ig^o 



^^'] Excursion to Belgrave. 139 



it did not, and eventually, after a walk of about two miles, 

 reached the South Sassafras-Aura road, not far from the place 

 marked on the tourist map as " Fine Panoramic View." On 

 the way we had passed numerous large trees of the Giant 

 Mountain Ash, Eucalyptus regnans, and many other plants and 

 shrubs found in such localities, including the Native Elder- 

 berry, Samhuciis gaiidichaitdiana, with its beautiful white 

 blooms, which later will be succeeded by clear white fruits 

 resembling white currants. An invitation to see the view 

 from the garden of Mr. Drury was availed of, and was a great 

 surprise to most of us. Some hundreds of feet below lay the 

 district known as "The Patch" — a number of small orchards 

 and market gardens — the various shades of green in the 

 different crops making a delightful picture. The fine panorama 

 included the Healesvillc and Warburton mountains, and, 

 further round, the Labertouche and Beenak hills. Having 

 missed Hardy's Creek, we decided to follow the " Patch " road 

 to South Sassafras and visit Clematis Gully. This proved an 

 exceedingly picturesque walk. The distant callings of a Lyre- 

 bird were heard as we passed along the northern edge of the 

 forest near the source of the western branch of Hardy's Creek. 

 Reaching Clematis Gully about 4 o'clock, we decided to boil 

 the billy and have afternoon tea. While the other members 

 of the party were enjoying their first glimpses of the fern 

 groves here, I took the opportunity of making a tour through 

 the upper part of the gully, and was delighted by seeing some 

 of the finest and largest growths of the Shady Spleen wort, 

 Asplenium umhrosum, and the Mother Spleen wort, A. hnlb- 

 iferuni, I have ever come across. Other ferns were most 

 luxuriant here, as well as mosses of several species, and, as the 

 spot is so easily accessible to public roads, fern-lovers can see 

 here with little trouble quite a number of our mountain ferns, 

 but they must not be disturbed, being strictly preserved. It 

 was while searching in this gully that I had the finest view 

 I have ever obtained of a full-grown male Lyre-bird. It was 

 only about three yards off when I noticed it. It seemed very 

 tame, and was quite unconcerned about me so long as I did 

 not move. I whistled, in the hope of its uttering some notes, 

 but without success. After watching its scratching move- 

 ments within an area of about a square yard for nearly ten 

 minutes, I moved, when it at once disappeared down the gully 

 among the ferns and undergrowth. Many other of our moun- 

 tain shrubs and trees, in addition to Blackwoods and Sassafras, 

 occur in this gully, such as the Long-leaved Lomatia, Lomatia 

 longifolia, Austral Mulberry, Hedycarya angustifolia, Blanket- 

 wood, Bedfordia salicina, and the Banyalla, Pittospornm bicolor, 

 so that, with the climbers Tecoma australis and Clematis aristata, 



