THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 151 



This may be due to the presence off the land of Sea 

 Elephant Islands and a considerable number of reefs of hard 

 granite rock around it, which break the face of the waves in 

 rough weather, and, to a certain extent, protect the shore. The 

 river itself is of considerable size, being the largest on the 

 island, and spreads out at its mouth so as to cover a large 

 extent of ground. It deposits, when its current thus becomes 

 slower and a mixture of fresh and salt water takes place, a 

 great amount of material, brought down from the upland 

 districts, and in this way has served to counteract the denuding 

 action of the sea. 



Between Boulder and Lavinia Points a range of hills from 

 two hundred to three hundred feet in height runs along parallel 

 to the coast. South of this the coast-line becomes much lowen 

 There are small, raised beaches similar to the one already 

 described on the west coast, and the usual lines of sand-hills 

 run parallel to the coast. Passing inland the country is dull 

 and very uninteresting. For miles there is nothing but undu- 

 lating land covered with heath and bracken, ti-tree, banksia, 

 prickly acacia, and stunted gums. This scrub land is the 

 home of great quantities both of the Tasmanian wallaby 

 {Halmaturiis Billardieri) and of the so-called brush-kangaroo of 

 Tasmania i^H. Bennettii). There are plenty of swampy pieces 

 of ground filled with rushes, and travelling was rendered 

 extremely uncomfortable by the rain, which fell in torrents, 

 until the hunter's hut, known as Bertie Camp, was reached. 

 Here a halt was made, a huge camp-fire lighted, the tent put 

 up, and ti-tree boughs laid down to sleep upon, as the ground 

 was soaking wet. Owing to the bad weather, very few 

 specimens had been secured during the march, but in the 

 course of the evening a mopoke {Ninox maculatd) was lured 

 to its doom by the imitative powers of two members of the party. 

 In the hut and tent the skin-eating beetle ( Creophilus lachrymosus) 

 was plentiful, and one or two scorpions were captured, together 

 with various coleoptera. 



Early next morning a start was made, two members of the 

 party staying at Bertie — one being too unwell to proceed, and 

 the other very considerately remaining behind to keep him 

 company. West of the camp were thick scrubs of ti-tree and 

 white gums, but between the camp and the coast lay the usual 

 undulating country, with ground which appeared in parts dark 

 coloured and rich, and in others swampy, covered with bracken 

 ferns. The coast is low, with sand-ridges clothed with rough 

 grass, and currant and oily bushes, and pig-face in abundance. 

 This character is continued southward as far as the mouth of 

 Sea Elephant River. All along this district the beach is of 

 considerable width, then comes a low ridge of sand-hills, then 

 a long valley, then another higher ridge parallel to the first, 

 then a second long valley and a third ridge, and then a broad. 



