154 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Aciphylla simplicicaidis, and Gentiaiia saxosa, its single white 

 flowers pencilled with lines of a tender blue, while Azorella 

 cu7ieifolia, PuUencea J'asciculata, Goodenia humilis, Scleranthiis 

 bijloris, Hydrocotyle hirsula, Copros7na nertera, Oreu7nyr'rhis 

 andicola, and Sccevola hookeri may be found almost hidden 

 under the grasses, of which we enumerate Echinopogon ovatua, 

 Agroatis montana, Festuca hookeri, and Trisetum siibspicaiuni, 

 with Luxula camjKstris (Juncacese) and Carex jmnicidala 

 (Cyperaceae) in bloom. Large white patches are formed by 

 the almost stalkless flowers of Claytonia australasica. In large 

 clusters occurred the singular epacrid Richea gunnii, with 

 its pale yellow flowers, often accompanied by Helichrysuvi 

 haccharoides. Where the embankments of the creek are narrowed 

 by gigantic rocks— the first precursors of the far-famed Gorge — 

 the meadow-like character loses itself among numerous bushes 

 which form the transition to a forest, chiefly consisting of 

 Eucalyptus gunnii, E. sieberiana, and E. melliodora. 



Eriostemon aJpinus stands with its yellow flowers in har- 

 monious contrast to the pink-flowering Boronia algida and 

 Bceckea gun7iiana, or to the white-flowering Prostanthera cuneaia 

 and Westringia senifolia, among which we often notice the star- 

 like yellow flowers of Stypandra ca^spitosa, and Podolepis 

 longipedata, also Boickea diffusa, Micrantheitm hexandrum 

 (seed), and Bossicea foliosa (seed). We experienced great satis- 

 faction in noticing Prostanthera walteri growing in great pro- 

 fusion near the Gorge, in the locality where a single bush was 

 found in bloom the year before (^Victorian Naturalist, vol. xix., 

 p. 156), but so far as we could ascertain it is confined to this 

 particular locality. 



From there our way led through the forest to the camp, 

 situated on the edge of the Gorge. The afternoon was mostly 

 spent in preparing the camp and preserving the specimens 

 collected. The following day was reserved for a visit to the 

 " Haunted Valley " and the " Hump," which actually turned out 

 for three members of the party to be a visit to the Buffalo Peak, 

 or the " Horn," about two miles beyond the Hump. 



In the numerous swamps which we met with on our way we 

 found more or less a repetition of the flora surrounding the 

 Buffalo Hospice. A surprise was prepared for us in the Haunted 

 Valley, where we met with one of our few Victorian conifers, 

 Nageia alpina, growing luxuriantly along the creek, in company 

 of splendidly developed bushes of Driniys aromatica, Orites 

 lancifolia, the purple-flowering Prostanthera rotundifolia, and 

 the pompous Pinielea ligustrina, in the shade of which Epacris 

 mucronulata, E. heieronema, and Comesper^na retusam, with the 

 ferns Lomaria alpina and Aspleniuvi Jlabellifolium, made them- 

 selves conspicuous. As we ascended to higher altitudes, the 



