^44 E. T. QaayU: 



uniform channel is eroded, but so far I have seen no serious 

 lateral erosion. The rich, black soil flats are being deeply scored, but 

 there has not been any great loss of area, although the deposition 

 of masses of gravel and shingle in talus or delta fashion, where the 

 streams emerge from the hills, or reach flatter country is damaging 

 many rich pastures. Fords are difficult to maintain^ and much bridge 

 building is becoming necessary in order to keep up traffic. Another 

 •effect of this erosion becomes manifest wherever the streams reach 

 flatter country. The sand resulting from this erosion, especially in 

 granite country, is carried downwards into the waterholes, and is 

 obliterating one after the other. So that, whether the river flow is 

 rapid or slow, the waterholes have to disappear — either by draining 

 or silting. From the angler's point of view, this is particularly sad, 

 as these water holes once provided fine fishing. About Amphitheatre 

 and Avoca, mining operations are popularly blamed for the silting, 

 and no doubt these have had an appreciable effect, but the filling and 

 draining of the water holes were inevitable in any case. 



Clearing of the Forest Covering. 



Above the junction of the Avoca, with its western tributary, the 

 Amphitheatre or Glenlogie Creek, the area drained by the two systems 

 is about 42 square miles, of which 23 square miles is drained by the 

 Avoca River. Standing on the Sugarloaf, a peak about 1700 feet high 

 between the two drainage areas, a good view of both is obtained. To 

 the eastward lies the Avoca Valley, and to westward that of the 

 Glenlogie Creek. The former was once the site of a large pastoral 

 property, the Amphitheatre station. Though a true basin, and the 

 country not very hilly, it does not seem suited for extensive cereal 

 .agriculture. There are, however, many flourishing apple orchards. 

 It is a typical pastoral area, pleasant to look upon, and dotted over 

 with well foliaged trees, mainly Eucalypts. These are apparently re- 

 tained for shade purposes, and although unusually numerous for those, 

 are not numerous enough to constitute forest. Most of the basin 

 has been in its present state for perhaps 20 or 30 years, but within 

 the last decade much clearing has been done on the slopes of Mt. 

 Lonarch and Ben More, as well as on the Sugarloaf itself. On Mt. 

 Ijonarch the clearing is most noticeable, especially within the last 

 five years, and amounts to perhaps two or three thousand acres. 



Looking westward from the Sugarloaf over the Glenlogie Creek 

 basin great alterations are apparent during the last five years, the 

 forest country being now limited to a strip a mile or two in width 

 running W.S.W., from the Amphitheatre township for about three 

 miles along the southern side of the railway line, and it evidently 

 will not be long before the firewood cutters will have cleared this area 

 also. In that case the two basins will form one area practically 

 cleared, except for the State forests, which cover the higher portions 

 of the surrounding ranges, the Pyrenees to the north-westward, the 

 Lonarch to the south, and Ben More to the east. 



