EE EEO 
THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. £19 
supply of oxygen for respiration. This method of pro- 
pulsion was actually tried on an experimental scale for 
the propelling of boats, but proved inferior to the screw. 
It is worth notice that in many cases the dragonfly 
larvae were in various stages of development. Thus, by 
patient search, it was possible to see a considerable por- 
tion of the life-history without the long waiting so often 
necessary in the case of certain other genera where the 
individuals are all of the same age at a given time. 
EF. W. CARPENTER. 
A TRIP TO THE NEPEAN. 
(By D. W. C. Shiress.) 
“Turn off at the Blazed Trail leading ‘to the new 
pumping station on the ’Bargo, and you’ll be all right, 
you can’t miss it,’? were our “parting instructions as Mr. 
Bott and the writer set out to locate the Nepean River 
from Hill Top. , 
Although the trail had been recently blazed, to per- 
mit the residents of the eleven mile camp to catch the 
train at Hill Top, instead of taking an expensive coach 
journey into Mittagong, and as we afterwards discovered, 
was easy to pick up if you happened to know where to 
locate it, fortunately we missed it, and although we were 
at the time rather sore on the subject of being chaffed 
as new chums, we determined to follow our original in- 
tention of striking across country due east, and find the 
river at any cost. An hour’s walk found us at the Bargo, 
about three miles up from the pumping station, and the 
opposite bank gave us food for reflection.. The country 
about the Bargo is as rough as sandstone country can 
be, and the bank facing us wore a ‘‘don’t-touch-ime’’ look, 
and so, fearing the worst, we tackled it, to find that, like 
most difficulties, they look worse than they really are. We 
landed on a level spur of the plateau, and an easy walk 
of twenty minutes brought us to the Goulburn Road and 
the Railway Deviation Works. 
We were for keeping straight on, as the country 
seemed perfectly level, but unfortunately, took the advice 
