192 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXV. 



EXCURSION TO HANGING ROCK. 



Advantage was taken of the fortnightly excursion train to 

 Daylesford for the visit to Hanging Rock on Saturday, 20th Feb- 

 ruary ; by this means we were able to leave town at a more 

 convenient time than if the early morning train had been taken. 

 However, as the train lost more than an hour on its journey to 

 Woodend (48 miles), four of the party who motored up reached 

 the township before us. On reaching Woodend we were met by 

 Mr. Birrell, of the local State school, and Mr. Fordyce, of the 

 Campaspe school, who were pleased to have the opportunity of 

 joining in the outing. Our party now numbered seventeen. 

 Owing to the loss of time, it was decided to obtain vehicles and 

 drive out to the Rock, instead of walking the five miles as had been 

 first proposed. The name, Hanging Rock, is rather misleading 

 to those who have not been to the locality, and it may not be 

 out of place to quote from what is probably tbe first description 

 of it which appeared in print. This was written by the late W. 

 Blandowski in 1855, and occurs in a paper entitled "Personal 

 Observations in the Central Parts of Victoria " in the Transactions 

 of the Philosophical Society of Victoria, vol. i., p. 57. He says : 

 — •' Dryden's Monument is, as well on account of its geological 

 character as its singular conformation, one of the most remark- 

 able spots in Victoria, if not in the whole of Australia, and, were 

 a careful and minute description of it made, accompanied with 

 good drawings, it would not fail to engage the attention of every 

 geologist. The approach to it presents a scene of imposing 

 grandeur. A massive wall of dolorite, whose deep and sombre hue 

 is in exquisite harmony with the dark green of the eucalyptus, rises 

 almost perpendicularly above the loftiest of the trees, and im- 

 parts a striking majesty to the whole view. The interest increases 

 at every step approaching the Monument, and a beautiful variety 

 of rapidly-changing scenery is unfolded like a panorama before 

 the observer's eye. At the base about a thousand pyramidal 

 columns from fifteen to thirty feet in diameter and thirty to one 

 hundred feet in height rise in bold relief from the surface, and 

 invest the hill, which is about a mile in circumference, with an 

 appearance not dissimilar to that of a gigantic porcupine, or to a 

 colossal representation of the structure formed by the Termes 

 bellicosus. . . ." The foregoing is a capital description of 

 the mount, and still holds good, though it is probable that 

 the hill is now more hidden from view than it was fifty years 

 ago, owing to the increase in height of the eucalypts grow- 

 ing round its base. On reaching the reserve we found Mr. 

 Shephard, with the aid of his motor, was before us, and 

 had brought a supply of hot water from a neighbouring hotel 

 and prepared tea, which was a welcome addition to our sand- 

 wiches. After lunch we followed the track, which winds up the 



