28 A BUSH CALENDAR 



hands were as full as they would hold of the feathery beauty. 

 At least, I thought so, till I spied the deeper pink of still 

 another boronia, the native rose, which was scattered pro- 

 fusely over the grey sand. Then such a bunch J gathered of 

 the two together, and it was only when 1 was absolutely unable 

 to hold another stalk that I could tear myself away. 



But. there were more joys awaiting me. At the point I had 

 decided on as my destination I came upon a sight that was 

 more like a scene from a fairy book than a bit of Australian 

 bush. On the top of a little knoll is a group of tall she-oaks 

 whose needles, undisturbed for years, have made a soft, brown 

 carpet beneath the trees ; and to-day, growing in every 

 direction across this carpet, were hundreds of lobelias, their 

 bright blue, delicate blossoms swaying gently at the faintest 

 breath. Here, resting on the fragrant carpet, I ate my lunch ; 

 and never did hard-boiled eggs taste better, though it seemed 

 almost a sacril'ege to bring such mundane things into such 

 surroundings. 



On my way home I came round by the creek, and there 

 I simply had to gather another bunch of flowers, for no one 

 could have resisted the gorgeousness of the gompholobium 

 alas the name ! with its huge pea-flowers of purest yellow. 

 The whole creek was lined with gold, for one of the pultenaeas 

 stretched long, yellow, flower-laden sprays a dozen feet into 

 the air, and shed sweetness everywhere on the hillside. I also 

 found masses of the dainty mauve creeper comesperma, which 



