52 Pitcher and Sticki.axd, .1 Week at Marysville. \yl\'^^x\\[\\ 

 AN (HT()P.KR \VK1-:K AT MARYSVIl.LE. 



By !•". rilililK AM) J. SiK Kl AM). 



{Read bcfoi'c llie l-'icld Sctiundisls' C/iih o/ I'ic/oiid, S/// Manii, i9i().\ 



Ha\'IN(; decided to spend a week's holiday in t lie Marysville 

 district we left Melbourne, accompanied by .Mrs. Pitcher, by 

 the morning train for Healesvillc. on i_^th October last. It 

 was a beautiful morning. Th? orchards around Croydon, 

 as we passed through, were most jiicturesque, being then in 

 full bloom, ])romising what they have since yielded — heavy 

 cro}is of fruit. In addition to the ordinary sj-)ring flowers, 

 which were in profusion along the railway line, the creamy- 

 white bottle-brush spikes of bloom covering the toj)s of the 

 Swamj) Melaleuca. .1/. cricifolia, near Mooroolbark and along 

 the Yarra \alley at Varra (ilen. as well as on towards 

 Tarrawarra, covering miles in extent. wa< a glorious sight 

 from the train as we passed along. 



Reaching Healesville soon after lo o'clock, we sought the 

 motor coach by which the journey to Marysville is completed. 

 With six other passengers, and a varied assortment of luggage 

 and packages for delivery along the road, we left the townshij) 

 just before ii a.m., and, travelling at fair si)oed, passed througli 

 favourite old Fernshaw, which we all knew under different 

 conditions over thirty years before. Our motor had no diffi- 

 culty in ascending the well-made road over thr Blacks' Spur, 

 with its Devil's Elbow and numerous shar]) ciuves and turns, 

 up to the remains of the once famous monster eucalypt of the 

 forest here, " Uncle Sam. ' We stopped at this notable spot 

 for some minutes, in order to give the motor water and allow 

 the engine to cool, and, at the same time, enable the passengers 

 to stretch themselves and view the surroundings. Then we 

 continued our journey, thoroughly enjoying the beautiful fern 

 and biish scenery close at hand and the magnificent views of 

 apparently interminable forest-clad hills and lf)fty moimtain 

 ranges in the distance to the north, east, and south. The 

 level sunuiiit of the Blacks' Spur is at length reached, the 

 altitude being nearly 2,000 feet, then down the other side, 

 past the well-known house and grounds of " The Hermitage," 

 into the village ox hamlet of Narbethong, which is reached by 

 half-past 12 p.m. While remaining there for an hour for lunch 

 we visited the ])ost-otfice and conversed with the jiostmistress, 

 a Mrs. Williams, '6^ years of age, who i)erforms all the duties 

 of the office, together with those of electoral registrar for the 

 district, in a manner which our chauffeur described as being 

 unexcelled in any similar place on the road. Soon after leaving 

 Narbethong we made a detour along the by-road leading to 

 the well-known tourist resort of " St. Fillan's," which was 



