12 O'DoNOGHUE, Rambles in Raak. [ 



Vict. Nat. 

 Vol. XXXIIl. 



mirages. Sinking to the depth of six inches below the surface, 

 one comes upon a deposit of varying thickness of arrow-shaped 

 crystals of sulphate of lime, or gypsum. Beneath this moist, 

 tenacious, ferruginous sand is met with, but to what depth it 

 continues, or whether other bands of crystals exist, the means 

 at our command did not permit of determining. Chenopodi- 

 aceous plants of many varieties margin the " pans," and over- 

 grow some of the more extensive. The Sea Heath, Frankenia 

 pauciflora, the Dillon-bush, Nitraria Schoberi, and the Angular 

 Pigface, Mesembryanthemum equilateral^, are common, and the 

 Murrnong Yam, Microseris Forsteri, abounds in thousands. 

 On such areas the Tricoloured and Orange -fronted Chats, 

 Ephthianura tricolor and Ephthianura aurifrons, and the White - 

 winged and Blue-breasted Wren-Warblers, Malurus leucopterus 

 and Malurtis assimilis, find a congenial home. 



Pushing on after our guide, who, with less interest in the 

 surrounding country than ourselves, left us hopelessly in the 

 rear within the first half -hour, we crossed, in succession, lake- 

 beds margined or overgrown with the Sea Glasswort, Salicornia 

 aiistralis, and the Dwarf Saltbush, A triplex halimoides ; open 

 glades whereon the Fibrous Spear-grass, Stipa semibarbata, 

 \vith the Austral Bluebell intermingled, grew almost waist- 

 high ; and expanses of loose, dry sand, seemingly incapable of 

 affording nutriment to any form of plant life, yet on which 

 occurred many luxuriant specimens of the Flannel Cudweed, 

 Gnaphalodes uliginosum, the Narrow-leaved Podotheca, 

 Podotheca angustifolia, the Slender Podolepis, Podolepis 

 Siemssenii, and the Stiff Cup-flower, Angianthus strictiis. 



Now the track winds among the Tall Mallee, Eucalyptus 

 incrassata, wherein bewildered companies of White -winged 

 Choughs, Corcorax melanorhainphus, shelter and noisily herald 

 our approach ; over some flat redolent of the perfume from the 

 Needle Hakea, Hakea leucoptera ; up a Berrigan {Heterodendron 

 olecBfolium) clad hill, and anon winding through the serried 

 ranks of the sj-'mmetrical pines. A wire fence that stretches 

 across the path, and the ruins of an old hut, proclaim the fact 

 that our destination is near at hand. These are, however, 

 not needed to demonstrate the neighbourhood of a human 

 habitation. The weeds, the usual concomitants of settlement, 

 are sufficient e\ddence. Among the Tall Thickheads, Myrio- 

 cephalus Stuartii, which so thickly clothe the slopes and open 

 country as to make walking a task rather than a pleasure, the 

 Large Quaking-grass, Briza maxima, the Soft Brome, Bromus 

 mollis, and the Canary-grass, Phalaris canariensis, nod heavily- 

 weighted panicles, and the Rough Popp3^ Papaver hybridiim, 

 flaunts its bright red petals. The Common Vetch, Vicia 



