THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 15 



directly on the silurian sandstones and slates of which the steep 

 hills are formed, is a little cliff, at most 200 feet long by 60 feet 

 high, with a roughly semicircular face turned towards the creek, 

 and on its top a flat platform covered with grass and Senecio 

 lautus. The main mass of the cliff is formed of limestone, 

 above which comes a layer of very moist, black-coloured soil, 

 some 10 feet deep, though this does not appear to extend to the 

 face of the cliff, and above the soil layers of moss, upon which 

 lime has been deposited, so that they now form a crisp surface. 

 At the present time water drips over the cliff face, upon which 

 stalactites are formed as evaporation of the trickling water goes 

 on. Where the lime has come from it is difficult to say ; but it 

 must be dissolved by the water at a spot some considerable 

 distance away, as there is no limestone in the near neighbour- 

 hood, nor does there seem to be any other formation similar to 

 this in the district. The deep layer of black soil on the surface 

 must have been formed at a time when the water was not, as it is 

 now, depositing lime ; and this layer is curious, inasmuch as it is 

 quite different in appearance from the soil on the hillsides around, 

 which is much lighter coloured. 



We halt beside the creek at midday for some little time, under 

 the shelter of the Tristanias and fern trees, and then climb the 

 steep hill leading to the north from the valley : the track goes up 

 in a zig-zag for 600 feet, and from the top of the ridge (1,450 feet) 

 we have fine views to the south-east, looking over the hills 

 bordering the eastern side of the Bemm valley to the much less 

 hilly region beyond, through which the Cann River flows. The 

 track passes to the east side of the ridge, and we again find blue- 

 gum trees ; whilst on the opposite side of the deep gorge rises a 

 ridge apparently covered with nothing but blue-gum forest. 

 Then comes a long gradual descent along a spur leading down 

 to the Erinundra valley, through poor land, with only small 

 stringybark gums, between which we can see the high ranges away 

 to the north-west, and after an interesting walk of i2j^ miles, we 

 pitch our tents on a fair-sized level patch of ground near the 

 spot at which the Buldah Creek joins the Erinundra (6). On the 

 flat are the remains of an old bark shed, and what was once a 

 garden for the use of the surveyor's camp. The trees on the 

 flat — where, as the rank vegetation shows, the soil is rich — are 

 principally white-gum, and a curious feature is to be noted with 

 regard to them and also to the trees along the valley for some 

 little way, and that is, that the mistletoe which has grown freely 

 on them is all dead, though the trees are living : this not only 

 occurs on one or two, but on all the gums around. 



Wednesday, qth January. — The day is a very hot one. Two 

 of our number go off into the hills with Crawford to the head of 

 the Buldah Creek, 4^ miles away through thick scrub and 



