THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 123 



due to the proximity of an intrusive mass. Crossing the creek 

 we commenced a very arduous and steep zig-zag climb for 1,700 

 feet in the dark, first over chloritic slates, then red and grey mica- 

 schists. Reaching the top of this ridge about 10.30 p.m., and 

 winding round it for some distance, we were dismayed to find 

 the track descending almost in a straight line into the depths of 

 a deep gorge. We promptly readjusted the packs on the horses, 

 girthed them as tightly as possible and, with some trepidation, 

 began the scramble down. After slow, careful travelling over 

 schist and granite we were fortunate in getting the horses down 

 nearly 2,000 feet without mishap, and found ourselves at the 

 junction of a large swiftly running creek with the Indi. Both 

 streams were roaring so much that ordinary conversation could 

 not be heard, so we silently unpacked and let the horses go. 

 The tent was then pitched on a raised bed of river drift, we had 

 an early morning tea, and, wondering how any man could expect 

 a track of this kind to be used by horses, fell asleep to the music 

 of the rushing waters. 



2nd April. — The morning increased our astonishment, for we 

 were in the canyon of the Indi. Both sides of the river were 

 formed of steep cliffs, between which the stream ran roaring from 

 the east in a series of rapids to meet its still more turbulent 

 tributary from the S.W., before it turned to the N.W. to continue 

 its rushing course onward. There is a romance attached to this 

 place, as we found out later. It appears that, while the track was 

 being cut, the men on reaching this spot found, to their amaze- 

 ment, a hut, a small clearing and a man, clothed almost entirely 

 with opossum and wallaby skins. On this small clearing he had, 

 it is said, grown some tobacco and wheat, and, resenting the 

 encroachment on his privacy, he at once disappeared, no one 

 knows whither, taking his history with him, to some other 

 inaccessible part of the mountains. A bush fire had ravaged 

 most of the locality, and burnt the hut, which had stood on the 

 spot where we camped. The creek had no name, so we called it 

 Hermit Creek. The locality is interesting geologically, for the 

 stream runs approximately along the line of junction between 

 granite on the S.E. and schists on the N.W. 



We had a long, hard day's tramp of about 30 miles before us 

 to reach Corryong and catch the coach next day, so we hurried 

 away and climbed 500 feet up the slope across Hermit Creek, 

 over quartz and mica-schists, then wound along the side cuttings 

 by the Indi till we came to another large unnamed stream, to 

 which the name Coynallan Creek has been given. This country 

 is composed of schist, caused by the intrusion of the granite mass 

 at Hermit Creek, and through it run granite dykes. About the 

 junction of this creek with the Indi the vegetation was extremely 

 dense, consisting mainly of Hazel, Pomaderris apetala, Musk, 

 Aster argophyllus, Blanketwood, Senecio bed/ordi, Tree-ferns, 



