THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 17 



vards into Queensland. The original name of this border 

 station was Wallangarra but unfortunately this is now being 

 changed to Jennings. It is a pity to lose the old native names 

 and to substitute for them such ugly ones. One would have 

 thought that a more effective plan of perpetuating the memory of 

 legislators might have been devised. 



Small though the railway is, it is very comfortable and well 

 managed and all officials uniformly courteous. The carriages 

 are like the insides of omnibuses, with a broad seat all round the 

 windows. On express trains the last car is always for smokers 

 and has a little balcony on which you can sit out in the open 

 air right at the end of the train and hence shielded from wind 

 and dust. This is a most excellent arrangement. From Wal- 

 langarra the train runs to Warwick and then across the uplands 

 forming the Darling Downs with their wonderfully rich dark-red 

 soil, on to Toowoomba. Here the line turns nearly due east and 

 begins to climb gradually to the top of the Dividing Range close 

 to the eastern escarpment of which Toowoomba lies. Suddenly 

 you turn a corner, the upland country ends abruptly, and the 

 train zig-zags rapidly down the face of the lofty escarpment which 

 rises directly from the flat coastal district. The sun was setting 

 just as we reached the crest and in the brief twilight we had 

 magnificent glimpses of the distant plains with the abrupt hill 

 sides and deep gorges in the foreground. Close upon midnight 

 Brisbane is reached. 



A slight difficulty arose in Brisbane with regard to my small 

 amount of collecting material but on learning that it was simply 

 intended for scientific purposes, the Customs officials at once 

 courteously saved me all trouble by allowing it to enter free of 

 duty. In fact my experience in Queensland was that I met with 

 the greatest courtesy from all officials and the greatest kindness 

 from such friends and strangers as it was my good fortune to be 

 brought into contact with — an experience common, I believe, to 

 all visitors to the Northern colony. 



From Brisbane the line is now continued through Mary- 

 borough on to Bundaberg at the mouth of the Burnett River. 



About 75 miles north of Brisbane the vegetation changes almost 

 suddenly, and the line runs across a belt of country, perhaps 

 twenty miles wide, of a semi-tropical description. To this we 

 will return presently ; suffice it to say at present that the traveller 

 finds himself suddenly surrounded by palms and pines and fig 

 trees, and sees all the tree trunks covered with epiphytic ferns — 

 with great masses especially of staghorn and bird-nest ferns, and 

 with orchids from which hang down long clusters of yellow 

 blossom. 



This belt of vegetation stops as suddenly as it began some few 

 miles south of Cympie — a well-known gold mining town, which 



