138 Dalev, Notes of a Visit to Mallacooia Inlet. [vOi'^^xxxiv 



garden, apples, plums, peaches, apricots, limes, lemons, oranges, 

 raspberries, passion fruit, and vegetables, &c., grow vigorously, 

 and even bananas ripen. The gardens are remarkably free from 

 the pests and diseases so noticeable nearer the towns and 

 cities. ^ The old Gippsland sajdng that it is wise to grow- 

 nothing that cannot walk out is in full force, so fruit, as well 

 as a good deal of maize, &c., is chiefly used for feeding pigs. 



Mallacoota has its own distinctive charm. In the calm 

 and peaceful hush of the summer even, from a hill overlooking 

 the Inlet, the scene, under the soft moonlight, is very beautiful. 

 The ripples gleam like silver, and the voices of the night come 

 through the air. One hears the whirring of wings as the wild- 

 fowl come in from distant flight, the plaintive and tuneful 

 piping of Swans, the faint sound of leaping skipjacks, their 

 silvery sides shining in the moonlight, and the break of the water 

 surface as other fish rise gently. Softened by distance comes 

 faintly the sound of a popular tune from a gramophone. A 

 Boobook Owl caUs from a clump of timber. The mournful 

 reiteration of a Pallid Cuckoo strikes on the ear. The 

 diminishing " Chug chug " of a motor-boat passing up to '' The 

 Narrows," the call of an Owl, " the chaunt of a marsh-frog in 

 rushes, the wash of a wave " come singly, or commingle with 

 the varied notes of wild-fowl on the Goodwin Sands. The 

 peculiar cry of a prowling fox is immediately fcjllowed by the 

 challenging bark of a watchful collie, which for the moment 

 deadens other indeterminate sounds. Over the sand-ridges 

 breaks the steady roar of the ocean, " never silent since the 

 world began," and the current flows steadily out to its bosom 

 past the glistening bar to where " the sandy spits, the shore- 

 locked lakes, melt into open moonlit sea." 



I returned from MaUacoota by way of Genoa, from which 

 the coach starts for Orbost. Gipsy Point, about six miles down 

 the river from Genoa, is the more convenient place for 

 approaching the Inlet, and recently a survey of a road has been 

 made from there to Mallacoota West. From Genoa eastwards 

 there is a good and well-graded road for many miles through 

 forest country, often park-like in aspect and beautiful in 

 appearance, devoid of settlement, and for the most part in 

 its primitive state, kangaroos being frequently seen from the 

 road. It was a distinct pleasure to see so much forest country 

 as yet intact and free from the ravages of fire and axe. It is 

 in such areas that forest conservation can be best put into 

 effective operation. Near the Wingan River is a Government 

 battery, several prospectors operating down the river for gold, 

 a fair reef prospect being opened up about ten miles from the 

 battery. 



Except for the dropping of a mail in a box or kerosene tin 

 along the road, no sign of settlement is seen for many miles. 



