70 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



in the morning. The road lies to the north of the railway line 

 and skirts the hills all the way, many parts being extremely 

 picturesque. Near Foster the road is in some places quite 

 unmade, being simply a track across the country, and although 

 occasionally somewhat dangerous, affords on the whole a pleasant 

 drive. The distance is about nine miles, and nearly half way 

 there is a piece of road which, since the last Melbourne Exhibition, 

 has been called the Switchback. The timber is chiefly blackbutt, 

 and rises clean and straight in the stem to a height of about 80 

 feet, the diameter at the base being not more than about 12 or 13 

 inches. All along the road the hills rise abruptly to the left, 

 while to the right the ground slopes easily away and terminates in 

 a marsh or swamp, clothed with ti-tree scrub, across a portion of 

 which the railway line is formed. 



After arriving at Toora, and having brushed off the dust col- 

 lected on the drive, I was accompanied by Mr. Yeomans on a 

 climb up the hills behind Toora, from which a magnificent view is 

 obtained. The hills terminate about a couple of miles off, on 

 the shores of Corner Inlet, which lay calmly spread before us like 

 a huge lake ; while behind it rises the bold outline of Wilson's 

 Promontory, the prominent peak being Mount Singapore, playing 

 the noble part of peacemaker between the ceaseless turmoil of the 

 mighty ocean without and the calm serenity of Corner Inlet within. 



Sitting with this scene before us, in the long green English grass, 

 studded with bright yellow flowers, but for the surrounding gum 

 trees and the occasional chatter of the Dacelo gigas one might 

 fancy they were suddenly transported to the dear old motherland. 

 Revisiting this scene subsequently I endeavoured to portray it 

 under different circumstances, as a slight squall was driving over 

 the inlet. It was one of those days when rain could be observed 

 falling in several different places simultaneously, with bright 

 glimpses of flitting sunshine between. 



Sunday afternoon was spent in a ramble through the lower 

 lying ground between Toora and the inlet, where the following 

 shrubs were noticed : — Coprosma billardieri, presenting a gay 

 appearance with its thickly studded red berries ; Coprosma 

 microphylla, in contrast with its yellowish white berries ; Hymen- 

 ctnthera banksii, quite brilliant with its indigo-coloured berries, 

 a really pretty shrub, of some 15 feet high. Almost everywhere 

 the Kangaroo Apple (Solarium laciniatum), with its pretty violet 

 and yellow flower is noticeable, while fireweed and dogweed, in 

 yellow and white, lend quite a feature to the landscape. Pittos- 

 porum undulatum attracts attention by its large dark green 

 berries. 



Amongst the birds noted the chief were : — Brush Wattle Bird 

 (Anellobia mellivora), Swift Lorrikeet {Lathaimts discolor), Gang 

 Gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon galeatum), White Hawk, Dacelo 



