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6 Australasian Ornitholos,ists' Utiion. \ . j" 



*- List ja 



the place of sugar gums. The stringybark ran in belts, 

 capping the ridges, where ironstone gravel was in evidence. 

 Throughout was never-ending under-scrub of dwarf Casuarina, 

 Bixuksia, and heather-like plants, among which bright-eyed 

 Boi'onia, TctratJicca, Grevillea, and StypJielia were in flower. 



After five hours' tramping and crossing three small tributaries 

 of the Western River, the telegraph line, which runs from Kings- 

 cote on the east to Borda Lighthouse on the western point of 

 the island, was reached. A little further on a camp was made 

 beside the head waters of one of the branches of the Middle 

 River. Under the shelter of a temporary mia-mia of boughs 

 the party slept near the source of the home river. 



Next day the central plateau was explored. There are two 

 lagoons, of considerable size but of no great depth, occupying the 

 centre of a great area of marshy ground. At this time of the 

 year, after the rains of winter, they had overflowed into the sur- 

 rounding scrub in all directions. The average limits of the 

 water are probably marked by belts of white gums {Eucalyptus 

 cosiiiopJiylld) growing amongst tall tea-tree {Mclaleitca) scrub. 



Here was a different type of country from that previously seen. 

 A few waterfowl sported on the lake, and the Grass-Bird 

 {Mega/urus graviineus) was heard piping in the reeds. A pair 

 of Ground-Thrushes {Geocichla) was feeding full-grown young, 

 and Brush Wattle-Birds {Acatithoc/uera mcllivora) were evidently 

 nesting also. A Thickhead {PacJiyccphala gictturalis, var.) and 

 Pardalctus xantliopygiits were heard, and a pair of Fire-tailed 

 Finches {Zomeginthus bellus) was seen. 



Apparently many streams have their sources thereabouts. 

 Some go south, some north, and one — the Cygnet River, the 

 longest on the island — flows eastward. This stream was followed 

 down some distance, and the second night was spent comfort- 

 ably in a tin hut, which has evidently been erected for the use of 

 telegraph line repairers. All the country fringing the centre 

 marshes will prove of some agricultural value. The soil is a 

 deep friable clay, sufliciently well watered to ensure its carrying 

 almost any kind of crops. But at present it is quite untouched, 

 though a skeleton of a fence near the lagoons showed that some 

 steps had been taken in this direction. A solitary trapper was 

 met in the scrub here. He was of grotesque figure, dressed 

 apparently in all his wardrobe — two suits of old clothes, with 

 thigh leggings to protect him from the rough scrub. He spoke 

 with a German accent, and, although leading a lonely life, 

 appeared satisfied with his prospect of a good take of wallaby 

 and opossum skins. 



The Cygnet River, only four miles from its source, is a strong 

 stream of lO feet in width, flowing through a mass of tea-tree 

 and other scrub, and occasionally passing through a belt of 

 white gums, which marks the spot where a tributary soak 



