THE CONTRIBUTOR.
AN EXCURSION TO THE UPPER
YARRA FALLS.
By G.
No. II.
We struck camp next morning at half-past
nine. Just after starting we noticed a tree
marked W. From this we understood that
we had been encamped on the two mile water.
This made our march of the previous day a
little over 8 miIes, The height of our
camp measured by the barometer was 1700
feet above McMahon's, We proceeded along
the south watershed of the Yarra in a general
easterly direction. The prevailing charactor
of the country was the same as on the evening
before, The track was often perceptible as a
sort of avenue through the scrub, though in
the clearest places knee deep in ferns and wire
grass and obstructed by logs. We passed
through several saddles separated by small
sills, At about twelve o'clock we could see a
great spur coming in to join the ridge we were
following from the north - that is on our left,
This could be nothing else than the right
watershed of Alderman's Creek. We were,
therefore, making good progress, and might
hope to reach the Yarra that night.
So we went on for another half hour,
when our horse, in getting over a log, slipped
and fell; he could not rise again with the
pack and we had to unload him, but he was
none the worse. As we began to ascend the
hill we found the sides and top of it covered
with huge logs hundreds of foot long, as if it
had been cleared by a survey party, The
interstices between them were filled with tall
bracken and scrub with white flowers,
and the track seemed altogether ob
literated. We made our way very slowly
round and over the logs, and presently the
horse got another fall, and we had to unload
and reload again, There was a good look
out from many places down the valley of
Alderman's Creek and of the ranges across the
Yarra,
We found the top of this mountain was
1200 feet above our camp of the previous
night, or about 4000 feet above the sea level.
It is unnamed on the maps. We christened it
Mount Horsefall. The fallen logs gave it a pre
vailing white appearance, but it contrasted with
the pale green which had hitherto characterised
the crest of the range. At about four o'clock
we began to descend a little, and get into a
forest, in which the beech tree was the prevail
ing timber, though largely mixed with tall
gums and messmates. But little vegetation
grows under a beech tree; what there was
was the blue gum fern with the crimped frond
I have noticed before. Moreover, the beeoh
tree is seldom uprooted. It slowly decays as
It stands and falls piecemeal, The ground in a
beech forest is therefore encumbered by but little
fallen timber. As soon as we got under the
beech trees the track improved very much.
They were mingled, however, with very tall
messmates, from which large quantities of dry
bark in strips 4 or 5 inches aoross and 30 or
40 feet long or more had fallen to the ground,
and lay in large colis. These continually
tangled our feet, and it was difficult to get
free of them, One would continually find one
was dragging a tail behind many feet long.
On getting under the beech trees the prevailing
tints again changed. The black earth was
bare, and varied shades of brown or dark
green met the eye In every direction. Towards
the south and east the slope was so steep that
we got a look out over Gippsland as far as the
ranges in the neighborhood of Baw Baw. The
earth seemed everywhere moist; in plaoes
one could hear the water under one's feet.
The traok oontinued slowly to descend, and
our view became shut in on all sides. About
s!x o'clook we found ourselves in a saddle.
This we identified upon our tracing as about
6 miles from our camp of the night before
And 4 milos from the Yarra. It seemed a
likely place to find water. There were a few
beech trees and messmates on the saddle, and
a forest of white gums, tall, slender poles like
the mast of a ship, 300 feet high at the least,
with a tuft of foliage at the top. There was a
fern tree gully coming up to the saddle on
each side. The earth was black and moist, and
for the most part bare. R. found a good stream
of water a llttle way down on the south side
of the saddle, so we determined to camp. We
pitched the tent under two beech trees, whose
thick foliage would protect us from
any sticks that might be blown off from
the gums, and made our bed of fronds cut
from the ferns.
When we got up the next morning a
strong north wind was blowing, shaking the
tall, white ferns like oorn stalks, bending
them as if to break with a great roaring noise.
We did not make a start until about half-
past ten, when we at once began to ascend out
of the saddle, and soon came out into the
sunshine on to a hill covered with fallen
timber and sword grass, and from which there
was a good view of the opposite ranges. The
logs had rotted and broken into fragments,
and were therefore not the obstacle they had
been on Mount Horsefall. After a little
we again descended into a beech
forest. Here the track was clearer than
we had yet found it. It was
obstructed by little else than small sticks.
There was a little of the usual green fern,
but except for that the ground wes clear of
undelrgrowth on all sides. The dark foliage of
the beech trees over head shut out the sky.
In order to keep the track it was necessary to
keep a sharp look out for blazes. After about
a couple of miles gum trees again ap- ,
peared mixed with the beeoh trees, and we
were again troubled by fallen tlmber.
About the same time we found growing in the
track tall solitary stalks of grass like oats
which shot up with a stem as thick as one's
finger, seven or eight feet high. Finding the
horse would eat the two gathered bundles of it,
as we went along. A little after twelve
o'clock the horse got another fall getting over
a log. We had to unload, and determined
to have lunch, When we again made a start
we found it had been raining heavily, and that
the scrub was very wet. In a little while we
got out of the beech forest, and began
to ascend a hill covered with tall
standing gums and thick bracken up
to our shoulders. Through this we pushed our
way, getting drenched through. When we
gained the top of the hill we found our track ap
peared to leave the rldge, and turn down the
sideling to the north-east. After turnlng down
on the sideling we were soon again in a beech
forest, and out of the high wet braoken. In
about half a mlle we came to tho creek, whloh
was broad and shallow, scarcely covering the
ground. It crossed the track from left to
right- not from right to left, as marked
in our tracing. The descent from the
ridge to this creek was not more than
200 or 300 feet, and not at all steep,
consldering it was on a sideling. We crossed the
creek and ascended to tho ridge on the oppo-
site side. Crossing it we descended on a slde-
ling to the Yarra, which we at onoe passed over.
It was a much smaller stream than that we
have left at M'Mahon's, being about 30 feet
wide and about up to our ankles, with, how-
ever, a good current. The scene was a
peculiar one. It was still raining hard.
Heavy clouds rested on the tops of the beech
trees from 50 to 70 feet above us, whlch lined
the river banks and covered the slopes,
and hung in festoons between them,
but below it was clear. We had no tlme
to stand and watch it, however, being
wet through. We had to get to work and
camp at once. In about twenty minutes we
had a flre big enough to roast an ox.
Having pitched our tent we looked about for
something to make a bed of, and the best thing
we could find was a heap of bark at the foot of a
neighboring messmate. This we dragged in
front of the fire and dried, after which we had
our evening meal round the fire. We stood
up round it for some tlme drying clothes,
while the horse stood warming his nose on
the opposite side of the fire. Finally we
turned in.
We were up at six the next morning. There
was still a slight rain, We had breakfast,
and at half-past eight we started in search of the
falls. Our camp was shown by the barometer to
be 2100 foot above M'Mahon's or only 500 feet
lower than the top of Mount Horsefall. It was ;
dlstant from Reefton by the road wa had come
just 20 miles, or in a straight line about 15.
Now, the Yarra did not change its level to
any great extent between M'Mahon's and
Reefton, or for some mlles above the latter
place. The dlfference in elevation therefore
gave room for a high fall. Moreover, the
country we were in appeared to be an elevated
plateau, to which we had ascended abruptly at
Mount Horsefall, and whioh would probably
come to an abrupt termination.
Wo accordingly started down stream, cross
ing a conslderablo tributary on tho right bank
just below our oamp, Tho rivor ran through
a booch forest, and as nothing will grow under
the beech trees, its banks were without that
fringo of peculiar vegetation which is usually
such a marked feature in an Australian river
or creek. After a little we went over to
the left bank, and crossed a small creek whioh
joined the river on that bank, we then came
upon a series of small hills, perhaps altogether
fifty or sixty, There was, however, a good indi-
cation of something better. We could see a light
through the trees ahead as from a largo clear
ing. This appearance oould only bo occasioned
by the edge of an abrupt decllvity. We pushed
on and soon began to get glimpses of a valley a
long way below us, and to hear tho roar of a
great fall. The beech forest ceased with the
edgo of tha declivity, and the slopes below,
when not too steep and bare for anything
either to grow or stand on, were covered with
undergrowth, mostly ti-tree. To see the fall
wo must got below it. We accordingly
descended as rapidly as a regard for our necks
would permit several hundred feot, and made
our way on to a Iedge down to the water.
From this point we oould see the water fa!ling
above and below us over a faoe of dark rocks
in a series of steps. The fall was shaded by
ti-tree, with occasional tree ferns on the
ledges. The spray fell like rain. We
were too close to the face of the fall, and
tho ledge we were on would not permit us
getting further out. We were not the first
persons who had viewed the Yarra falls from
this spot, for we saw a tree wilh a blaze on it,
on whioh was a name, partly overgrown with
bark, whioh wo mado out to bo A. Burns.
We then crossed over, scrambled along the
face of the cliff and made our way down an
other hundred feet or two, and got another
vlew of tho falls, with, however, the dis-
advantage that we were too close to see far up
or down. This point was by the barometer
550 feet below the top of tho fall. We could
see the fall for about 50 feet bolow it. It was
a continuous fall all the way, interrupted
only by small ledges. There is, however, no
reason to suppose that the lowest point to which
we oould see was anywhere near the bottom of
the fall. Judging from the appearance of the
valley it was far from being so. The total
height of the fall therefore, can scarcely be less
than 700 feet or 900 feet; it fs probably 1000
feet.
We had not seen by any means as much of
the falls as wo should have liked, but we were
compelled to return. It was Tuesday, and R.
had to be In a distant part of Victoria by the
following Monday morning for this purpose It
was necessary that, he should be in Melbourne
by Saturday. Wo could scarcely do this unless
we moved on that day. Moreover, our oats
were running out, and there was not a scrap
of feed at our present camp, while our tracing
showed that on the Thompson, 4 miles on,
there was grass. We accordingly turned back
towards our camp. In returning we got a
vlew of a great cascade, forming the top-
most rip on the fall, which we had not
seen going down. By half-past one we
had regained our camp. We then bathed
in the Yarra, had lunch, struck our camp,
and started for the Thompson, where we hoped
to camp that night. It was shown by our
tracing to be 4 miles distant. The track in
the first instance followed the ridge of the very
low spur between the main arm of the Yarra
and tho tributary that joined it just below our
camp. After a little the track forked; we took,
the left fork, which took us down to the tribu-
tary at a point where two creeks united to
form it; beyond this the track was not
apparent. After a little we found a
place where a tent bad been pitched,
with a rude platform of round tim-
ber to raise it off the ground. We had
evldently come upon an old surveyor's camp.
That explained how it was that the track
ran out. We accordingly returned and took
tho right hand fork of the track. After we
had gone about three quarters of a mile the
track turned down to and crossed the oreek on
our left, and shortly afterwards began to ascend
a ridge on a sideling. The top of this ridge
was not. more than 100 feet or so above our
camp. On it we found white gum timber.
The rldge was narrow, and the track imme-
diately descended on a sideling on the other
side, about 300 feet Into a narrow valley con-
taining a fine stream of water. The sides
of the valley were lined with beech trees,
with a few tree ferns. This creek must
form the right fork of the Yarra as laid
down on the maps; and as its level appeared
lower than the top of the falls, must join, the
left fork below them. Crossing the creek we
ascended on a steep sideling on the other side
to a height somewhat greater than that from
whioh we had descended, and found ourselves
in a forest of white gums mixed with beech
trees, with a good deal of undergrowth.
The creek, however, continued tolerably
clear. We were now upon the crest
of the dividing range, between the
waters of the Yarra and the Thompson,
marked on the maps as Wright's range. A
little before seven o'clock the track began to
descend gently, and we reached a fine stream
of water crossing the track from north to
south, spanned by a good log bridge.
This stream, which was much larger
than either fork of the Yarra, or,
I should say, than both of them to-
gether, we made out to be the Thompson.
Here we determined to camp. A little way up
from the river, to the right of the track we had
come by we found an open glade carpeted
with good grass. On this were the remains
of an old survey camp, consisting of log plat-
forms, similar to that we had noticed on the Yarra.
There appeared to be a succession of rich
glades along the river, divided only by low
scrub, tall timber not being found till some
little way up the slopes on either side.
There was, therefore, a ciear view up and
down tho river for some way over the top of
the scrub. We could see the sky, too, over-
head and in front of us. All this was a change
after the dense grass through whioh we had
been travelling for the last four days, The
edge of the other valley was lined with large
white gums, say 100 foot high, with straight,
thick limbs tapering to the top, and wide
spreading arms a little more than half way up.
The slopes behind were covered with a mass of
plants of different kinds. Every here and there
above this rose to a great height huge logs,
white with age and black with flre, without
limbs, broken at the top. Though generally
impressed by the view, there was a feeling of
solitude connected with this camp not ex-
perienced elsewhere in the course of this trip.
The height of this camp was 2300 feet above
M'Mahon's, or only 100 feet lower than our
camp on the Yarra. We were still, however,
above a high plateau, as high or higher
than the top of Mount Macedon. We were
now about 23 miles from Reefton, and about
from Mount Lookout.
AN EXCURSION TO THE UPPER
YARRA FALLS.
By G.
No. II.
We struck camp next morning at half-past
nine. Just after starting we noticed a tree
marked W. From this we understood that
we had been encamped on the two mile water.
This made our march of the previous day a
little over 8 miIes, The height of our
camp measured by the barometer was 1700
feet above McMahon's, We proceeded along
the south watershed of the Yarra in a general
easterly direction. The prevailing charactor
of the country was the same as on the evening
before, The track was often perceptible as a
sort of avenue through the scrub, though in
the clearest places knee deep in ferns and wire
grass and obstructed by logs. We passed
through several saddles separated by small
sills, At about twelve o'clock we could see a
great spur coming in to join the ridge we were
following from the north - that is on our left,
This could be nothing else than the right
watershed of Alderman's Creek. We were,
therefore, making good progress, and might
hope to reach the Yarra that night.
So we went on for another half hour,
when our horse, in getting over a log, slipped
and fell; he could not rise again with the
pack and we had to unload him, but he was
none the worse. As we began to ascend the
hill we found the sides and top of it covered
with huge logs hundreds of foot long, as if it
had been cleared by a survey party, The
interstices between them were filled with tall
bracken and scrub with white flowers,
and the track seemed altogether ob
literated. We made our way very slowly
round and over the logs, and presently the
horse got another fall, and we had to unload
and reload again, There was a good look
out from many places down the valley of
Alderman's Creek and of the ranges across the
Yarra,
We found the top of this mountain was
1200 feet above our camp of the previous
night, or about 4000 feet above the sea level.
It is unnamed on the maps. We christened it
Mount Horsefall. The fallen logs gave it a pre
vailing white appearance, but it contrasted with
the pale green which had hitherto characterised
the crest of the range. At about four o'clock
we began to descend a little, and get into a
forest, in which the beech tree was the prevail
ing timber, though largely mixed with tall
gums and messmates. But little vegetation
grows under a beech tree; what there was
was the blue gum fern with the crimped frond
I have noticed before. Moreover, the beeoh
tree is seldom uprooted. It slowly decays as
It stands and falls piecemeal, The ground in a
beech forest is therefore encumbered by but little
fallen timber. As soon as we got under the
beech trees the track improved very much.
They were mingled, however, with very tall
messmates, from which large quantities of dry
bark in strips 4 or 5 inches aoross and 30 or
40 feet long or more had fallen to the ground,
and lay in large colis. These continually
tangled our feet, and it was difficult to get
free of them, One would continually find one
was dragging a tail behind many feet long.
On getting under the beech trees the prevailing
tints again changed. The black earth was
bare, and varied shades of brown or dark
green met the eye In every direction. Towards
the south and east the slope was so steep that
we got a look out over Gippsland as far as the
ranges in the neighborhood of Baw Baw. The
earth seemed everywhere moist; in plaoes
one could hear the water under one's feet.
The traok oontinued slowly to descend, and
our view became shut in on all sides. About
s!x o'clook we found ourselves in a saddle.
This we identified upon our tracing as about
6 miles from our camp of the night before
And 4 milos from the Yarra. It seemed a
likely place to find water. There were a few
beech trees and messmates on the saddle, and
a forest of white gums, tall, slender poles like
the mast of a ship, 300 feet high at the least,
with a tuft of foliage at the top. There was a
fern tree gully coming up to the saddle on
each side. The earth was black and moist, and
for the most part bare. R. found a good stream
of water a llttle way down on the south side
of the saddle, so we determined to camp. We
pitched the tent under two beech trees, whose
thick foliage would protect us from
any sticks that might be blown off from
the gums, and made our bed of fronds cut
from the ferns.
When we got up the next morning a
strong north wind was blowing, shaking the
tall, white ferns like oorn stalks, bending
them as if to break with a great roaring noise.
We did not make a start until about half-
past ten, when we at once began to ascend out
of the saddle, and soon came out into the
sunshine on to a hill covered with fallen
timber and sword grass, and from which there
was a good view of the opposite ranges. The
logs had rotted and broken into fragments,
and were therefore not the obstacle they had
been on Mount Horsefall. After a little
we again descended into a beech
forest. Here the track was clearer than
we had yet found it. It was
obstructed by little else than small sticks.
There was a little of the usual green fern,
but except for that the ground wes clear of
undelrgrowth on all sides. The dark foliage of
the beech trees over head shut out the sky.
In order to keep the track it was necessary to
keep a sharp look out for blazes. After about
a couple of miles gum trees again ap- ,
peared mixed with the beeoh trees, and we
were again troubled by fallen tlmber.
About the same time we found growing in the
track tall solitary stalks of grass like oats
which shot up with a stem as thick as one's
finger, seven or eight feet high. Finding the
horse would eat the two gathered bundles of it,
as we went along. A little after twelve
o'clock the horse got another fall getting over
a log. We had to unload, and determined
to have lunch, When we again made a start
we found it had been raining heavily, and that
the scrub was very wet. In a little while we
got out of the beech forest, and began
to ascend a hill covered with tall
standing gums and thick bracken up
to our shoulders. Through this we pushed our
way, getting drenched through. When we
gained the top of the hill we found our track ap
peared to leave the rldge, and turn down the
sideling to the north-east. After turnlng down
on the sideling we were soon again in a beech
forest, and out of the high wet braoken. In
about half a mlle we came to tho creek, whloh
was broad and shallow, scarcely covering the
ground. It crossed the track from left to
right- not from right to left, as marked
in our tracing. The descent from the
ridge to this creek was not more than
200 or 300 feet, and not at all steep,
consldering it was on a sideling. We crossed the
creek and ascended to tho ridge on the oppo-
site side. Crossing it we descended on a slde-
ling to the Yarra, which we at onoe passed over.
It was a much smaller stream than that we
have left at M'Mahon's, being about 30 feet
wide and about up to our ankles, with, how-
ever, a good current. The scene was a
peculiar one. It was still raining hard.
Heavy clouds rested on the tops of the beech
trees from 50 to 70 feet above us, whlch lined
the river banks and covered the slopes,
and hung in festoons between them,
but below it was clear. We had no tlme
to stand and watch it, however, being
wet through. We had to get to work and
camp at once. In about twenty minutes we
had a flre big enough to roast an ox.
Having pitched our tent we looked about for
something to make a bed of, and the best thing
we could find was a heap of bark at the foot of a
neighboring messmate. This we dragged in
front of the fire and dried, after which we had
our evening meal round the fire. We stood
up round it for some tlme drying clothes,
while the horse stood warming his nose on
the opposite side of the fire. Finally we
turned in.
We were up at six the next morning. There
was still a slight rain, We had breakfast,
and at half-past eight we started in search of the
falls. Our camp was shown by the barometer to
be 2100 foot above M'Mahon's or only 500 feet
lower than the top of Mount Horsefall. It was ;
dlstant from Reefton by the road wa had come
just 20 miles, or in a straight line about 15.
Now, the Yarra did not change its level to
any great extent between M'Mahon's and
Reefton, or for some mlles above the latter
place. The dlfference in elevation therefore
gave room for a high fall. Moreover, the
country we were in appeared to be an elevated
plateau, to which we had ascended abruptly at
Mount Horsefall, and whioh would probably
come to an abrupt termination.
Wo accordingly started down stream, cross
ing a conslderablo tributary on tho right bank
just below our oamp, Tho rivor ran through
a booch forest, and as nothing will grow under
the beech trees, its banks were without that
fringo of peculiar vegetation which is usually
such a marked feature in an Australian river
or creek. After a little we went over to
the left bank, and crossed a small creek whioh
joined the river on that bank, we then came
upon a series of small hills, perhaps altogether
fifty or sixty, There was, however, a good indi-
cation of something better. We could see a light
through the trees ahead as from a largo clear
ing. This appearance oould only bo occasioned
by the edge of an abrupt decllvity. We pushed
on and soon began to get glimpses of a valley a
long way below us, and to hear tho roar of a
great fall. The beech forest ceased with the
edgo of tha declivity, and the slopes below,
when not too steep and bare for anything
either to grow or stand on, were covered with
undergrowth, mostly ti-tree. To see the fall
wo must got below it. We accordingly
descended as rapidly as a regard for our necks
would permit several hundred feot, and made
our way on to a Iedge down to the water.
From this point we oould see the water fa!ling
above and below us over a faoe of dark rocks
in a series of steps. The fall was shaded by
ti-tree, with occasional tree ferns on the
ledges. The spray fell like rain. We
were too close to the face of the fall, and
tho ledge we were on would not permit us
getting further out. We were not the first
persons who had viewed the Yarra falls from
this spot, for we saw a tree wilh a blaze on it,
on whioh was a name, partly overgrown with
bark, whioh wo mado out to bo A. Burns.
We then crossed over, scrambled along the
face of the cliff and made our way down an
other hundred feet or two, and got another
vlew of tho falls, with, however, the dis-
advantage that we were too close to see far up
or down. This point was by the barometer
550 feet below the top of tho fall. We could
see the fall for about 50 feet bolow it. It was
a continuous fall all the way, interrupted
only by small ledges. There is, however, no
reason to suppose that the lowest point to which
we oould see was anywhere near the bottom of
the fall. Judging from the appearance of the
valley it was far from being so. The total
height of the fall therefore, can scarcely be less
than 700 feet or 900 feet; it fs probably 1000
feet.
We had not seen by any means as much of
the falls as wo should have liked, but we were
compelled to return. It was Tuesday, and R.
had to be In a distant part of Victoria by the
following Monday morning for this purpose It
was necessary that, he should be in Melbourne
by Saturday. Wo could scarcely do this unless
we moved on that day. Moreover, our oats
were running out, and there was not a scrap
of feed at our present camp, while our tracing
showed that on the Thompson, 4 miles on,
there was grass. We accordingly turned back
towards our camp. In returning we got a
vlew of a great cascade, forming the top-
most rip on the fall, which we had not
seen going down. By half-past one we
had regained our camp. We then bathed
in the Yarra, had lunch, struck our camp,
and started for the Thompson, where we hoped
to camp that night. It was shown by our
tracing to be 4 miles distant. The track in
the first instance followed the ridge of the very
low spur between the main arm of the Yarra
and tho tributary that joined it just below our
camp. After a little the track forked; we took,
the left fork, which took us down to the tribu-
tary at a point where two creeks united to
form it; beyond this the track was not
apparent. After a little we found a
place where a tent bad been pitched,
with a rude platform of round tim-
ber to raise it off the ground. We had
evldently come upon an old surveyor's camp.
That explained how it was that the track
ran out. We accordingly returned and took
tho right hand fork of the track. After we
had gone about three quarters of a mile the
track turned down to and crossed the oreek on
our left, and shortly afterwards began to ascend
a ridge on a sideling. The top of this ridge
was not. more than 100 feet or so above our
camp. On it we found white gum timber.
The rldge was narrow, and the track imme-
diately descended on a sideling on the other
side, about 300 feet Into a narrow valley con-
taining a fine stream of water. The sides
of the valley were lined with beech trees,
with a few tree ferns. This creek must
form the right fork of the Yarra as laid
down on the maps; and as its level appeared
lower than the top of the falls, must join, the
left fork below them. Crossing the creek we
ascended on a steep sideling on the other side
to a height somewhat greater than that from
whioh we had descended, and found ourselves
in a forest of white gums mixed with beech
trees, with a good deal of undergrowth.
The creek, however, continued tolerably
clear. We were now upon the crest
of the dividing range, between the
waters of the Yarra and the Thompson,
marked on the maps as Wright's range. A
little before seven o'clock the track began to
descend gently, and we reached a fine stream
of water crossing the track from north to
south, spanned by a good log bridge.
This stream, which was much larger
than either fork of the Yarra, or,
I should say, than both of them to-
gether, we made out to be the Thompson.
Here we determined to camp. A little way up
from the river, to the right of the track we had
come by we found an open glade carpeted
with good grass. On this were the remains
of an old survey camp, consisting of log plat-
forms, similar to that we had noticed on the Yarra.
There appeared to be a succession of rich
glades along the river, divided only by low
scrub, tall timber not being found till some
little way up the slopes on either side.
There was, therefore, a ciear view up and
down tho river for some way over the top of
the scrub. We could see the sky, too, over-
head and in front of us. All this was a change
after the dense grass through whioh we had
been travelling for the last four days, The
edge of the other valley was lined with large
white gums, say 100 foot high, with straight,
thick limbs tapering to the top, and wide
spreading arms a little more than half way up.
The slopes behind were covered with a mass of
plants of different kinds. Every here and there
above this rose to a great height huge logs,
white with age and black with flre, without
limbs, broken at the top. Though generally
impressed by the view, there was a feeling of
solitude connected with this camp not ex-
perienced elsewhere in the course of this trip.
The height of this camp was 2300 feet above
M'Mahon's, or only 100 feet lower than our
camp on the Yarra. We were still, however,
above a high plateau, as high or higher
than the top of Mount Macedon. We were
now about 23 miles from Reefton, and about
from Mount Lookout.
Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918), Saturday 17 July 1886, page 16
THE TRAVELLER.
RAMBLE AMONG THE NORTH GIPPS-LAND HILLS
By AN OXFORD GRADUATE
. II.
A good Government road, though somewhat old, leads up to the township on Mount Lookout. These roads, splendidly constructed, will be of use in opening up the country, which must be important agriculturally in the future, when the mining may have fallen off. Much beef might be grown on these ranges. The glory of Mount Lookout has, however for the present departed. It is melancholy to see the empty and decayed former tenements of man and beast, especially if half obscured by a mantling mist. In the warm sunshine the golden clover paddocks and peaceful cattle must form a more cheerful pic-ture. Truly, agriculture makes a country more lovable than mining, as we found in our next camp on the mud perturbed and reddened stream of the Jordan at Violet Town. At Violet Town not much is doing. There is a little more life at the Red Jacket higher up the stream. Blue Jacket and Jericho are other centres on the Jordan. Here Chinamen abound, working over the alluvial for the third time. From the Jordan valley you climb to Matlock by a steep track still used by drays. Matlock is situated — or was till the greater part was burnt down in a great fire — on the very top of a hill nearly as high as Mount Useful. It served as a store and supply centre for the miners in the good old times, as it lies about four miles from Woods Point, and at about the same distance from Jericho. The whole of the timber has been cleared for a radius of several hundred yards from the summit, which is thus terribly exposed. It had been raining pretty steadily all the night before and during our march from Violet Town ; but just as we entered upon the clearing the tempest burst upon us, bitterly cold wind and rain. Drenched to the skin, and almost driven from the track, we were glad to find that a hotel still exists at the very top of the hill. This is the only house that escaped the great fire in which Matlock was consumed. Our host had stories of the mining days; when Matlock boasted its thirty dancing girls, and when miners drunk nothing cheaper than champagne. He showed us nuggets, too, and gold in the rock, and does not think that "the creeks" are exhausted yet. However that may be, there is plenty of good land up among the hills. Almost any sort of temperate fruits and vegetables can be grown there. The drawback is the cold which is telling in the summer at times, and in the winter must be terrible. For charming views, much resembling those of the famous Huon-road in South Tasmania, commend me to the high track between Matlock and "the Springs" of the Wood's Point-road. Now, we are on a ridge track, and our admiration is divided between the distant peaks to the north and east, with their varied outlines, and the giant many-branched valleys stretching to the S. and W. Now we move along a sidling, and cross fern gullies and mountain streams ; on the upper side of the road waterfalls or mossy bank, on the lower, the widening zone of fern gradually lost in the forest growth below. The air is keen and crisp, and the smart walk communicates a pleasant glow not at all like the sweltering heat of the unsheltered low lands. Near Sinclair, or "the Springs," Mr Coombes, of Melbourne, has a cattle station, and the cattle seem to do well in these cool uplands, which, when the timber is cleared, become perennially green with grass. Leaving the Wood's Point-road, about a mile from the station, we turned south to attempt to make our way through by a new survey track, cut about seven months before by Whitelaw. We had heard of this route at Tanjil, and again at Matlock, but had not obtained correct information as to where it ended, or rather where it began, on the south side. It was 40 miles long, as indicated by the figures cut roughly on the mile trunks, but we remained in the dark as to our exact terminus until we reached it. We soon found that it could not be Moe, and Tangil presently dis-agreed with the bearings and distance as shown by chart and compass. But we were com-mitted to see it through and went forward ac-cordingly. At the end of the first day's march we came into another track, cut previously by Whitelaw, from Reefton to Aberfeldy. Some of our party had been on this two years before, and from them we learnt that the Yarra Falls were accessible. We camped then a day at the junction, in order to visit the falls. Following the old track toward Reefton, with difficulty making out and renewing the blazes, we crossed three small feeders of the Yarra in about three miles. At the last of these, which most de-serves to be considered the main stream, we left the track and made our way some half mile down to the head of the falls. From this point we commanded a grand survey of a wide range of country, all the wide valley of Yarra with its mountain boundaries. By scrambling down over fallen logs, rocks and stumps, through a tangle of vegetation, we can here and there stand at the side of the rushing waters, or at the foot of a fall. Now the waters sweep 20, 40 or 60 feet at one bound ; now they break into a hundred tumultous cascades ; and now roll over mossy rock slopes into fern-fringed pools. Our way back was plain enough from our morning's blaz-ing. The original forest of monster gums was fast dying out. A few enormous old trees towered overhead still. But most were laid low, and no saplings were springing up, but instead, most refreshing to the eye tired of the sombre eucalypts, groves of golden wattle, of beech and of sassafras. From the junction we found, after wasting half a day in the process, that Whitelaw had made use of about three miles of his old track in cutting this second way through the forest. We presently crossed the Thomson, flowing swiftly over sparkling mica sands, and entered a granite country very ugly for travellers. Not merely because of the strewn boulders, but also and chiefly because a forest of dead trees still standing exist alongside of the living timber. The trees cleared from the track are laid along its sides. Trees then falling near the track are liable to fall across it. resting on those felled by tbe axe, just too low for the horse to go under ; just too high for him to clear. Each fallen tree cost us a delay of half an hour, on the average, we computed, owing to the unloading, the de-tour and the re-loading. As tree after tree barred our path we began to wonder whether we should be able to get through, although the track had only been cut so short a time. How ever, after making bat five miles that day we came out from the dead sticks, and progress was then comparatively easy.
The course still included heart-rending ups and downs, but water at least was abundant. Two scenes in that virgin forest will never be forgotten by us from their loveliness. One was a nature cleared happy valley embosomed in the hills, bordered in a waving line by the dark woods. Green grass carpeted the whole, save where it was gay with brilliant everlastings and craspedias. A branch of the Thomson meandered through the glade. It seemed, remembering the situation, the beau ideal of a retreat for a brigand, itself the pic-ture of peace. Fain, too, were we to linger on the Tangil as we again came to it on our home ward march. It flows through a gully of huge dimensions. The stately columns of the tree ferns were wreathed with creepers, and hung with festoons of more delicate species. Bright and dark ferns clothed the gully to the water's edge. The mountain shrubs shone in a more luxuriant foliage. Woody climbers stretched from tree to tree across the river, or upwards from branch to branch. Below the water was flowing dark, clear, cold, steady, swift. After leaving the Tangil, and accomplishing a last climb of 700 feet, we gradually sank again, and camped by the Jay Creek. We now began to make out our bearings, and the next day came to the end of the mysterious track of Russell's Creek. Thence a day's march brought us to Moe. This new track of Whitelaw's thus afforded us a rare chance of seeing this entirely new forest country. It will probably share the fate of the Reefton track, and in a few years be obscured by the scrub and blocked by the fallen timber. The country undoubtedly is rough, but there is an ultimate future for it. There is much rich land hidden away in those fastnesses of nature — land of mush and hazel and of blanket tree, as well as of beech and of sassafras. Most likely gold will be found in the Silurian strata; possibly tin in the granite ridges. But this can hardly be yet. The views are wildly grand, and we esteemed ourselves happy in being amongst the first to penetrate this Victorian Highland forest, as yet unspoiled by the ravages of axe and of fire.
it.
THE TRAVELLER.
RAMBLE AMONG THE NORTH GIPPS-LAND HILLS
By AN OXFORD GRADUATE
. II.
A good Government road, though somewhat old, leads up to the township on Mount Lookout. These roads, splendidly constructed, will be of use in opening up the country, which must be important agriculturally in the future, when the mining may have fallen off. Much beef might be grown on these ranges. The glory of Mount Lookout has, however for the present departed. It is melancholy to see the empty and decayed former tenements of man and beast, especially if half obscured by a mantling mist. In the warm sunshine the golden clover paddocks and peaceful cattle must form a more cheerful pic-ture. Truly, agriculture makes a country more lovable than mining, as we found in our next camp on the mud perturbed and reddened stream of the Jordan at Violet Town. At Violet Town not much is doing. There is a little more life at the Red Jacket higher up the stream. Blue Jacket and Jericho are other centres on the Jordan. Here Chinamen abound, working over the alluvial for the third time. From the Jordan valley you climb to Matlock by a steep track still used by drays. Matlock is situated — or was till the greater part was burnt down in a great fire — on the very top of a hill nearly as high as Mount Useful. It served as a store and supply centre for the miners in the good old times, as it lies about four miles from Woods Point, and at about the same distance from Jericho. The whole of the timber has been cleared for a radius of several hundred yards from the summit, which is thus terribly exposed. It had been raining pretty steadily all the night before and during our march from Violet Town ; but just as we entered upon the clearing the tempest burst upon us, bitterly cold wind and rain. Drenched to the skin, and almost driven from the track, we were glad to find that a hotel still exists at the very top of the hill. This is the only house that escaped the great fire in which Matlock was consumed. Our host had stories of the mining days; when Matlock boasted its thirty dancing girls, and when miners drunk nothing cheaper than champagne. He showed us nuggets, too, and gold in the rock, and does not think that "the creeks" are exhausted yet. However that may be, there is plenty of good land up among the hills. Almost any sort of temperate fruits and vegetables can be grown there. The drawback is the cold which is telling in the summer at times, and in the winter must be terrible. For charming views, much resembling those of the famous Huon-road in South Tasmania, commend me to the high track between Matlock and "the Springs" of the Wood's Point-road. Now, we are on a ridge track, and our admiration is divided between the distant peaks to the north and east, with their varied outlines, and the giant many-branched valleys stretching to the S. and W. Now we move along a sidling, and cross fern gullies and mountain streams ; on the upper side of the road waterfalls or mossy bank, on the lower, the widening zone of fern gradually lost in the forest growth below. The air is keen and crisp, and the smart walk communicates a pleasant glow not at all like the sweltering heat of the unsheltered low lands. Near Sinclair, or "the Springs," Mr Coombes, of Melbourne, has a cattle station, and the cattle seem to do well in these cool uplands, which, when the timber is cleared, become perennially green with grass. Leaving the Wood's Point-road, about a mile from the station, we turned south to attempt to make our way through by a new survey track, cut about seven months before by Whitelaw. We had heard of this route at Tanjil, and again at Matlock, but had not obtained correct information as to where it ended, or rather where it began, on the south side. It was 40 miles long, as indicated by the figures cut roughly on the mile trunks, but we remained in the dark as to our exact terminus until we reached it. We soon found that it could not be Moe, and Tangil presently dis-agreed with the bearings and distance as shown by chart and compass. But we were com-mitted to see it through and went forward ac-cordingly. At the end of the first day's march we came into another track, cut previously by Whitelaw, from Reefton to Aberfeldy. Some of our party had been on this two years before, and from them we learnt that the Yarra Falls were accessible. We camped then a day at the junction, in order to visit the falls. Following the old track toward Reefton, with difficulty making out and renewing the blazes, we crossed three small feeders of the Yarra in about three miles. At the last of these, which most de-serves to be considered the main stream, we left the track and made our way some half mile down to the head of the falls. From this point we commanded a grand survey of a wide range of country, all the wide valley of Yarra with its mountain boundaries. By scrambling down over fallen logs, rocks and stumps, through a tangle of vegetation, we can here and there stand at the side of the rushing waters, or at the foot of a fall. Now the waters sweep 20, 40 or 60 feet at one bound ; now they break into a hundred tumultous cascades ; and now roll over mossy rock slopes into fern-fringed pools. Our way back was plain enough from our morning's blaz-ing. The original forest of monster gums was fast dying out. A few enormous old trees towered overhead still. But most were laid low, and no saplings were springing up, but instead, most refreshing to the eye tired of the sombre eucalypts, groves of golden wattle, of beech and of sassafras. From the junction we found, after wasting half a day in the process, that Whitelaw had made use of about three miles of his old track in cutting this second way through the forest. We presently crossed the Thomson, flowing swiftly over sparkling mica sands, and entered a granite country very ugly for travellers. Not merely because of the strewn boulders, but also and chiefly because a forest of dead trees still standing exist alongside of the living timber. The trees cleared from the track are laid along its sides. Trees then falling near the track are liable to fall across it. resting on those felled by tbe axe, just too low for the horse to go under ; just too high for him to clear. Each fallen tree cost us a delay of half an hour, on the average, we computed, owing to the unloading, the de-tour and the re-loading. As tree after tree barred our path we began to wonder whether we should be able to get through, although the track had only been cut so short a time. How ever, after making bat five miles that day we came out from the dead sticks, and progress was then comparatively easy.
The course still included heart-rending ups and downs, but water at least was abundant. Two scenes in that virgin forest will never be forgotten by us from their loveliness. One was a nature cleared happy valley embosomed in the hills, bordered in a waving line by the dark woods. Green grass carpeted the whole, save where it was gay with brilliant everlastings and craspedias. A branch of the Thomson meandered through the glade. It seemed, remembering the situation, the beau ideal of a retreat for a brigand, itself the pic-ture of peace. Fain, too, were we to linger on the Tangil as we again came to it on our home ward march. It flows through a gully of huge dimensions. The stately columns of the tree ferns were wreathed with creepers, and hung with festoons of more delicate species. Bright and dark ferns clothed the gully to the water's edge. The mountain shrubs shone in a more luxuriant foliage. Woody climbers stretched from tree to tree across the river, or upwards from branch to branch. Below the water was flowing dark, clear, cold, steady, swift. After leaving the Tangil, and accomplishing a last climb of 700 feet, we gradually sank again, and camped by the Jay Creek. We now began to make out our bearings, and the next day came to the end of the mysterious track of Russell's Creek. Thence a day's march brought us to Moe. This new track of Whitelaw's thus afforded us a rare chance of seeing this entirely new forest country. It will probably share the fate of the Reefton track, and in a few years be obscured by the scrub and blocked by the fallen timber. The country undoubtedly is rough, but there is an ultimate future for it. There is much rich land hidden away in those fastnesses of nature — land of mush and hazel and of blanket tree, as well as of beech and of sassafras. Most likely gold will be found in the Silurian strata; possibly tin in the granite ridges. But this can hardly be yet. The views are wildly grand, and we esteemed ourselves happy in being amongst the first to penetrate this Victorian Highland forest, as yet unspoiled by the ravages of axe and of fire.
it.
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