THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 83 



more had we taken the trouble to search for them. We omitted 

 to mention that on our way to the lake we met a typical Mallee 

 sundowner. His skin was something more than a dark brown 

 colour ; he was clad in the scantiest of garments, carried no swag, 

 but instead thereof was wisely provided with a water bag, which 

 he carried with jealous care. 



Returning to Rainbow, we were greatly disappointed to find 

 that the farmer to whom we had been recommended was 

 unable to accommodate us, and, there being no hotels, we 

 should have been under the necessity of camping out had 

 it not been for the kindness of the before-mentioned store- 

 keeper, Zimmerman, who, at great personal inconvenience, pro- 

 vided us with beds and meals, for which he could not be induced 

 to accept any remuneration. Our intention was to have stopped 

 at Rainbow until the Saturday, but, as we felt it would be tres- 

 passing too much on his hospitality, we decided to start on the 

 Friday morning for Jeparit, 22 miles distant. Close to the 

 Rainbow station an; a number of Heterodendron olecefolium, or 

 Olive-leaved Heterodendron (Sapindacese). These, so Mr. Walter 

 says, are the finest trees of the kind in Victoria, being in marked 

 contrast to the comparatively stunted ones he has seen near Swan 

 Hill. On some of these trees were still a iew seeds, which are of 

 a bright scarlet colour. Of course, we searched carefully for 

 beetles, but only secured a few specimens of a small curculio. 

 The land on which these trees are growing has been permanently 

 reserved as a cemetery, and we trust the trees also will be carefully 

 protected, as they are the only ones in the district. 



After a cordial farewell to our kind host, we started about 8.30 

 on our tramp to Jeparit, and it proved a rather trying one, as the 

 day was the hottest we experienced during our whole trip. The 

 track was fringed with plenty of small eucalypts, and from these 

 we took a few Curculios of the genus Belus, but what they prin- 

 cipally yielded was a number of beautifully coloured Chrysomelas 

 of the genus Paropsis, some especially being of a bright green and 

 scarlet colour ; but the colours are very perishable, and long before 

 our return home they had so completely faded as to be quite 

 unrecognizable as the lovely ones we had previously so much 

 admired. No trees of any size were met with, nor any logs, so 

 that we had no opportunity of testing these sources for specimens. 

 After travelling several miles we came to a stretch of sand liills 

 about four miles in length, and walking on tliese was very tiring, 

 but we were well repaid by seeing the large-leaved Mallee, JiJ. 

 incrassata, in flower — and a really pretty sight it is — and also by 

 observing a specimen of the large dark-brown buprestis beetle, 

 Stigmodera parvicoUis, which we, unfortunately, did not have the 

 good fortune to secure. We feel certain we were rather too early for 

 this beetle, and fully believe that in a week or two later they 



