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DISTRICT OF NEW ENGLAND
MANNA FOUND IN NEW ENGLAND BYRON PLAINS & BUNDARRA.
During the dry weather in the Spring & Summer Months Manna falls from the trees on the range of New England. This gum is found under the leaves of the White, the Motely and Speckled gum trees & Considerable quantities of this Manna May be gathered under the Shade of these trees — Off the range in the Bundarra & Byron Country Manna is gathered in those Seasons the particles or pieces are however Much Smaller and the quantities Much less than that found in New England. This gum is found in all the Northern districts & Counties. On examination I found this Substance first in the Shape of a Small Cockle Shell firmly attached to the leaves of the trees it is then transparent & under this Shell a Small animal is found I consider this Substance to be the deposit of Some animal to preserve its young adding to it daily until the young is enabled to leave its cell when the manna is left by the parent to fall with the rain or by the moisture of the atmosphere to the ground.
FISH FOUND IN THE BUNDARRA & MACINTYRE RIVERS
There is an abundance of excellent fish to be got in thses rivers, and their tributaries, The rock Cod fish is Caught of a large Size, & is Most esteemed. The Mole river a tributary of the Sovereign, branches off at Deep Water within ten miles of the Main dividing range of New England, & in Deep Water branch an abundance of the finest fish are caught – The blacks remark that no fish is to be found in Some of the branches of the rivers, this is found to be the case, & attribute this to Some evil Spirit possessing these branches, Which if properly looked to it will be found, that the water is impregnated with ironstone or Some other mineral, & is thus avoided by the fish, for we find in these Western Waters, branches of the Same river running parallel within a few miles of each other, and [?] without falls or interruption, the one branch with an abundance of fish & the other without a fish, this being accounted for by the blacks "That debil debil Sit down in the Water" –
FULLERS EARTH
Fullers earth, this Soft unctuous Marl which is used by Fullers & Dyers for Cleansing Cloth Wool, is found at Rockvale in this district. Rockvale is Situated on the Wolamumbi River