Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1894-08-22
AUSTRALIAN VlSTAS.
The Marvellous Atmosphere of the
Far Antipodes.
MANY VARIETIES OF THE GUM TREE.
No Gloomy Landscapes-Fragra Euea-
lyptus Forests and Odorless Flowers
About Snakes and Ants.
ANY VARIETIES OF THE GUM TREE.

A recent writer has characterized the
landscape of Australia as dreary. 1t
seems incredible that, in the fertile
portions of the country, any one could
consider it melancholy. There is some
thing of sameness in the foliage of the
eucalyptus when seen from distance
But even then it is softened by the mar
velous Australian atmosphere, taking
on thousand tints of amethyst and
emerald, until the wide plains seem
to be encircled by an averchanging sea.
Indeed SO perfect is the illusion that
it was several days before l discovered
that | was not looking out upon the
ocean from my window in the hotel,
but upon a girdle of unchanging bush.
Then there are 152 varieties of the
gum, many of which, i'll foliage and
manner of growth, might be easily mis-
taken for trees Of some other species.
There is one variety which grows to
the proportions of our giant sycamores,
which it resembles This species is a
prey to destructive insect which bores
through the bark into the wood the
trunk swelling with enormous knots
wherever it is stung. | was told by
Professor Koeble that he had seen these
excresences that weighed ton.
There is no place in the world where
insect life is so prolific, and these trees
suffer especially. Nature has provided
them a sort of protection against their
enemies, in that each year they shed
their bark, instead of their foliage, as
we are told that religious mendicants
threw aside the garments that finally
became alive with parasites.
Some varieties of the gum resemble
groves of live oak as they grow in Cal
ifornia; others are as symmetrical as
the maple, and still others are as tall
as the Lombardy poplar. The leaves of
all are more or less slender, and they
do not hang horizontally, but vertical
ly, so that they cast but little shade,
except where they grow close together
in the bush. Thomas w. Knox says
that the eucalyptus amygdalina, or
giant gum, is the tallest tree in the
world, one on Mount Baw-b baw, Griffs-
land, having been measured by COM
petent engineer, which was All feet i'll
height.
After losing its bark, the trunk of one
variety is silvery white, which has
given it the name of the "silver stem. ;"
Other valuable species are the blue gum
and the red gum. The red gum yields
a valuable timber, the grain being al
most as close, and the wood as hard and
indestructible as mahogany. 1t is this
that is used for paving the streets. The
wood is cut into square blocks and laid
upon bed of pounded stone and ce-
ment three feet thick. They have not
yet learned i'll the colonies the art of
street-paving as political job. l see
nowhere the ragged, muddy, broken
stretches of so-called pavement which
may be found at every turn in Chicago.
The therapeutic qualities of the gum
tree are also now well known. Wher-
ever they grow in numbers there is no
malaria, and it is stated upon high
medical authority that the virulence of
fever brought into the country is much
abated.
The fragrance of the eucalyptus for
ests is delicious and refreshing, with a
spiciness, though not so sweet, like the
odor of carnations. The oil is now an
important addition to the matera
medica, and the gum, which exudes i'll
great quantities, red as blood or yellow
as amber, is of great value CONNER
cially.
was told that the tree absorbs all
the moisture i'll the soil, and when the
bush is cleared away, streams and
springs burst forth.
This is in keeping with the contra
dictoriness of almost everything in Aus
tralia which is land where the indie
ginous flowers have no perfume, where
the birds have no song, where the swans
are black, where the trees shed theil
bark, where there is frost in July, ano
where Christmas is celebrated in the
midst of burning heat.
Unlike New Zealand, which has M
venomous reptiles or insects of any sort
Australia abounds in both. The flies
for one thing, are an intolerable pest
and are found in myriads even upo1
the plains far away from any human
habitation.
Children suffer cruelty from theil
bites, many being blinded, as they at
tack the eyes with savage persistency
A friend told me that he had frequently
seen shepherds riding on horseback
who at a distance appeared to be
solid, moving mass of flies. 1t is nee
essay, under such circumstances, tt
protect the hands and face so that the,
cannot bite the skin. Fleas are als'
numerous, but civilization, vigilance
and cleanliness have done much to ex
terminate them. There are men wh'
can remember Melbourne as it wa
forty years ago, when the entire beacl
of Brighton and st. Kilda was so in