CHAPTER II. 



GIPPSLAND WILDS 



ONE must camp by creeks and rivers, and roam 

 through the tall gums, to realise the beauty of 

 Gippsland wilds. Despite all the settlement, 

 large areas of country remain in virgin state. If the 

 aborigines, the lost tribes, could come again to their 

 old demesne, they would find less game, perchance, but 

 ancient forests and running waters would welcome 

 them, unchanged. I write, of course, only of the 

 "wild" country. Where settlers "go on the land," 

 clearing and cultivation begin, and the wild vanishes 

 before progress like mist before the sun. 



Naturalists regret that more, and larger, areas 

 have not been reserved as sanctuaries for the native 

 fauna and flora. But regret is vain ; we must be con- 

 tent with what has been saved from settlement. There 

 are State forests, many small sanctuaries, and, best 

 of all, the National Park, which is safe for all time. 



Gippsland wilds ! The very words revive pleasant 

 memories of fern gullies, running water, sunlit glades 

 and forests of tall trees. Were I to glean from a 

 dozen notebooks, the pot pourri would be fragrant of 

 wattle bloom, gum leaves, sassafras and musk. I 

 will describe a few excursions, which are typical of 

 many. 



***** 



At the end of August, one year, with a feliow- 

 member of the Bird Observers' Club, I travelled from 

 Melbourne to a station on the Gippsland railway. The 

 main object of our journey was to see the Lyre-Bird 

 [Menura victorise] in its native haunts. We were 

 met by a local naturalist, who had offered to guide us 



