NOVEMBER 45 



that are now in bloom. All through the scrubby undergrowth 

 1 found that quaint little creeper billardiera better known to 

 most of us as "puddings/' on account of its fruit, which look 

 like green roly-polies, and have served as dessert for many a> 

 dinner in our cubby-house days. At present it is in flower, 

 and its dainty bell-blossoms of pale yellow creep everywhere. 

 It was right amongst the rocks and sandy patches that I 

 found the best flowers of all, the flannel flowers. Such big, 

 bright stars they were, too, as they gleamed against the dark 

 grey rocks. In a few minutes I had gathered as many as I 

 wanted, and then I turned my face homewards. The sun was 

 burning right above my head now; the birds were silenced by 

 the noonday heat, but the bush was noisy with the hum of 

 flying things, cicadas, moths, and beetles. In the white 

 blossoms of a tea-tree hundreds of pretty blue and green 

 beetles were clustering, their shining wing-cases gleaming like 

 bright enamel. Near the tea-trees grew dwarf apples, rich in 

 velvet buds, with here and there a newly-opened creamy 

 blossom, where bees lurked and drowsed. These red apple 

 buds and the red new leaves of the gum saplings take the place 

 of the gayer, brighter spring show. I picked a bunch of the 

 shining gum leaves, and placed them with my flannel flowers ; 

 then, because I could not bear to see their beauty fade in the 

 midday heat, I hurried up the hill and home again. 



