^^6'] Daley, Alpine Gippsland. 99 



settled, and not of great interest, red gum, stringy-bark, and 

 yellow box being the chief eucalypts. Approaching Stockdale, 

 for some miles there is an undergrowth of thick scrub, gay 

 with wild-flowers, and comprising most representatives of the 

 typical flora of the Gippsland scrub near the foothills — viz., 

 Cassinia acitleata, Correa speciosa, Hovea heterophylla, Come- 

 sperma voluhile, Goodenia ovata, Helichrysum hicidttm, Epacris 

 imprcssa (in varied tints), Indigofera atistralis, Tetratheca ciliata, 

 Platylohitim obtusanguhim, &c. The composites, legumes, 

 Droseras, and Heath-Myrtles were well represented, and this 

 area should well repay botanical research. 



We reached Stockdale (16 miles) in time for a good tea. 

 From here the road immediately rises into the densely-wooded 

 ranges, where the Golden Wattle was in profuse bloom on each 

 side of the road. A year before, a destructive bush-fire had 

 raged through the district, and the scorched gums, after the 

 winter rains, were freely sprouting with accelerated energy, 

 the glossy green leaves forming bunches of tender vegetation 

 on the stems of the trees, giving a pleasing effect as the sunshine 

 played on and through them. An interesting conglomerate 

 formation is found shortly after leaving Stockdale, being part 

 of the geological formation of the Carboniferous or Upper 

 Palaeozoic era, which extends from Iguana Creek to Mansfield, 

 including the Wellington Range. Alluvial gold has been 

 obtained from this conglomerate, which is peculiar in the 

 respect that in some of the rounded stones are impressed other 

 pebbles. A hill is passed over which, with its red shales, is 

 also part of the same geological series. The track, which keeps 

 high up on the range, winding in and out, with steep fall to the 

 valleys beneath, is well shaded by the forest timber. It is wide 

 enough for the passage of one vehicle, and, as the fall of a tree 

 across the track through wind or fire is a frequent occurrence, 

 it is usual to carry an axe in vehicles using the road, otherwise 

 much delay may be caused by the obstruction, the slope from 

 the road being too steep to pass if off the track. From this, 

 known as the " Insolvent Track," a fine panorama of forest, 

 valley, and mountain is seen, especially westwards, towards 

 Walhalla, about 50 miles distant ; Lake Wellington is also 

 visible southward through the trees. About Mount Difiiculty 

 — which does not belie its name — the climbing is very steep. 

 On the hilly side of the track the Spurious Sarsaparilla hung 

 in festoons ; Hovea heterophylla, Veronica perfoliata, and 

 Boronia myoporoides bloomed profusely. In the deep valleys, 

 ferns and bracken, musk and hazel, made a dense under- 

 growth, and the course of creeks could easily be traced by the 

 golden tint of the wattles in contrast with the green of the 

 gums, mostly stringy-bark, box, ironbark on the ridges, with 



