790 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION I. 



The " Gates " are a tremendous chasm between two hills, 

 whose perpendicular sides reach an altitude of from 250 to 

 300 feet. The river, at the time of our visit, was comparatively 

 low and running at a moderate rate, but in flood time it 

 rushes through the chasm with tremendous velocity. I had 

 much difficulty in making the sketch from which the 

 accompanying illustration has been taken, owing to the furious 

 westerly wind that was blowing through the " Gates," 

 accompanied with driving showers of sleet. 



In a subsequent excursion made in 1 874, on which occasion 

 my esteemed friend Mr. R. M. Johnston was one of the 

 party, we travelled over much of the same country, but 

 instead of turning to the south-west after reaching the north- 

 west end of the Arthur Range, we continued in a north- 

 westerly direction until we reached the southern shore of 

 Lake Pedder — a fine sheet of water surrounded by hills of a 

 very picturesque character. The country bordering the 

 southern shore is of a marshy nature, with numerous small 

 tarns or lagoons dotted about, filled with the usual dark brown- 

 coloured water peculiar to peaty soils. We camped for two 

 days on this shore, experiencing during our stay the most 

 tempestuous weather, compelling us, in setting up the tent, to 

 seek the shelter of a clump of bushes to screen us as far as 

 possible from the fury of the wind and rain. 



After fording tlie stream connecting Lakes Pedder and 

 Maria (the latter a small lake lying to the south-east of the 

 former) we continued in a northerly direction with the object 

 of striking the Gordon near the Great Bend and of following 

 the Florentine down to its junction with the Derwent beyond 

 Dunrobin bridge. What followed has, however, been so 

 graphically described by Mr. Johnston in his valuable work 

 on the "Geology of Tasmania" that I gladly avail myself of 

 his kind permission to make the following extract : — " The 

 perilous scrub already described may continuously extend for 

 many miles along the narrow valleys, ravines, and precipitous 

 slopes of the sub-Alps of these regions. The tops of the high 

 razor-back ridges of the schistose rocks bordering the upper 

 waters of the Huon and Serpentine are generally treeless, 

 though extremely rugged, and in traversing long distances it 

 is often preferable to keep upon the crest of these as far as 

 possible, not merely to avoid the horizontal scrub of the steep 

 slopes, and the green innocent looking bauera of the flats 

 bordering the rivers, but also to have the advantage of 

 frequently taking " trig " bearings of the one or two mountain 



