132 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXIV. 



After reaching the top of the spur — an elevation of 1,700 feet 

 above sea level, or 904 feet above Toorourong — the road follows 

 the water channel, and so gradually ascends to Wallaby Creek, 

 and on to Silver Creek. From those streams and their tribu- 

 taries, water diverted from the natural watershed of the Goulburn 

 River is brought, by means of tunnels and quarried aqueducts, to 

 fall on the southern side in artificial cascades, thence, by a timber 

 chute, into the upper part of Jack's Creek. As we follow the 

 contours of the mountain channel, the slopes ascend on the left 

 towards Mt. Disappointment, some miles distant. This has an 

 altitude of 2,637 feet, with a table-land below the summit on the 

 northern side, and on our right steep declivities reach far down to 

 King Parrot Creek. The bird, Aprosmictus cyanopygius, after 

 which this creek was named was fairly plentiful in the valley 

 about ten years ago, but, I was told, is now very scarce. Many 

 residents of the lower valley have never seen a King Parrot, or 

 King Lory, as it is alternately called. It may be remarked that 

 occasionally a well-plumaged specimen will bring at least a 

 pound in the city market. 



From the head of the Cascades to Wallaby Creek the vege- 

 tation is not uniform. The undergrowth varies in composition, 

 though the eucalypts of several species, including E. amygdalina, 

 E. globulus, and E. obliqua, are constant. In places the Hill 

 Tree Fern, Alsophila australis, and bracken hold sway ; in others 

 young eucalyptus " scrub " monopolizes most of the space ; and 

 again, in others, various plants occur in fair proportion in either of 

 these groups. Before reaching Wallaby, one comes in contact 

 with the highland flora. The Native Mulberry, Hedycarya 

 Citnninghanii, the Native Pepper Tree, Drvmys aromatica, the 

 Christmas Tree, Frostanthera lasiantha, the Blanketwood, Senecio 

 Bedjordi, &c., become common, and several plants hitherto un- 

 noticed are now conspicuous. Here the white variety of 

 Epacris impressa was as plentiful as the red variety, but as we 

 journeyed the reverse of the lowland conditions obtained, the 

 red-flowering Epacris being here, there, and everywhere, while the 

 white was absent. Whether this peculiarity was due to soil, altitude, 

 season, or climate, I could not determine. The purple flowers 

 of Kennedya nionophylla appeared along the aqueduct, the plant 

 trailing over the rocks, or, further back, twining up the saplings. 

 A large yellow flower of a species of Senecio, probably S. dryadeus, 

 blazed in lonely grandeur in occasional sheltered nooks by the 

 wayside. 



The line separating the silurian from the granite cuts across the 

 track about a mile from Silver Creek, passing obliquely through 

 the Nimmo Falls on Wallaby Creek to the right forward, the 

 sedimentary rocks in the vicinity having been much hardened and 

 crystallized by contact. Yet one does not see the corresponding 



