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AUSTRALIA.

pearance of verdure.

The trees nearly all belong to one family, and mostly have their leaves placed in an upright instead of, as in Europe, in a nearly horizontal position: the foliage is scanty, and of a peculiar pale green tint, without any gloss; hence the woods appear light and shadowless. This, although a loss of comfort to the traveller under the scorching rays of summer, is of importance to the farmer, as it allows grass to grow where it otherwise would not. The leaves are not shed periodically; and this appears to be

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the case in the entire southern hemisphere, namely, South America, Australia, and the Cape of Good Hope. The inhabitants of this hemisphere and of the intertropical regions

AUSTRALIA.

thus lose, perhaps, one of the most glorious (though to our eyes common) spectacles in the world-the first bursting into full foliage of the leafless tree. They may, however, say that

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we pay dearly for this by having the land covered with mere naked skeletons for so many months. This is too true; but our senses thus gain a keen relish for the exquisite green of the spring, which the eyes of those living within the tropics, sated during the long year with the gorgeous productions of those glowing climates, can never experience. The greater number of the trees, with the exception of some of the bluegums, do not attain a large size; but they grow tall and tolerably straight, and stand well apart. The bark of some of the Eucalypti falls annually, or hangs dead in long shreds, which swing about in the wind, and give to the woods a deso

AUSTRALIA.

late and untidy appearance. I cannot imagine a more complete contrast, in every respect, than between the forests of Valdivia or Chiloe and the woods of Australia.

West of the Blue Mountains the woodland is generally so open that a person on horseback can gallop through it.

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It is traversed by a few flat-bottomed valleys, which are green and free from trees: in such spots the scenery was pretty like that of a park. In the whole country I scarcely

AUSTRALIA.

saw a place without the marks of a fire; whether these had been more or less recent-whether the stumps were more or less black-was the greatest change which varied the uni formity, so wearisome to the traveller's eye. In these woods there are not many birds. I saw, however, some large flocks of the white cockatoo feeding in a cornfield, and a few of the most beautiful parrots; crows like our English jackdaws were not uncommon, and another bird something like the magpie.

IV.

NATURE.

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