44 The South Australian Naturalist. 



to the remote gullies of the Mount Lofty Range, or westward 

 down to the sandhills close to the sea. A few weeds have crept 

 in, and some exotic Pines have been planted in one corner, but 

 otherwise we probably see the native vegetation here much as 

 when Governor Hindmarsh and Colonel Light landed on the 

 shores of the new colony. Here we find, in addition to Eucalyp- 

 tus odorata, E. oleosa, the Murray Pine (Callitris robusta), and 

 such beautiful and truly Australian plants as Leptorhynchus 

 pulchellus. Podolepis canescens, Velleia paradoxa, Helichrysum 

 leucopsidium. and Comesperma volubile. All these doubtless 

 beautified the scrub lands of Adelaide in the early days. Among 

 the shrubs in this little enclosure are Exocarpos spartea (one 

 of the "Native Cherries"). Acacia obliqua (still so common 

 about the foothills), and Myoporum deserti. All botanists who 

 see the spot cannot help feeling a desire that the Government 

 would purchase it and keep it quite untouched as a small speci- 

 men of the primitive vegetation of the Adelaide plains. At 

 any rate, a census should be made of all the plants now growing 

 there. 



ON THE BANKS OF THE MURRAY. 



By E. La V. Savage. 



My annual vacation was overdue, and, feeling run down, 

 I packed my bag with but bare necessities. I carried no collect- 

 ing a])paratus, with the exception of three small tubes which 

 would slip into my pocket. 



Usually when I go into the country I carry a sweep-net, 

 white umbrella, and small net, besides about fifty tubes and a 

 killing bottle. This time I was going for a rest, and, besides, I 

 didn't have the energy to chase butterflies or beat bushes and 

 trees for beetles. I made for a spot on the banks of the 

 Murray, and enjoyed a perfect rest. 1 would lie or sit on the 

 bank, under the shade of one of the fine old gums which line 

 the border of the water, where I could watch the birds and 

 other living things which frequent those parts. 



One morning I was up on the bank at 4 a.m., and saw the 

 first rays of the sun breaking through the dark clouds. It was 

 a glorious daybreak, and at that moment it seemed as though 

 Nature had sounded the reveille for all living things to awake. 

 The kookaburras lauglied, the magpies warbled from the tree 

 tops, and all the other birds joined in a grand chorus of praise. 



