286 



JOURNAL OF THE KUYAL; HOKTICULTLI HAL S( )C 1 1'VIA' . 



From the railway, as we passed along, could be seen masses oF 

 flowers on either hand. One of the large species of Conos'permuin was 

 very conspicuous; the local name is Smoke Bush, called so, I suppose, 

 by the settlers on account of the misty smoke-like effect which the 

 plant has when seen at a distance in full flower. Then would appear 

 in masses of bright blue a species of LeschenauUia, which is not 

 unknown as an introduced plant in the British Isles. Anigozanthus 

 Manglesii also abounded in the moister places, and many other strange 

 plants, which we afterwards had time to observe at leisure. The rail- 

 way runs along the western slope of the Darling Eange between it and 

 the sea on the edge of the limestone and granite, where the forest 

 trees are mostly of a scrubby nature, composed of several kinds of 

 EiLcalyptus, chiefly E. marginata (Jarrah) and E. patens (Blackbutt). 

 Soon after leaving Boyanup station the aspect changed, and we rau 

 through a forest of magnificent great trees of Eucalyptus gompho- 

 cephalus (Tuart), which, with their great white trunks towering up to 

 between 120 ft. and 150 ft. in height, were very striking. 



After passing this we came out into swampy land with Melaleuca 

 scrub (fig. 90), and thence to the sand-dunes, the township of Bussel- 

 ton, and the sea coast. 



"We stayed the night at Busselton, then proceeded to drive to 

 Yallingup Gave House, some twenty miles by a road running for some 

 distance parallel to the sea just behind the sand-dunes. The scrub on 

 either side of the road for the first ten miles was very thick, and here 

 there are several small rivers running in sandy semi-swampy courses 

 into the sea, most notable of which is the Vasse Eiver. Its neighbour- 

 hood is especially prolific in Leguminous and Myrtaceous plants, 

 especially . scrub Acacias, Melaleucas, and Agonis; these formed a 

 veritable jungle, through which it was very difficult and prickly to push, 

 the Acacias being largely represented by the sub-genera Pungentes and 

 Bipinnatae. Occasionally we passed clearings and small settlements, 

 and here Agonis flexuosa showed to great advantage, with its thick, 

 short butt, large-headed, much-branched top, and its beautiful weeping 

 habit; it was covered with a mass of small white flowers in axillary 

 heads (fig. 91). 



After passing through a large swampy flat covered with a low-grow- 

 ing Melaleuca, Hypocalymma rohusta, Oaladenias (terrestrial orchids), 

 and Droseras (sundews), the ground began to rise, and we came upon the 

 first Eucalypti since leaving Busselton, mostly scrub Jarrah and Black- 

 butt. I noticed a large patch of Boronia (pink) growing in a swampy 

 place, and every minute we passed fresh flowering plants, including 

 a large variety of most lovely Pimeleas, the white Pimelea spectabilis, 

 and all shades of pink to the bright little P. ferruginea; the brilliant 

 blue Dampieras; the yellow Hibbertias and Conostylis; and both mauve 

 and yellow Patersonias (fringe lihes), which belong to the Iris family. 

 About six miles of this brought us to the Government Bungalow, 

 situated on the hmestone at the head of a small ravine leading to the 

 sea on the West Goast, about nine miles south of Gape NaturaHste. 



