Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 1.djvu/72

 SURVEY OF THE ITU-RTROPICAL lsl& those chiefly of the 1)arrot and cockatoo tribe; J=,7, a species of the latter was noticed of a rich black 1-1. plumage, and very like the  b .lck cockatoo of New South Wales. Kangaroos from their traces must be numerous, but only a very few were noticed; the only reptile that was found was .' a black make, which Mr. Cunningham saw for a moment as it glided past him. This gentleman made 'a large collection of seeds and dried specimens from the vast variety of beautiful plants and flowers With which na- ture has so lavishly clothed the hills and plains of this interesting country. A small spot of ground near the tent was dug up and enclosed with a fence, in which Mr. Cunningham sowed many culinary seeds and peach stones; and on the stump of a tree, which - had been felled by our wooding party, the name of the vessel with the date of our visit was inscribed; but when we visited Oyster Harbour three years and a half afterwards, no signs .. remained of the garden, and the inscription was scarcely pereeptible, from the stump of the tree having been nearly destroyed by fire. A little without the east entrance of the, har- beur, we saw one of those prodigious large nests which Captain Flinders observed near Point Possession; it was built on the summ/t of an

�