40 
Thf South Australian Naturalist. 
there we found the roads of the town covered in mud. They had U 
had a lot of rain. Motors had been phoned for to meet the boat^ 
so wc set out for the pumping station — the largest in Australia— J 
and to see the settlers’ blocks under irrigation. On the return jour-l 
ney 1 left tlie boat at Berri; there the vine is being cultivated over S 
thousands of acres. The soil is quite red to look at, and sandy.?] 
Pears, oranges, Smyrna figs, &c., are all grown. The orchard* 
are looking very lovely with their spring dresses. As you drive' 
along the roads, you eee on every side that lovely native flower " 
the Cassia, or Australian Boronia — with its golden flower, and ■ 
black centre, the wealth of bloom was gorgeous. The other set- 
tlements I drove through were Monash, Glossop, Barmera, and 
Lone Gum, the latter named after the one solitary gum that is i 
growing there; it is a very high tree. No one seems to know how 
it got there, so far from the river bank, as it is a river red gum, 
that is ahvays found on swampy ground, and there it is dry soil. 
Lake Bonney is about 12 miles from Berri, and it is beautifully 
situated, its area is four miles long and two and a half miles wide, 
surrounded by Eucalyptus trees, river red gum {Eucalyptus 
rostrata)^ box trees {Eucalyptus bicolor). w^hich 'were both in 
blossom. The latter gives out a most delicate perfume. I was 
glad to hear the lake is a sanctuary for all birds and fish (thanks 
to Captain White’s efforts). Neither gun nor fishing rod is 
allowed there. Ihere the black swan, pelicans, and duck were 
swimming about in great numbers, also many kinds of birds were 
chirping and singing in the trees; crows with their usual call were 
continually passing ovf- Head. Among the flora I found Grevillea 
Huegelhi, Cassia, Errw ^t)hila glabra, Acacia hrachyhotrya (Silver 
Mulga), &c. 
—A NATURE LO\'TR. 
