64 AuDAS, Through the Murrn Miirra Country. [ voT.' x'xxvi I . 



sea, from those of Fyans Creek, running north to the Wimmera 

 River. Looking across this morass, which is several miles wide, 

 one obtains a fine view of a part of tlie Serra Range where a 

 score of unnamed peaks stretcli away in the (hstance hke 

 sentinels guarding the valley billow. Far away in the distance 

 one can just distinguish Mount Rosea, which is the nortliern 

 extremity of this fine range. Tire swamp at our feet, and all 

 the open patches about, are thickly studded with large tufts 

 of grass-like Cyperacea; and Liliaceas, the most common being 

 the Button Bog- Rush, Gymnoschoe'nus adustus, which grows in 

 large tufts five feet high, with dense, globular flower-heads 

 about an inch in diameter. Of the Liliacea, the most prevalent 

 is the Small (jrass-tree, Xanthorrhcva minor, and Long Matrush, 

 Lomandra longifolia. Among their tufts some grasses find a 

 precarious domicile, the most adventurous of these being the 

 Long Hair Plume-grass, Dichelachne crinita, Wallaby Grass, 

 Danthonia penicillata, Nigger Head, Pappophorum nigricans. 

 Corkscrew Grass, Stipa setacea, Fibrous Spear Grass, Stipa 

 scmibarbata, Common Wheat Grass, Agropyron scabriim. Grey 

 Beard Glass, Amphipogon strictus, and Foxtail Mulga Grass, 

 Neitrachne alopeciiroides. The more open grass-lands were gay 

 with a thousand fiowers of Composita', Goodeniaceas, and 

 Dillcniacea.', most striking among them being the white of 

 Helichrysum Baxteri, the pink of Scavola ainiila, and the yellow 

 of Hibbertia densiflora and H. stricia. 



For the next seven miles the country is uninteresting. 

 Manuka, Leptospermmn scoparium, forms dense and extensive 

 scrubs which are absolutely impenetrable, and our only means 

 of progress was by following the paths made by native animals, 

 such as kangaroo and wallaby, on their way to water. After 

 crossing the saddle and striking the head waters of h'yans 

 Creek the country changes, and for miles is splendidly timbered, 

 showing also a great wealth and variety of native shrubs and 

 flovVering plants. The whole countryside was practically 

 ablaze with the beautiful blooms of the Common Heath, Kpacris 

 impressa, in shades varying from deepest red to the whiteness 

 of snow. Near the weir on Fyans Creek, where the takcvoff 

 for the StawcU water supply is situated, we struck the Borough 

 Hut Settlement, and were n^liev^ed to find ourselves l)ack 

 amongst civilization once again, for, though solitude and 

 grandeur of scenery are indeed fine, one longs for one's fellow- 

 creatures. Detouring from tlu- main road, we passed along a 

 bridle track near where the Stawell water supply passes through 

 the mountain by means of a tunnel three-quarters of a mile 

 long, and inspected the Pomonal orchards, which are situated 

 on the eastern slopes of Mount William Range. Here great 

 quantities of splendid fruit are grown, mostly apples for 



