Feb., 1909.] THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 153 



the track and stretched far back into the recesses of the timber. 

 With them abounded Pultencea daphnoides, Dillwynia cineras- 

 cens, Tetratheca ciliata, T. erici/olia, Hibbertia acicularis, H. 

 stricta, Daviesia corymbosa, Veronica ferfoliata^ Aster {Olearia) 

 jnmeleoides, A. teretifolia, Styphelia hwmifusa, and the white and 

 pink varieties of the Native Heath, E'pacris invpressa ; the rich 

 golden yellow o{ Acacia p'ycnantha cox\\.ra.simg to advantage with 

 the paler yellow of A. acinacea and A. aspera, these in turn 

 with the Tetretheca and Veronica and the two species of the Native 

 Daisy tree, the whole exhibiting a luxuriance of growth and 

 flowering splendour that only a congenial spring can promote. 



Selecting specimens of each of the flowers and flowering shrubs 

 mentioned, we pushed on towards Beremboke, with increasing fore- 

 bodings as to the continuity of fine weather. The domain of the 

 Grass-tree, Xanthorrhoea australis, was next reached, and soon 

 the slopes of the valleys on our right and left were thickly clad 

 by numberless specimens of this uncouth growth. No inflor- 

 escence was observed, though a few plants had begun to develop 

 their flower-spikes. Presently, in the midst of a tropical down- 

 pour of rain, when our feelings were down to zero, the rare 

 Boronia polygalijolia, var. anemoni folia, and Prostanthera hirtula 

 were simultaneously discovered, and shortly after Grevillea 

 aquifolium and the red-flowered variety of Correa speciosa. The 

 parasitic Cassytha melantha was often noted, twining on the 

 dwarf eucalypts and other shrubs. So far as our observation 

 extended in the journey through the range, the various flowers 

 and flowering shrubs existed in great abundance, while the Grey 

 Box and the two iron-barked gums, Eucalyptus sideroxylon and 

 E. leiicoxylon, were flowering freely. To the banquet so lavishly 

 spread by nature the honey-eaters had gathered in force. 

 They were to be seen everywhere, and the welkin rang con- 

 tinuously with their varied calls. 



Years ago the Mallee-Hen inhabited the recesses of the range, 

 but was either exterminated by the settlers or retired to remoter 

 localities as the environs of its habitat were selected. 



About 4 p.m. the first glimpse of the raammaloid bulk of Mount 

 Wallace was obtained. A few minutes later we crossed a shallow, 

 grassy depression, that defined the boundary of the Silurian and 

 Basaltic formations. This depression constituted the head of the 

 Little River. The change was strikingly apparent. The Silurian, 

 with its recurring hill and valley and its dense and varied vegeta- 

 tion, had suddenly ended, and had been succeeded by a level 

 plain supporting isolated, gnarled specimens of the Blackwood, 

 Acacia melanoxylon. The soil was fertile, and nourished a 

 luxuriant growth of rye and the so-called Rib-grass, Plantago 

 lanceolata, while struggling for existence against these two exotics 

 were Erodium cygnorum and E. cicutarium, Claytonia Austral- 

 asica, Hypoxis glabella, Wurmbea dioica. Ranunculus lajjjmceus, 



