150 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



a boarding-house managed by Miss Cavvood, situated about a 

 mile before reaching Krambruk. This we made our head- 

 quarters, being conveniently situated for excursions either towards 

 the forest or along the shore, and we had no cause to regret our 

 choice, for every attention was paid to the party during our time 

 there. The house itself was somewhat remarkable, having been 

 added to so often that the original design was quite hidden, and 

 the materials used in the additions had frequently been recovered 

 from wrecks which had occurred on the adjacent coast. 



Our operations extended along the shore from the Parker 

 River, south-west of Krambruk, north-easterly to Point Patten, 

 including an examination of the sand hummocks and the limited 

 area of the flat land in the vicinity ; the exploration of an 

 aboriginal midden at Point Bunbury ; the grass-tree and heathy 

 country in the valley of the Barrum-Barrum River ; and excursions 

 to the various creeks, nine of which enter the sea in about as 

 many miles ; and a forest excursion, kindly arranged by Mr. 

 Alex. Mackay, J. P., and the Apollo Bay Sawmilling Co., who 

 placed some timber trucks and a team of stout horses at our 

 disposal. The coal seams at Wild Dog and Coal Creeks were 

 also visited. 



The isolated patch of mountainous country known as the 

 Otway Ranges can be approached in three ways — either by our 

 first intended plan, vid the narrow-gauge railway from Colac to 

 Beech Forest, by the route we adopted, or by steamer from 

 Melbourne to Krambruk vid Lome. The district greatly 

 resembles parts of Gippsland, but with certain faunai and floral 

 differences, which will be noted later on. 



The backbone of the Otway Peninsula is a range running 

 approximately north-east and south-west, and from it numerous 

 spurs are thrown out, which in many cases extend to the sea shore, 

 and frequently end in abrupt vertical cliffs, leaving but little flat 

 land between the hills and the coast. From the mouth of the 

 Wild Dog Creek northwards to Cape Patten the coast is 

 practically rockbound, but in the other direction two fair beaches 

 exist, at Apollo Bay and Mount's Bay, separated by the rocky 

 projection of Point Bunbury. Backing the beaches are sand 

 dunes grassed with spinifex, interspersed with numerous bushes 

 of Correa alba, Styphelia richea, and Myoporum insulare (Boo- 

 bialla). In the absence of sandy beaches there are flat rock 

 platforms, which often extend from the vertical face of the sea- 

 beaten cliffs some seven or eight chains out to sea. These 

 platforms are dry and exposed at low water, but as the tide 

 returns are covered with foaming breakers. At one place 

 between Wild Dog Creek and Stony Creek the platform shows a 

 fault, in which, according to Mr. Stirling's measurements, the 

 lines of the dislocated strata show a displacement of twenty feet. 



