V70. tioned already: it has narrow leaves, not much unlike a
— J---> willow ; and the gum, or rather refin, which it yields, is of
a deep red, and refembles the Janguis draconis I poffibfy it may
be the fame, for this fubfta'nce is known to be the produce
of more than one plant. It is mentioned by Dampier, and
is perhaps the fame that Tafman found upon Diemen’s
Land, where he fays he faw “ Gum of the trees, and gum
“ lac o f the ground.” The other timber tree is that which
grows fomewhat like our pines, and has been particularly
mentioned in the account of Botany Bay. The wood of both
thcfe trees, as I have before remarked, is extremely hard
and heavy. Befides thefe, here are .trees covered with a foft
bark that is eafily peeled off, and is the fame that in the
Eaft Indies is ufed for the caulking of Blips.
We found here the palm of three different forts. The
firft, which grows in great plenty to the fouthward, has
leaves that are plaited like a fan: the cabbage of thefe is
fmall, but exquifitely fweet; and the nuts, which it bears in
great abundance, are very good food for hogs. The fecond
fort bore a much greater refemblance to the true cabbage
tree of the Weft Indies'; its leaves were large and pinnated,
like thofe of the cocoa-nut; and thefe alfo produced a cabbage,
which though not fo fweet as the other, was much
larger. The third fort, which, like the fecond, was found
only in {he northern parts, Was feldom more than ten feet
high, with fmall pinnated leaves, refembling thofe of fome
kind of fern: it bore no cabbage, but a plentiful crop of
puts, about the fize of a large chefnut, but rounder: as we
found the hulls of thefe fcattered round the places where
the.Indians had made their fires, we took for granted that
they were fit to eat; thofe however who made the expériment
paid dear for their knowlege of the contrary, for
4 they
they operated both as an emetic and cathartic with great
violence. Still, however, we made no doubt but that they
were eaten by the Indians; and judging that the conftitution
of the hogs might be as ftrong as theirs, though our own
had proved to be fo much inferior, we carried them to the
ftye; the hogs eat them, indeed, and for fome time we
thought without fuffering any inconvenience; but in about
a week they were fo much difordered that two of them died*
and the reft were recovered with great difficulty. It is probable,
however, that the poifonous quality o f thefe nuts may lie in
the juice, like that of the caflada of the Weft Indies ; and
that the pulp, when dried, may be not only wholefome, but
nutricious. Befides thefe fpecies of the palm, and mangroves,
there were fe-veral fmall trees and fhrubs altogether
unknown in Europe ; particularly one which produced a'
very poor kind of fig; another that bore what we called a
plum, which it refembled in colour, but not in fhape, being
flat on the fides like a little cheefe; and a third that bore a
kind of purple apple; which, after it had been kept a few
days, became eatable, and tailed fomewhat like a damafcene.
Here is a great variety o f plants to enrich the collection of
a botanift, but very few o f them are of the efculent kind1.
A fmall plant, with long, narrow, graffy leaves, refembling
that kind of bulrufh which in England is called the Cat’s-
tail, yields a refin of a bright yellow colour, exactly refcm-
bling gambouge, except that it does not ftain;; it has a fweet
fmell, but its properties we had no opportunity to difcbver,
any more than thofe of many others with which the natives
appear to be acquainted, as they have difting.uilhed them by
names.
I have alreadiy mentioned the root and leaves- of a plant
refembling the coccos of the Weft Indies, and a kind of
bean;.
■ M