Vol. XXVII. 

 1911 



] AuDAS, Wanderings in East Gippslandt 167 



Between Bruthen and Tara the country is rather monotonous. 

 Dense forests of stringybark occur, blackened by recent fires, 

 with occasional patches of grass-trees, Xanthorrhc^a australis, 

 commonly called in these parts " black boys." 



The exigencies of travel, owing to recent rains, made it 

 necessary for all to descend and walk — or, as the driver jocularly 

 styled it, to do the trip " per boot." This enabled me to pene- 

 trate some distance from the coach track, and I was rewarded 

 by finding a good many interesting plants in bloom — viz., 

 Stypandra glauca (with its sky-blue flowers), Stackhousia linari- 

 folia, Spyridium parvifolium, Grevillea alpina, Acacia jimiperina, 

 Platylohium ohtusangnlnm. Hihhertia ohtusifolia, H. stricta, 

 Hovea heterophylla, Leucopogon australis, Tetratheca ericifolia, 

 Pimelea axiflora, Epacris microphylla, with its sweet-scented 

 spike of white flowers, and Comesperma ericinum, with C. 

 voliihile twming round the tea- trees and seedling eucalypts. 

 On a deep sandy cutting I gathered some lovely specimens of 

 Leucopogon {Styphelia) ericoides, which gave forth a delightful 

 perfume. The only types of Australian fauna met with were 

 a number of kangaroos, which stood inquiringly on the road- 

 side ; but, on being informed by the coach-driver that there 

 was no mail for them, they jumped hastily off into the bush 

 again. 



At Tara, where we changed coaches for Buchan, the recently 

 discovered and valuable manganese mine is being worked, and 

 here also have been found specimens of tin ore, which, if obtain- 

 able in sufficient quantities, should open up a good industry. 

 Finding that the change of coaches at this stage would cause 

 an hour's delay, and being anxious to make use of all available 

 time for botanizing, I informed the driver of my intention, 

 and pushed forward on the road to Buchan. Lining the banks 

 of the Tara Creek for a considerable distance, Acacia verticillata, 

 laden with dense cylindrical spikes of yellow flowers, gave a 

 bright note of colour to the scene. Along the bed of the creek 

 the vegetation was very beautiful. Clematis aristata covering all 

 the tea-tree and hazel with a veil of white. Ferns were 

 numerous. Asplenium hnlhifernm, Lomaria discolor, Aspidiiim 

 aciileatum, and A. decoinpositiun were growing thickly at the 

 water's ^dg^, crowding each other out. Mixed up with them 

 were the handsome Dianella revoluta and the graceful foliage 

 of the tall saw-sedge Gahnia psittacoruin, while Arundo phrag- 

 mites, " the common reed," shot up abruptly near them. Some 

 fine specimens of Eucalyptus rcgnans were met with, attaining 

 a height of over 150 feet. The boles of many of these trees 

 were as straight as a gun-barrel, and appeared in snow-white 

 garments, having recently shed the epidermis or thin outer 

 layer of bark, while, hanging from others, were long shreds of 



