128 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



EXCURSION TO WARBURTON. 



For the second year in succession Warburton was the locality 

 chosen for the three-day excursion which has become an 

 annual fixture for the King's Birthday season. It had been 

 anticipated that a large party would have gone up to War- 

 burton this year, but from various reasons only seven 

 members took part in the outing, and this full complement 

 was not made up till the Saturday evening, nth Novem- 

 ber. Those who went up by the early train spent the day 

 in exploring the river banks in the immediate vicinity of the 

 township. Owing to recent rains, the river was extra noisy as it 

 rushed over its stony bed, and a ramble by moonlight to one of 

 the numerous bridges crossing it showed that the stream was 

 running at a great rate. During the night several showers of rain 

 occurred, and it was with grave fears that we turned out in the 

 morning. Two members who went for a stroll before breakfast 

 returned with wet jackets as their reward for early rising. After 

 breakfast, the weather having cleared, it was decided to make a 

 start for the Yuonga Falls on the Yithan Creek, and, if possible, 

 reach the summit of Donnabuang (4,080 feet), the peak which 

 dominates the township on the northern side of the Yarra; but we 

 had no sooner crossed the Wonwondah Bridge than a heavy 

 shower came on and necessitated shelter being sought under a 

 friendly roof The owners being piscatorially inclined, natural 

 history items naturally filled up the conversation. The 

 weather clearing a little, the crustacean division made 

 towards a backwater of the river to set their traps for 

 " Yabbies " (fresh-water crayfish), Astacopsis serratus, var. 

 yarraensis, M'Coy, and dig for the land forms (Engseus, sp.) on 

 the adjacent hillside, where they secured several specimens. 

 Three others, representing entomology, botany, and geology, 

 with photography, followed the tram track to Robertson's 

 Sawmills, where shelter had to be again sought from a sharp hail- 

 storm. Here we had a chance of admiring the handiwork of some 

 of the operatives who devote their spare time to manufacturing 

 walking sticks from "fiddle-back" Blackwood, Acacia melanoxylon. 

 A short scramble along a slippery path brought us to the falls, 

 but they are being despoiled of their lovely surroundings of 

 vegetation more and more every year, and shortly much of the 

 water will be conducted across the hillside to drive the machinery 

 of the Echo Printing Works, in course of construction near the 

 Wonwondah Bridge. It was now time to return to the hotel for 

 lunch, but, as we had climbed some 750 feet, it seemed a pity to 

 go down without doing more ; we therefore decided that lunch 

 was unnecessary, and determined to follow the tram track higher 

 up the mountain. At the falls Tecoma aiistralis and Clematis 

 aristata were festooning the shrubs with their beautiful flowers. 



