THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 151 



ants, also a good many small lizards, and coming to a pool of 

 water I saw'growing in it plenty of chara, also a plant or two 

 of Limosella Ciirdleana. Tracks of dingoes were very plentiful 

 near this pool. 



The dwarf stringy-bark (E. capiteUata) seems to extend for an 

 immense distance ; and where this tree is found, the place is 

 poverty itself, the sandy, loamy soil having the appearance of 

 baked sand, which in some places is as hard as rock, and in 

 others quite soft. The porcupine grass is very common in most 

 of these stringy-bark patches. In the Mallee I found some very 

 pretty shrubs, one (Daviesia pedinaia) being of a very singular 

 form, and not unlike the well-known garden shrub, Colldia. It 

 struck me as singular that nearly all of the above plants were 

 dead, and although I saw — I may say — hundreds of them, I 

 was only able to get the very small specimen (not in flower) 

 which I show you, with my other plants, this evening. 

 Thryptomene ciliata, Gtevillea ilici folia, and several other pretty 

 shrubs grow here in great quantities, and Diapur Town would be 

 well worthy of a visit about the months of October and 

 November. 



I must not forget to mention that there was a grand school /^/^ 

 on the night which I was at Diapur Town, and the children, 

 under the able guidance of my old friend, Miss Turner, sang 

 splendidly, and would, I am sure, have done credit to many a 

 school of much greater pretensions. The schoolhouse was very 

 prettily and tastefully decorated with wild flowers, from which I 

 got a Grevillea I had not previously met with. 



I left Diapur Town by the 8 a.m. train, passing several flocks 

 of the native companion ( Grus Australicnsis) on the way, and in 

 a few hours reached Dimboola, where I remained all day. 

 Little to interest me at Dimboola, I having pretty well 

 exhausted the distriet on the occasion of a former visit. I got a 

 few small things as Toxotus, Sisymbrmm, &c., &c., but nothing 

 worthy of special mention. I had almost forgotten to mention 

 that, during my absence from Serviceton, our Mr. Bastow had 

 visited the place, and, so far as I could learn, had been fairly 

 successful in his particular line (mosses) ; and although I was 

 much disappointed at not meeting him, I am very pleased to 

 hear of his success, and trust that he will give the club the 

 benefit of any researches which he may have made on that 

 occasion. 



Having made arrangements with several persons to collect 

 plants, I left Dimboola at i a.m., and reached Melbourne at 

 9.30 on the following morning. Upon the whole I was fairly 

 successful, having been absent but eight days, during which time 

 I collected about 76 species of plants in flower (the very 

 common weeds, &c., I did not collect), two of which were 



