THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 95 



it is very uneven — now rising upward, and then descending into 

 deep saddles. The soil must be very rich, judging from the 

 vegetation. Once past the limits of the sawyer and the wood- 

 splitter, some miles north of Walhalla, and the primitive bush is 

 reached. Far overhead stretch the vast limbs of Messmate {E. 

 obliqua), Stringy bark (E. capitillata), Manna Gum (E. viminalis), 

 and the spurious Ironbark (E. Sieberiana), with its dark, rough 

 stem and beautiful white limbs, which glisten in the sunlight as if 

 they were made of silver. It is a curious fact that the only variety 

 of the Giant Gum (E. amygdalina) is a poor scubby tree, called in 

 the district Peppermint — its timber is very inferior even for fire- 

 wood — whereas, in the gullies of the Moondarra Plateau, which is 

 only separated from Walhalla by the River Thomson, I have 

 seen young trees of this species hardly 18 inches through 

 springing up to nearly 180 feet, and I have measured mature 

 specimens having a circumference of nearly 70 feet. The sawyers 

 also assured me that the timber was of excellent quality. The 

 undergrowth consists principally of acacias and other leguminous 

 plants, Prostanthera lasiantha, &c. Amongst the acacias I 

 noticed Acacia linearis, and one of our very few wattles which 

 bear true leaves — A. discolor. I was anxious to obtain some 

 specimens of Pomaderris elacthophylla, but was unsuccessful. 

 It is a very pretty shrub, of grey or silvery appearance, with tiny 

 circular leaves, and when in bud is covered with small racemes 

 like miniature bunches of grapes. It used to be very common 

 on this spur. 



A few more miles brought me to a steep sidling path which led 

 down to the now celebrated Bonanza mine. This mine is situated 

 in the bottom of a deep gorge, and the gully I had come so far to 

 visit emptied its waters close to the workings. I need hardly 

 mention that it is a new discovery, or my trip would have been 

 in vain. On entering the gully I found a pretty stream babbling 

 over the white pebbles, and winding through a broad valley (that 

 is, broad for this district). The sides of the stream, and indeed the 

 whole valley, was covered with Wattles, Musk {Aster aryophyllus), 

 Blanket Tree (tienecio Bedfordii), Christmas Tree {Prostanthera 

 lasiantha), Hazel {Pomaderris apetala), &c, and ferns of various 

 kinds. Amongst these can be seen the stems of huge white gums 

 piercing the green canopy and towering far overhead. Where the 

 stream forces its way through a rocky pass I noticed a splendid 

 specimen of Todea Africana, its huge bole, about five feet high 

 and fully three feet in diameter, crowned by a magnificent 

 spread of fronds, bending gracefully near their ends. The upper 

 side of the frond is of a shining green. Unfortunately for me 

 they were not in fruit. 



As I worked my way upward I found that the gully 

 narrows considerably, the scrub decreases, and the fern trees, 



