Page:London Journal of Botany, Volume 2 (1843).djvu/178

 every where along the coast line of road, there was less difficulty in choosing our resting place. On such occasions, I have only to let Cabbine, who is one of the best and quietest of the Timor race, go loose, when he eats his fill, and, having done so, comes and lies down by my side.

Early in the afternoon of the 19th we arrived at Mandurah, the residence of Thomas Peel, Esq. one of the largest land proprietors in this Colony, where we stopped for the night. Mandurah is situated close to the outlet of that great estuary, which receives the waters of the Serpentine, Murray and Harvey rivers, and is about forty miles to the south of Freemantle. Few spots are more beautiful and the soil excellent, lying over limestone. Mr. Peel's garden is in a rich valley near his dwelling, and abounds with vegetables throughout the year, which here grow almost spontaneously. In it I noticed a very pretty species of Aster, growing like a weed, and near it I observed, so as to recognise it, your Lawrencia spicata (Icones Plantarum, Tab. CCLXI, and CCLXII;) but I have seen the same, or what is perhaps an allied species, on the rich flats at the head of the Swan; and also a dwarf-growing, broad-leaved kind, between the Swan and Wallup. The large sheets of water, many miles in extent, into which the three above mentioned rivers empty themselves, appear to me one of the remarkable features in this part of the country; they abound with fish of many sorts, ducks, &c. as well as black swans.

On the 20th Mr. Harris and I started for Pinjarra, about fifteen miles distant, whither our road lay across the estuary, so as to avoid crossing the Serpentine, over which there is neither ford nor bridge. But missing our way, we got to the south of the Murray as well as the Serpentine. On discovering our error, we had to retrace our steps, plodding in the water above our middles for four hours, so that it was dark ere we reached Mr. Armstrong's farm, called Ravenswood, about nine miles only from Mandurah, where we staid all night. The next day, as neither Mr. Harris nor I felt inclined, after our exploits in the water, to travel very far,