24 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



marks on our journey. Mounts Wellington and Tamboritha are 

 over 5,000 feet high, and the Crinoline Hill is of not much less 

 elevation. 



A ride through a thicket of beautfully green young wattles gave 

 us some new experiences in pack-horse leading, but we were now 

 getting into the spirit of the exercise, and rather enjoyed new 

 difficulties and discomforts. We passed a huge boulder of 

 old red sandstone on our left, lying at the foot of the hill-slope, 

 called by the natives the " Boukan's " Rock. Next over the Big 

 Hill to Glen Falloch, with magnificent views on either side. The 

 Devonian sandstones and mudstones seemed to be generally bedded 

 more or less horizontally, and the deep ravines into which we 

 looked down were seen to be in many cases bounded by steep, 

 nearly vertical walls, the harder beds of rock standing out in 

 often overhanging terraces, while the flat outline of the mountains 

 appeared to be fringed by a single row of trees, so clearly was the 

 foliage of the gums which grew close to the edge of the precipice 

 projected against the sky. 



We did not stay at Glen Falloch, as we had a good hour of 

 daylight available, notwithstanding the delay caused by one of us 

 having dropped his valise, and having had to ride back up the 

 hill for it. On the Big Hill we had sighted a kangaroo, and 

 near the station we came on a pack of dingoes. One handsome 

 animal seemed willing to stand and face being shot ; but while the 

 doctor was dismounting, our collie ran barking forward, and the 

 dingo was off like the wind with the rest of the pack. We pushed 

 on, after leaving Glen Falloch, keeping close to the river, and 

 camped on Herald's Flat, at a spot about two miles below the 

 confluence of the Wellington and Macallister, and four from Glen 

 Falloch. -Mr. Riggall had given us permission to make use of a 

 large paddock, with plenty of good clover feed for the horses, and 

 of bracken ferns for bed-making. We pitched our tents about 7 

 o'clock, and uncommonly glad we were to do so, after our long 

 ride. About Glen Falloch are numerous waterholes and billabongs, 

 and any quantity of black ducks, but we had no time for sport ; 

 our idea was to travel on as fast as we could in going, and to 

 collect on the return journey. 



25TH December (Christmas Day). — We were all up at about 

 4.30 a.m. Dr. Dendy walked over to the nearest waterhole to 

 try for some wild duck, but returned with only a Wattle Bird, of 

 which there were numbers in the tall trees. He had shot the 

 bird for "Shepherd's" breakfast, but raw or roasted the dog 

 absolutely refused to touch it. It took us ^j4 hours to get 

 breakfast, collect, saddle, and pack the horses, and take a photo- 

 graph of the camp, and at 8 o'clock sharp we were on the track 

 again. 



The branch of the Wellington River whose source we inves- 



