186 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



alluded to, about tight miles distant. At schoolhouse, about 

 half way, we took photograph of the children, some 15. This 

 schoolhouse is of very modest pretensions, consisting merely of a 

 room in the house of Mr. VV. Dalton, who kindly lends it for the 

 purpose. On arrival at camp Mr. M'Donnell, the caretaker, was 

 absent, but on presenting to his wife the letter given to us by 

 Mr. Henderson, the superintendent, we were at once given the 

 key. This hut, or, more properly speaking, cottage, contains two 

 rooms, in one of which are four bedsteads, with mattrasses and 

 palliasses sufificient for double that number, so that we had no 

 difficulty in making ourselves comfortable. In order that we 

 might have plenty of room, one of our tents was erected, in 

 which we kept our stores, whilst the second room of the hut was 

 devoted to dining and general purposes during the day and a 

 bedroom at night. Having put things in order and had tea, we 

 went to Mr. C. Dalton's, about half a mile distant, and were shown 

 his collection of plants. Mr. Dalton has an intimate knowledge 

 of the Grampians botany — a knowledge which proved very useful 

 to us, especially as he was only too willing to give us all the in- 

 formation and assistance in his power. One of his sisters is an 

 excellent painter of the native flowers, and several of her works 

 have been seen at our and other exhibitions, and she is well 

 ■known to several Melbourne lithographers and engravers, for 

 whom, we believe, she does occasional work. Should any of our 

 members contemplate a visit to the Grampians, they cannot do 

 better than engage with Mr. C. Dalton, whose family will make 

 them as comfortable as they could wish, as well as show them 

 all round the country. 



Friday, 27TH November. — As arranged the previous evening, 

 •young Galley Dalton arrived about 8, ready to accompany us to 

 the Victoria Valley. His uncle, C. Dalton, was to be our guide, 

 and having called for him, we at once made a start. The morning 

 was cloudy and chilly, just suitable for travelling, and although 

 a little rain fell it was not heavy enough to give any inconvenience. 

 Our route was to be over Middleton's Gap, a course which took 

 us nearly due west from our camp. The ascent for the first half 

 was easy, but the second was rather difficult, owing to the loose 

 stones, which caused considerable slipping. After resting a while 

 at head of the gap we commenced the descent on opposite side, 

 doing a good deal of collecting on the way, especially in the 

 botanical section, and in this we met with a very fair measure 

 of success. Especially plentiful was the pretty bhie lily, Calectasia 

 cyanea, as also Boronia pilosa, Helichrysum hlandowskianum, and 

 Melaleuca decussaia. Other plants worthy of note were Brachyloma 

 daphnoides, Styj^helia thymifolia, Bossicea cinerea, Uj^acris 

 impressa, Sprengelia incarnata, and Marianthus hignoniaceus. The 

 Leptospermum myrtifolium was here in truly splendid flower, and it 



