I 



J""^n Barnard, Notes of a Visit to IV.A-. 27 



1919 J ' -^ ' 



Kalgoorlie is approached, bare plains appear again — whether 

 naturally so or whether the timber has been used for firewood 

 in Kalgoorlie I cannot say, for timber trams run out for fifty 

 or more miles all round that centre. Just before reaching 

 Kalgoorlie the dump-heaps of the mines along the famous 

 " Golden Mile " and a few distant hills are seen. The west- 

 bound passengers generally have about five hours to spend 

 here. Considering that Kalgoorlie is little more than twenty 

 years old, its appearance is wonderful. Fine buildings, trams, 

 electric hght, &c., all created by gold and water, for without 

 the latter (provided by the great Mundaring scheme) it would 

 have been impossible to win the former. Like all other mining 

 centres, Kalgoorlie is feeling the effects of worked-out mines, 

 and considerable anxiety about the future is being manifested 

 by those who have made the town their home. A wild-flower 

 excursion train was announced for Menzies, 80 miles to the 

 north, for the following day (Sunday) ; but, as I was ex- 

 pected by friends in Perth on that day, I had to forego 

 seeing the famous everlasting-covered plains of the Central 

 West. 



My description of the country passed through has been very 

 brief. Those who are interested should obtain one of the 

 illustrated folders issued by the Commonwealth Railways from 

 the Tourist Bureau. Further interesting details will be found 

 in a little journal. The Inlander, issued by the Home Mission 

 Board of the Presbyterian Church of Austraha, deahng with 

 problems of life on Austraha's frontiers. In the number for 

 February, 1918, the editor. Rev. John Flynn, in a well- 

 illustrated article entitled " Spanning the Continent," gives a 

 graphic description of the trials and difficulties of laying down 

 the fine in such inhospitable country ; while in the Emu for 

 January last (vol. xviii., part 3) Captain S. A. White, C.M.B.O.U., 

 gives some account of four ornithological trips to the Nullabor 

 Plains. This article also is illustrated, and from it one can get 

 an idea of the natural history of this previously almost unvisited 

 region. His illustration of the Ooldea Native Well is par- 

 ticularly characteristic of the area. The Golden West, an 

 annual published in Perth, for December, 191 7, contains further 

 illustrations descriptive of scenes along the line. 



About 6.30 p.m. I was once more on the train, bound for 

 Perth. Of course, nothing could be seen of the country till 

 next morning, when at Meenaar, 82 miles from Perth, flowering 

 shrubs— I think Hakeas— were seen near the railway enclosure ; 

 but it was not till near Northam that really normal country- 

 trees, hills, and streams— were seen. The Avon here bemg 

 the first stream since crossing the Para, in South Australia. 

 The green grass-covered hills, with the river mcandermg 



