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[Page 55]
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20 feet wide and winds in & out among the trees for miles. On either side are the most beautiful palms whose fronds bend gracefully over the channel. It is one of those waterways wherein one can imagine nymphs disporting themselves, where the dusky Oberon is want to woo his Titania. I would not be very much surprised, however, to find that the nymphs are alligators in disguise, and that the insects annoy the Fairy King & Queen so much that their halcyon existence will be cut short by a bad attack of malaria. But of course there is a fly in every pot of ointment – in this instance it is a mosquito. If the Directors of the White City could transfer this scene to their gardens, the Sydney Public would throng the enclosure night & day. As we proceeded up the creek the palms gave way to plantations of rubber, bananas, cocoanuts & pawpaw. The rubber trees are particularly interesting; deep scores are cut diagonally in the trunk & branches converging into a still deeper channel running along the centre. Rope-like trailers descend from the upper branches to the ground. These take root & in time rival the trunk in thickness so that the older trees appear to be at the base one huge network. We returned to the Naval Depot vastly pleased with our excursion.
Friday 2nd : Today was spent in rigging one or two of the sailing boats & preparing the signal mast at the Naval Depot.
Saturday 3rd : This morning I proceeded with the examination of the foreshores near the depot & this afternoon went up Gauta Ck as far as possible. Our progress was stopped by an enormous fish trap which spread