^'"'i'o^>'^ ] I^A''!Ri-TT, \Vi7son's Promontory and its Wild Life. 289 



a railod bridge. A wide green flat iies before you ; tlie wine-dark 

 river that mirrors a niovnitain and comes from dreary swamp- 

 land ; liigh hills dad in trees and shrubs — snowed under by 

 blossom in early summer ; and two cottages, but a neighbourly 

 distance apart, sheltering in their shadows. One is the dwelling 

 of the Park committee of management during visits of inspection, 

 the other the ranger's home. Near the white gateway, safe from 

 the winds that blow, with the accompaniment of drenching rain, 

 on too many days of the year, is the rest-house for tourists — a 

 two-roomed building, with bunks, a table and chairs, and a big 

 open fireplace. Miles away, on Barry's Hill, stands another 

 ranger's cottage. 



Much has been done for the pleasure and comfort of tourists. 

 There arc good bridle-tracks (with guide-boards where needed) 

 to the " lions " of the Park ; to Sealers' Cove, to Lilly-pilly 

 Gully, Oberon Bay, and many another place of rare beauty. 

 The Park Committee has earned praise by what has been accom- 

 plished, and it has plans for the future that should gain it more. 

 Lack of funds has delayed the carrying out of these schemes of 

 improvement, which include the erection, in the vicinity of the 

 Darby River, of an accommodation house for tourists, and a large 

 enclosure near the entrance, where they could see representatives 

 of all the native animals that have been established in the Park. 



The Park is well guarded. Mr. W. J. Cripps, the chief ranger, 

 is zealous in performing his duties. With his son he is out in all 

 weathers, on patrol, cutting tracks, inspecting the boundary 

 fence, and watching the wild creatures in his charge. He knows 

 the domain from range to sea ; is a keen observer, and a good 

 bushman. He has been guide to many tourists, taking them 

 along steep seaward tracks, across the ranges, over the " Bad 

 Saddle " into Oberon Bay, and through the wonderful gullies of 

 the south-west. 



A week's wandering in the National Park, if you are in the saddle 

 each day from dawn till dusk, gives an impression — an outline 

 sketch — of its beauties ; but a month, at least, is needed to visit 

 all the spots worth seeing between the Darby and the lighthouse 

 on South-East Point. Besides, there are islands — Bennison, 

 Shellback, the Glennies, Anser Group, and others. The beaches 

 of Norman and 01)eron Bays will become famed among surfers. 

 In beauty they rival those of Bondi and Coogee, though some hold 

 that the surf at Sydney's resorts gives finer sport. Corner Basin 

 shore is not for bathers ; a vast mud-flat at low tide, overgrown 

 by Spurious Mangroves {Avicenna officinalis), with granite rocks 

 here and there. This is the home of little mangrove crabs 

 {Hel(cciiis cordiformis) ; they patrol the mud in millions, but, 

 alarmed, disappear in a second down holes among the mangroves. 



Coast scenery along the south-west is incomparable. From a 

 hill-top near the Darby, reached by an easy track from the flat, 

 one wins a vision of barren grey isles set in blue sea ; of scrul>- 

 clad slopes, and red-brown boulders fringed with foani. Inland, 



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