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Meston and his party descend from the summit of Mount Alexandra. He describes the weapons of Daintree Aborigines, and a conversation with older men who recall attacks on cedar-getters in the 1870s. Meston pleads for understanding of Aborigines who were defending their land in accordance with strict laws of trespass. He asks that whites imagine themselves in the same position, as a basis for understanding and sound judgment. He strongly deplores the taking of cedar from the Daintree: 'We shall only clearly realise the beauty and durability of cedar when it is all gone....These tremendous tropical jungles covering the whole country from the sea-coast to the tops of the highest mountain are a Paradise for the botanist, the zoologist and the entomologist.'
