Different indeed from these treeless, waterless steppes are the valleys and mountains of the seaboard. In these regions, protected from hot winds and favoured by a heavy rainfall, we have a luxuriant and elegant vegetation. Beginning with the gullies of the Dandenong ranges, near Melbourne, the traveller can proceed from fairy scene to fairy scene along the coast to far-away Carpentaria and Papua, the vegetation preserving its identity, and yet slowly changing from a sub-tropical to a tropical character. In the Victorian region there are rivulets of clear water hidden from sight by the tree-ferns which flourish on their banks. Journeying northwards, the vegetation thickens. Parasitical ferns--the staghorns of the conservatory--depend from every branch. Palm-trees make their appearance, the noble _Livistonia_ attaining in suitable places a height of eighty feet. The musk-tree and the _Pittosporum_ scent the air, and lovely twining plants help to form an impenetrable foliage. On reaching the ranges of New South Wales, the luxuriance is found to have further developed. From some hill-top you gaze upon a verdant lawn gay with flowers and studded with shrubs. Descending, you find that the surface is a vegetable canopy formed by stout and hardy creepers and climbers that spread from tree to tree, only the tops of the lofty eucalypts appearing above this mid-air canopy. Lower down, fern-trees and cabbage-palms form a second roof, while the soil supports an undergrowth of mosses, lichens and ferns. But the gum-tree is as distinctive of Australia as are the emu and the kangaroo. It pleases Australians greatly that their country contains the 'tallest tree in the world.' For years it was believed that Nature had done her utmost in the big trees of California, but experts and visitors admit that this belief must be abandoned. The two countries have the issue to themselves; but the _Sequoia gigantea_ has had to retire in favour of the _Eucalyptus amygdalina_, or giant gum. The following list of generally accepted heights will show how completely the indigenous vegetation of other lands is put out of court:-- The elm 60 feet to 80 feet. The oak 60 feet to 100 feet. _Pinus insignis_ 60 feet to 100 feet. Himalayan cedar 200 feet. _Sequoia gigantea_, or 'big tree' of California 200 feet to 325 feet. _Eucalyptus amygdalina_, or giant gum 250 feet to 480 feet.