his splendid purpose and capacities? She supplies abundantly food
convenient for birds and other animals lower in the scale of life, but
man is left to master his fate. Even when uncivilised he is called upon
to exercise more or less wit before he may eat, and the higher his grade
the more stress upon his intelligence.

When one contemplates the unpromising origin of the apple of today, and
the rich assortment of fruits here higher in the scale of progression
than it, imagination delights to dwell upon the wonders which await the
skill of a horticultural genius. The crude beginnings of scores of
pomological novelties are flaunted on every side. The patient man has to
come.

EARLY HISTORY

To that grand old mariner, Captain Cook, belongs the honour of the
discovery of the island. The names that he bestowed--judicious and
expressive--are among the most precious historic possessions of Australia.
They remind us that Cook formed the official bond between Britain and
this great Southern land, and bear witness to the splendid feats of quiet
heroism that he performed, the privations that he and his ship's company
endured, and the patience and perseverance with which difficulties were
faced and overcome.

In his journal, on 8th June 1770, Cook writes--"At noon we were by
observation in the lat. of 17 degrees 59 minutes and abreast of the N.
point of Rockingham Bay which bore from us N. 2 miles. This boundary of
the Bay is formed by a tolerable high island known in the chart by the
name of Dunk Isle; it lay so near the shore as not to be distinguished
from it unless you are well in with the land... At this time we were in