168 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



who have recently been there. It is now about noon, and we 

 agree to meet at the same spot in two hours. The Falls lie 

 some distance down the stream, and those of us with cameras 

 hurry on to make the most of our time. We keep not far 

 from the stream, which is bordered by a fringe of ferns and 

 scrub, and in parts tumbles along noisily over rocks. In the 

 scrub the Lyre Birds are numerous, some playing on their mounds ; 

 but we are too anxious to make the Falls, which we can hear in 

 the distance, to delay long to watch them. On a branch over- 

 hanging the water, however, the nest of the Pink-breasted Robin 

 is taken, containing three eggs ; this being the first time, we 

 believe, on which the eggs have been taken in Victoria. The 

 butterflies Xenica hobartia and Papilio macleayanus are captured, 

 and also the small Emerald Moth, Asthena pulchraria. After two 

 miles we find ourselves suddenly at the head of a deep gorge, cut 

 out amongst the mountains and gradually broadening out in shape 

 like the letter V from the point at which we stand. The descent 

 beneath our feet, at the apex of the gorge, goes down abruptly 

 for at least 1,000 feet, with great granite rock masses project- 

 ing everywhere. Down this the water disappears in a series of 

 great leaps. The scene is a fine one. Just as it comes to the 

 edge of the gorge the stream is divided into two by a great block 

 of granite. At the bottom of the first fall the two streams unite 

 into a single one, which at once throws itself down in a mass of 

 white spray for at least 150 feet; then comes a series of small 

 leaps, then another large one, and so on until the bottom of the 

 gorge is reached. From where we stand we can see the first few 

 falls and hear the roaring of the water as it plunges from ledge to 

 ledge, but cannot see the bottom of the gorge by reason of the 

 dense vegetation clothing the mountain sides. Away in the dis- 

 tance the gorge opens out until it joins the main valley of the 

 Yarra, hemmed in by range after range of hills — purple, blue, and 

 grey, as they gradually fade away towards the horizon. 



It is no easy matter to clamber with our cameras down the 

 almost precipitous side of the gorge close to the waterfall ; both 

 hands are really needed to hold on to the rocks and trees during 

 the descent. It is quite impossible also to get anything like a 

 comprehensive view of the falls without getting some distance 

 away on to one of the far hillsides and cutting down a few trees 

 and plenty of scrub. Two or three times we try to fix our 

 cameras on projecting rock ledges, but the spray drenches our- 

 selves and the cameras in half a minute, and we are forced to 

 beat a retreat. At best any view we can get in the very limited 

 time at our disposal can only give some idea of perhaps one of 

 the many leaps which altogether make up the Yarra Falls, and 

 can give no idea whatever of the grandeur of their surroundings. 

 We make an attempt to measure the height, but in clambering 



