10 
tree-ferns AlsopMla Hobertsoniana and A. Reheccce, we arrived at i 
another peak rising 5,100 feet, and decided to return in time to arrive j 
at the camp with daylight. From the centre peak to the point of 
return the crest of the mountain is not 12 feet wide, and falls on 
each side sheer down into apparently unfathomable gulfs, and yet all 
these steep slopes are covered by luxuriant and beautiful trees and 
shrubs and splendid ferns. The day was intensely cold, and " Mul- 
tarri's" teeth were chattering as he walked behind me. Harold also 
regarded the temperature with grave dissatisfaction. We arrived in 
camp before sunset, and found a note from "Whelan to say he would 
not be able to return for at least two weeks. Decided to descend next 
day to the 4,000 feet level. Mr. Bailey thought we had collected all, 
or nearly all, of the plants flowering or fruiting at that time of year, 
and there were not many specimens obtainable by Mr. Broadbent, as | 
the birds had left the cold bleak summits and gone down into the j 
warm gorges and ravines. The tracks of the tree-climbing kangaroo, | 
called " Mappee" by the blacks, were plentiful, and yet we never saw \ 
one, and would have some difficulty in finding them without a dog ; 
in such vegetation as covers the south end of the mountain. The : 
summer is the time for the ornithologist to collect on the summit, and 
he could also shoot enough birds to sup])ly himself with food, as the ! 
pheasant-tailed and white-headed pigeons go there in great numbers ! 
to breed. In winter not only is there but little bird life, but the ■ 
severe cold makes existence extremely uncomfortable. i 
On Thursday, the 27th, we all said good-bye to the south peak ! 
without a pang, and started for lower and warmer latitudes. Arriving : j 
at the Palm Camp, at 4,000 feet, we left Messrs. Bailey and Broad- ' 
bent there with two boys and five days' provisions, and Harold and i 
myself and three boys went on to the Whelanian Pools, arriving there | 
in the evening. ! 
On the 28th left one boy in charge of part of the camp, and took \ 
the remainder to the lower camp, where Bemau was in charge. Sent i 
the two troopers back at once to Whelan, on the Mulgrave. Tempera- | 
ture at night, 51 degrees; water, 58 degrees; shade at noon, 73 
degrees. ^ 
On the 29th sent boys back for the balance of the Pools camp, and \ 
then ascended 2,000 feet on a mountain to the westward, and obtained \ 
some specimens for Mr. Bailey. We know this mountain as " Mount i 
Harold." Among the savage precipices on the summit I tried in | 
vain to obtain a specimen of what seemed to me a new species of rock 1 
wallaby, an animal that possesses a miraculous capacity to vanish on the | 
shortest notice down the face of precipices or along the edge of cliffs, j 
On Sunday, the 30th, sent Beman and a boy to the Pools for j 
articles still remaining there, left Harold in charge of camp, and | 
went up the creek towards Mount Sophia on a geological tour. The | 
watercourses are crossed in many places by very likely looking reefs, f 
but no signs of gold, though here and there are traces of tin. All the j 
creeks on the west side of Bellenden-Ker are too precipitous to hold j 
any loose minerals, and it is very doubtful indeed if any exist there, | 
except in worthless quantities. The spurs of Mount Harold appear f 
to be composed chiefly of quartz reefs which "blow" all over the '\ 
surface. The formation nearly everywhere shows granite, quartz and 
slate, a promising combination certainly, and perhaps worthy of , 
attention frooi stray ])roS])ectors. It is entirely unknown country. \ 
