100 A NATURALIST IN TASMANIA ch. 



of the ' Horizontal Scrub '. I intend describing 

 this forest later, when considering the west coast, so 

 that we need not dwell longer upon it here, except 

 to mention that the west bank of Lake St. Clair lies 

 just on the eastern fringe of this west coast region, 

 where the myrtle and pine forests begin to replace 

 the Gums, and entirely change the character of 

 the vegetation and scenery, so that one seems to 

 pass right out of Australasia into, shall we say, 

 Terra del Fuego or a lost Antarctic continent. 



I was anxious to start dredging operations 

 in the lake, so after unloading the buggy at the 

 hut and seeing the horses accommodated in a 

 shed, we went in search of the boat, which had 

 been put here by the Government some nine or 

 ten years ago. We found the boat in a fine boat- 

 house with runners and a winch for launching it, 

 and the boat itself proved fairly seaworthy though 

 badly fitted with rowlocks and oars, which gave 

 us some trouble, as we encountered one or two 

 fierce storms of wind during our expeditions. In 

 the course of the afternoon we dredged in a number 

 of places varying in depth from twenty to seventy 

 fathoms, and on the following day we covered 

 more ground, but in all cases with very disappoint- 

 ing results. The dredge brought up a quantity 

 of fine reddish mud, absolutely destitute of life ^ ; 



^ Forel, who investigated the Lake of Geneva, beHeved that 

 the deep-water fauna was derived from the subterranean 

 channels entering the lake. Lake St. Clair, being situated on 

 a solid igneous rock, probably does not receive any subterranean 

 channels, and this may account for the absence of a deep-water- 

 population. 



