THE WOMBAT. 115 



During the morning we arranged several excursions 

 for the coming week, and before we left Strahan I exposed 

 two or three plates to secure a view of the Town and Harbour- 

 Mr. Lyell was selected for the first excursion, and at 2 o'clock. 

 we left Strahan in a small steam launch for Tepukana, a 

 distance of 6 or 7 miles up the King River. Upon entering 

 this river an attractive picture presents itself. The mountains 

 on either side are very high and steep, and the tall forest trees, 

 ferns, and undergrowth, with their beautiful reflections in the 

 calm stream, have already made the King River famous. 

 Tepukana is the terminus of the Mount Lyell Mining Company 

 railway line, and here we boarded the contractors train to 

 proceed as far as the line is constructed, where we arrived at 

 5 o'clock. We then started off on a walking tour along the 

 unfinished railway track, and arrived at the company's 

 telephone station at dark. As we could not get accommodation 

 for the night at this place we borrowed a lantern, and made 

 for the Queen Hotel, 5 miles distant. We arrived at 8 o'Clock 

 and found comfortable quarters for the night. On Friday 

 morning we were up and off to the Mount Lyell mine, which 

 we reached at mid-day, after a 10 mile walk through the 

 mountains. The scenery here is simply majestic, and as the 

 weather was perfect, we were able to expose a few plates and 

 take several snap-shots with the kodak. We passed one 

 individual on the road to Lyell who emerged from a bush 

 track, and when asked by us what he was doing in this part 



of the world, he dryly replied " prospecting or any other 



thing." He spoke as if he was out of luck, so tipping him a 

 coin we wished him good luck and trudged on. 



We dined at the Mt. Lyell Hotel, and after we had 

 photographed the building, we visited the now famous Mt. Lyell 

 copper mine. The manager (Mr. L. Clark) kindly escorted 

 us over the mine and through the various tunnels, which 

 satisfied us that a great future is in store for the district when 

 operations are in full swing. Here we exposed two or three 

 plates to secure a view of the mountain scenery in this 

 locality. After leaving the mine, we proceeded to the 

 Company's smelting site where the "great show" is. The 

 works are designed on a very gigantic scale, and the chimney 

 stack for carrying off the fumes from the smelter is a land- 

 mark standing out in giant-like proportion above all the 

 other structures. 



W. IB. WILTON, 



LEATHER MERCHANT & IMPORTER OF GRINDERY, 



«-€=» BYRIB STREET, GEELONG. ^J 



GASH Purchaser in any quantity of Babbit and Opossum Skins, Hides, Calfskins, Sheepskins, 

 Horsehair, Beeswax, fallow, and Wattle-bark. Highest Cash Prices given. 



