28 Barnard, Notes of a Visit to W.A. [voT.'^xxxvi. 



between, were indeed a welcome sight. Soon I began to see 

 flowers along the line. One, a curious rusty-coloured spike, 

 I could not make out ; then it suddenly dawned on me — my 

 first Kangaroo Paw ! And so it was — Anigozanthos rufa, called 

 " Wallaby Paw " on account of its smaller size. As we chmbed 

 the Darling Range the timber improved, and more flowers 

 appeared, among them the beautiful Leschenaultia, patches of 

 brilliant sky-blue, which simply captured me, and I longed to 

 be able to pick some. Nearing Swan View, the hillsides were 

 covered with masses of a small acacia in full bloom, of a 

 brilliant yellow. Many other flowers of various hues appeared 

 as we passed down the western front of the range towards 

 Midland Junction. Here the country changes, and you get 

 on to the sandy, slightly undulating plain on which Perth is 

 built. My attention was soon attracted by the numerous 

 Zamias along the railway enclosure — a group of plants quite 

 absent from Victoria. Then in a garden I caught a glimpse 

 of a coral-tree in bloom. 



Friends met me at Perth, and in the afternoon introduced 

 me to Perth's greatest glories — the King's Park and the view 

 of Swan River. The latter, let me tell you, is rather an 

 estuary than a river, for, except during flood-time, there is 

 probably little current in the water near Perth except that 

 created by the tide. Of King's Park I cannot say enough ; I 

 approached it via Harvest Terrace, in which is situated the 

 Parliament House, in the grounds of which I saw fine bushes 

 of the Geraldton Wax-flower in full bloom. This charming 

 shrub, allied to our Leptospermum, is grown in many gardens 

 about Perth ; in one I saw it used as a hedge plant. It is not 

 found wild about Perth, being a native of the drier districts 

 further north. Harvest Terrace is lined with fine trees of 

 Erythrina indie a, known as the Coral- tree ; at that time they 

 were bare of leaves, but bearing clusters of large, crimson, 

 pea-shaped flowers. Towards the end of my stay the leaves 

 were appearing and the flowers disappearing. In the Ob- 

 servatory grounds, close at hand, was a mass of native 

 vegetation. On entering King's Park one's attention is soon 

 centred on the fine drives bordered with Eucalyptus fwifolia, 

 which, at their flowering time in December and January, bear 

 masses of pink, orange, or scarlet flowers. Unfortunately for 

 me, only an odd flower or two appeared before I left for home. 

 Then came the view down on to the Swan, 200 feet below, 

 with South Perth and its acres of bush land in the distance. A 

 few yards further on my friends introduced me to the Kangaroo 

 Paws, growing in the uncultivated centre of the park — some 

 800 acres — and with them many other flowers whose relation- 

 ship I was able to guess at from their likeness to familiar 



