156 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



logs or stones or in hollow branches, waiting for the wet season 

 to set in, for at this time of the year the ground in the scrub was 

 very dry, except on the mountain tops, where passing clouds kept 

 it moist. Close to the camp grew a group of Fan Palms; they 

 were very beautiful, reflecting the light from their large shining 

 green leaves, which were about three feet in diameter, and up 

 some of the tall trees the Lawyer Palm had climbed, many of their 

 strong vines being over 150 feet in length. At the edge of the 

 scrub a number of Stinging Nettle shrubs were growing, and very 

 pretty they looked, with their large, soft-looking dark green leaves. 

 I have often heard it stated by others that, if passing through or 

 close to a clump of these plants the leaves of which have been 

 disturbed by passing cattle or otherwise, a fine powder seems 

 to get into the nose and eyes, causing considerable and un- 

 pleasant irritation. 



At seven o'clock on Monday morning we started off again, but 

 left some of our luggage behind, as there was more than we could 

 conveniently carry. We made it as secure as possible, as a 

 Dingo had been heard howling during the previous night, and we 

 did not want him to get at it. Our track lay up steep mountain 

 sides, all the more difficult from our each having a good load to 

 carry, which only left one hand free ; sometimes we had to 

 climb from rock to rock up a watercourse, then again on narrow 

 ridges, which were generally covered with loose stones, creepers, 

 roots, &c. 



At last we reached the narrow saddle of the range we were 

 climbing, and found it 2,400 feet high and 1,900 feet above our 

 last camping place. The trees were all very stunted, and tree 

 and other ferns plentiful. Everything was dewy from the passing 

 clouds, and the vegetation luxuriant. On climbing to the top of 

 a Fig tree we obtained an extensive and beautiful view. Fan Palms 

 were absent ; they do not seem to grow here at the altitude 

 of 600 feet, but other kinds were plentiful. The fallen timber, 

 and also stones, were generally covered with mosses of different 

 kinds, and various land shells were noticed. We saw numerous 

 traces of Bennett's Tree Kangaroo, Dendrologus Bennettianus, 

 and observed Victoria Rifle Birds, Ptilorhis Victories, Queensland 

 Cat Birds, Ailurcedus maculosus, Noisy Pittas, Pitta strepitans, 

 var. simillima, Spalding's Orthonyx, Orthonyx Spaldingi, Shrike 

 Thrushes, Tallegallas, Tallegallus Lathami, Quoy's Butcher Bird, 

 Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Superb and other Fruit Pigeons. We 

 had lunch on the banks of a mountain stream, at the elevation of 

 2,000 feet. The scrub was very dense, and often difficult to get 

 through, Lawyer Palms being, unfortunately for us, plentiful, and 

 some of their canes were very long, trailing on the dark-coloured 

 ground like long, green snakes, and very slippery to tread on. 

 In some places the ground was covered with loose stones, small 



