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CORRESPONDENCE. 213
than two montlis on tlieir way. I need scarcely add, that Mediterranean and
Indian acorns travelled in the same manner quite safely. I cannot conclude
this brief note without a public acknowledgment of the great generosity of the
illustrious Asa Gray m arranging for the transmission of copious collections of
these American seeds.
Feed, von Mueller.
Melbourne, March 28th, 1869.
The Cocoa-Nut in Atistralia.
Mr. C. Moore, Director of the Sydney Botanical Garden, in a lecture on endogenous
plants, has stated that— " It was somewhat singular that the Cocoa-
nut had never been discovered growing on the continent of Australia, excepting
the instance mentioned by M'Gillivray, and from his account it would almost
seem that it had been planted. . . . The Cocoa-nut Islands surrounded the
northern portion of the continent, and the nuts had been found by Mr. King
and other surveyors along the coast ; but it was not known that they had ever
taken root, excepting where, as at Eockingham Bay, they had been planted."
That gentleman will be pleased to hear that at Emu Park, Cawan-al, about twenty-
six miles east of Rockhampton, on. an open sandy flat, within 300 yards of the
sea, we have a Cocoa-nut growing ; its diameter at the butt is eighteen inches,
and its height about forty-five feet ; its stunted and crooked growth near the
base shows unmistakable proof of the many struggles it has sustained against
hurricanes and bush fires. The nuts it bears are rather small, limited in quan-
tity, and below the average of those borne by a vigorous plant. These circum-
stances bring it within the period when the products diminish, and which, at
the Gulf of Cariaco, according to Humboldt, take place after forty years. It
would, however, be difEcult to make any correct estimate about the age of the
tree in question ; but I venture to say that it is above sixty years old. Was the
nut planted there by some navigator?—or forgotten by the aboriginals, who
gather them by thousands along our coast, and use them as food ? Or, was it
carried where the tree stands now, at the top of a wave during a very heavy sea ?
Tlie spot is not one a seaman would have chosen as likely, for planting a Cocoa-
nut, to mark his visit on the Australian shores. Aware of the presence of the
Cocoa-nut-tree on the surrounding islands, he woidd natui'ally have sujjposed
its existence also on the mainland. Failing to find a reasonable motive, I may
be allowed to dismiss the first supposition. The second could have happened,
imder certain conditions ; but, again, the nut would probably have remained
uncovered, and the chance of a proper gennination diminished. The most
plausible supposition is the third. By a strong wind and current, a nut could
be carried rapidly fi-om an island, preserve all its vitality, and be buried shghtly
at the end of the waves, under sand and vegetable matter. After a careful
investigation, I am inclined to think that such was the fact, and that what
has happened at Emu Park must have also happened at different points of
our very imperfectly botanically-explored coast. It was only six years after
a large population had settled on the basin of the Fitzroy River that the first in-