THE VICTORIAN NATURALIHT. 67 



On the Blue Mountains the forest timber is stunted, but a 

 large number of Banksias, Persoonias, Acacias, and other small 

 trees and shrubs occur, which possess interest to the botanist, 

 and I was glad to meet with many Waratah plants, not, of 

 course, in bloom. I may mention also that even within the 

 railway fences between Ourimba and Newcastle I saw many 

 plants of Doryanthes excelsa, the beautiful spear lily, or more 

 correctly amaryllis ; these had already shot up the long flower 

 stalk six or eight feet high. Near the Hawkesbury, also, I saw 

 fine specimens of an order (Cycadse) quite unfamiliar to a Vic- 

 torian, these were probably E7icephalartos {^idiCrozsxaxs.) spiralis. 

 It may be of interest to notice that the coast plants which I 

 have spoken of as in bloom, such as Pel?-ophiIa, Bossicea hettro- 

 phylla, E. longifiora, etc., were probably the first Australian 

 flowers which gladdened the eyes of Sir J. Banks and Dr. 

 Solander when they landed with Cook on the shores of Botany 

 Bay on the 20th April, 1770; were also the first specimens of 

 the flora of Eastern Australia sent to Europe, and (with the 

 exception of a few collected on the western shores a century 

 earlier by Dampier) the first to make European botanists 

 acquainted with the varied and characteristic vegetation of the 

 great south land. 



Before making a few remarks on some of the differences 

 between the Victorian flora and that of New South Wales I 

 may say a few words on one or two of the geological features 

 of the district surrounding Sydney, or easily accessible from it. 



I believe the most remarkable geological feature close to 

 Sydney is a basaltic dyke intruded in the Hawkesbury sand- 

 stone, which forms the precipitous cliff's near Bondi, on the 

 Pacific coast. A pleasant drive of less than an hour on the top 

 of a 'bus brings one to Rose Bay, on the road to the South 

 Head. Leaving the 'bus here one may strike across the bush 

 for the outer coast, botanising on the way. On reaching the 

 cliffs a mile or so north of Bondi, and looking seaward, one 

 may observe a reef against which the Pacific rollers beat some 

 100 yards beyond the cliff on which we stand. This is part of 

 the basaltic dyke, the harder stone of which has withstood the 

 action of sea and air better than the softer sandstone, and 

 therefore remains projecting beyond the cliff, whose rock has 

 been gradually undermined and weatherworn, and has fallen in 

 and been swept away. On examining the cliff itself the strip 

 of basalt may be readily made out, though on the surface it has 

 weathered to nearly the same colour as the sandstone. It is 

 interesting to observe, too, that the adjacent sandstone has 

 been metamorphosed into quartzite. 



I am indebted to Mr. Fletcher, the learned and courteous 

 secretary of the Linnean Society, for introducing me to this 

 interesting spot. 



My other geological excursion was on the shore below the 



