290 



while the Port Hacking River runs practically right through 

 from north to south of the enclosure. It consists mostly of 

 high table land, from 350 to 900 feet above sea level, divided by 

 deep glens and gorges, and these valleys possess a wealth of pic- 

 turesque and quiet beauty. The trustees spare no pains to pre- 

 serve the beautiful flora and fauna, and birds, animals, and 

 plants must not be interfered with. On this point the chair- 

 man of the National Park Trust (Mr. Frank Farnell) in his re- 

 port for the year ending June 30, 1908, remarked, "The remedy 

 for the too frequent inclination to ruthlessly destroy our native 

 fauna and flora suggests itself in engrafting in the minds of 

 the children attending our public and other schools the import- 

 ance and value of preserving for those in the future our harm- 

 less, indigenous animals and birds, and giving protection to our 

 native flowers. What with the spread of population, and the 

 use of means for destroying pests, our native bird and animal 

 life is in danger of extermination. ... It, therefore, is 

 apparent that there should be one place at least where all the 

 different species of our native fauna should be left unmolested 

 and free from the many sources of destruction affecting other 

 parts of the State. It is very gratifying to know that the 

 rest and freedom from the pot-hunter is responsible for the ani- 

 mal and bird life multiplying, and becoming quite a feature of 

 the park. The kangaroos, wallabies, emus, lyre birds, pigeons, 

 doves, thrushes, swans, ducks, deer, etc., may be seen at any 

 time lending an appearance of loss of timidity and appreciation 

 of the protection afforded them. So tame have some of them 

 become as to eat food from one's hand. There is no reason why 

 hundreds more should not make the park their permanent home, 

 and with that in view the trustees are arranging for additional 

 bird and animal life to be introduced from other parts of the 

 State." 



KURING-GAI CHASE. 



The object in dedicating this area was in the first place to 

 protect for posterity the natural flora and fauna of this part of 

 the State, and to preserve for the public a most beautiful pleas- 

 ure resort within easy reach of the metropolis. 



Some of the finest scenery in New South Wales is included 

 in its boundaries. It has the great advantage of having a large 

 water-frontage, and is intersected by numerous bays and creeks. 

 It has Pitt-water, a sea beach, on the east, and the Hawkes- 

 bury River on the north, while Cavan Creek, an arm of the lat- 

 ter, runs nearly its whole length from north-east to south-west. 

 It is from Cavan Creek that Nature has provided the most en- 

 joyable means of seeing the Chase. The scenery in this Creek 

 and its tributaries is wild and grand, somewhat reminiscent of 

 the Scottish Lochs. The shores are very steep, and in places 

 precipitous, towering hundreds of feet on either bank, and covered 

 with timber and verdure to the water's edge. Fern-clad gul- 

 lies bright with Christmas bush and other wild flowers, sandy 

 beaches for bathing, and grassy slopes for picnicking all exist 

 in the Chase. 



REPORT BY TOURIST OFFICER, SYDNEY (MR. C D. PATERSON), ON 

 SCENERY PRESERVATION IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



Large tracts of land, specially adapted for recreation reserves 

 but unsuitable in almost every instance for cultivation or settle- 

 ment from an agricultural or pastoral aspect, have been set apart 



