, and apparently 
interminable scrub, formed by the Eucalyptus 
dumosa, (which in some situations is known to 
extend for fully 100 miles), the traveller suddenly 
emerges into an open plain, sprinkled over with a 
fine silky grass, varying from a few acres to many 
thousands in extent, but surrounded on all sides by 
the dreary scrub he has left. 
d 2 
