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pp. 421-427.
“20th. A son of our kind hostess, conducted us through an intricate part of our route, to Illawarra. The road for several miles lies over an elevated, sandstone country, covered with low forest, intermingled with a great variety of beautiful shrubs, and interspersed with marshy flats. The elevation above the level of the sea, is about 2,000 feet. Among the shrubs of this district were four species of Grevillia, one of which had brilliant scarlet blossoms, also a gay Merbellia, with bluish purple flowers, and several species of Dillwynia [ Egg and Bacon, Parrot Pea], Pultenaea, and Boronia. On some of the rocky ground, there was a profusion of the Gigantic Lily, Doryanthes excelsia, which bears a compound head, of dull-crimson, lily-like blossoms, among large-floral leaves of the same colour, upon a lofty stem, furnished with numerous, dagger-shaped leaves, diminishing in size toward the top. The stem arises from the centre of a large crest, of upright, sedgy leaves, about four inches wide, and as many feet long. It was not in blossom here. The vegetation is much more luxuriant on the top of the coast-range of mountains, the precipitous fronts of which, and the low ground, between their base and the sea, are covered with forests of the greatest luxuriance, and richest variety. Cedar, Sassafras, Swamp-mahogany, Cabbage-palm, large Fig trees, and numerous climbing-shrubs, with Tree-ferns, form a striking contrast to the low forest, of the sandy tract just left behind. The rich prospect, bounded by the ocean beneath, and exhibiting some bold, mountain projections, and a spot of cultivated land on the coast, affords a treat to the eye, such as is seldom enjoyed among the vast forests of Australia. We descended by a rough track, called the Bulli Road, the sides of which were ornamented by a gay Prostanthera [Mint Bush], Pimelia hypericifolia, Pittosporum undulatum, and another giant species of the genus, and a handsome, white Clematis. This road is difficult for horses, and impracticable for carts, except by the assistance of ropes, passed round conveniently situated trees, by means of which, in a few instances, they have been got down.After reaching the beach, our way, for eight miles, was along loose sand, to Wollongong, near which, our toils for the day, found an end, in the hospitable dwelling of Charles Throsby Smith, the chief proprietor of the place, which we reached when it was nearly dark, after a walk of twenty-seven miles.
“21st. We went to Wollongong, which is situated on a small boat-harbour. The buildings, at present erected, are, a police-office, two stores, two public-houses, a Roman Catholic Chapel, and a few dwelling houses; a barn is also fitted up for an Episcopal place of worship. In the afternoon we met a large road-party, under the charge of a military officer, at a place, a mile and a half from the town. They were assembled in a large, open shed, where they take their meals: the officer and his wife, with a number of military, who were under arms, and their wives were also present; the whole company was quiet and attentive, both while we addressed them, and while we remained with them in silence. The prisoners here, are those sentenced from Great Britain, to work on the roads, for certain periods, before being assigned. They were, at one time, ordered to work in chains, and for periods as long as seven years, but this excessive, and injurious severity, has been relaxed, and they are now exempted from chains, unless as a punishment for improper conduct; and if they behave well, they are assigned, at the expiration of two years. Hope being thus kept alive, while strict discipline is likewise maintained, their conduct is generally good; only three cases have occurred to be subjected to flagellation, within the last month. They are lodged and guarded, in the same manner as ironed-gangs. Though this station is called a stockade, there is no defence around it; but no prisoner can wander off the premises, on account of the military guard. The whole place is remarkable for its cleanliness and order. The prisoners are employed in the formation of roads and bridges; they have already formed a road, from the top of the mountains, wide enough for one carriage; but it is yet only available for horses, as a creek on the way to Appin, remains impassable for carriages, without a bridge. This part of the Colony has much of the features of Cleveland, in Yorkshire. The mountains, however, are more precipitous, and as well as the low land between them and the sea, are covered with lofty, dense forest, except in a few places, in which, in most instances, human industry has cleared the fertile soil. This seems to consist of decomposed basalt, and dark, argillaceous rock, from the base of the mountains, mixed with washings from their sandstone tops, and much vegetable matter. The Blacks in this district are not numerous a group, many of whom were afflicted with sores, were seated on the ground, when we returned into the town.
“22nd. Being furnished with horses, by some of our friends, we accompanied a young physician, a few miles from the coast, off which there are five small islands, that give this district the name of The Five Islands, by which it is familiarly known among the lower class, in the Colony. Along the shore, there are several lagoons, some of which are fresh, being separated from the sea by narrow portions of land. The two largest, the Illawarra Lake, and Tom Thumbs Lagoon, are salt, the sea breaking into them, in high tides. The former of these, is of considerable extent, and ornamented by a few little islands. The surrounding scenery is very fine; the contiguous land being undulating, and clothed with grassy forest, and rich brushes, in which many Cabbage Palms are interspersed, and the lofty trees are overhung with climbers. The back ground is formed by the woody steep, of the low mountain range, which extends for many miles along the coast, at from five to miles from the sea.
“On a little spot of cleared land, near the margin of a lake, is the habitation of a settler, in humble life: it is a very rustic hut, covered with bark, and internally having much of a sombre hue, common to the dwellings of the lower classes of the Scotch and Irish, and which too often prevails also, in those of the English, in this Colony. But the mother of this family is of a character, rarely met with in n these wilds; she is pious, and abounding in Christian goodwill to all around her. It was a treat to visit her, and to receive her hearty blessing. She is an honour to her country, Scotland, and an ornament to the community to which she belongs. Our medical friend had been called in professionally, when she was ill, but he found that he had come, rather to receive than give advice. From this place, we went to the hut of our friend, to dine. It was of rough slabs, covered with bark. rustic, in the full sense of the word, and scarcely protecting his valuable library from the weather. Here he is superintending his flock of sheep, the joint property of himself and one of his friends, who is temporarily dwelling in the same habitation. But Illawarra not being a favourable country for sheep, though a delightful climate, and fine soil, well adapted for agriculture, and which will no doubt, become the Egypt of Australia, our fiend is about to remove his flock, to one of the more elevated southern districts.
“23rd. We accompanied some of our friends in a ride, along the newly-formed road, up the mountain, which is a few miles south of the one which we descended into the district. The whole ascent is about five miles, through rich forests, abounding with Cabbage Palm, and other striking trees. The vegetation of the country, is of similar appearance to that within the tropics. This arises from the nature of the climate, which is mild, from the contiguity of the sea, and from the protection afforded by the precipitous mountains, from the frosts and hot winds of the interior; these mountains also cause rain to fall much more abundantly here, than is common in other parts of N. S. Wales. Dripping sandstone-rocks project, at the top of the mountain, and are decorated with ferns, and Dracophyllum secundum, a remarkable plant of the Epacris tribe, with white flowers. One of our party killed a large Diamond Snake, which is considered venomous, but its bite is said to be rarely fatal [This misconception must have resulted in the death of many a specimen of this beautiful Python which is non-venomous]. It is a beautiful species, and very different from the small one, known by the same name in Tasmania. The Bush Turkey, Alectura Lathami, inhabits these forests; it is somewhat less than the female of the Common Turkey; its general colour is dark brown, but the head and the neck, which are almost bare of feathers, are red, and it has a large, orange-red wattle, attached to the lower part of the neck. This bird is remarkable for using a hot-bed for hatching its eggs. It scratches together a conical heap of sticks and leaves, in which it deposits its eggs, distantly from one another, with the small end downward. From the quantity of eggs found in these heaps, several females are supposed to lay in the same place. The birds, both male and female, are said by the natives, to watch the heaps during the period of incubation, and the latter diminishes or adds to the heated, vegetable matter, according to the instinct given her by her Creator.
“In the evening, a meeting for the promotion of temperance, was held in the Police-office. Several persons addressed the audience, and a settler made some sensible remarks, on the desirableness of establishing a Savings’ Bank, as an additional mode of promoting temperance. A man lately perished from spontaneous combustion, in this neighbourhood, and a woman was smothered in a hay-loft, under most abhorrent circumstances, consequent on intoxication.
“24th. We took a walk into the forest, and examined some of its beauties, more particularly. Some large species of Tristiania; also Metrosideros capitata, called here Turpentine-tree, which attains a large stature, and Sterculia acerifolia [Flame Tree], which has large clusters, of small, flame-coloured flowers, that produce a striking appearance in spring. The Cabbage Palm, Corypha australis, represented in the margin, abounds by the sides of water courses. Great numbers of this Palm, which has elegant, fan-like foliage, and hard, purple seeds, the size of a marble, are destroyed for the sake of their trunks and leaves. The trunks, which are sometimes 80 feet high, and are rough with scars, where the leaves have fallen off, are occasionally split, and converted into posts for fencing; they are also used for slabs in temporary buildings. The inside being rather sweet, and not hard, though fibrous, is eaten by pigs. The mature leaves are used for thatching, those just beginning to expand, for making hats, and the heart, or cabbage, of the young, unexpanded leaves, is eaten raw or cooked. A heart-leaved species of Pepper, climbs like Ivy, among the lofty trees, and hangs in festoons from their branches, almost to the ground. Ferns and orchidaceous plants, abound on the trunks and limbs of many of the trees. One of the latter, Sacrochilus falcatus, with blossoms nearly as white as Snowdrops, is now in flower. In these forests, there are many epiphytes of the orchis tribe, the habits of which are worthy of notice, both as exhibited here, and in other parts of the Colony. Dendrobium speciosum generally grows in fissures of the sandstone rocks, among the loose fragments, mixed with vegetable matter, but I once met with it, of extraordinary size, in the cleft of an old fig-tree, among vegetable remians. D. linguiforme, generally creeps on grit rocks, rarely on the living bark of figs and Casurinae. The other species of Dendrobium, with the genera Sarcochilus and Gunnia, grow on the bark of living trees. Once I saw Dendrobium calamifolium on a rock; but both this and the other species growing on living trees, begin to languish when the trees to which they are attached, die, probably from the portion of their roots adhering to the bark, becoming dried; a circumstance that is prevented, when they are cultivated in England, by the moist atmosphere of an orchideous-house. The Australian species of Cymbidium, universally strike their roots into the decaying portions of the trees, in which they may sometimes be traced many feet. Once only, I met with one growing from among the paper-like laminae of the bark of Melaleuca viridiflora, and it looked sickly.
“25th. Accompanied by two of our acquaintance, we proceeded to the little settlement of Dapto, where a meeting was held, in the house of a widow, at which, a few people, from scatted houses in the vicinity, were present, to whom we were enabled to extend the gospel message, inviting them to seek the knowledge of the Lord, through submission to the teaching of the divine Spirit, and the diligent reading of the Holy Scriptures. In the afternoon, we reached Marshall Mount, were we were kindly entertained by a respectable settler, with whose family and servants, we had an open opportunity for religious communication.
26th. Rain, in the early part of the day, detained us at Marshall Mount. We the evening walked to the top of a conical, basaltic hill, and had a view of Illawarra Lake, the sea, the mountains in the western back-ground, topped by sandstone crags, emerging from the boundless forest, and of the intervening plain; some parts of which are naturally clear. It is beautifully varied by forest, of trees, of different hue, and groves of Cabbage Palms, along the margins of the streamlets, and by Peach-trees, now in full blossom, in the gardens of the settlers.
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