'lo8 Excursion to Bendigo. tv<)['^'xxxv 



l)ut unfurtunatcl)' hancn quart/, lecf sliuws the southern 

 extension of the famous Garden Gully line to Spring Gully, the 

 farthest point at which shafts have been sunk without striking 

 a profitable lode. These ranges are mostly covered with a 

 secondary growth of ironbark trees, both red and grey, 

 Eucalyptus sideroxylon and E. panic idata, interspersed with 

 the fragrant Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha, the Gorse Bitter 

 Pea, Daviesia ulicina, whilst purple Tetrathecas, yellow 

 Hibbertias, the Heathy Parrot - Pea, Dillwynia cricifolia, 

 Droseras, and the humbler liliaceous plants grew beneath. 

 Cassinia arcitata, Drooping Cotton-bush, grows thickly along 

 the lower slopes. Near the outflow in the cutting at Spring 

 (iuUy reservoir is a good example in vertical section of a syn- 

 clinal axis, marking " centre-country " on the Garden Gully 

 line of reef, in connection with the saddle-rccf formations for 

 which Bendigo is famous. Here a halt was made for our long- 

 deferred lunch, after which we followed for some distance the 

 water-race, amid a profusion of blooming Fairy Wax-flower, 

 Eriostemon obovalis, Dilhvynia ericifolia, Hardenhcr^^ia mono- 

 phylla, Grcvillca aqitifolia, and Acacia armata, all in fine flower, 

 sprays of the latter being unusually beautiful. Leaving tlie 

 race, a course was taken south-west towards Diamond Hill, 

 where an extensive but isolated patch of the pink and wliite 

 Boronia ancmonifolia , bearing distinctive leaves, perfunied 

 the air \\\i\\ its strong but not unpleasant scent. From here 

 we passed in an easterly direction through the bush towards 

 Ont'-Tree Hill, at the foot of which three memliers of the party 

 left us to return by road to the railway station, the remainder 

 making the ascent of the hill, on which grew more robust trees, 

 chiefly Eucalyptus mclliodora, E. viminalis, E. niacrorhyncha, 

 E. aviyg^dalina, as well as the ironbarks. From the summit 

 of the hill a very extensive view is obtainable. To the south, 

 over the ranges. Mount Alexander loomed prominently, with 

 lordly Macedon in the distance ; eastward could be discerned 

 Mounts Ida and Pleasant, in the direction of Hcathcote ; north- 

 wards, beyond the adjacent ranges, the flat, alluvial plains to 

 the Murray were almost unbroken in contour, the Whipstick 

 Scrub showing distinctly ; north-west, on the horizon, were 

 isolated hills or peaks, probably Mount Korong and Pyramid 

 Hill ; while westward, past the reservoir, were ranges connected 

 with the Big Hill spur. Spreading away from the outskirts 

 of the bush at our feet, the " Golden City " itself, with its hills 

 and valleys, from which 20 million ounces of gold have been 

 taken, stretched along the Bendigo Creek basin. On the 

 slope at the back of One-Tree Hill was a specimen of Acacia 

 implexa, and the common Rock Fern, Cheilanthes tenuifolia, 

 and Maiden Hair grew in the moistcr soil. From here we 



