PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION I. 



My first acquaintancfi with the soulh-western country was 

 made in 1871, Ayhen acconi])anying Mr. Soott and a party of 

 three men on an explorinj^ excursion from Victoria to Port 

 Davey via the Valley of tlie Huon. Our route was along 

 an old track, which, passing close to that river, ended at the 

 Cray croft. From thence we travelled in a north-westerly 

 direction up the Arthur Plains, until we sighted Lakes 

 Pedder and Edgar, the last named heing one of the sources 

 of the Huon. Thence south-westerly to Port Davey, passing 

 between the Arthur and Franklin Ranges, For the first 43 

 or 44 miles of this route the scenery, with the exception of 

 some charming glimpses one occasionally gets of a bend of 

 the river, is for the most part not very striking ; but if the 

 landscape possesses but small interest so far, ample compen- 

 sation is made the traveller by the magnificent view that 

 suddenly bursts upon the eye when tlie summit of the last 

 hill, overlooking the Arthur Plains, is reached. Mr, Scott, 

 in a letter publislied in the Hobart Mercury shortly after our 

 return, thus describes this grand scene : — " For my part I 

 must confess that the beauty of the scenery, both in the 

 grandeur of the mountain ranges and the brightness and 

 harmony of colouring, far exceeded my expectations. The 

 country is almost destitute of timber, excepting narrow belts 

 along the sides of the streains, and the effect from an 

 eminence is that the spectator is looking over a vast extent of 

 well-grassed fertile valleys, bordered by precijiitous rocky 

 mountains rising abruptly from the green plains, and tower- 

 ing up into sharp peaks and fantastic outlines, such as 1 

 never saw elsewhere in Tasmania. The mountains being of 

 quartzite or some silicious stone full of quartz veins, the 

 delicate tints of the rocks (from pure white to silver grey, or 

 pink in the light, and a deep atmos])heric blue in the 

 shadow) made a splendid contrast with the vivid warm green 

 of the button-grass plain, and the darker green of the 

 timber, kept always bright by the moisture of the climate. 

 The brilliant colours were not due to the temporary effect of 

 sunrise or sunset, but were continuous and ever varying in 

 outline throughout the day. A closei- acquaintance with the 

 plains dispels the idea of their fertility, and we found that 

 what appeared undulating, or nearly level country, was com- 

 . posed of many steep narrow ridges and broad spurs from the 

 mountains, covered with large tussocks of button-grass — 

 Gymnoschaenus sph?erocephalus {Cyperacecp) — and a jointed 

 rush-like plant — Leptoearpus tenax {Restiacecey^mXh. many 



i^aoMi 



