1 66 Excursion to 'National Park. F 



Vol. XXIX. 



the Inlet. The tuiiber here is chiefly small eucalypts and 

 exceptionally well-grown Honeysuckles, Banksia serrata, inter- 

 mixed with the Grass-tree, Xanthorrhaa ausiralis, heathy 

 shrubs such as Leptospermum, Epacris, Hakea, &c., and 

 smaller plants of various kinds. As the northern end of the 

 range is approached the banksias predominate, and, with the 

 grass-trees, give to this locality quite a park-like appearance. 



During our walk the variety of flowering plants excited the 

 enthusiasm of the botanical members of our party, who were 

 already promising themselves a good time. 



Birds were fairly numerous, and were l)oth seen and heard. 

 Both the Black Cockatoo, Calyptorhynchits funereiis, and 

 Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Cacahta galerita, which, a few 

 weeks earlier, were busily engaged in tearing open the long 

 flower-spikes of the grass-trees in search of caterpillars, were 

 noted. Wattle-birds were very common everywhere among 

 the banksias, while the Wedge-tailed Eagle, King Parrot, 

 Crimson Parrot, Platycerciis elegans, Pallid Cuckoo, Black-faced 

 Cuckoo-Shrike, Graucalus mclanops. Grey Bell-Magpie, Strepera 

 versicolor. Honey-eaters, White-shafted Fantail, Rhipidnra 

 alhiscapa, and a pair of Bronze-wing Pigeons, Phaps chalcoptera, 

 were among those seen. We, however, missed our old friend 

 the Magpie, and, rather strange to say, did not see a single 

 specimen on the Vereker. 



Although wallabies are fairly plentiful in this locality, only 

 two were seen. 



A couple of miles' walk brought us on to the broad track 

 which runs to the top of the range, and jmst the site chosen 

 for our camp. As we ascended the track Ix^came steeper, and 

 frequent halts were made to admire the fine views. The best 

 general view, however, and probably the most extensive on 

 the Promontory, was obtained from a small saddle a short 

 distance from our camp. From this spot, at an altitude of 

 considerably over i,ooo feet, an excellent panoramic view of 

 the whole of the northern end of the Promontory is obtained. 

 Overlooking the extensive flat walled in on the south by Mount 

 Leonard and the Darby Hills and on the east by Mormt 

 Vereker and its numerous spurs, we could make out the 

 position of the Darby River, winding about from the foot of 

 Mount Vereker, with Shellback Island clearly defined opposite 

 its mouth. From there the view extends northward along 

 the isthmus and over the hundreds of acres of pure white and 

 ever-shifting sand-dunes near Yanakic, to Shallow Inlet and 

 Waratah Bay, with Cape Lij^trap in the dim distance. Looking 

 north, the whole of the Inlet, with its three granite islands — 

 Doughboy, Bennison, and Granite— and extensive low-lying 



