PREFACE. THE favourable reception given to the "African Wanderers" has prompted an Australian wanderer to recite his adventures; and, as the natural productions of the newer world are even more extraordinary than those longer discovered, it is the object of the present work rather to dwell upon them, than on the fast increasing riches of the settlements. To describe the latter, would be to make a book of statistics, so rapidly varying, that new data would be required every few months, and each colony would demand a volume. The author is desirous to express her gratitude for the assistance which she has received from private sources, and the admirable travels which have been written on the same subject. The names of Stokes, Gray, Sturt, Eyre, and several others, give authority to her assertions; and, for the verification of the details of Natural History, she has received the valuable aid of Mr. Brown, himself an Australian traveller, Professor Owen, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Gould's works, as supplied by |