CHAPTER XVII.

Arrive at Wombat Brush—Animals called Wombat—Parched country—Road-side houses—Colonial English—Column to the memory of La Perouse—Death of Le Receveur—Sydney police-office—The Bustard—Botanic garden—The aborigines—King Bungaree—The castor-oil shrub—Diseases of Australia—New Zealanders—Australian ladies—Prejudice against travellers from Botany Bay—Anecdote—A fishing excursion—Cephalopodous animals—Conclusion of the author’s researches in this colony 329