Page:Victoria, with a description of its principal cities, Melbourne and Geelong.djvu/112

 thing particular, with the exception of a few opossums, which we now and then disturbed in their nocturnal feasts and gambols.

"As day began to dawn, the morning cleared up, and, ere the sun had shown himself, birds might be heard in every direction uttering their matins, but in sounds very different to the sweet melody of the feathered minstrels of our native land. Cockatoos might be discerned in vast flocks, winging their flight to some other territory; whilst parroquets, with a more careless indifference, seemed almost as tame at our approach as the "common house-sparrow. The laughing jackass, with his peculiar notes, laughed, and joined in chorus with his feathered companions, but seldom showed himself. Magpies and parrots were also very cautious, and though flying about in great numbers, always preserved a respectable distance. It was here that I first saw the Australian redbreast, a small but beautifully, shaped bird, with a breast of the brightest scarlet. The scenery upon the whole was pleasing; the sweet-scented mimosa and native cherry (growing with the stone of the fruit outside) agreeably relieved the dulness of the tall and shadeless gum-tree.

"The country gradually became more open, until it again assumed an agricultural appearance, displaying well-fenced fields, with corn and grass in abundance, and well stocked with oxen and horses. Our march extended over about eighteen miles, which we finished about noon, having arrived at