A CLEARING IN THE SCRUB.
In the course of the conversation that followed, the gentleman spoke frequently of "scrub" and "forest" land, as though they were distinct from each other. Fred politely asked what was the difference between them.
"Scrub land," replied the gentleman, "is distinct from forest land in several features, but particularly in that of undergrowth. Scrub in Queensland means the low land on the banks of the rivers; it is covered with a dense growth of trees intermingled with a denser growth of vines and creepers, which in many places render it impossible to proceed without cutting one's way through with a tomahawk or large knife. The vines run to the tops of the highest trees, and frequently cross from tree to tree, so that the whole area seems bound together with festoons of green cordage.
"There is a genuine bit of Queensland scrub," said he, pointing to what seemed an almost solid mass of verdure several acres in extent. "It contains cabbage and other palms, fig-trees which tower above most of their fellows, but are overtopped by the bunya, pine, and red cedar, though the latter are not very numerous. An agile sailor might climb from one side to the other of that scrub without once going to the ground; and as for a group of monkeys or squirrels, it would be no effort at all for them to make the journey.
SUBURBAN RESIDENCE ON THE RIVER'S BANK.
"Of course we're too far off to hear any sounds there, but if you could be under the shade of those trees you would find that the scrub is full of life. I speak only of sunrise and sunset; at noon the place is as quiet as a cemetery, but in the morning and evening quite the reverse. Flocks of pigeons, cockatoos, and parrots fly around and coo and chatter; cat-birds, bell-birds, whip-birds, laughing-jackasses, and a host of others dart about and make the air resound with their notes; and if you watch the ground you will quite likely get a glimpse of wild turkeys and other birds that make their home there and shun the limbs of the trees. Keep a sharp eye out, too, as you may come across snakes, and some of them are poisonous."