68 TREES OF MOUNT LOFTY. dicinal properties, to the well known gum-arabic of com merce. In South Australia, these acacias are found in great abundance ; and it would doubtless be possible to collect from them during the summer season many thousand pounds’ worth of gum, it being worth, in the English market, at least 60Z. per ton. This tree 1 have invariably observed in soils of a light and dusty character, being in general thinly scattered over the plain, like the trees of an orchard. There appears reason to think that the natives of Australia could be rendered useful to the colony, and earn as much money in collecting the gum acacia as would suffice to house and clothe them, and this species of industry being entirely congenial to their habits, would probably not be regarded by them as an intolerable hardship. The bark of the gummiferous mimosa is highly astringent, and, being well adapted for tanning, would constitute a valuable article of export. The road, a mere mountain track, formed by drays carrying timber from the Stringy Bark Forest to Ade laide, followed a winding course from one eminence to another, occasionally approaching the brink of a precipi tous ravine, from whose depths arose the noise of a brawling torrent. It was overshadowed by the dense foliage of the stringy bark trees, some of which attain an enormous size. These trees, which belong to the tribe of eucalyptus, are the most valuable, on account of their timber, that has yet been discovered in South Australia; but when acted upon by the Australian climate, the sawn planks and boards, which they furnish, have the defect of shrinking and warping to a greater degree than any other timber with which I am acquainted. They grow over the sides and on the very summits of the hills, to