FLORA OF THE INTERIOR OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 171 
The Botanieal Results of a Journey into the Interior of Western 
Australia; with some Observations on the Nature and Rela- 
tions the Desert Flora. By SPENCErR Le MARCHANT 
MoonE, B.Sc., F.L.S. 
[Read 17th November, 1898.] 
Our expedition landed at King George's Sound in the middle of 
December, 1894. During the few hours intervening between the 
liner’s arrival and the departure of our train for Perth, I rambled 
about in the neighbourhood of Albany, admiring the astonishing 
variety in its vegetation for which this corner of Australia 15 
so celebrated. True, indeed, it was late in the season, and much 
of the flowering was already over; yet even then it would have 
been easy, at the cost of a few hours' diligent labour, to make a 
collection by no means insignificant, had such a course, in view of 
the thorough exploration of previous travellers, been deemed for 
any reason desirable. Beyond the granite hills of Albany lies a 
wide stretch of low marshy land which might still be worth a 
botanist's attention ; but one soou passes this and enters the 
* bush "—a type of country extending, with more or less vari- 
ation, till the Darling ranges are reached. In spite of the large 
grants of Crown land made over to the Railway Company *, and 
the inducements held forth to settlers in the districts traversed 
by the Line, development in this part of the Colony has not 
proceeded apace, and not till you arrive at Katanning are there 
many signs of agricultural enterprise. Here, however, as at 
Beverley and especially at York, the farmer is more in evidence. 
But, unless the summer of 1894 was exceptional—happily I 
believe this to have been the case—he must have many difficulties 
to contend against. Loiterers at the wayside stations had doleful 
stories to tell of the drought—stories too often confirmed up to 
the hilt as we passed through splendid-looking country so cruelly 
parched that the sight of it was enough to make one’s heart ache. 
But all this was changed in the Darling ranges, where the 
numerous wood-cutiing settlements imparted a welcome tone of 
prosperity to the scene. 
As we travelled up to Southern Cross from Perth, night soon 
hid the country from our view, and not until we were near our 
* This railway, together with the land-concessions enjoyed by it, has been 
recently purchased by the West Australian Government, 
LINN. JOURN.— BOTANY, VOL. XXXIV. 0 
