THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 171 



the redgum, Eucalyptus rostrata. This inn was for some time the 

 home of Adam Lindsay Gordon, the Australian poet. 



As the rain still increased we were obliged to while away the 

 time as best we could, the actions of a pair of swallows fetding 

 their young nestlings under the roof of the verandah affording 

 some amusement. Presently we were joined by a couple of 

 gentlemen belonging to the Railway Survey department, and one 

 of them being known to one of us, introductions were made all 

 round, and we soon became friends in misfortune, and after chatting 

 about various topics, one of our newly-made friends expressed 

 his desire to join the ranks of the Field Naturalists' Club. 

 After dinner — which, by the way, would have done credit to an 

 hotel of much greater pretensions — the rain seemed as if it had 

 cleared off for a while, so we started for the falls known as the 

 Wannon Falls, about six hundred yards down the stream, which 

 runs close by. Before we got there, however, the rain came 

 down in sheets, and overcoats and mackintoshes, though a 

 hindrance to walking, were, to some extent, very acceptable. 

 Among other flowers noticed along the river bank was the 

 pretty little Glycine clandestina, with its sprays of pale-purple 

 blossoms. 



We now reached the edge of the fall, and a beautiful sight 

 presented itself — the Wannon falling clear over a ledge of 

 rocks into a basin nearly a hundred feet below. The height of 

 the fall is variously given by different authorities, but a hundred 

 feet is very close to the actual height. This waterfall is so 

 formed that tourists have no difficulty in crossing from one side 

 of the river to the other behind the falling waters. In fact, some 

 years ago, when a very high flood carried away the bridge just 

 above the inn, and the current being so strong no boat could 

 cross, the Coleraine mailman conveyed the mails by the track 

 under the falls. We accordingly made our way along a 

 narrow path which led us down under the fall. Here we found 

 that the water falls over a bed of lava, which rests on a quantity 

 of volcanic ashes and mud, which overlie the trap rock, and 

 owing to the action of the water, the latter are gradually wearing 

 away, thus allowing great blocks of basalt to fall away, leaving an 

 overhanging roof about twenty feet from the back of the 

 falling water. Thus the fall has doubtless receded at least three 

 miles, as the rocky gorge, somewhat resembling that at Lai 

 Lai, extends for that distance down the stream. Of course, 

 the backward motion for this distance has taken perhaps millions 

 of years, the actual change of site during the memory of the 

 oldest inhabitant only amounting to a few feet. 



In the volcanic ashes under the basalt may be found a rare 

 and beautiful mineral known as Vivianite, a phosphate of iron. 



