8 
up *he Narrows to the Lime River. Most 
beautiful scenery was viewed all the way 
on thp water, aiid made one wish to see 
more of that part of the country. Fifty- 
two formed the party to the caves, and 
much credit is due to the ladies and 
younger members of the party for their 
endurance on a decidedly fatiguing trip. 
Unhappily no one in the party was sure 
of the track, although some had been 
there several years ago, yet the timber- 
getters had so altered the character of 
the country that the way was lost, and 
for some fime the party was bushed. In 
the end, however, the caves were found, 
and a short cut through virgin forest was 
made to them from the tramline where 
the party was waiting. The entrance to 
the caves is magnificent, about 200ft. of 
cliff being surrounded by tree ferns anil 
othei beautiful foliage. A creek runs 
into the entrance, and as this is followed 
vault after vault is discovered, and many 
of them are fringed with stalactites hang¬ 
ing from the roofs or ledges on the walls. 
In several parts stalagmites rise from the 
floors. The return that day to the 
launches was late, and part of the jour¬ 
ney' on the water was by moonlight—it 
was a very tired and hungry party which 
sat at table in camp that evening. 
During tile camp the fishing done was 
poor. Seining on the beach resulted in 
only a few flounders being taken, and 
, fish’ng from boats in the hay and at 
the Actseon Islands gave no better luck. 
None of the fine hauls taken on the Last 
Coast trips cheered the fishers and helped 
out the larder. 
The scientific results are given by the 
experts who attended, but it may he 
here stated that dredging was only under¬ 
taken in shallow water, and with very 
poor results. The botanists of the camp 
had more to work at, and several good 
collections were made. The geology and 
bird-life will also be given in following 
reports. 
On the whole, the camp was a very 
successful one, and many things worked 
together for the enjoyment of all- 
BOTANICAL NOTES. 
(By L. Hodway, Government Botanist.) 
The botany that engaged the attention 
of students at, the Easter camp-out was 
fairly extensive, ranging from Recherche 
to Ida Bay Caves. Tt was all the more 
interesting to those living in Hobart in 
that it included many flowering plants 
commonly associated in our minds with 
the West Coast, and not found near the 
capital. Climatic difference wms clearly 
indicated by such plants as myrtle, lau¬ 
rel, sassafras, and horizontal growing at 
sea level. Too much must not be in¬ 
ferred from this, for it is probable that 
the unfitness of our home climate to pro¬ 
perly support these forms is due to the 
destructive habit of man clearing out 
vegetation that would Otherwise have pre¬ 
vented injurious winds from reaching the 
soil. 
Two proteas were met with that are 
typically western, namely, the native 
plum and white waiatah. Plum is un¬ 
commonly like laurel when in foliage, 
but the flowers are small and of a very 
different; structure, and the fruit is round, 
fleshy, and purple, structured much as a 
plum. It is not pleasant to tile taste. 
White waratnli is really related to wara- 
tah, hut not a bit like it. The flowers 
are small, white, and numerous, arranged 
closely along erect, white stalks. This 
plant is fairly common on the damp hill¬ 
sides in the vicinity of the caves. Both 
plum and white warn tab are of excep¬ 
tional interest, in that not only are they 
confined to the western part of Tasmania, 
but neither they nor any very close rela¬ 
tive are to lie found in any other part 
of the world They, like many other 
Tasmanian plants, are remnants of a lost 
flora that once covered a now lost land. 
Bucryphi i grows abundantly. It is a 
most symmetrical tree, and hears large, 
white flowers during some months of the 
year. In low lands it is generally in 
flower it Buster, but in many places it 
i> found flowering as early as Christmas. 
This often called lent henna id, but it 
is not tile original ieatherwood of the 
coast- Horizontal is closely allied to 
Kucryphia, though its small, obscure 
flowers do nol suggest this at first sight. 
It comes further cast than most of the 
West Coast stuff, us it occurs on Mount 
Wellington. Cxhridjje, and Mount Field 
In anything hut very wet and protected 
spots it is persistently erect and slender. 
In suitable spots where moisture, shade, 
and stillness encourage, it will grow with 
great rapidity till the weight of the long 
hole overcomes the insistence at lhe base, 
and it proceeds to lie down. Now, from 
every node there grows up a strictly 
.-rect and slender branch. When the 
mass of these acquire sufficient length to 
give them the power they twist the parent 
stems and lay themselves procumbent. 
Under suitable conditions this will pro¬ 
duce a perfect network of impenetrable 
stems for thirty feet above the ground. 
The district offers a great variety of 
the heath family. The prevailing lipa- 
cris is not the common heath, hut one 
that has not yet received an ordinary 
name. From the locality where it makes 
its home it may be called swamp heath. 
It is somewhat like our rocket, but the 
