THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 51 



night having been wet, the road to the gully was soft and muddy, 

 and the gathering clouds looked as if there were more rain still 

 to come. 



We took the direct road to the gully, finding as we turned over 

 logs that the heavy rain had scarcely penetrated beneath them, 

 and that there were but few signs of life ; now and then we found 

 an odd earthworm or two, with stray Land Planarians and 

 Nemertines, whilst beetles were very rare indeed. Walking up 

 the gully was not a very easy matter, and when we had got half 

 way up the rain came down in torrents. The two lady members 

 very wisely determined to turn back ; and the climb up the last 

 and steepest half of the gully was not pleasant. The rain, how- 

 ever, did us one service — it brought out a few specimens of 

 Geonemertes which we caught crawling along the fallen fern stems. 

 At the top of the range we found a kind of accommodation house 

 where mild refreshments were supplied, and were very glad to 

 avail ourselves both of these and of its shelter. Here, in front of 

 a good log fire, we gradually got dry. Late in the afternoon the 

 rain had partly ceased, and we retraced our steps to the railway 

 station, but this time by way of a new road, bearing south-east 

 from the gully, and from which a splendid view may be obtained, 

 turning over logs, and shaking bushes for insects, which, however, 

 were by no means plentiful. 



It had been arranged before leaving Melbourne that a bush 

 friend of one of the leaders would meet us at the railway station, 

 and, after seeing our friends off by the 5.40 train to town, would 

 drive some of us to a hut situate some four or five miles south- 

 east of the railway station, and well back in the mountains. 

 The Fates, however, were against us, as after waiting for some 

 time after the departure of the train, our driver did not put in an 

 appearance, so that we had the choice of two things — either to 

 return to Melbourne by the 7.50 train, or put up at the hotel 

 until Monday morning. The matter was soon decided, and six of 

 the party — viz., Messrs. Best, French, Frost, Luehmann, Spencer, 

 and Tisdall — elected to stay. 



We spent a very pleasant evening, and made an early start on 

 the following morning, preparing our breakfast by the creek side, 

 and after having finished, started off to walk some miles along 

 the Black Hill road in the direction of Gembrook. The country, 

 although heavy rain had fallen, was very dry, and after rolling 

 over any number of logs, we caught here comparatively few 

 either of earthworms or insects — a few lizards being about all 

 we came across in this dry place. About two and a half miles 

 from the railway station a specimen of an orchid was found by 

 one of our party, and being very like a common species, no 

 notice was taken of it, beyond the remark that it was remarkably 

 late in flowering. The specimen was, however, secured and 



