1885.] THE OTWAY FOREST. 235 



tion of the forest, and his report is even more enthusiastic. He 

 says : " I must fail iu attempting any adequate description of the 

 grandeur and magnificence of the timber in this region, but can say 

 it is not only unsurpassed but unequalled by any forest country I 

 ever saw in Gipps Land, or indeed anywhere else. Gums and mess- 

 mate grow side by side. The former, of a sjoecies with which I 

 have not hitherto been acquainted, towers to a height of 150 feet, 

 without a limb or excrescence upon its trunk, and the latter is 

 scarcely less imposing in its growth and appearance. Their bottom 

 girth varies from 10 to 15 feet, rarely. exceeding the latter measure- 

 ment, and the trunk shoots up straight and symmetrical. So closely 

 do they grow, that in one patch on the hillside, not exceeding an 

 acre in extent, I counted twenty-two of these fine trees, and detours 

 into the valleys adjoining showed even greater prodigality of growth. 

 On ascending to the summit of the range, the view, as far as the eye 

 could reach, disclosed a similar forest. We cut into several trees, 

 and found them dense in texture, hard, and sound. These trees 

 seem, in nearly every instance, despite their splendid size, not yet 

 to have fully reached their maturit}' — certainly not their period of 

 decay — and in this particular differ greatly from their brethren in 

 the Gipps Land forests. They also differ from them in rising from 

 the ground with a full, round, well-proportioned trunk, instead of 

 the great enlargements, or buttresses, which characterize the others ; 

 and this is of great importance, as the trees can be felled from the 

 ground without scaffolding, and their entire length can be utilized, 

 whereas in trees of like size in other places 20 feet or 30 feet of the 

 base have to be left standing. This forest region seems to have 

 suffered very little from the ravages of fire." 



All this w^ealth of timber is of the greatest importance to the 

 mining districts of Ballarat, and, indeed, to the colony generally. 

 And where there are fine trees there is generally good land. 

 Around Cape Otway itself 55 square miles are reserved as a State 

 forest, but there is a vast area open to selection. Before the end of 

 last year there was a slight rush to take up land under tha con- 

 ditions of the old Act. There were more than sixty applications for 

 half-section blocks, principally from residents of Colac and district. 

 These are chiefly situated in what is known as the " beech forest," 

 some twenty-six miles due south of Colac, where there is reputed to 

 be an area of very valuable country. The tree called sometimes 

 birch or myrtle. Baron von Mueller writes me, is a true fagus. As 

 such it was recognised in Tasmania by Allan Cunningham, in 1819, 

 when he accompanied Captain King on his voyage of survey and 

 exploration. This tree is found in the mountain valleys of Tasmania, 

 and is allied to the evergreen small-leafed species of South America 



