They consisted principally of casuarinas and eucalypti, some of which next year would yield a sweet manna, similar to the manna of the East.

Clumps of Australian cedars rose on the sloping banks, which were also covered with the high grass called "tussac" in New Holland; but the cocoanut, so abundant in the archipelagoes of the Pacific, seemed to be wanting in the island, the latitude, doubtless, being too low.
"What a pity!" said Herbert, "such a useful tree, and which has such beautiful nuts!" As to the birds, they swarmed among the scanty branches of the eucalypti and casuarinas, which did not hinder the display of their wings.
Black, white, or gray cockatoos, paroquets, with plumage of all colors, kingfishers of a sparkling green and crowned with red, blue lories, and various other birds appeared on all sides, as through a prism, fluttering about and producing a deafening clamor.

Suddenly, a strange concert of discordant voices resounded in the midst of a thicket.

The settlers heard successively the song of birds, the cry of quadrupeds, and a sort of clacking which they might have believed to have escaped from the lips of a native.

Neb and Herbert rushed towards the bush, forgetting even the most elementary principles of prudence.