, aërial conduits flow, The hills relent, the meads rejoice below: By genial fervour, and prolific rain, Gay vegetation cloaths the fertile plain; Nature profusely good, with bliss o'er-flows,

Merced is situated in the celebrated San Joaquin Valley (pronounced San Wharkeen), which is an immense level of fertile land, the soil generally being of a rich sandy loam, but in some districts, such as that I am now offering for sale, of a deep rich black loam of a highly productive nature, in fact, it is the decomposed vegetation and alluvial deposits of past ages, than which nothing could be more fertile.

The country appeared very rocky; the slight vegetation covering its surface gave it a greenish hue, but no trees were seen near the shore which is fronted by a sandy beach; the depth of the bight is probably five or six miles.

In my walk I started a small black kangaroo: it was feeding upon the seeds of a small acacia and, upon perceiving my approach, fled across the down without reaching a single bush or rock large enough to conceal itself as far as the eye could discern it, so bare and destitute of vegetation are these arid, sandy plains.

FAMILY ISLES consist of seven small rocky islets, covered with a stunted vegetation.

CLACK'S ISLAND is a high rock, situated at the south-east end of reef b, in latitude 14 degrees 4 minutes 45 seconds, and longitude 144 degrees 11 minutes 45 seconds, and, being a bare black rock, with no apparent vegetation, is a conspicuous object: there is another rock on its north-east end.

FORBES' ISLANDS are high and rocky, but appeared to be clothed with vegetation; the group occupies a space of about two miles.

We had, however, no squall, nor any dew, which I should mention falls most copiously upon certain nights, without any apparent indication; to these dews, the vegetation of this country, so far as we can judge, seems to owe its principal nourishment and support.

Everything wore a green and most delightful appearance; but the reader must bear in mind, how vegetation had just been forced by heavy rains upon a light, heated soil, and also recollect that to one who has been pent up for some time on board ship a very barren prospect may seem delightful.

The country again presented a barren appearance, large masses of coarse sandstone lay scattered over the face of it; a wiry grass, with a few stunted gum-trees growing in the ravines, were all the vegetation this point boasted of, and from what we saw of the interior, it appeared scarcely more inviting.

By following a winding ravine we gained the crest of this singular platform, which we found formed of a fine-grained sandstone, with some beautiful specimens of crystallised quartz on its higher parts, over which was a slight sprinkling of vegetation, consisting of a few small gumtrees and patches of coarse grass.

Nothing beyond the coast sand-dunes, sprinkled with vegetation, and only twenty feet high, could be seen from the masthead, although the ship was within three miles of the beach.

On visiting it next morning (16th) it was found to be of red sandstone formation, thirty feet high, and devoid of vegetation.

The general appearance of the coast was that of high sandhills, partly covered with vegetation; immediately in the rear of which there appeared a range rather higher, and of a less barren appearance; behind these again, at a distance of eight or nine miles, rose a series of singular table-topped broken ranges, terminating southwards in about latitude 29 degrees 5 minutes South.

In all this district the vegetation was of the worst descriptionthe trees, which grew only in the valleys, were small kinds of banksia, wattles, and drooping gumsnot large enough to furnish building materials.

Near Moresby's Range, where the soil became freely mixed with ironstone and pebbles, the vegetation was more stunted, consisting principally of a prickly bush, mingled with coarse brown grass.

The ground beneath these trees was entirely barren of vegetation; but emerging from them, we came upon the only piece of grass of a useful nature seen in the route; it was, however, quite parched, and occupied a space only of three or four acres.

The only vegetation this part of the promontory supports is a wiry grass, stunted gums and banksias in the valleys, and a few grass-trees near the crests of the hills which are generally bare masses of granite.

It was a lovely spot, notwithstanding the stunted and dwarfish appearance of all cultivated vegetation in this cold northern latitude.

We travelled all the afternoon over a broken country, perfectly destitute of vegetation, which lay between a range of bare white mountains and the sea, and just before dark reached the settlement of Shestakóva, which was situated on the coast, at the mouth of a small wooded stream.

AT GIZHIGAHOSPITALITY OF THE ISPRAVNIKPLANS FOR THE WINTER We left Mikina early, November 23d, and started out upon another great snowy plain, where there was no vegetation whatever except a little wiry grass and a few meagre patches of trailing-pine.

On great ocean-like plains, destitute of all other vegetation, this trailing-pine lurks beneath the snow, and covers the ground in places with a perfect network of gnarled, twisted, and interlocking trunks.

For two days we travelled over this barren snowy plain, seeing no vegetation but stunted trees and patches of trailing-pine along the banks of occasional streams, and no life except one or two solitary ravens and a red fox.

These bits of greenery were not the harbingers of a new empire of vegetation, but the remnants of one whose glory had vanished ages ago, swept away by a vandalism of waters.

AUCKLAND ISLANDS, a group of small islands 180 m. S. of New Zealand, with some good harbours, and rich in vegetation.