Page:Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies.djvu/182

144 land, but in a considerable measure, from the scarcity of rain on the eastern side of the Colony.

On the banks of the Swan River, the beautiful, blue, shrubby, Veronica formosa, and the gay, pink, Bauera rubiaefolia, were very abundant, along with some species of Pomaderris, Melaleuca, Hakea, Hovea, Westringia, and other interesting shrubs: here is also another species of Callitris, resembling a Red Cedar, and seldom attaining to ten feet in height.—On a branch of an inlet called Moulting Bay, Black Swans were very numerous; I counted nearly eighty, swimming in pairs. The large species of Kangaroo, called the Boomer, which, when it stretches itself upon its hind feet, is almost as tall as a man on horseback, has become scarce, but we saw one in passing through a bush. Though harmless when unmolested, it is said to be formidable when hunted, taking to the water, and endeavouring to drown its antagonists. The stroke of the hind claws, both of this and some other species, is destructive, and not unfrequently fatal to dogs.

On the 30th, we set out early from the house of William Lyne, who, with his sons, guided us through the forest for about ten miles, before the sun rose: his wife loaded us with provisions, lest we should suffer from hunger on the way, with a liberality, such as we often experienced in the Australian Colonies. We came upon the coast at a place to the north of a series of grey, granite hills, where a low species of Xanthorrhoea was plentiful. We then proceeded along the shore for eighteen miles, occasionally crossing points of land. Upon one part of the beach, sandstone and coal were visible; and in several places, we saw the footprints of the Tasmanian Tiger, and the Bush Devil, which had been in search of fish cast up by the sea. The mouths of the rivers were choked with sand, so that they did not impede our progress; sometimes they are dangerous to cross. A line of high, woody hills continued parallel with the shore, at a little distance inland, until it ran out upon the beach, toward the point, called St. Patricks Head. We travelled over these hills for about twelve miles further than this point, to Falmouth, a small settlement where one of our friends, named