190 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Band Falls, which are situated about a mile at rear of the school^ 

 house. These falls, as indeed was the case with all the Grampian 

 falls we visited, had very little water running over them, hence 

 their beauty was not very apparent ; but we can well imagine 

 they would deserve their name when at their best, as there is a 

 pretty fall of about 76 or 80 feet, and in appearance the falling 

 water exactly resembles a shining band. There being a de'al of 

 red gum about here, we expected to get a good variety of beetles 

 under the bark, but we met with so little success that we were 

 compelled to abandon the search. At the falls there used to be 

 several of the tree fern, Dicksonia antarctica, but the visiting 

 Goths had destroyed or carried away all excepting one, v/hich 

 stood alone in its glory, and which it is to be hoped will be long 

 allowed to do so. We here amongst the ferns secured one of 

 the interesting and beautifully-constructed nests of one of the 

 Acanthizas, but, unfortunately, it had no eggs in it. 



The Mt. William party returned about 8 o'clock, and reported 

 the height to be, as proved by two aneroids, 3,700 feet, this 

 being considerably less than what local report gives it credit 

 for. Having had to push on to reach the summit they had 

 not attempted to do much collecting, but they were fortunate 

 enough to obtain specimens of the following plants : — Lasio- 

 petaluvi dasyphylhun, Pultencea rosea, P. juniperina, Grevillea 

 pinnata, G. confertifolia, Styphelia lanceolata, Lobelia rhombifolia, 

 Bceckea diffusa, Pseudanthus ovalifolius. Aster asterotrichics, and 

 Comesperma calymega. They also came across some fine 

 Leptospermum in flower, which they tried for insects, but were 

 not very successful, the high wind that was now blowing greatly 

 retarding their efforts to effect captures. As it was also threatening 

 rain, they hastened on to their destination, so as, if possible, to 

 have sufficient daylight for their return, the track being by no 

 means a pleasant one for travelling along in the dark. In 

 addition to what has already been mentioned, they had the good 

 luck to capture one of the little White-lipped Snakes, Hoflocephalus 

 flagellum. 



Thursday, 3RD December. — Two of our party, who had to be 

 in Melbourne by Friday morning, took their departure soon after 

 breakfast, being shown a short track across the range by Mr. 

 M'Donnell, and they reached Stav/ell in ample time to catch 

 the afternoon train. Broke up camp, and left for No. i about 

 10 o'clock. The M'Donnells had been very kind to us, having 

 granted us the use of many articles, not the least of which was 

 a camp oven, by which we were enabled, with our cook's 

 assistance, to make splendid bread. Mr. M'Donnell also, as he 

 was one day going into Stawell, took, our letters, thus enabling 

 us to let our friends and the hon. secretary know how we were 

 doing. 



