Western Range , Tasmania . 
135 
lieat and frost; from all of which they are naturally 
sheltered by the lofty trees amongst which they grow. 
Sometimes the seed of another plant becomes deposited 
on the head of the stem, and there thrives : I have for 
instance seen a Sassafras several feet high growing from 
one. In several parts of the Colony fossil ferns are 
abundant in the sandstone, and in the shale over the 
coal; and, so far as is known, they are of species extinct 
in this Island, though one of them, according to Count 
Streleski, still exists in New Zealand. 
Together with the above-mentioned plants there was a 
great variety of beautiful shrubs, the ravine of the Liffy 
having the aspect of a tropical scene. 
We had walked as near as I could ascertain from 70 
to 80 miles, and had not seen an indigenous animal 
except the kangaroo ; though from the many indications 
there is no doubt that the wombat ( Phascolomys ), native 
devil ( Dasyurus ursinus ), and Thylacinus , are common 
enough in particular localities. Even the opossum, so 
numerous elsewhere in the Colony, was not met with. 
This animal, like the kangaroo, is occasionally of a pure 
white; and two fine specimens in my possession are of a 
buff colour. 
I have alluded to the severe cold of 1835 when the 
Great Lake was frozen. During the same season vast 
numbers of the indigenous trees were destroyed in 
various parts of the Colony, not only near the Lakes, 
but on the lower grounds as welL The cause of so many 
having died is still not understood, for a large propor¬ 
tion have perished subsequent to that year. They are 
all of the Eucalyptus tribe, and are seen principally on 
the low, or flat swampy lands; but likewise on moderate 
elevations where they could not have been influenced by 
too much moisture, nor by cold. Some persons attribute 
the cause of their destruction to heavy floods followed by 
