THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 125 



On the Geological Survey Quarter-sheet, 3 N.E., issued in 1865, 

 which includes the Plenty Ranges, there is marked on the 

 western slopes of Mount Disappointment the position of a tree 

 having a circumference of 46 feet 8 inches at 2 feet from the 

 ground. 



From these notes it will be seen that the giant trees now exist- 

 ing are few and far between, and in consequence of the little 

 interest taken in them, either by the Government or private 

 individuals, in the course of another half-century they will have 

 ceased to be. The constant recurrence of drought and bush 

 fires will surely overtake the few that remain with us, and our 

 grand and great grandchildren will only ht-ar of the great plants 

 whose seeds were sown in the ground probably about the com- 

 mencement of the Christian era, or they may perhaps see a 

 photograph of one handed down by those interested in them; but 

 the great giants themselves, the parents of our forests, will have 

 passed away, unless some interest is awakened in the meantime, 

 and an effort made to conserve and protect some of the finest 

 specimens. 



In many cases hollow giant trees have been made use of as tem- 

 porary shelters by the selectors on whose land they happened to be 

 until more suitable structures could be erected. In some instances 

 they have been permanently retained for use. Thus, one at 

 Neerim was turned into a three-storied dwelling ; the topmost flat 

 was used as a bedroom, the middle flat as a sitting room, whilst 

 the basement served as a kitchen and diningroom. At Yarra- 

 wonga an old couple made use of a hollow Red Gum, E. roslrata, 

 as a dwelling-place for more than twelve years whilst depending 

 upon fishing for a livelihood. At Kerrisdale, in the Yea district, 

 a hollow giant Red Gum has afforded welcome shelter to many a 

 sundowner, or swagman, for years past. They have been utilized 

 as storehouses, as stables for horses, bullocks, and calves, and 

 also as pig-styes. A very large tree once existed at M'Donald's 

 Track, South Gippsland, in which a teamster was known to stable 

 his team of 12 bullocks. Felled across a creek from bank to 

 bank they have been used as bridges, in one case which came 

 under my notice saving a walk of four miles out of seven which 

 would have been necessary had it not been for this mode of 

 crossing. Others have been turned into look-outs, as for instance 

 the two specimens at the Hermitage, Blacks' Spur, which are 

 ascended by means of permanent staircases to 60 or 70 feet above 

 the ground. 



It is not improbable that in the past history of Victoria even 

 larger trees than those mentioned have existed, but have by some 

 means or other been destroyed. The selector, usually a rough 

 and ready man, with but little poetry or sentiment in his otherwise 

 sturdy character, is blind as to the origin or history of these great 



