166 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



ferns (Dichsonia antarctica) and beautiful specimens of beech 

 trees. On the fern trunks grow the usual epiphytic ferns, such 

 as Polypodium australe, Asplenium laxum, Aspidium capense, 

 Hymenophyllum tunbridgense and nitidum, and Trichomanes 

 venosum. The creek lies to the east of the ridge and runs south- 

 wards to join the Thompson River. 



The evening continues fine, and we are glad of the quiet time 

 in camp and the opportunity of doing a little collecting and of 

 getting our things dry. 



27TH November. — We are up early and leave camp at 5.30 a.m., 

 Kirby remaining in charge. We have determined to tramp on, 

 as our time is short, and we shall not be able to camp nearer to 

 the Falls. It is thus necessary for us, for the country is rough, to 

 carry as little as we can ; accordingly we start with a very small 

 amount of provisions, just enough to last us till we reach camp 

 again (late the same evening, we hope), and two of us with 

 cameras. Between us and the point at which we turn off the 

 Tanjil track there lie only six or seven miles, and beyond that 

 about five more to the Falls. 



The ground as we pass along is covered mile after mile with the 

 fern Lomaria procera, mixed in parts with Blechnum cartilagineum. 

 The ferns are just high enough to hide the numberless fallen logs, 

 and hence we stumble about and progress is slow. All along we 

 are struck with the strong growth of the orchid Caladenia carnea 

 and of the little violet, Viola hederacea. The former are all of 

 the pure white variety, and there are often as many as five and 

 even six flowers on the one stalk. After about three or four miles 

 we mount a ridge on which the vegetation changes from that else- 

 where along the track, and reminds those of us who have been in 

 Croajingolong somewhat of that of Goon Murk in the Coast Range. 

 There are no gum trees, their place being taken by the silver wattle, 

 the boughs of which are frequently bent downwards like those 

 of a spruce fir ; perhaps, as suggested in the case of Goon Murk, 

 it is the weight of snow they must carry in the winter time which 

 causes them when young to assume this form. The scrub is com- 

 posed mainly of Asters, Prostanthera lasiantha, the Pepper Tree, 

 Drimys aromatica, and the shrub-like Native Fuchsia, Correct 

 lawrenciana, which reaches a height of from fifteen to twenty feet, 

 and is now in flower. On the ground we find Styphelia macraei 

 and a species of Schelhammera, both of these again recalling 

 Goon Murk. Further on we cross several ridges separated by 

 valleys with streams running eastwards to the Thompson, for our 

 track keeps on the east side of the ridge separating the latter 

 from the Yarra valley. The gullies contain a rich vegetation of 

 ferns, Dicksonias, Todeas, Davallias, Lomarias, and Pteris, with 

 pittosporums, blackwoods, sassafras, and beeches. Of birds, the 

 Lyre Bird is plentiful, and two or three times we come across the 

 Black Cockatoo. 



