Vol. XXVIII. 1 Barx.\rd, In the Western Lake Disirict. i6i 



IQII J ' 



passing one or two hollows, very significant of volcanic action. 

 From the Little Warrion I could look clown into Lake Corag- 

 ulac, which was invisible from the other hill, and, as I men- 

 tioned before, from the road. Rain was now fast approaching, 

 and as it approached my intention of visiting '' Red Rock " 

 became more hopeless. By the time I reached the little town- 

 ship — one store and the post-office — a regular deluge was fall- 

 ing. Fortunately, the store had a good verandah, which proved 

 my shelter for over an hour, till, just as the rain had almost 

 ceased, my friend of the morning came by again, and I 

 accepted his offer to drive me back to Colac ; so the claim.s of 

 Red Rock as a vantage-point still remain to me unknown. 

 Before dark set in I ran up to the Gardens again to view once 

 more, across the lake, the hills on which I had spent such a 

 j-jleasant hour, and later caught the evening train for Terang, 

 42 miles further west, intending to walk back to Camperdown 

 on the Sunday. Nothing could be seen on the journey. Terang 

 was reached about 11 p.m., and lodging secured for the night. 

 I was out betimes in the morning, but a heavy fog prevented 

 anything more than one's immediate surroundings being seen. 

 However, the position of the lake and public gardens, occupying 

 one side of the main street, was located. After breakfast I 

 started off along a road leading southwards, to visit the 

 cemetery. Cemeteries in country places are generally good 

 places for botany, as usually no grazing takes place in them. 

 The cemetery is situated on the opposite side of the lake to the 

 town, and has a gentle slope to the south, wdth an abrupt slope 

 northwards to the lake. The fog was now lifting, and when 

 I reached the highest part of the cemetery I received a great 

 surprise, for I had quite forgotten about Mount Noorat being 

 in the vicinity, as, owing to the fog, I had not seen the slightest 

 indication of it ; but as I reached the higher ground the view 

 of it came upon me quite suddenly, and seemingly close at 

 hand, though four miles away. Mount Noorat has one of the 

 most perfect craters of the Western District, and rises some 

 500 feet above the plain. I found the lake to be losing much 

 of its character as a lake, and becoming a mere weedy swamp 

 — a good place for the pond-hunter, perhaps, but both dangerous 

 and difficult to work. The residents say it has been gradually 

 drying up for years, and is not the result of artificial drainage. 

 I was pleased that I had visited the cemetery, for here I saw, 

 besides the tomb of the late Hon Neil Black, the pioneer of the 

 district, the grandest display of lichens I have ever seen. Here 

 they were — green, grey, yellow, orange — in the greatest pro- 

 fusion, and, judging by the dates on one of the tombstones, 

 it had been fairly covered in less than seventeen years. The 



