292 



The other caves are mainly of local interest, few persons out- 

 side the residents of the surrounding districts visiting them, 

 when the more attractive caves are equally accessible. These 

 caves will no doubt eventually be taken over and managed by 

 the respective Shire Councils, in which event the reserves will pro- 

 bably be vested in the Councils as trustees. 



Queensland. 



Coming to the State of Queensland I learn that there are 

 six (6) National Parks in that State, having a total area of 

 26,545 acres, a very small extent compared with Victoria or 

 New South Wales. One of these alone, Bunya Mountains, has 

 22,500 acres, so that it will be seen that the remainder must 

 necessarily be small — a little over 4,000 acres altogether. The 

 smallest is 135 acres and is situated near and known as Killarney. 

 Amongst them are the Fairy Bower and Mill Stream Falls, so 

 that it is not surprising to learn that the chief reason for reserva- 

 tion is for scenery, coupled with (I am glad to add) the preserva- 

 tion of timbers and native flora. 



The Director of Forests at Brisbane informs me that these 

 parks are inalienable, except under authority of an Act of Parlia- 

 ment, that the land is not vested in trustees, the native fauna 

 and flora are to a large extent protected, not so much by law as 

 by the distance of the National Parks and State forests from 

 large centres of population, but it is proposed to bring them un- 

 der the provisions of the Native Birds' Protection Act. There 

 are no enclosures for native animals in any of these reserves, 

 no foreign trees are planted in any of them, and the chief ob- 

 jects of reservation are the preservation of native timber trees, 

 and on account of scenic features. 



When mentioning the relatively small area of National Parks 

 in Queensland, I should perhaps explain that in that State they 

 group State forests and National Parks together to distinguish 

 them from what they call "Timber Reserves," and I have not 

 included the former in my figures. In fact, there is an Act 

 styled the u State Forests and National Parks Act (1906)." 

 From the able report of the Queensland Director of Forests for 

 1908, 1 find that there are 816,272 acres under the heading of 

 "State Forests and National Parks," which are comprised under 

 10 different districts. 



Western Australia. 



It only remains to speak of the State of Western Australia 

 as regards National Parks, and here we find a somewhat different 

 classification, the division being threefold, viz., National Parks, 

 Flora and Fauna Reserves, and Forest Reservations. This is 

 a distinct advance from our point of view, because in all other 

 States the flora and fauna protection, if any, occurs in those 

 enclosures which are essentially National Parks. In Western 

 Australia I find that under the designation of National Parks 

 there are only two, and one of these is metropolitan, viz., King's 

 Park, which is a reserve of 1,018 acres close to Perth, but it is 

 included in my list because the native fauna and flora are wholly 

 protected therein. I think it is unique for any Australian city 

 or other city of which I am aware, to have contiguous to its 

 capital a reserve, which is not only a picturesque locality for 

 walking or driving in, but in which the indigenous flora is pro- 



