144 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



canvas bags. Half these bags were placed in one end of a good 

 flour bag, and the other half in the other end. The flour bag was 

 then carefully sewn up and strapped in front of my saddle, the 

 two ends balancing each other at either side of the horse. We 

 looked carefully at our Colt's revolvers before buckling them on, 

 and as the misty rain had turned to snow, wrapped ourselves in 

 our dreadnoughts and started off at a brisk trot. 



Of course the manager acted as captain of the escort, and he 

 divided the party so that there was an interval of loo yards 

 between each horseman ; this would give us a better chance of 

 escape in case of an attack. The arrangement was undoubtedly 

 safer, but we found it very slow, and united whenever possible. 

 During our ascent from the Aberfeldy it snowed steadily ; at first 

 lightly sprinkling the grass and shrubs but getting thicker every 

 moment until the shape of the cutting only could be perceived. 

 My enforced solitude allowed me to watch the various ways in 

 which the different kinds of vegetation were affected by the snow ; 

 wattles and many like shrubs just retained sufficient to cover the 

 upper side, so that their slender green branches appeared crowned 

 with the long lines of sparkling crystals. On the tree ferns the 

 weight of the snow was just sufficient to bend the ends of the 

 branches downwards, so that the black corrugated stem, the 

 lovely green under side of the fronds, and the dazzling white of 

 the snow above and around were brought into striking contrast. 

 The larger leaved shrubs, such as musk and blanket-tree, were 

 unable to withstand the weight, and bent downwards like an 

 umbrella, but even amongst them occasional glimpses of green 

 could be observed. 



On the ground here and there tall bracken forced its way 

 through the fleecy covering ; sometimes it stood erect and angular 

 or again bent gracefully under the burden of its soft but powerful 

 adversary, while overhead mighty eucalypts towered in majesty. 

 In some places where fires had raged the previous year the 

 blackened stems presented the appearance of a vegetable two- 

 faced Janus, for on one side the snow had adhered from top to 

 base, giving one the idea of peace, whilst on the other the charred 

 bark showed black as Erebus — fit emblem for war in all its 

 horrors. 



It is useless to continue. I feel that I cannot adequately 

 describe the strange beauty and grandeur of a scene where the 

 lovely greens of summer vied with the dazzling snow of winter to 

 enhance the charm of hill and dale. 



We pushed on with our best speed, when we arrived on the 

 main divide, for evening was fast approaching, and soon arrived 

 at Beardmore's, but did not dismount. On arriving at the descent 

 to the river we had to jump off and lead our horses down, for the 

 snow was clogging their hoofs, so that they were stumbling very 



