44 THE VICTORIAN KATURALIST. 



hitherto unascended mountain, Mount Bellenden-Ker, named 

 in 1803, by Capt. Flinders, in honour of Mr. T. Bellenden-Ker, 

 a celebrated botanist of that day. The writer of these brief 

 notes having travelled in North and South America, India, 

 West Africa, and other parts of the world, gives it as his opinion 

 that the rainfall in this part of Queensland is one of the heaviest 

 in the whole globe, and that the jungle, for density at least, 

 will certainly hold its own with that of any other tropical 

 country. Mueller's Peak, on the Bellenden-Ker Range, is the 

 most elevated in tropical Australia, and rises to a height of 5200 

 feet. 



TRIP TO LAKE ALBACUTYA. 



By D. Le Souef. 

 (Read before the Field Naturalists^ Club of Victoria, i "jthjan., IBS']. J 



I LEFT Melbourne by the iirst train on the morning of the 3rd 

 of December, and arrived at Dimboola at 7.20 p.m. Here I 

 stayed the night. Next morning my friend, Mr. Percy Scott, of 

 Albacutya Station, drove me to TuUyvea, distant about twenty- 

 five miles. The road skirted along dense mallee for some 

 distance, and over several long sand ridges covered with pine, 

 the intervening country being box flats. We called at the 

 Aboriginal Mission Station, and found that about a fortnight 

 previous the blacks had been out collecting lowan birds' eggs, 

 and had returned with a large number, but I ne^d hardly say 

 they had all been eaten long before our arrival. The blacks 

 said they did not intend going out again. 



We then visited the distillery at Antwerp, where eucalyptus oil 

 is made from the leaves of the mallee. They seemed very busy, 

 and had apparently no difficulty in getting a good supply of 

 young branches and leaves to keep the mill going. We arrived 

 at Tullyvea at 4 o'clock. The house is nicely situated on the 

 banks of the Wimmera. Snakes are occasionally troublesome 

 here, as they come about the house a good deal, much to the 

 discomfort of the inmates. We saw a small flock of pelicans 

 flying overhead, and also a few cormorants and ducks. 



Next morning we started early for Albacutya, distance 53 

 miles. After driving for some time over open grass country, 

 we came in sight of Lake Hindmarsh, which is a very 

 large shallow sheet of water, and frequently dries up by the end 

 of summer, but the ground thus left affords a luxuriant feeding 

 ground for stock, which is appreciated in this otherwise dry country. 

 We saw a few black swans and ducks on it. Near here a farmer 

 lately ploughed up six death adders when ploughing up new 



