154 Paton, The Buffalo Plateau in January. [voi."^xxxiV. 



rocks, we cross tlie l^ridgc thai spans the stream wliere the 

 rapids commence, and make our way out to a flat rock which 

 stands above the fall. Here, with the waters roaring in cease- 

 less fury beneath us, we may observe the work of erosion in 

 progress, huge blocks of granite being gradually detached and 

 hurled to the bottom of the Gorge. Returning to the track, 

 and proceeding to the " 1,700," we view the south wall 

 opposite, and the sheer descent Ixlow. bar below, on the 

 creek banks, appear green rosettes -the lieads of tree-ferns : 

 whilst the eucalypts are corresjwndingly dwarfed. h^ven on 

 the perpendicular wall vegetation lias establislied itself 

 wherever a ledge or cleft lias provided a lodgment. Successive 

 generations of tourists have seen, in various rock-forms in and 

 around the Gorge, imaginary resemblances to various persons 

 and objects. A " Chinese mandarin " is amongst the dis- 

 tinguished visitors ; there is a likeness of Sir Graham Berry 

 (a Victorian Premier), a " statue " of Queen Victoria, a 

 " pulpit rock," and many more. 



Having gazed at the Gorge, and the prospect of valley and 

 mountain, we ha\e leisure to note the plants which bloom 

 around us. Owing to the lateness of the season, most of the 

 notable plants were still in l)loom. Oxylohiuvi nlpestre was every- 

 where, also Leptospennuin lanigerum, L. scoparimn, Kunzea pediin- 

 cularis, K. Muelleri, Goodenia hederacea, W eslringia scnifolia, and 

 Trachymene Billardieri. Here the rare Prostanthera Walteri was 

 also found. Proceeding up the valley, numerous plants claim our 

 attention : amongst them, Hihhcrlia serpilli folia, \'iola hederacea, 

 Comesperma relusuni, Baechea Ciunniana, Arthropodium panicii- 

 latum, Stvpandra ccespitosa, Craspedia Richea, Stylidium 

 (Candollca) gramini folium, and Wahlenhergia gracilis, the last 

 three very deeply coloured. In boggy ground are a multitude 

 of herbaceous plants, amongst them the composites Podolepis 

 Inngipedata, Brachycome scapiformis, Helichrysnm leucopsidium, 

 H. baccharoides, H. rosmarini folium, and the glorious Celmisia 

 longifolia. Creeping in the mud are Scccvola Hookeri and 

 Lobelia gelida. Still further on we come upon large clumps of 

 the epacrid Richea (iunnii, with spikes of cream urn-shaped 

 flowers. At " Carlile's," now deserted, we take the road 

 leading to Lake Catani, having the " Monolith " in full view. 

 Shortly we come to the head of the lake, a sheet of water having 

 a remarkably natural appearance, but formed by throwing a 

 wall across a ravine and impounding the waters of the stream 

 in the valley above. It is sixty acres in extent, and frozen 

 over in winter, when it is used for skating. On the banks of 

 the stream above the lake we collected Hpacris heieronevta and 

 Prostanthera cuueata. Meeting the road to " Tlie Horn " near 

 the head of the lake, wc follow it back, passing along the 



