BY COL, W. V. LEGGE, R.A., F.G.S. 121 



portion of tlie plant, and rises up liere and there into round, 

 pudding-like masses, I'eaching a diameter of two feet or 

 more. I have often spoken of this curious moss-like 

 substance to people, and find that it is very little known even 

 among those who are mountain climbers. On King William 

 I found it paving the damp places here and there, in about 

 the same abundance as on Mount Wellington. 



The same characteristic vegetation probably obtains along 

 the whole plateau to its southern edge, with no doubt here 

 and there a boulder-strewn tract or " ploughed field," 

 interrupting the green clothing of the surface, and clumps of 

 stunted gums lining the lower edges of the plateau. Above 

 Lake Greorge is a grand perpendicular precipice of columnar 

 greenstone ; it shows out well from the plains to the eastward 

 on coming from the Derwent, and I walked across to the edge 

 of the moor to examine it. On arriving within about 40 feet 

 of the edge, my companion suddenly startled me with " Look 

 out, sir," and on looking down we found we were just on the 

 point of stepping into a crevice varying from 18 inches to 

 3 feet in width, and which was cut down like the gash of a 

 knife for a vast depth into the bowels of the mountain. It 

 vras partly overgrown with vegetation and was consequently 

 a most dangei'ous spot. A momentary survey of the spot 

 revealed the fact that the grand precipice in front of us had 

 parted from the main mass of the mountain, and that the 

 yawning cleft at our feet would some day be the means of 

 sending it into the valley beneath. On stepping across the 

 crevice, after endeavouring to sound its depth by throwing 

 stones into it, we gained the edge of the precipice, and there 

 found that at perhaps no very distant period a mighty downfall 

 of tens of thousands of tons of rock had been precipitated 

 into the valley beneath and had left exposed the perpendicular 

 face, on the brink of which we stood. The cleft that we had 

 just stepped over was the process repeating itself and is, in 

 fact, a characteristic of all basaltic mountain tops. 



. But little animal life was seen on the plateau ; o 

 quadrupeds we saw none, though probably kangaroo, 

 -wallaby, and wombat, find their way up to it from the low 

 country.. As regards birds, the Tasmanian Honey-eater, 

 Meliornis Australasiana, was seen in flocks among the low 

 honey-bearing bushes ; the Hill Crow-shrike, Strepera Arguta, 

 was also seen flying across the moor, and a few Eock Swallows, 

 PetrocJielidon nigricans skimmed here and there past us. A 

 pair of white Goshawks, Astur Novce HoUandice, soared high 

 above the mountain and disappeared into the Denison Valley, 

 where they were no doubt breeding. My companion caught 

 sight of a small brown snake under the peak upon which the 



