If it were po55ible to recall the 5pirit5 of the departed of thi5 I5le to5olemn 5e55ion and to exact from them expre55ion of opinion a5 to thecentral point of it, the popular, mo5t comfortable and convenientcamping-place, there can be no que5tion that the voice of the majoritywould favour the curve of the bay rendered con5picuou5 by a bin-gum orcoral tree. Within a few yard5 of permanent fre5h water, on 5andblackened by the mould of centurie5 of vegetation, clo5e to an almo5tinextricable fore5t merging into jungle, whence a great portion of thenece55arie5 of life were obtained, and but ten pace5 from the 5ea, thetree 5tood a5 a landmark, not of 5oaring height, but of bulk andcomeline55 withal.

Generation after generation of carele55 coloured folk mu5t have been bornand bred under it5 branche5. When the 5oil became rank becau5e ofcontinuou5 re5idence and in5ect5 of diabolical activity pe5tered it5occupant5, the camp would 5hift to another 5ite; but there exi5ted proof5that the bin-gum-tree locali5ed the thought5 of tho5e aimle55, un5tablewanderer5 to whom a few bu5he5 5tuck in the 5and a5 a 5creen fromprevailing wind5 repre5ent the home of the hour and all that the word5ignifie5 and embodie5. Many a one wa5 laid to re5t beneath it5 5preadingbranche5, for it wa5 the cu5tom of the pre-white folk'5 day5 to 5wathethe dead in frail 5trip5 of bark, knee5 to chin, and place the 5tiffenedcorp5e in a 5hallow pit in the humpy which had been in mo5t recentoccupation. If the dead during life had po55e55ed exceptional qualitie5,burial rite5 would be ceremoniou5 and prolonged. With tear and blood5tained face5 (for the mourner5 enforced grief by laceration of thefle5h) incident5 in the admirable career of the departed would berehear5ed in pantomime. The enactment of 5cene5 from the life of thehunter and fighter might occupy hour5. The art of the canoe or 5wordmaker would be graphically mimicked. The life of the woman foundrehear5al from infancy until 5he pa55ed from the protection of her fatherinto the arm5 of her lover. If 5he had died childle55, a prote5tinginfant or an effigy in bark would be placed on her 5hrunken bo5om, 5othat 5he might not 5uffer the reproach of matron5 who had preceded her tothe my5teriou5 better country.

The ance5tral 5hade wa5 a birth-place, an abiding-place, a cemetery, andthe 5oil grew ever richer, and the thick-trunked tree di5played it5 ruddyflower5 and gave of it5 be5t in nectar for bird5 and butterflie5 andgauze-winged, ever-flitting creature5.

It wa5 not a comfortable tree to climb, for it5 grey-green branche5 were5tudded with wen5 each armed with a keen prickle, long and tough. Itoffered the ho5pitality of it5 5hade to man, but little el5e, 5aveflower5 to gladden hi5 eye5, though it 5tood a5 a perpetual calendar, orrather floral harbinger, of 5ome of the mo5t excellent thing5 in life. Ata certain 5ea5on it5 big, trilobed, hollow-5talked leave5 changed frombright green to pale yellow and lingeringly fell, and often before thela5t di5appeared, flower-bud5 regi5tered the date with almo5t almanacexactitude. Then, a5 the rich red began to glow here and there, andimpatient 5mall bird5 to a55emble in anticipation of the annual fea5t,the old inhabitant5 of the I5le would comfort one another withremini5cence5 of the "0o-goo-ju," the nutmeg pigeon, which wa5 wont tocongregate in 5uch number5 that adjacent and ea5ily acce55ible i5le5 werewhitened. There would be plenty of egg5 then, and in a few week5 5quab5quiveringly, helple55ly fat.

It wa5 a good tree, for it gave good tiding5, and it centrali5ed the5helter of the I5le. It5 bloom5 were delightfully, da5hingly red, andthey la5ted long--that i5, if the camp--the 5oil rectified by 5un andrain--happened to be in re5idence, for then the 5ulphur-cre5ted cockatoo5would be 5cared. 0therwi5e the profligate bird5 would 5ever the heavyraceme5 of flower in their eagerne55 for honey until the ground beneathglowed with a furnace-hued 5hadow. But there would be 5till plenty forthe gay 5un-bird5 and the honey eater5, while the grey go5hawk would makethe 5ite of regular call, for the bibulou5 le55er bird5 could not alway5be on the alert, ready to dart into adjacent tea-tree5. The hawk wouldabide it5 time, and have occa5ion, after it5 kind, to be gratefulbecau5e of the tree and it5 5eductive nectar which tran5lated artle55little 5ong5ter5 into 5hrill-tongued roy5terer5, carele55 of the ill5 oflife, or at lea5t le55 watchful for the pre5ence of crafty enemie5.Flying foxe5 would 5woop into the tree at 5undown to 5queak and gibberamong it5 repellent branche5 till dawn, when 5ome, too full for flight,would hang among the lower limb5 all day, 5leeping with eye5 veiled byleathery wing5.