I Saw But One Flower Of It, But Its Falcate Seed-Vessels, Often
More Than A Foot Long, Were Very Numerous.
Pandanus spiralis was
frequent.
The box (Eucalyptus), on the flats along the creek, the soil of
which is probably formed of the detritus of basaltic rock, had a
lanceolate glossy leaf, uniting the character of the box with glossy
orbicular leaves growing generally on the whinstone soil of the northern
parts of the colony, and of the box with long lanceolate leaves which
prefers stiff flats on the tributary creeks of the Hunter. A Bottle-tree
with a Platanus leaf (Sterculia?) grew in the scrub on the field of
basalt, and was in full blossom. A pretty species of Commelyna, on the
flats, a cucurbitaceous plant with quinquepalmate leaves and large white
blossoms, grew along the river, the approaches of which were rendered
almost inaccessible by a stiff high grass. Charley brought me the long
flower-stalk of Xanthorrhaea from some ridges, which were, doubtless,
composed of sandstone.
Two kangaroos were seen; they were of middle size, and of a yellowish
grey colour, and seemed to live principally about the basaltic ridges.
The cooee of natives had been heard only once during our journey along
the banks of the Burdekin; and the traces of their former presence had
not been very frequently observed. Large lagoons full of fish or mussels
form a greater attraction to the natives than a stream too shallow for
large fish, and, from its shifting sands, incapable of forming large
permanent holes.
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