THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 175 



Specimens of these have been forwarded to Baron von Mueller 

 and different specialists in Europe for naming. Ferns also were 

 growing freely, the genera Asplenium, Pteris (several species), 

 Dicksonia, Polypodium, Lomaria, and others being well re- 

 presented. More extraordinary, topsy-turvey places could hardly 

 be imagined. Weird cavernous openings were on either hand, 

 as-we ascended. If one of us had slipped he might have landed 

 somewhere, but where it would be a puzzle to say— perhaps 

 at the source from whence the " Cape Barren Island guns " 

 are fired. During our stay on Flinders Island we heard a 

 discharge of this subterranean artillery. The islanders say that 

 sometimes several occur in a day, and then perhaps there is an 

 interval of weeks before one is again heard. The boom is just 

 like the discharge of distant cannon, and seems to come from the 

 south-east end of Cape Barren Island. Perhaps geologists can 

 explain the phenomenon. We, however, got to the other side 

 without mishap, and soon again started the ascent. At an 

 altitude of 1,500 feet we encountered our litttle friend the Pink- 

 breasted Robin ( Erythrodryas rodinogaster). We now began to 

 feel that it was luncheon time, but our leader was firm, and 

 pointed to the Peak, still 1,000 feet above. After continuing to 

 ascend for another hour nature asserted itself, and, finding water 

 on a jutting rock, we boiled the billy and sat down to a well- 

 earned lunch. We planned out our course, which we followed 

 with sundry deviations, striking another fern valley on our way. 

 This valley proved a friend, and guided us several hundred 

 feet up the Peak where soon we had the pleasure of shaking hands 

 upon the highest point of Strzelecki; time, 3.40 p.m., thus taking 

 8^ hours to perform the journey. Amply were we repaid for 

 our climb. Like a living map the whole of the Furneaux Group,, 

 with the exception of Clarke Island, which was hidden by Mount 

 Munro, was within view, and the islands were easily counted^ 

 while in the distance Tasmania loomed up very distinctly. We 

 planned out a different course for our return journey, and, having 

 no time to lose, started the descent a few minutes before 4 p.m.,. 

 disturbing a small snake as we passed a few feet from the top, 

 and succeeded with considerable difficulty in getting below the 

 rocks, as night came on apace. We steered by the Goose Island 

 light until we gained the flat, and then by star across ti-tree and 

 swamp, finally reaching the camp, thoroughly tired and hungry, a 

 few minutes before 9, thus taking a little under five hours for the 

 descent. We gathered many plants, but to our disappointment none 

 were new. On the way down, at an altitude of 1,200 feet, we found 

 a fine mass of the orchid Dendrobitim striolatum measuring 10 

 feet by 7 feet, in full bloom, growing on a shelving rock. A 

 fine specimen of the beautiful Lycoi^odium varium was found 

 at an altitude of 1,400 feet. At the same height we noticed the 



