BURDEKIN DUCK ('Tadorna Raja').
This beautiful species of shelldrake, though not numerous, has a wide
range, extending from the richmond river to Cape York. It frequents
the more open flats at the mouths of rivers and creeks.
THE NATIVE BEE.
This little insect (called Wirotheree in the Wellington dialect), the
invasion of whose hoards so frequently added to the store of the
travellers, and no doubt assisted largely in maintaining their
health, is very different from the European bee, being in size and
appearance like the common house-fly. It deposits its honey in trees
and logs, without any regular comb, as in the case of the former.
These deposits are familiarly known in the colony as "sugar bags,"
(sugar bag meaning, aboriginice, anything sweet), and require some
experience and proficiency to detect and secure the aperture by which
the bees enter the trees, being undistinguishable to an unpractised
eye. The quantity of honey is sometimes very large, amounting to
several quarts. Enough was found on one occasion to more than
satisfy the whole party. Its flavor differs from that of European
honey almost as much as the bee does in appearance, being more
aromatic than the latter: it is also less crystalline. As the
celebrated "Narbonne honey" derives its excellence from the bees
feeding on the wild thyme of the south of France, so does the
Australian honey derive its superior flavour from the aromatic
flowers and shrubs on which the Wirotheree feeds, and which makes it
preferred by many to the European.
THE APPLE-GUM ('Angophora?')
I have been at some pains to discover to what species this tree
belongs, but further than that it is one of the almost universal
family of the Eucalypti, have not been able to identify it. As
mentioned in the text, it was found very valuable for forging
purposes by the Brothers, who were able to bring their horse-shoes
almost to a white heat by using it. It is like box in appearance,
and very hard.
TERRY'S BREECH-LOADERS.
This formidable weapon can hardly receive too high a commendation,
and to its telling efficiency is probably attributable the absence of
any casualty to the party in their many encounters with the savages.
Not only for its long range is it valuable, but for its superior
certainty in damp or wet weather, its charge remaining uninjured
after days and weeks of interval, and even after immersion in water,
making it available when an ordinary piece would be useless. The
effect of the conical bullet too is much more sure and complete,
which, when arms 'must' be resorted to, is of great importance.
THE MARAMIE.
This shell-fish is to be found in almost all the Australian rivers
and lagoons. It is in size and appearance very much like the little
cray-fish or "Ecrevisses" which usually garnish the "Vol-au-vent" of
Parisian cookery, and of very delicate flavor.
SPINIGEX, Spear Grass, Needle Grass, or "Saucy Jack" ('Triodia Irritans.')
This grass, so well known to all Australian travellers, is a certain
indication of a sandy sterile country. The spinifex found in the
Mally scrubs of the south attains a great size, generally assuming
the appearance of a large tuft or bush from one to two feet in
diameter, and twelve to eighteen inches high. When old, its sharp
points, like those of so many immense darning needles set on end at
different angles, are especially annoying to horses, who never touch
it as food, except when forced by starvation. In Northern Queensland
the present species is found abundantly from Peak Downs to Cape York.
FIVE CORNERS ('Stypelia?')
This fruit is well known and very common in the neighbourhood of
Sydney, and was found in the scrubby region about the Richardson
Range, which, as before mentioned, is of similar character to that
description of country. It does not, so far as I am aware, exist in
any other part of Queensland.
THE NATIVE PLUM ('Owenia.')
This tree, of which there are several species, ('Owenia Cerasifera'
and 'Owenia Vanessa' being most common in Queensland), is found along
the whole of the east coast, as far south as the Burnett, and is one
of the handsomest of Australian forest trees. Its purple fruit has a
pleasant acid flavor, and is probably a good anti-scorbutic. It is
best eaten after having been buried in the ground for a few days, as
is the custom of the natives. The stone is peculiar, having much the
shape of a fluted pudding basin. The timber is handsomely grained
and is of durable quality.
On the subjects of the fruits, edible plants, and roots of
Queensland, Mr. Anthelme Thozet, of Rockhampton, whose name is well
and deservedly known to Botanists, has been at great pains to prepare
for the approaching Exhibition at Paris, a classified table of all
that are known as consumed by the natives raw and prepared, and to
his enthusiastic attention to the subject, we are indebted for the
possession of a large and important list, a knowledge of which would
enable travellers in the wilds of the colony to support themselves
from their natural productions alone, in cases where their provision
was exhausted.
THE CALAMUS ('Calamus Australis.)
This plant belongs to a genuis of palms, the different species of
which yield the rattan canes of commerce. Its form in the scrubs of
the Cape York Peninsula is long and creeping, forming a net work of
vines very formidable to progress.
THE PITCHER PLANT ('Nepenthes Kennedyana.')
This interesting plant was first noticed to the north of the Batavia
River, and is common to the swamps of the peninsula. It has been
described and named in honor of the unfortunate Kennedy, who first
noticed it.
