BY THE HON. A. NORTON, M.L.C. 155 



hospitable, as good bush people always were. Two things I took 

 particular note of here. Mr. Barlcer had the best collection of 

 books I had yet seen at any Queensland station. He had also a 

 splendid lot of orange trees, which thrived greatly in the drift 

 soil on the river bank. A great deal of the lower Burnett 

 country is of volcanic origin, basaltic columnar formation showing 

 freely in Baramba Creek and in the river bed in front of Walla 

 house. Indeed, the country around Bundaberg, as we now 

 know, is largely of volcanic formation ; and at Ban Ban, near 

 Gayndah, Mr. Nugent Wade Broun, a few years ago discovered 

 two old craters, which are now partly filled with fresh water, on 

 the summit of a high mountain. 



Twelve miles north of Walla was the Gin Gin station, then 

 owned by the brothers Brown, and with them I stayed a couple 

 of days. Frank Jardine was there waiting for his father, then 

 Land Commissioner at; Rockhampton, and with him young 

 Salmon, who afterwards formed a home in South America. 

 Old Mr. Jardine was prevented by illness from leaving 

 home, so we three young fellows rode on together and 

 stopped the next night at Kolongo. My old friend Holt was 

 absent, but in charge of the station was a young fellow whose 

 self-importance was enough to suggest that he owned Kolongo 

 and several other stations as well. He passed out of view many 

 years ago. He accompanied us on the following day, and at 

 luncheon time I made the acquaintance of my friends, Mr. and 

 Mrs. F. A. Blackman, who now live at "Boreela," near the 

 Hamilton. I sat at their table and eat salt with them, and we 

 have been friends ever since. That evening we found a welcome 

 at Miriam Vale, where lived Edwin Blomfield, the manas-iner 

 partner, as good a neighbour as anyone could wish to have. At 

 this time I was making for Barmundoo, a station then owned by 

 the Browns of Gin Gin. The elder Brown, who was commonly 

 known as " the British Lion" or the " Britisher," was staying 

 there at the time, and I wanted first to visit him and then to go on 

 to the Callide, where my old friend and partner, Morton, 

 reigned supreme. From Miriam Vale we took a bush track 

 through to Iveragh and Riverstone, stations owned by Captain 

 O'Connell — he then was, afterwards Sir Maurice O'Connell. 

 To the right of the road after we passed Carlo's lagoon were 

 beautiful masses of golden flowers beside some patches of vine 

 scrub. Such profusion and such colour I could not pass without 

 closer examination. My companions knew nothing about it, 



