Mar ;>] Audas, A Trip to Mount Beenok. 169 



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composed of such eucalypts as the Red Stringybark, E. 

 macrorrhyncha, Messmate, E. obliqua, Apple Gum, /:. Stuartiana, 

 Silvertop, E. Sieberiana, Grey Gum, E. goniocalyx, and Narrow- 

 leaved Peppermint, E. amygdalina, while the great variety of 

 shrubby plants met with makes it highly interesting to the 

 collector. These shrubs reach a height of six to eight feet, and 

 are interspersed with taller shrubs of the genera Casuarina, 

 Exocarpus, Panax, Hakea, Persoonia, PimeJea, Pultenaea, 

 Acacia, and Bursaria. On a steep portion of the hillside, at an 

 elevation of about 1,500 feet, some interesting plants, such as 

 Hibbertia Billardieri, Acacia myrtifolia, Dillwynia ftoribunda, 

 D. corymbosa, Daviesia ulicina, Acrotriche serrulata, var. 

 ventricosa, Pultencea vilhsa, P. daphnoides, Astrotricha ledifolia, 

 Platylobium formosum, P. obtusangulum, Pimelea ligustrina, 

 P. jiava, P. linifolia, Brachycomc scapiformis, and Cynoglossum 

 suaveolens arrest attention ; the last-named is a dwarl perennial, 

 with an intensely fragrant perfume. 



Reaching Basin's — or what is marked on Broadbent's map as 

 Sharp's Corner — the elevation is just about 2,000 feet. Here, 

 on both sides of the hill, the Tomahawk and M'Crae Creeks take 

 their rise, and flow in a westerly direction, eventually forming 

 tributaries of the Yarra. Tin-mining in a desultory manner 

 is carried on along the M'Crae Creek, the fossickers just about 

 making ends meet, although the price of tin has now advanced 

 to £173 per ton. The method of working these tin deposit- 

 is to search the drifts and sluice the soil. The black variety of 

 the mineral tourmaline is frequently found associated with tin 

 deposits, both lode and alluvial, but it is of no commercial 

 value. Crystallized quartz is also found, and I obtained several 

 specimens of these crystals along the stream. Vigilant search 

 ha- been made in this locality lor the metals molybdenite ami 

 wolfram, hut so far without success. Hereabouts grew some 

 particularly well-shaped trees of the Hickory Wattle, Acacia 

 penninervis, which very much resembles it-, congener, the 

 Golden Wattle, A. pyenantha, and is frequently mistaken for it. 



Continuing in a north-easterly direction for some miles, 

 Gray's Corner is reached, the elevation here being about 

 2,500 feet. These heights are the source oi several streams: 

 the Latrobe, Tarago, and Bunyip flow southward, while the 

 Little Yarra and other creeks How swiftly down the steep hill- 

 sides in an opposite direction, and are eventually losl in the 

 • aim waters of the Yarra. From here a splendid view oi 

 Longwarry and the surrounding distri<t can he obtained, while 

 in the gullies ami deep ravines between the hills the gigantic 

 eucalypts E. regnans and E. amygdalina rear their stalely heads. 

 The 'soil in the gullies is a black sandv peat, watered by 

 streamlets running throughoul the year. Here, under the 



