JUU nil-; JULRN.VL UF J50TAM' 



nie tlie $ alone had been previously collected. Amongst the dilated 

 leaf- bases 1 had a hunt for a most extraordinary animal, like a glorified 

 slug, the head being covered with tentacles which could be elongated 

 or contracted at will, but the beast eluded me in the end. After 

 dark, dead sticks on the ground, covered with luminous Bacteria, 

 looked like threads of gold scattered round. 



The next morning we started early for the summit, leaving one of 

 the boys behind to kee]) cam]), as cassowaries, wallaby, and even 

 megapodes, or " brush turkeys " as they are called here, can be very 

 inquisitive and destructive. The last seemed as general as in New 

 Guinea, judging from the huge piles of leaves seen, in wdiich they 

 lay and incubate their eggs. 



The final cone consists of a mass of rock, overgrown with vegeta- 

 tion quite different in type from that of the lower levels, though 

 many of the prevailing species are identical. Small trees, branching 

 copiously from the base, grow densely, but by no means impenetrably, 

 together, while the monotony in the epiphytic fern-flora — the species 

 previously mentioned apparently predominating — with the dearth of 

 epiphytic orchids is very obvious ; a couple of examples of Liparis 

 rrlexa were collected on rocks. It forms a wind-sw^ept scrub very 

 like the plant-covering of Lord Howe's Island, some of the species 

 indeed, like Alj/xia rn.-ici folia, being common to both formations, while 

 the generic relationship is very close. 



The small trees grow too closely together to allow of much under- 

 growth. A clump of the handsome red fungus CJavaria aurantia 

 was found towards the base, so named from the dried specimens, which 

 turn a dirt}^ orange in colour, shrinking to about a quarter of the 

 original size ; tufts of Exocarya scleroides persisted between the 

 moss-grown tree stems. 



The dwarfed and scrubby trees were still largely composed of 

 the two Alt/arias already mentioned ; Eugenia erytlwdoxa, from 

 4500' to the top, had largish flowers of a charming rose-pink colour ; 

 Mackinlai/a macrosciadca and many examples of the small JBacularia 

 about 1 m. high, still fruiting, but only showing the youth form of 

 leaf. The palms, Orania, appemliculata and Cah/ptrocali/x austra- 

 htsica ran up almost to the top ; AlsopJiila Bchecccc was stilj abundant, 

 while the handsome Ahopliila I^oherfsiana, 2 m. high, was seen in 

 one eKani])le. 



At 5000' the famous Dracophi/Uvm Sai/pvi, peculiar to this 

 mountain, the only representative in Queensland of a genus widely 

 disti-ibutcd throughout New Zealand, with many stout much branched 

 stems, formed a large part of the dense shrubbery marking the last 

 500' ; the fine cream flower-heads, with pink bracts and the red fruit 

 recalled D. laiifoliam A. Cunn. of the mixed forest regions of New^ 

 Zealand. This genus will ])robably yet be found in New^ Guinea, 

 which would explain its presence here ; in fact, some plants in sterile 

 condition, seen in the Arfak Mts. strongly suggested this famil}^ 

 to me. 



Drimtfii ohlonr/a with red flowers was characteristic of the extreme 

 fiummit with Ah/xta ruacifolia and a Psychotria sp. not properly in 

 flower. 'J'he stems of the small trees composing this dense scrub- 



