i6S The Na/ional Park, Wilson's Promontory. [^'"^riei^'"^'' 



THE NATIONAL PARK, WILSON'S PROMONTORY. 



The second annual report of the committee of management 

 of the National Park, Wilson's Promontory, recently issued, 

 shows that, notwithstanding the limited funds at its disposal, 

 a fair amount of progress has been made during the year. It is 

 gratifying to know that the vermin-proof fence across the 

 isthmus has. after many delays, been at length completed, and 

 the danger of the ingress of rabbits, foxes, or other pests has 

 thus been greatly minimized, while at the same time the 

 animals, &c., introduced into the park will be prevented from 

 escaping. The Emus were a considerable source of trouble, as, 

 the Darby River proving no obstacle to them, they would 

 swim across as easily as ducks, so as to be in the company of 

 horses grazing outside the park. The following birds and 

 animals have been introduced into the park : — Emus, 6 ; Lyre- 

 birds, 3 ; Satin Bower-birds, 5 ; Grey Kangaroos, 2 ; Red-necked 

 Wallabies, 2, and Rufous-bellied Wallabies, 19 (from Flinders 

 Island, Bass Strait) ; Wombats, 5 ; Opossums, 26 ; and Gunn's 

 Bandicoots, 2. Very many more varieties are desired, and the 

 committee will be glad of further donations. Seeds of several 

 species of native trees have been sown, and the Forests Depart- 

 ment has planted a large number of native and exotic trees on 

 the portion reserved for it. New bridle tracks are being made, 

 which will open up inaccessible portions of the park, which has 

 an area of about 101,000 acres, or nearly 160 square miles. 



The Field Naturalists' Club, it will be remembered, took an 

 active part in securing the reservation of Wilson's Promontory 

 as a National Park, and it may not be out of place to record 

 some of the principal references to it occurring in the Victorian 

 Naturalist. The history of the movement was dealt with by 

 Dr. Hall in January, 1905 (vol. xxi., p. 128), and the report of 

 the F.N.C. camp-out at Christmas, 1905, was published, with a 

 map, in vol. xxii., p. 191. Three botanical surveys have been 

 made by the National Herbarium, which have resulted in the 

 compilation of a flora of 600 species of native flowering plants 

 and ferns, with about 50 naturalized aliens. These will also be 

 found in the Naturalist, vol. xxv., p. 142 (with revised map) ; 

 xxvi., p. 129 ; and xxvii., pp. 178 and 208. 



The Australian Waratahs. — In the Australasian of 

 Saturday, 2nd December, Prof. Stirling, of Adelaide, relates 

 his experiences of growing the New South Wales, Victorian, 

 and Tasmanian species of Telopea in his garden near the 

 Mt. Lofty Station, where they are all doing well and flowering. 



