THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 19 



siderable surprise was evinced at my putting in an appearance ; 

 however a wandering lascar turned up so that I was more or 

 less kept in countenance and together we had tea in what was 

 presumably a combination kitchen and scullery. During two or 

 three hours' collecting I met with nothing but gum trees, endless 

 ants and scorpions, a few stray specimens of Geoplana ccerulea, 

 and one or two lizards and frogs. I somehow had the idea that 

 north of Brisbane everything would be at least semi-tropical and 

 could not at first help feeling disappointed to find myself, except 

 in the small district mentioned before, surrounded by little else 

 but gum trees without a trace of a palm or of anything which 

 looked at all tropical. Eastern Gippsland was really richer in 

 vegetation and more varied in form of animal lile than the 

 part of Queensland in which I spent most of my time. In fact, 

 so far as my experience yet goes, Gippsland, as a general 

 collecting ground, would be very hard to beat. 



Early in the morning I started in a mixed train along a branch 

 line leading inland for some fifty miles till it stopped apparently 

 nowhere in special and not far from a fine mountainous bluff. The 

 station is called Biggenden and here we found coaches waiting 

 for us. A Queensland coachdriver is a most marvellous man, 

 both in the way in which he accepts with almost pleasure any 

 amount of luggage and in the way in which he stows it all on 

 board. From Biggenden came a hot ride of about forty miles 

 across uninteresting country. The only township we passed was 

 a small place known as " The Shamrock," not far from the gold- 

 field of Paradise. After changing horses we started off again 

 seeing nothing but gum trees and a few emus and kangaroos. 

 Among the gums were what are locally known as Blood Gums, 

 whose light-coloured trunks are covered with reddish blotches, 

 due to the exhalation of kino ; Woollybutts, which for perhaps ten 

 feet above the ground have the trunk somewhat like that of a 

 stringybark, and above this are quite smooth and whitish ; and 

 a form of gum called Brigalow. This grows in clumps, and differs 

 from all the others in having its foliage comparatively dense, so 

 that it affords a good deal of shade. The cattle congregate in the 

 shade, and these dark patches give a curious and characteristic 

 appearance to the landscape. Every now and then we came 

 across a few birds, known as Squat Pigeons. These have the 

 habit of squatting on the ground when approached and being of 

 a brownish colour are hard to see. Sometimes they can be 

 knocked over by the whip of an experienced driver. 



Late in the afternoon we mounted a slight ridge and came 

 down through a gap into the wide Burnett Valley. On either side 

 of this rise low hills and through the middle flows the river with 

 a broad channel, occupied chiefly — except during the flood season 

 — by long, broad stretches of sand. A short ride brought us to 



