i88 Barnard and French, Visit to Mt. Piper, [vli"^ xxix 



from it we had a splendid view all round of the lower country. 

 The day was dull and cloudy — in fact, slight drifting- showers 

 at times obscured the view — but a fair number of land-marks 

 could be made out. Due south the crest of the Big Hill above 

 Wallan was just discernible; round towards the west was 

 Macedon and the Camel's Hump; a little nearer at hand the 

 Lancefield Mount William; then, about 40 miles away to 

 the north-west, Mount Alexander, near Castlemaine, was 

 picked up through a gap in nearer ranges. Mounts Koala 

 and Tooborac stood up prominently to the north. The Tal- 

 larook Ranges blocked our view to the north-east; towards 

 the east some of the peaks around Marysville were just 

 visible, while Mount Disappointment and the Plenty Ranges, 

 about 15 miles away to the south-east, completed the 

 panorama. 



A few stunted gums, probabl}^ a form of E. amygdalina, 

 on the top afforded a little shelter while lunch was being 

 disposed of. Here we noticed the butterflies Delias harpalycc 

 and Bclcnois Java flying above us, as also the day-moth 

 Agarisia Icwiiii. Having spent as long as we could on the 

 top, we made our way down the rocky ledges of the southern 

 face of the hill. Here we found several interesting plants, 

 such as the Mosquito Orchid, Cyrtostylis reniformis, 

 Asplcnium flabeUifoliiim and Grammitis rutccfoHa, two ferns 

 so often found associated with the Cheilanthes. A veronica 

 also, but not in flower, K. pcrfoliata, was fairly abundant, 

 grov/ing in the crevices of the rocks, and as we descended 

 lower the sight of the day came in view, a magnihcent 

 growth of Epacris iiiiprrssa, with flowers of the largest size 

 and of the purest white. Its season was nearlv over, but it 

 was in sufficien.tly good condition as to draw forth excla- 

 mations of delight as we made our way through it. Here 

 and there such orchids as Glossudia major, Caladciiia Patcr- 

 soni, C. carnca (several varieties) gave variety to the scene. 

 We would have liked to have tried what the western and 

 northern slopes of the mount would have produced, but 

 time was passing, and, as we did not know what obstacles 

 might be between us and Kilmore East, where we were due 

 at 5.30 p.m., we had to leave them for some future time. 



.Setting out in a south-easterly direction across the 

 ])a(ldocks, the golden-yellow flowers of Ilibbcrtia obtusifolia 

 became a feature of our surroundings. Would it were a 

 flower which could be gathered and taken home, for its size 

 and its pleasing shnde of colour make it one of the gems of 

 the bush. 



Passing on, a trap-door spider's tunnel was detected in a 

 grassy bank. Presently we came to Broadhurst's Creek, 

 with the railway line on the slope above. We struck the latter 

 at about 42A miles from town, and here a remarkable sight 



