6 o 
E. R. Saunders. 
and labour which he had expended on their behalf before their 
arrival, and to his kind help all through their stay. Nor can I 
conclude without mentioning our great indebtedness to Mr. R. H. 
Cambage, Chief Mining Surveyor of the State, for his tireless 
energy and assistance on the expeditions. I gladly take this oppor¬ 
tunity of expressing my personal thaaks to them both. 
QUEENSLAND: 
Brisbane. A Queensland “ Scrub.” The Botanic Garden. 
Members proceeding to Brisbane found a long list of one- and 
two-day excursions arranged for them. These included among 
others a visit to the Prickly Pear Experimental Station at Dulacca 
where Dr. Jean White is conducting experiments for the eradication 
of the Prickly Pear pest in Queensland 1 : an expedition to the 
Glass House Mountains (so named by Captain Cook) and another 
to the Blackall Range and Nambour, an opportunity being afforded 
on the last-mentioned trip of inspecting a Queensland sugar mill 
in full working order. A full week-end, however, would allow one 
to reach and explore a beautiful bit of typical Queensland “ scrub” 
on Mount Tambourin, and my choice fell on the longer excursion. 
The rail journey to Jimboomba afforded a glimpse of the pine-apple 
farms, and the drive from thence to Canungra gave one some idea 
of the Australian stock road. At Canungra, at the foot of Mount 
Tambourin, one of the largest saw-mills in the State was seen at 
work, and a ride on the saw-mill trolley for some ten miles up into 
the heart of the scrub was full of interest and novelty, though the 
nervous traveller will doubtless prefer the return journey when the 
trolley is loaded, as giving a greater sense of security. At the end 
of the journey a halt was made for loading. So skilfully do the 
men handle the gigantic logs that the operation of transferring 
them from the stagings by the side of the line to the trolleys is 
accomplished very rapidly. With no other implement than a pole 
fitted with an iron crook to give a hold, the loading of three trolleys, 
each with from six to eight of these immense trunks, together with 
the necessary shunting of the engine to bring the trolleys in position, 
was accomplished by three men in less than three-quarters-of-an- 
hour. 
Seeing this tropical vegetation for the first time one is impressed 
by the immense height of the trees forming the close canopy far 
1 It is estimated tnat there are thirty million acres of pear-infested land 
in Queensland, and that the invasion of new areas is occurring at the rate of 
a million acres a year. 
