38 
greater. The “gouramy,” of which the drawing will convey an 
idea of only its external character, is as beautiful in its hues as 
singular in its form. The ground colour is orange, that of the 
back of a dark bronze, which passes in undulating lines over its 
sides. Its form is of a roundish oval, the head short, with a 
somewhat recurved snout, but the creature is particularly 
distinguished by the prolongation of the pectoral fins into 
thread-like processes several inches in length. It is celebrated ' 
for its flavour, and the native princes of Java keep these fish 
alive in large quantities in reservoirs. It has been acclimatised 
for some length of time at the Mauritius, where it thrives well, 
and attains a very large size. 
It is impossible, in the limited time, which I believe I have 
already extended to an unreasonable length, to enter upon the 
insects capable of being introduced for commercial purposes, 
such as the cochineal and others, more especially the various 
species of silkworms (an account of which would furnish suffi¬ 
cient material for a lecture by itself), some of which feed upon 
the foliage of the mulberry tree, some on the castor Oil shrub, 
others on the oleantlius, or Japan varnish tree—and there is one 
wild species recently sent to Europe from Japan, which feeds 
upon the varieties of the oak tree. All, therefore, feed upon 
leaves of trees growing luxuriantly in this colony, and could be 
readily acclimatised, and the silk produced from them would 
become a great commercial value. 
From the little time left I can only mention respecting 
plants, that of useful plants, we have had a number introduced, 
and so acclimatised in a very short time in this colony as to 
grow most luxuriantly ; among others I may mention the bam¬ 
boo, banana, loquat; the rice-paper plant, the grass-cloth plant, 
both from China; the rhea, or Assam grass, which produces a 
line and valuable fibre, allied, if not identical with the grass- 
cloth plant of China, and found in a wild state over the tropical 
Polynesian Islands ;—and a number of other valuable trees and 
plants. 
One of our indigenous trees, the gigantic nettle tree of 
Australia, attaining an elevation of from 50 to 120 feet, can 
produce an inexhaustible store of fibrous material, useful for 
various purposes ; and from a bag, manufactured by the 
native blacks, and the specimens of the flax prepared from it, 
collected by my friend Mr. C. Moore, we may form some 
idea of its applicability to many kinds of manufacture. The 
tree grows in great abundance in the Ulawarra district, but to 
