1/2 xVuDAs, Wcuidevings in East Gipps/aiid. P"^f'in^'^^' 



the wooded heights of Mt. Dawson, which hes to the south-west 

 of Buchan, and, crossing the summit, descended into a pretty 

 valley, along which wandered a crystal stream, whose waters 

 made soothing harmony in their gurgling descent. Here the 

 vegetation was very dense and luxuriant, consisting chiefly of 

 Bursaria spiuosa, a hne flowermg tree, with blanket-wood, hazel, 

 musk, &c. Although at Spring Creek I had noticed only one 

 plant of Hakea eriantha, the stream here was lined with it. 

 The beautiful scarlet-flowered Bottle-brush, Callistcmon lancco- 

 Icdus, was in abundance. It is a shrub of lo to 15 feet in height, 

 with large brush-like spikes of rich vermillion flowers. Growing 

 grandly on the precipitous hills were many fine kurrajong trees, 

 Brachvchiton popiihiciis. This tree attains a height of about 

 40 feet, and has a straight, clean, regular trunk, and dark, rough 

 l:>ark. The Native Pepper, Drimys aromatica, with its small 

 white flowers, nestled snugly beneath them, making the air 

 heavy with its fragrance, while the Coral Fern, Gleichenia 

 circinata, sprang from the fissures of the rocks, and clustered 

 thickly on the slopes of the hills in places reaching nearly to 

 my knees, and the Appleberry, Billardiera scandens, twined 

 round the smaller shrubs. The eucalypts which occur here are 

 E. pauciflora, Snow Gum : /:. viminalis, Manna Gum ; E. 

 sideroxylon, Red Ironbark ; /:. globulus, Blue Gum ; /:. obliqita, 

 Messmate : /:. melliodora. Yellow Box : /:. eugenioides, \Miite 

 vStringvbark ; /:. goniocalyx, S])ottea Gum ; and E. macror- 

 I'hyiuiici, Stringybark. The last-named was beautifully 

 decorated with the ga}' Eoranthiis penduliis (Mistletoe), which 

 hung gracefully from the branches to a length of 12 or 15 feet. 

 Wallabies were very numerous, some being almost black in 

 colour. 



Near Bruthen, on the return journey, my attention was 

 attracted bv a most unusual sight, which I had not observed on 

 the tri]) up. This was the Mistletoe, Loranthus penduliis, 

 growing on Cassiriia acideala, both being in flower : and another 

 peculiarity of this very unusual growth was that the parasite 

 grew from the host in a thick stem equally as sturdy as its 

 own branches, and not, as is generally seen, from a bump or 

 rooty formation on the bark. Here some fine young specimens 

 of Panax sanibiicijoliiis, an ornamental x^raliaceous shrub, were 

 met with, and, having secured a nice 3^oung jilant, I brought 

 it to Melbourne, and j^resented it to the Curator of the Botanic 

 Gardens. 



Early on the 21st, mounted on a good strong horse, I set out 

 from Bairnsdale for Mt. TayltM-. situated 11 mik's to the north- 

 west of tliat town, and, after a strenuous ride, reached the 

 foot in about two hours' time. Leaving my horse at the 

 residence of Mr. Harvey (on whose property the mount is 



