xxvu 



panse, giving it a pretty, park-like ap- 

 pearance, and the uninitiated would natu- 

 rally imagine the country to be quite the 

 reverse of what it really is — a veritable 

 barren, howling wilderness, the "Terra del 

 Fuego" of Tasmania. From the high- 

 est part of this plain, called 

 the Divide. which is also the 

 highest part of the plateau, a very fine 

 panorama of the mountains ahead, from 

 west to south, can be obtained. The Cradle 

 Mountain, away to the north. Mount Oak- 

 ley Range and West Pelion, to the west; 

 while b-etween west and south we can see 

 the Pelion, Du Cane, Rugged, and Pillin- 

 ger groups, all fine, bold mountain ranges, 

 while on the plains below us two or three 

 big tarns break up what would otherwise 

 be rather ^a monotonous foreground, com- 

 pleting a finely picturesque panorama. I 

 have, unfortunately, to give these pic- 

 turesque details somewhat prematurely, 

 as they were obtained during the return 

 journey only, the whofe features of the 

 country, from the February to Pelion 

 Huts, being ''wiped out" during the jour- 

 nej out by the dreadful state of the 

 weather. When our partj^ fairly entered 

 upon the wilds of the February Plain the 

 weather turned downright cruel, a heavy, 

 cold, cutting wind, with driving rain, set- 

 ting in, and making things particularly 

 miserable. How we wished to be within 

 sight of the huts ! Riding became out oc 

 the question, so we dismounted, and 

 plunged through the boggy ground, lead- 

 ing our horses, which was hard work, in 

 addition to the heavy walking, for the poor 

 beatsts were, by this time, tired out on ac- 

 count of the wet and thoroughly bad state 

 of the track. The lateness of the hour, 

 also, began to make us feel anxious, travel- 

 ling being so slow under such adverse con- 

 ditions, and our guides were frightened 

 at the prospect of darkness overtaking us 

 while on the plain, the track being so in- 

 definite and easily lost, so we had to exert 

 ourselves to the utmost, splashing through 

 it, and just succeeded in gaining the end 

 of the plain as the daylight almost faded 

 out. 



Towards the end of the plain, and where 

 it narrows down into a gully-like form, col- 

 lecting and concentrating its drainage, as 

 one of the great feeders of the Mersey, and 

 delivering its waters down into the great 

 river gorge far below,we get a fine and bold 

 angular aspect of Mount Pillinger — or 

 Mag's Mountain — which ■ very pictures- 

 quely terminates this end of February 

 Plain. Crossing the narrow valley of this 

 part of the plain, rising quickly and turn- 

 ing westerly, we stand on the ©astern 

 trend of the Oakley Range, and our track 

 runs, well-defined, down its sides, bring- 



ing us into the Pelion Plains at Lake Ayr, 

 At the head of this track we are confront- 

 ed with an impressive scene, a vast moun- 

 tain amphitheatre, formed by the Pillin- 

 ger, Rugged, Du Cane, East Pelion, and 

 Oakley Ranges. This is the birthplace of 

 the Mersey River. It is a grand picture, 

 full of food, both for the artist and the 

 philosopher. The one would revel in ma- 

 terial for his canvases, and the other 

 would find his soul lifted up towards the 

 One whose presence under such conditions 

 comes so near, and is made so manifest by 

 His wonderful works around. 



But our party, at this time, saw none of 

 this beauty. Mist, rain, and the gloom of 

 night, blotted it almost all out, showing 

 only just enough of an indefinite space to 

 leave a vague impression on our minds 

 that there was something grand beyond, if 

 we could only see it. 



The Oakley Range, where we stand, is 

 about l,8O0ft. above the plain below, and 

 the distance to the Pelion Huts, our d'esti- 

 nation for the night, is five miles. The 

 made road down this range is rough 

 enough to negotiate ordinarily, and the 

 boggy plains still worse; but can anyone 

 conceive what a five-mile tramp through 

 them in the dark would be like? None of 

 our party had ever had such an experience, 

 and certainly don't wish for a repetition. 

 How we got through it so well is a wonder 

 to me, and I can only attribute this to the 

 ability of the packers, in some measure, 

 and, most of all, to the sagacity of the 

 pack horses, who had been there before. 

 Speaking for myself, it was a most pecu- 

 liar experience, for, in the semi-darkness, 

 everything on either side presented the 

 most grotesque and puzzling shapes and 

 appearances, and when we got on the 

 plains, the wavy, white grass, of which I 

 had no previous experience, gave the sur- 

 roundings the appearance of vast lake-lik© 

 stretches, and made things look most un- 

 canny. On we went, however, stumbling 

 and splashing, moving slowly in single 

 file. Sometimes down would go one of the 

 pack horses, and the procession would stop 

 until the order was passed along to move 

 on again, then more stumblings, shout- 

 ings, boggings right up to the knees, com- 

 plete collapses over the wretched grass 

 clumps, wringing wet, and still on we had 

 to move. The distance seemed intermin- 

 able, but at last the sagacious horses turn- 

 ed oS the track, and headed right up the 

 hill, and the joyful news came back along 

 the line that we were at the huts. It was 

 a tough scramble up the hill, but the co^m- 

 fort ahead lent additional strength to our 

 already overtaxed stock, and the shouts 

 that came back from the huts above us, in 

 answer to our yellings, were as balm to our 



