189 



proceeded under the guidance of Professor Tate in a southerly- 

 direction, and shortly after crossing the Port-road struck a 

 course for the Port Creek. A short business meeting was held 

 en route, and a new member elected. On nearing the creek 

 attention was called to the Scirpus nodosus — a rush-like sedge, 

 the roots of which bind the drifting sand. On reaching the 

 mud-flats, the tide being low, a good opportunity was afforded in 

 searching for molluscs under the salsolaceous bushes. Here were 

 iound. AmpuUari7ia Quoj/ana, A.fragilis, and Po^natiopsis stria- 

 tulus, and the following plants in flower : — Atriplex semibaccata, 

 A. paladosa, Kochia hrevlfolia, FranJcenia Icevis. Further inland 

 a permanent pool of water was visited, and proved to be 

 exceedingly rich in molluscan life, amongst which were 

 species of Bittium, Tatea, Bythinella, Troohocliolea, &c., these 

 being entangled in tow-like conf ervae. Several Isopods and other 

 crustaceans were also found. In the same water were seen 

 several sea anemones of a brown colour, with dark bands across- 

 the tentacles, their existence in this locality causing consider- 

 able astonishment. The following plants were met with on 

 the sandhills- — Walilenhergia gracilis, Hreclitites quadridenta, 

 Salsola Jcali, and Xerotes effusa. The mangrove (^Avicennia- 

 Q-fficinalis) was observed to be in flower. 



NiifTH ExcirESiO]!f — Mois^DAT, Mat 25, 1885. — MAEmo. 



Some fifty members and friends started by the 9.5 a.m. 

 Grlenelg train in reserved carriages. Alighting at Miller's 

 Corner, the party found a special tramcar waiting to 

 take them to Brighton. On the road leading to the beach, 

 and at the edge of the sand-dunes, attention was called to a 

 thick growth of the Sarsaparilla {MueTilenheckia adpressa'). Just 

 opposite to this a halt was called, when Professor Tate stated 

 that they were evidently on the edge of a low escarpment con- 

 sisting of red loam, in which were to be found pebbles and 

 marine shells, such as whelks and the valves of the mactra, 

 these being thrown up by the action of the waves. At no dis- 

 tant period the land had increased owing to the piling action 

 going on in the formation of the sand-dnnes. The red loam 

 referred to projects out to the sea, and explains the existence 

 of fresh- water springs, these being the drainage from the sand-- 

 hills kept in its place by the clayey soil. Mr. Luxmoore, whose 

 residence adjoins the road on which the party were gathered, 

 invited them to go on to his property, where could be seen a 

 large number of the pebbles previously referred to, their pre- 

 sence having caused some perplexity to the owner, who thought 

 they might have been placed there by human agency. The 



