Victoria is still forest, about 4,000,000 acres of which are reserved by the state. But though there is much valuable timber—in the mountain ranges in the north-east especially—it is impossible to transport it. Much forest country is let for grazing at nominal rents, and forest let for grazing is inevitably burned. The timber is cleared out by fire to obtain pasture. The fires are generally lighted on purpose, with the consequent enormous destruction of valuable timber. On the other hand, there are few cases in which the timber could be profitably sent to any market, and a land covered with forest cannot be used for grazing. Australian public opinion is becoming alive to the importance of this question, and there is a Department of Forests in the state of Victoria, but it is not considered that its powers are sufficiently drastic and untrammelled, or its supply of expert opinion adequate.[A]
The return journey was an exhilarating experience, for it was downhill most of the way, and we spun through the sweet invigorating air, with one wheel generally poised on a higher level than the other, bumping and plunging, dodging the deep broad ruts, holding on tight with that pleasant sense of adventure and hairbreadth escapes that only an expert Australian motorist
[Footnote A: "Handbook to Victoria," p. 42.]
