Vict. Nat. 



230 Barnard, A Day on Mount Disappointment. f AprU 



just at the foot we passed through a hue of charred fencing, 

 which marks the boundary between the parishes of Toorourrong 

 and Wallan Wallan. Henceforward, our fence marked the 

 boundary between the Metropohtan Board's reserves and the 

 State forest. 



Hereabouts the vegetation became more interesting. We 

 were getting near the boundary of the Sihn'ian and the granite. 

 Grass- trees became noticeable features of the landscape. The 

 young growth of Lomatia ilicifolia was very pretty. Another 

 proteaceous plant, Grevillea repens, a prostrate form with leaves 

 similar to those of the Lomatia, was growing close by. The 

 tea-tree, Leptospermum scoparium, was in bloom, but not a 

 beetle frequented it. The beautiful Fringed Lily, Thysanotus 

 hiberosus, was frequent. Some fine specimens of the Mountain 

 Brown Butterfly, Epinephile aheone, were flitting about, together 

 with Pyrameis Kershawi, P. itea, and an occasional white, 

 Belenois Java. The sentries of a flock of White Cockatoos 

 became alarmed at our presence, and soon had the whole neigh- 

 bourhood alive with their screams and those of their com- 

 panions. Gang-gangs also were noticeable by their cries. Our 

 track now turned almost due north, and led through a moderate 

 growth of bracken. x\gain one of the old timber tracks of 

 bygone days crossed our path. The ascent became steeper, 

 and presently stray pieces of granite appeared, to be followed 

 shortly by larger exposures on either hand. We had still a 

 mile and a half to go. The bracken became thicker, and our 

 progress was slow, for occasionally a fallen tree encumbered 

 our way, and the fence had to be crossed and re-crossed. 



A fine growth of Senecio lautus had a peculiar appearance, 

 which arrested our attention for a while. Investigation showed 

 that the heads of unexpanded flowers were infested with aphids, 

 which were causing an exudation of a resinous nature, re- 

 sembling coarse sugar. The hemipterous insect Nysius viniior, 

 known as the Rutherglen fly-pest, was also present in great 

 numbers, and these were so depriving the stems of the plants 

 of their juices that many of the heads of flowers were drooping over 

 from the effects of the suction ; but the most interesting feature 

 of aU was that there was an example of every disease having its 

 cure, for the lady-birds, Leis conformis and Orcus australasica, 

 were present in dozens, no doubt helping to keep in check the 

 myriads of aphides. Specimens of this interesting case of life 

 upon life were secured for future investigation. 



We were graduaUy getting higher, but our outlook was 

 limited, owing to the growth of trees and scrub ; but we were 

 disappointed at the size of the trees. Nowhere did we see any 

 worth measuring. Here and there a few tree-ferns, Alsophila 

 ail sir alls, appeared through the scrub ; but presently, in a 



