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RAMBLES OF AN AUSTRALIAN

NATURALIST

RAMBLES OF AN
AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST

WRITTEN BY

PAUL FOUNTAIN

AUTHOR OF "ELEVEN EAGLETS OF THE WEST "

FROM THE NOTES AND JOURNALS OF

THOMAS WARD

I LONDON

L JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.

1907

PREFACE

It is always difficult to write a preface ; it is an art to
write a good one. There are peculiar difficulties in scoring
the overture to the present work, because it is only partially
mine. I am at liberty to say that it was because Mr Ward
did not feel sufficiently confident to write the book by
himself that he sought my aid. I hope I have done justice
to the mass of splendid material he has entrusted to me.
I can truly say I have handled it with a loving care that
has not been exceeded in the writing of any of my own
books. Before I undertook the task of collating Mr Ward's
notes, I stipulated that I should be permitted to treat the
book as my own. I regard it as a foster-child, but as
dear to me as any of my own literary offspring.

Mr Ward is a Queensland stock-farmer, who, like
myself, has amused himself in the intervals of a roughly
laborious life with studying Nature in the wild, and prying
into the wonders of her works. I am forbidden, by the
position I have accepted, to say plainly what I think, or
what I feel, of his ability as a field naturalist ; but I must
say that his splendid powers of observation demanded
that I should exert myself to the utmost to deal worthily
with the material placed at my disposal.

My task has been to reduce the notes to readable form,
collect the scattered information on specific subjects, and
identify and supply the scientific names of species, etc.
I have corrected some obvious mistakes ; but I have not

vi PREFACE

interfered with Mr Ward's facts or opinions, though some
of the latter are in conflict with my own. I have main-
tained the first person in the narrative wherever it was
possible to do so, and left Mr Ward to tell the story in
his own language and style. In a word, I have confined
myself to strictly necessary alterations and arrangements,
feeling that the original narrative had a beauty and
simplicity of its own which it would be a pity to
spoil.

P. F.

March 1907.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PA0B

I. In the Blue Mountains i

II. Some of the Birds of the Blue Mountains 8

III. The Riverine District .... 19

IV. Organic Life on the Riverine Plains . . 30
V. The River Darling ..... 42

VI. Mount Kosciusko and the Australian Alps . 54

VII. The Colony of Victoria, and the Eastern

Ranges of Mountains .... 67

VIII. More Remarks on the Flora and Fauna of

Victoria and New South Wales . . 78

IX. A Ramble in South Australia . . .91

X, The Spencer Gulf District . . .101

XI. The Head of the Australian Bight . . 113

XII. A few General Remarks on the Southern

Coast of Australia . . . .132

XIII. King George's Sound . . . .140

XIV, The Swan River District . . . .156

XV. Rambles in the Desert . . . .169

XVI. Continuation of the Rambles to Champion

Bay ....... 183

vii

viii CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGB

XVII. Notes on the Fauna of Western Australia . 196
XVIII. The Port Darwin District . . .224

XIX. A Long Ramble in Queensland . . .258

XX. The Native Blackfellow ... 279

XXI. The Great Barrier Reef . . . .301

XXII. Fossil Remains on the Australian Continent 319

Index

329

THE RAMBLES OF AN AUSTRALIAN

NATURALIST

CHAPTER I

IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

The Blue Mountains are plainly visible from my birth-
place near Picton, New South Wales ; and their deep
azure outline is one of my earliest recollections. The
remarkable intensity of colour, and the equally remarkable
contour of these rocks, attracted my boyish curiosity when
I must have been very young : and I made several
attempts to get to them on foot long before I was old
enough and strong enough to perform so long a journey.

In every country there are natural features which are
fondly thought of by the people of the land ; which are,
as it were, the sylvan gods of the country ; and the Blue
Mountains are precious in the sight of every true
Australian. One of his first enquiries of a stranger is
almost sure to be if he has seen the Blue Mountains?
And these fine rocks are worthy of the high place to which
the Australian exalts them.

The Blue Mountains are now much frequented by
seekers after picturesque scenery and holiday makers, and
several railways afford facilities for reaching the most
accessible portions of them ; but during the days of my
youth and early manhood, they were but very imperfectly
known, even those parts which lie nearest to Sydney and
other great centres of population, being only reached by
a laborious journey, were seldom visited by any persons
of refined and cultured mind — persons capable of giving
an intelligent description of what they had seen.

Three young men, Blaxland, a squatter, Lawson, an

A

2 IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

army subaltern, and Wentworth, in after years a leading
Australian statesman, were the first to find a path over
the Blue Mountains; but for several decades after their
exploit the exploration of the range was left almost
entirely to rough stockmen, whose chief, and perhaps sole,
object was to find cattle-runs. One of the paths now
most used, up which a prosperous railway winds its way,
was discovered by a band of runaway convicts, who
lurked in one of those singular valleys which are a striking
feature of the mountains. Though they were traced to
this valley, it was not until the police sought the help of
aboriginal trackers that the entrance was discovered, and
one of the largest of the now renowned exitless valleys
was opened to the colonists. This, and other paths, have
long since been improved ; but formerly many of them
could only be used at imminent risk of life or limb ; and
this is still the case with some remote and little-known
passes.

One of the most difficult and dangerous that I have
explored is about 40 miles north-west of Picton, and
scarcely more than 12 south of the celebrated Penrith
viaduct ; but owing to the roundabout route that must be
taken to reach it, it is difficult to estimate the distances.
This pass, which seems to be nameless in the survey,
cannot be reached from the east side of the mountains,
and will probably not be opened up until the quarrymen
are attracted thither : for it is impossible for cattle to
reach it. It took myself and two companions, under
the guidance of an old prospector, five days to reach
this spot : and the journey may be described as a sixty-
mile climb, the whole distance being a region of broken
rock and rugged gully. Both the east and west sides of
the mountain are here precipitous cliffs of great height,
with a pretty level plateau at the top covered with forest.
The valley beneath is a level plain, also covered with an
unbroken forest of large gum trees, and bounded on all
sides with walls of rock. These rocks project, like giant
buttresses, into the valley, in many places forming head-
lands with deep recesses between them ; but though the

A BLUE MOUNTAIN ENCLOSED VALLEY 3

valley is quite seven miles long by four or five broad,
forming a large bay, there is no descent into it. In one
place we found a ledge of rock about eighty feet below the
top of the cliff, sloping downwards, which seemed to promise
a pathway into the valley below, and one of our party
insisted on being lowered by a rope. At great risk to his
life, he succeeded in working his way down three or four
hundred feet, but could get no further, and had to return
without effecting his purpose. The height of the cliffs was
variously estimated at from a thousand to sixteen hundred
feet. The lowest estimate is possibly nearest the truth.
About the precipitous nature of the rocky wall there could
not be two opinions : for stones thrown down could be
seen to drop sheer into the valley below.

We had provisions and water with us, the latter being
carried in collapsible skin bags with bone nozzles. By the
end of the fifth day, both food and water were exhausted :
and I had my first experiences of the suffering and hard-
ship of Australian travel. For three days we were almost
entirely without food. Water we found ; and our hunger
we attempted to satisfy with berries and leaves, the reason,
probably, that we all became very unwell, and reached
Penrith in a state of great exhaustion.

On subsequent occasions I examined many others of
these cliff-enclosed valleys ; some larger and many smaller
than the one just described. The character of all is
similar. The cliffs are composed of sandstone of a light
grey colour in the lower strata, and of a dingy light
crimson in the upper. This band of reddish colour has a
very remarkable appearance ; and I could never discover
the cause of it. It does not seem to be owing to the
presence of iron in the strata ; and it is characteristic of
the rocks throughout the Blue Mountains.

In most countries the valleys have been formed by the
erosion of water, and generally have a stream, large or
small, flowing through them. That is not the case here.
Some of the vallevs have a small river or brook in them,
but not of sufficient size or force of current to affect the
form of the valley, and it is clear that there never has been

4 IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

any great body of water in any of these remarkable
recesses. In valleys which are from six to fifteen miles
wide, I have found the strata of the opposite sides
corresponding exactly, and of almost precisely the same
height : while the bottoms of the valleys are level, or
nearly level, plains, with occasionally a few scattered hills.
There are no signs of water-wear, nor of the subsidence
which Darwin thought might be a possible explanation
of this unparalleled formation ; and I think it is a pity that
he did not devote more time and care to the examina-
tion of what he rightly recognised and described as a
geological enigma ; but which he unfortunately seems to
have viewed with an impatience unusual in him.

Some of these enclosed valleys in the Blue Mountains
have an area of more than a hundred square miles, with
a depth of nearly two thousand feet, and yet have no
opening through which the water of a small brook could
escape. In a country with a fairly heavy annual rainfall
these valleys would inevitably become deep lakes. Can
they possibly be the beds of long extinct lakes, the waters
of which have gradually soaked and evaporated away
through some change of climatic conditions causing a
cessation of the usual feeding supply? It is more likely
that these valleys are the result of upheaval than of sub-
sidence, and they may, at a remote period, have been
saline lakes. Marine shells are very abundant in many
places, but I have not found any other important remains
that are likely to throw a light on the geological formation.
Though many of the shells are of extinct species, a great
number are identical with those still inhabiting the seas
of the west and south coasts.

The vegetation of the valleys, if not rich, is abundant,
and the forests are certainly valuable. Cattle thrive well
in them, and they serve the purpose of immense parks
from which it is impossible for the stock (as cattle in
Australia are invariably called) to escape. The trees are
no impediment to the grazing of cattle: for though the
forest, viewed from above, appears to be dense, but few
Australian forests have the density of tropical or European

PECULIARITIES OF THE VALLEYS 5

forests ; there is nearly always room to move freely about
among the trees, and the best herbage often grows under
arboreous shelter.

There is a certain amount of drainage into the valleys,
but it is not sufficient to make any part of them marshy.
Brooks are occasionally found, but the waters of these
scantily-fed channels rarely find an outlet through the
environing cliffs, and in the few instances in which they
do, the passages are narrow and choked with masses of
rock, and show no signs of extensive water erosion, a
pretty certain indication that the valleys have never been
the channels of large rivers. The valleys, indeed, have
the appearance of enormous rents in the cliffs, often
narrowing at each end into rifts so confined that even a
dog cannot force a way through them, though the enclosing
walls are perhaps three or four hundred feet in height. It
may be positively asserted that these rifts do not owe
their formation to water action. Water never runs
through them in sufficient quantity, not even after heavy
rains, to wash away any of the soil or rock, and they have
probably existed for ages without modification of size
or form.

Rills of water in many places run over the cliffs and
fall, as pretty cascades, into the valleys beneath. Govett's
Leap is one of the best known and most often referred to
of these cascades, but none of* them have a sufficient body
of water to entitle them to be considered " falls." They
are, nevertheless, much thought of by Australians, and
many of them are the constant resort of holiday folks.
Barriers, to prevent accidents, have been erected round the
edges of the cliffs, and lordly hotels have been built for
the accommodation of visitors — additions which are not
always appreciated by lovers of unshorn Nature. The
lover of Nature, however, need not despair if he is a man
not averse to using his legs, and risking his neck, in an
arduous climb. There are plenty of hidden spots, too
difficult of access, and likely to remain so for many years,
to be visited by any persons except those of a resolute
and daring courage. There are spots in the mountains

6 IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

within easy distance of Picton or Penrith, that are as quiet
and little frequented as they must have been in the days
of Captain Cook. That is, they are practically unknown.
An occasional Government inspector, or wandering
prospector, may have visited them, but the foot of the
average traveller or sight-seer has never trod the rock in
the localities I have in my mind. Here are some of the
most delightful of the valleys, though the smallness of
their area has led to their being overlooked, and here it is
that the naturalist has the best opportunities of studying
the animal life of the Blue Mountains, though that life is
not very abundant in any part of the range that I have
visited.

I have spent hours cautiously walking among the trees
on the summit of the range, hoping to make discovery of
some new bird or mammal, and heard no sound except
the mournful murmuring of the breeze in the tree-tops.
Birds there are, it is true, but they are not often seen in
great numbers, and the habit the people of Sydney, and
the smaller townships, have of going to the mountains to
shoot parrots and wallaby — a habit that was formerly very
generally indulged in — has tended to reduce greatly the
number of Australian birds. Wallaby are only found
among the rocks on the lower slopes of the mountains,
and about their bases. If they ever existed in the valleys,
they have long since been exterminated. They have
become scarce everywhere on the coast side of the range,
the result of continual persecution by gunners from the
towns, and stockmen anxious to preserve every blade of
grass for the use of the cattle. The valleys, too, are free
from the rabbit pest — that prolific, feeble folk not having
succeeded in passing the forbidding line of barrier cliffs.
Flying foxes, or phalangers, and opossums are found in
many places, but as these animals are mostly nocturnal
in their habits, they are not often seen unless specially
watched for, and there is nothing to be recorded of them
in this place.

A few snakes of the genus Dendrophis are met with ;
and on two or three occasions I have seen diamond-snakes

FAUNA IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS 7

at an elevation of at least three thousand feet above sea level.
There are also a few lizards in the mountains ; but none
of these reptiles are sufficiently numerous to be character-
istic of the region.

Probably the aborigines never frequented these moun-
tains ; and it seems certain that they never penetrated to
the enclosed valleys. Even the rudest of wandering
savages leave some records of their presence in a district ;
but I could never find the slightest trace of the former
presence of the natives in these districts ; and it seems
more than probable that the range proved as impenetrable
to the blacks as it so long did to the whites. Strange
that large tracts of the earth should lie for thousands of
years apparently useless to man and beast ! Such, however,
seems to have been the case in all the great divisions of the
globe, so far as man and the larger animals are concerned.

Birds are the most attractive living objects in the Blue
Mountains, and they are sadly few in number, and are
daily becoming scarcer. Besides the parrots, whose
destruction by holiday makers I have mentioned, the lyre-
bird, one of the most characteristic birds of our continent,
has been cruelly persecuted, so that it has not only been
exterminated in many districts, but is now scarce every-
where, and in danger of total extinction. The Blue
Mountains are, or were, the headquarters of this very
remarkable bird, and of one or two others which must
always be objects of deep interest to the true naturalist.
I think these birds are worthy of a chapter to themselves ;
and, accordingly, the next division of this little work is
devoted to a description of what I have succeeded in
learning about their ways and habits.

CHAPTER II

SOME OF THE BIRDS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

My first shot was fired at a parrot when I was a boy of
some twelve years. Well do I remember with what
trepidation I aimed the gun, in spite of the assurance of
older marksmen that it was an easy one to fire and would
not " kick," and what joy rushed to my young heart when
I saw the bird flutter, mortally hurt, to the ground.

Parrot-shooting is a favourite sport in Australia, and
takes the place of rook-shooting in England. It was, I
think, a more prevalent pastime in my youthful days than
at present. Parrots were then more abundant than they
are now ; and on public holidays, especially at Christmas
time, people went out of the towns by hundreds, often for
a week at a time, to shoot parrots. Parrot-pie is as much
esteemed in Australia as rook-pie in England ; and if the
birds are young, is quite as palatable. But an old parrot
is one of the toughest birds that fly, and one of the hardest
to kill. A parrot will carry away more shot than any
other moderate-sized Australian bird, and must be very
hard hit before it will drop. Perhaps this is the reason
that it is considered to give such good sport to the fowler.

The Psittacidae, the Columbae, and the Anseres are
three of the most characteristic orders of Australian birds,
and are all well represented in New South Wales.

The parrots are usually associated with decidedly
tropical scenery and climate ; but though Australia is the
headquarters of several well-marked groups, or families,
of the order, they are largely met with in descriptions
of country that can scarcely be called tropical, or even

SWAINSOPsTS LORIQUET 9

sub-tropical. With very few exceptions Australian parrots
and cockatoos frequent only the wooded portions of the
land : although they are found, the cockatoos especially,
along the courses of rivers which have a fringe of wood on
their banks, though that fringe, in the west and north, is
often very thin.

The first shot referred to above was at a Blue Mountain
parrot, a species formerly very common in the vicinity of
Sydney ; and I have even seen it on trees in the suburbs
of that city. It is the Swainson's loriquet, Trichoglossus
novce hollandice, of naturalists ; but though often called a
lory, I never heard it described locally by its true name.
It is still tolerably abundant in the interior parts of the
colony ; and its beautiful plumage does not save it from
being shot for the table. It is a honey-sucker, and for that
reason many persons think that its flesh is superior in
flavour to that of other parrots.

The crop of this bird is nearly always full of a sort of
nectar which it extracts with its tongue from the sweet
blossoms of the native honeysuckle ; and probably from
many other flowers ; but it is a mistake to suppose, as
many naturalists seem to do, that it does not consume
more solid food ; for I have seen it eating many different
kinds of bush fruits. It also often eats the flowers of the
honeysuckle bodily ; and frequents the gardens of the
western settlers for the plums and cherries which they
delight to cultivate.

Many of the habits of Swainson's loriquet greatly
resemble those of pigeons. For instance: they go in
pairs, and these pairs frequently join with others to form
small flocks of ten or a dozen couples ; and on occasions,
which seem to be dependent on a peculiar state of the
weather, they collect in large flocks of one or two thousand.
All these habits may be noticed in tree-frequenting species
of pigeons. The loriquet, as well as some other parrots,
flies much like a pigeon ; and when perched on a branch
has several similar little tricks of movement. A sudden
change of temperature will cause them to assemble in
large flocks. They then wheel round in the air, perhaps

10 SOME BIRDS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

many times, gradually mounting higher, and screaming
almost as noisily as cockatoos, and finally fly off rapidly in
a compact body. I suppose that they go in a pre-arranged
direction, and that the object is to seek a warmer district.
The whole attitude and manoeuvring of the birds seem to
indicate that this is their purpose ; but how far they go, or
to what description of country I have not been able to
discover. They are capable of enduring a considerable
degree of cold, and are often found at a great height in the
mountains of all parts of New South Wales. I have several
times seen flocks of them flying about in snow storms.
They have, however, a great dislike to rain, and in wet
weather hide away in hollow trees and under the broad
leaves of palms and other plants. They breed in hollow
trees, like the majority of parrots, but I watched one pair
which reared their brood in a hole excavated with remark-
able expedition in the bulky stem of a grass-tree not six
feet from the ground. The eggs are usually two or four in
number, and the few pairs of young birds which I have
taken and reared were always couples — a cock and a hen.
The old birds are very attentive to the young, and affec-
tionate among themselves ; and the young are fed with
the syrup, or honey, which the old birds eject from their
crops for the purpose. This syrup is, I suppose, partially
digested, a circumstance which may account for the
difficulty which is experienced in rearing the young birds
on artificial syrup or bee's honey, but they will thrive on
soft, pulpy fruit.

Swainson's loriquet is a very noisy bird. It seldom
takes flight without uttering loud screams, which might
easily be mistaken for those of a cockatoo. It has also a
peculiar wheedling note, used when caressing its mate, and
which in captivity is often uttered when it is dreaming;
but it is not a good talker. It is often claimed by colonists
that parrots of this species can be taught to utter amusing
remarks ; but the sounds never seemed to me to be given
very clearly. Its beautiful plumage and lively habits are
its chief claims to interest as a pet. It is not remarkable
for intelligence, and scarcely seems to recognise its owner.

THE LYRE-BIRD 11

Intelligence, I think, is always less marked in birds than it
is in the higher class of vertebrates ; but there seem to
be some noticeable exceptions, which may be described
further on in these pages.

This loriquet is found on all parts of the east side of
Australia, especially on the Blue Mountains, and the hills
which form continuations of that range north and south.
I have not seen it in the interior, west of these mountains ;
but the large flocks mentioned above would sometimes,
after much wheeling around and ascending to a great
height, fly rapidly in the direction of the centre of the
continent.

As many persons believe that snow is almost unknown
in Australia, I may mention that falls of snow are of
tolerably common occurrence in many parts of the Blue
Mountains, though it never lies long on the ground. These
snow storms seem to be more numerous periodically — at
intervals of seven or eight years.

By far the most curious and interesting bird found in
the Blue Mountains is the lyre-bird, of which two species
are to be found on that part of the range which is nearest
to Picton — the Menura super ba and the M. alberti.
There is a third species found in the colony, but my
remarks concern the M. superba only. The other two
species are scarce, and all three are naturally, or have
become through incessant persecution, extremely shy.

The lyre-bird is essentially a mountain-forest bird, and
is solitary in its habits. It never assembles in flocks or
parties, and in all my experience I have never seen more
than a pair, or a pair and a young one, together ; generally
solitary birds only are met with. Possibly the hen is
never far away from the male bird, for they pair for life.
But except at the breeding season they are not often seen
actually together.

A general description of the bird's plumage is scarcely
necessary ; but in one particular all descriptions that I
have read quite fail. And that is the peculiar tone, so to
speak, of the bird's appearance. Were one of these birds
produced with the assertion that it was an old-world species

12 SOME BIRDS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

one could almost believe it. It certainly has an old-time,
extinct, antediluvian appearance— the characteristic appear-
ance, indeed, of several Australian birds and animals. The
plumage is usually described as brown with reddish mark-
ings on the tail feathers, and grey under parts ; but in life,
at anyrate, the tail coverts, most of the tail feathers, and
the under parts, have a peculiar dust colour that I have not
seen in any other bird, living or dead. This peculiar tone,
combined with the remarkable form of the lyre-bird, gives
it a unique appearance that is not exceeded by that of any
other avian curiosity. It seems, in very fact, to be the
strange inhabitant of an undeveloped, newly created land.
That, at least, is the impression that it has always given to
my mind.

The Blue Mountain range is, as I have said, the strong-
hold of the lyre-bird. There it can be seen and watched
as it certainly cannot be in any other part of the country.
It is there now more abundant than in any other district,
though it might, perhaps, be more correct to say that this
is the only part of the country where it is not practically
exterminated. For a long time a good price was obtain-
able at Sydney for its feathers, and if a bird was ever seen
within a hundred miles of that city it was tracked down
and shot. Never numerous, it is now only found with
difficulty in most parts of the colony. There are a few
spots, however, in the mountains where it has not been dis-
turbed, especially the isolated valleys which were described
in the first chapter.

It has always been considered, by systematists, a
puzzling bird, and has been allotted to at least half a dozen
genera. Some thought it a thrush, others a wren. For a
time it was a crow ; and when first discovered it was
described as a gallinacious bird ; while the French naturalist
Vieillot called it " Parkinson's Bird of Paradise," a descrip-
tion which was accepted by an English ornithologist of
some note. It is now usually placed among the Passeres,
or perching-birds. In any case the lyre-birds are an
aberrant family. Avian classification presents great diffi-
culties ; and the order Passeres (or perching-birds) as at

CLASSIFICATION OF THE LYRE-BIRD 13

present laid down is simply an ornithological receiving-ship
where avain nondescripts are sent until they can be allotted
to their proper stations. The Passeres form the bulk of
the birds, and the order is a convenient one in which to
place a bird that cannot be satisfactorily established in any
other ; but I strongly doubt that it is a passere. On the
other hand, so many Australian types of animals, of nearly
all classes, are so manifestly aberrant that it behoves one
to be chary of expressing an opinion.

Superficially the bird resembles some types of Indian
pheasants, both in size and appearance. It is also like a
crow, but it does not at all resemble a wren or a thrush.
Judging, as he did, from a drawing only, Vieillot was
justified in thinking it a bird of paradise, especially con-
sidering the region from which it was reported. The
birds of paradise are, in my opinion, closely allied to the
crows, but crow-like as is the lyre-bird, its plumage is not
at all like that of the hard, glossy corvidcz, but is very full,
and beautifully soft and fleecy to the touch. The hen has
not the remarkable lyre-shaped tail which distinguishes the
cock, but her tail is full and plume-like. The cock has
also a crest of filamentous feathers. The legs and feet are
adapted to swift running on the ground ; but though they
can run very rapidly, they are sometimes caught by dogs.
It is not a strong flyer, but rises without difficulty and flies
much like a weak-winged crow. It soon drops, always
choosing for the place of alighting a patch of dense scrub,
in which it runs to some secure lurking-place, so that I
have rarely succeeded in flushing one a second time. I
have read of their ascending to the tops of tall trees, but
have never seen such a thing. They sometimes perch on
low branches a few feet above the ground, apparently for
the, purpose of surveying the ground, but never fly very
high, and at the least sound they instantly drop to
the ground, and run to shelter at full speed, uttering,
two or three times, a single note of fright or warning.
The lyre-bird is one of the most timid and cautious birds
found on the Australian continent. Yet it is a pugnacious
bird, and two cocks will sometimes fight fiercely, the source

14 SOME BIRDS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

of jealousy being hard to discover. It does not seem to be
for possession of the hen, but rather arises, I think, from a
natural quarrelsomeness of disposition.

The food is, I think, entirely animal, and consists of all
kinds of insects, grubs, and slugs. I have seen them
probing decayed wood and bark in search of large grubs,
three or four inches long and as thick as the little finger,
which they eagerly devoured. If insects fly near them
they will leap up in the endeavour to capture them, in
which they often succeed ; and they search the crevices of
rocks and tree trunks for the minute creatures that lurk in
such hiding-places. Ants, also, often afford them a good
meal ; and they scratch the ground like domestic fowls in
their search for some undiscoverable dainty of microscopic
size.

The tail of the cock, seldom less than twenty inches
long, is usually carried trailing on the ground behind him,
for, like the peacock, he only occasionally displays this
handsome appendage. At the breeding season he makes
frequent displays of it for the edification of his hen ; at
other seasons it is rarely elevated. The hen, whatever her
real sentiments are, does not reveal that she is much
charmed by this show, but will be industriously scratching
and searching the earth while her mate is strutting round
her continually uttering an indescribable sound unlike that
of any other bird, and so harsh that a person hearing it for
the first time would be surprised to learn that it issued
from the throat of a bird that has been justly described as
" a sweet songster."

Song-birds, properly so described, are usually small in
size : the lyre-bird is one of the largest — perhaps absolutely
the largest. It is seldom that a bird as large in the body
as a bantam-cock is heard piping sweetly, yet the song of
the lyre-bird is as pleasing to the Australian as is that of
the nightingale to the Briton, and, as all who hear it
readily admit, reasonably so. Not only is the lyre-bird the
most charming-voiced of Austral birds, it is also the
mocking-bird of New South Wales. As is well known, it
imitates the notes and songs of other birds, but I have not

MIMICRY OF THE LYRE-BIRD 15

found the fact recorded that it also reproduces many other
than bird sounds, the two most extraordinary of which are
perhaps a hissing noise similar to that uttered by an
alarmed snake, and a sharp knocking sound like that
produced by striking a tree-trunk with a stick. All these
sounds are uttered apparently for the bird's own amuse-
ment. The song is rather loud, but sweet and flute-like in
tone, and quite unlike that of any other bird. It is piped
forth while the bird is perched on a branch, or dry stick,
close to the ground, and sometimes when it is on the
lowest bough of a tree not more than five or six feet from
the ground. The sounds of imitation include the calls and
cries of every creature that is found in the localities which
the lyre-bird inhabits, including those of such noisy birds
as the eagle, and the laughing-jackass, neither of which are
numerous in the Blue Mountains, though both are widely
spread. The lyre-bird nearly always interposes snatches of
its own song between its mimic cries, and finishes its
concert with a prolonged solo of its own notes. The times
of singing are sometimes early morning, but more often in
the evening ; and the song is often kept up till night has
quite set in.

The nest of the lyre-bird more resembles a house than
a nest. It is a large enclosed structure, generally placed
against a gnarled tree-trunk, or amongst the tangled roots
of a partially up-rooted tree ; but it is so constructed, and
so skilfully placed that it is almost sure to escape the
notice of a careless searcher. It looks like a mass of
tangled root-fibres and briers half-buried amidst dead
vegetation. The entrance is always well-concealed, and
the egg cannot be got at without breaking up the nest.
The opening is at the base of the nest, level with the
ground, and the bird ascends upwards to a kind of platform
beyond which there is a depression for the reception of the
egg. Only one egg is laid each season, and that egg is as
curious and aberrant as the bird itself. It is usual, in all
parts of the world, for the eggs of birds that breed in the
dark (and the interior of the nest of a lyre-bird is darker
than the interior of a hollow tree-trunk) to be pure white,

16 SOME BIRDS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

but the egg of the lyre-bird is black, or so nearly black that
it cannot be described by any other word. It has a peculiar
smudged appearance ; but the eggs vary a little, some being
darker and clearer than others. All are black, however,
and large in size compared with the bird.

I have thought from the time I first examined a
lyre-bird's nest that its peculiar shape is intended as a
defence against snakes and lizards. These reptiles could
not possibly get at the young without exposing themselves
to an unguardable attack from the hen bird, and the nest
is probably highly protective in appearance. Before I
gained experience I could never discover a lyre-bird's
nest until I almost kicked against it. The time of nesting
is, in New South Wales, from April to July. I have taken
eggs as early as the middle of April, and unfledged birds
may be found in July. All attempts which I have made to
rear the young have failed, and the old birds will seldom
live in captivity.

The eagle referred to above as being mimicked by
the lyre-bird is the white-bellied sea-eagle, Haliaetus
leucogaster, though the magnificent wedge-tailed eagle,
Uroaetus audax, is also found in the Blue Mountains.
The white-bellied eagle comes in from the sea every
evening about sun-down. It is irregular in its habits,
and probably only a few come to the mountains to roost.
As I could never find its nest in the mountains, I conclude
that it always breeds on the sea-coast.

The wedge-tailed eagle does breed in the Blue
Mountain range and throughout the mountains of the
east side of Australia, and also in the larger islands off the
coast, and I have obtained specimens from the western
mountains of New Zealand. The bird has a very wide
habitat in these regions, but I have not found it to be
anywhere numerous. A pair seem to occupy a district
which is not intruded on by others of the same species,
though the wedge-tailed is not so quarrelsome as the sea-
eagle, which has frequent squabbles with its companions
and with hawks of other species.

Both eagles eat almost any kind of food they can find,

AUSTRALIAN EAGLES 17

including carrion. I am strongly of opinion that this was
not the original habit of either bird, for there could be
little or no carrion in a land so scantily supplied with large
mammals as Australia, and the carrion now consumed by
these birds is furnished by the horses, cattle, and sheep
which meet with an untimely end (as by drought, for
instance) in the plains. In the mountains both species
capture living prey, and frequently consume such small fry
as rats, lizards, and snakes, as well as small birds. The
carrion-feeding is, I think, an acquired habit, like the
sheep-kidney eating of the kaka parrot of New Zealand.
Both eagles are charged by the shepherds and stockmen
with pecking out the eyes of young lambs and calves, and
are consequently shot without mercy whenever they come
within range of the guns of these men. I have not been
able to verify the correctness of this charge. On one
occasion I saw a wedge-tailed eagle carry off a recently
born dead lamb, and it is reasonable to suppose that these
large and powerful birds sometimes seize living lambs ;
but their numbers are too few to justify the charge of their
causing serious loss to the stockmen. One man told me
that a single pair of these eagles had caused him a loss of
over sixty lambs by blinding them ; but he could give no
proof of the assertion, and I consider the story absurd.

The wedge-tailed eagle is much the finest bird of prey
found in Australia ; indeed, it is one of the largest of the
accipitrines. I have seen specimens which measured
forty inches in length ; but though it is more than a foot
longer than the sea-eagle, and in every respect a much
larger and stronger bird, it is often attacked and soundly
beaten by the marine species. The wedge-tailed eagle is,
indeed, a timid and shy bird, and is easily alarmed. The
report of a gun is sufficient to drive it out of a district, to
which it may not return until many days have elapsed ;
nor will it defend its young from the plundering hand of
the bird-collector, though its lesser kinsman, the sea-eagle,
will bravely resent intrusion on its nest.

The sea-eagle preys largely on marine animals ; but
though I have watched it much, I have never seen it

B

18 SOME BIRDS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

actually fishing at a distance from the shore. It seizes
fish which become stranded in shallow pools, and destroys
large numbers of crustaceans and shell-fish. The shells of
the latter it smashes against boulders and rocks, and it
will also consume any dead fish or other animals thrown
up by the waves, even if they are in a putrid state. It is
a quarrelsome bird, and will drive away gulls or other
birds of prey that chance to come near it, and all these
seem to fear it. I have also seen it devour young sea-
birds, which it procured from nests in the coast cliffs.
Altogether, it may be termed the tyrant of the Australian
bird-world. So far as I know, this bird is confined to the
eastern coast of Australia, on which it ranges from Cape
York to the southernmost points of Victoria. It is also
found in Tasmania and on many of the smaller islands,
the latter probably being only occasionally visited.

The wedge-tailed eagle, on the other hand, is spread
over the whole continent, and is likewise found in Tasmania ;
and though, as I have already said, it is nowhere an
abundant bird, it is perhaps more numerous in south-
western Australia than in any other part of the country.

CHAPTER III

THE RIVERINE DISTRICT

THE interior of New South Wales, westward of the Blue
Mountains, is a typical Australian country. Hot, desolate,
and barren it is, but not waterless. It bears the name
Riverine District on account of the great number of rivers
which intersect it ; yet a person may perish of thirst in this
land of rivulets. The country has been seen in so flooded
a state that it was thought unfit for occupation by the
squatter. An Australian country too wet for habitation !
A little reflection would have convinced any experienced
stockman that this could not be.

In our strange and anomalous country the changes of
climatic conditions are as marvellous as its productions are
eccentric. In this Riverine District, twenty or thirty
inches of rain may fall in a few days — then not a drop for
a twelvemonth or more. The anxious explorer passes
through a land which seems to be an interminable marsh
blocking his way in all directions ; and in despair he turns
back. Next year another explorer finds the reported
marsh a dry desert, and he turns back — not because of
excess of water, but because he cannot find enough of it to
preserve life. One year the land is parched and black
and devoid of vegetation, the next it is covered with
flourishing grass intermingled with a great variety of
beautiful flowers, and swarming with animal life. It
depends entirely on the amount of the annual rain-fall.
And the squatter who is a meteorologist is the one who is
most likely to prosper on these plains. Not that any man
can anticipate meteorological conditions with certainty;

20 THE RIVERINE DISTRICT

meteorology here is a branch of the science of chances.
It may be anticipated that one year in fourteen will be a
phenomenally wet one, and one in fourteen a more than
phenomenally dry one. The intermediate years are all
uncertain ; sometimes a fair amount of rain, sometimes a
few drops only. Sometimes it comes down as if it was
emptied from hogsheads — in one torrent ; and sometimes
it drizzles down in a few scanty showers, with long intervals
of time between them.

In a good year the sheep of the squatter increase as
rapidly as those of Jacob ; in a bad one he may lose his
whole stock. The squatter, therefore, who prepares for a
non-rainy day, and takes care to have by him the where-
withal to meet such a disaster, is the only one who is safe
in this trying country. There are instances on record of
squatters having lost every head of their stock ; and such
disasters too often entirely ruin the unfortunate men who
suffer them.

Westward, beyond the Blue Mountains, the country
appears to be absolutely flat. The rivers have no current.
Many of them have not a fall of an inch per mile, and some
of them not an inch in three or four miles. In dry
seasons the smaller ones shrink into a series of ponds or
mud-holes, or perhaps become entirely waterless ; while
some of the larger streams cease to be navigable by the
small steamers and launches that ply upon them. The
waters of even such rivers as the Murrumbidgee and
Darling are quite currentless, and appear like canals. This,
indeed, is their normal condition.

The country on the eastern plains is as desolate looking
as it is in the west. The soil is generally darker coloured
— almost black ; there is little or no grass, and the herbage
consists of puny tufts of mallee-scrub only a few inches in
height. Here and there this scrub forms clumps of bushes
which rarely rise higher than the traveller's head. The
few trees that are met with are scattered about singly, or
in twos and threes, and never form woods or groves. This
is the summer aspect of the country. In winter, so-called,
the land assumes a normal aspect. Grass five or six feet

CHARACTER OF CENTRAL PLAINS 21

high and thousands of bright-coloured flowers render the
country beautiful and quite change its general appearance.
Such is the magical effect of a few inches of rain.

Several of my friends owned extensive runs in this
district ; and I have lived there a good deal, and rambled
extensively in all parts of it. For several years it was my
pleasure to spend my holidays riding about the country
collecting specimens and learning what I could of the
habits of the strange wild creatures, which are so unlike
those of any other land. Though born in the country and
twenty-five years of age before I saw any other, I have
always been fully aware of the abnormal character of the
native fauna. Perhaps this is owing to the fact that I was
at an early age plentifully supplied with well-illustrated
works on natural science, and the forms and ways of
animals in all parts of the world were made known to me.

Australia is not a land in which a traveller is likely to
meet with many exciting adventures. There are no
dangerous wild beasts to contend with ; and although the
11 blackfellows " are apt to be cantankerous in some parts,
collisions with them are not often heard of. The most
exciting experiences are the sufferings occasioned by want
of water or food.

One of the most trying accidents I ever met with
occurred during a ride across the country from Dubbo to
Cooper's Water-Hole, an outlying station on the Bogan
river, where I was at the time employed. The distance
was reckoned at a hundred and ten miles, and throughout
the road lay over a desolate plain, where I did not see half
a dozen men on the double journey. These were shepherds,
wandering, like the patriarchs of the early ages, in search
of fresh pastures : for some of the " runs " in this district
are nearly as large as English counties.

We were short-handed at the station, which is a rule
among squatters : for these gentlemen, like the captains of
merchant vessels, generally like to run their ventures as
cheaply as possible. Consequently, I was sent to Dubbo
alone to transact some important business, and performed
the journey thither without incident, except that I thought

22 THE RIVERINE DISTRICT

that my horse (one of the best on the station) seemed
unusually tired. I remained two days at Dubbo, and then
started on the return journey, with, of course, the same
horse. After I had ridden about sixty miles, my horse showed
signs of great fatigue, which was quite unaccountable to
me, for it was supposed to be an animal of great powers
of endurance. Incoming out I had passed a shepherd's
temporary hut in (as I thought) this neighbourhood ; and
I walked the horse about for some hours in a vain
endeavour to find it. Not succeeding in doing this, I
resolved to camp out, though it was still early in the day.

There was a water-hole at the spot I chose, and
materials for a fire ; and I amused myself till dark with
shooting the ducks, which are found on all the waters of
this region during the winter-time. It was very lonely,
and I passed a wretched time till the next morning,
which seemed an interminable time in appearing. I did
not sleep at all ; and the horse, which was certainly unwell,
after attempting to graze for a little time, lay down near
me, and was as restless during the night as I was myself.

I lay on the ground wrapped in a cloak, and had to
rise every hour at least to feed the fire, as there was only
small wood growing thereabouts. As soon as it was light
enough to enable me to see the way, I saddled the horse
and started to finish the journey home. As every furlong
was covered, I became more convinced that there was
something serious the matter with the horse, till, when I
had ridden six or seven miles, it suddenly fell, and in a
few minutes was dead. This was an accident that quite
unnerved me. I thought that I was at least sixty miles
from home without, so far as I knew, a fellow-man near to
me in any direction. I had a skin-bag full of water, but
the scanty provision I had brought from Dubbo was
exhausted.

At first I lost my head, and wandered up and down,
sometimes thinking I would try to find the shepherds I
had seen a day or two before, and sometimes resolving to
return to Dubbo. Frightful memories of the fate of lost
men in this desert, of which I had heard many stories,

ALONE IN THE DESERT 23

recurred to me and increased my disquietude, for I was
very young (under twenty years) and inexperienced. After
the lapse of some hours, I found that I had wandered back
to the spot where the dead horse lay, and I remembered
having heard that it was the invariable course of an in-
experienced person to move in a circle. I remembered
also that the real bushman is said never to fall into this
fatal error, and I recalled the rules laid down for circum-
stances similar to those in which I found myself. With
some effort of will I recovered self-control, and sat down
for a little time to think. I decided that I was more likely
to reach home than to succeed in returning to Dubbo, and
as I could not tell my precise bearings, I started westward,
knowing that this direction would bring me to the river,
on reaching which I should have no difficulty in finding
my way to the station.

My equipment for this long tramp of sixty miles con-
sisted of my water-bag, a pipe, with a pinch or two of
tobacco, a box of matches, and a fowling-piece and partially
emptied powder-flask and shot-belt. I had also a little tea
and sugar, but no other food.

Endeavouring to keep a stout heart I tried to find the
river, knowing that this was my nearest way home, and
that by following its course I should be sure of an abundant
supply of water. I felt confident that I should reach the
station before hunger could greatly weaken me ;'but when
night fell upon the land I had not yet reached the river.
Walking was very laborious work. The grass was high
and the herbage thick, and my progress, in consequence,
slow and very tiring too.

Ducks sometimes flew over my head, and I several
times fired at them, but did not kill any of them, and I
had to resort to the example of the native blackfellows,
and satisfy my hunger with roasted fern-roots. I lay all
night on the ground, and being now very tired, slept
soundly. The fire went out, and I awoke at dawn stiff
with cold, for the nights are often very chilly on these
plains, and on this night there was a slight frost.

My water was now expended. I did not suffer from

24 THE RIVERINE DISTRICT

thirst, but I did from hunger, the fern-roots not being
of much more value as food for a white man than so much
hay. I ate a few berries which I found growing on the
plain, but these made me sick. Soon after I resumed my
journey I saw the river on my right hand almost due
north of the course I was taking. Much surprised, I
supposed I had inadvertently taken the wrong direction,
and I was thankful to know I should now have a sure
land-mark to follow. Yet I was puzzled — the river seemed
to be so broad, and there was a thick wood of trees which
I had not previously seen or heard of. This was disquiet-
ing, as it seemed to indicate that I had wandered very
much out of my way ; and my fears much increased when,
after some hours of laborious walking, I found that the
river seemed as far off as when first sighted, and I realised
that I had been pursuing a mirage, and again turned my
feet westward.

Soon the mirage was shining on all sides of me,
showing a glaring white contrast to the deep green of
the plains. These phenomena are much more prevalent
in summer when the ground is bare than in the winter
season, when they are exceptional. The effect is often
most extraordinary and puzzling, for not only does water
seem to lie in large and numerous pools close to the
traveller, but there are also beautiful woods and groves
where no trees exist perhaps for a distance of twenty or
thirty miles. The bleakest desert is thus often turned
into the appearance of a terrestrial paradise. Trees hang
over the waters, or rise from the bosom of a bright-surfaced
lake in graceful clumps. Not infrequently mountains and
large islands appear, and the astonished traveller has these
visions before his eyes, apparently within a half-hour's ride,
while he journeys for days across an absolutely flat plain
of the most sterile and monotonous type — a plain which
does not seem capable in summer-time of supporting a
mouse. Yet there is always a numerous population of
wallaby, kangaroos, and birds here, besides millions of
sheep and rabbits. How do these creatures live ? Entirely
on the roots of the grass and herbage which want but a

MARVELLOUS EFFECT OF RAIN 25

shower or two of rain to cause them to spring into a
luxuriant growth which will quite change the aspect of the
country in a few days — I had nearly written in a few
hours. And that would scarcely be an exaggeration, so
rapid is the growth of the herbage on the mere taste of
water. Indeed, the grass and the ferns and the glorious
flowers come like magic when the first of the winter's rains
fall. It may sound strange to speak of winter being the
time of beauty and fruitfulness, and summer as that of
desolation and death ; but so it is in Australia — " The
Land of Anomalies," as it has been justly called.

It was about mid-day when I reached the river bank at
a part which was quite unknown to me, and just as I did
so I sprang a small wallaby from a tuft of dead grass close
to my feet, and had the good fortune to kill it.

My heart was now filled with joy and courage, for the
river was life to me in more senses than one. It was the
guide to safety, and ensured a plentiful isupply of water
while I was wandering in this desert. As it was winter-
time, the river was rather full, and there was a considerable
number of water-fowl upon it — swans, ducks, ibises, rails,
and cranes, etc., so that I had the prospect of obtaining
food as well as drink from the life-giving stream.

In fact, from this point both my fright and my real
troubles rapidly decreased. I had to live entirely on
animal food without salt and vegetables, and I endured
considerable suffering from the cold and damp at night,
for it rained heavily several times, which prevented my
making a fire. I contrived to cook a bird or two some-
times during the day, and thus I lived for nearly four days.
Probably I wandered a little from the direct road, and I
had difficulty sometimes in walking through the thick
grass. It seemed to me that I walked much more than
twenty miles a day, but it was not until the evening of the
fourth day that I reached the point where the station
ferry boat was kept, and my alarming adventure was over.

Now I am an old and experienced bushman, and
should think little or nothing of such an experience as
that I have just narrated. It is a very rare thing for an

26 THE RIVERINE DISTRICT

old Australian bushman to be lost ; it is quite as rare an
occurrence for a " green " hand to escape. Even intelligent
strangers get bewildered in the bush, and seem to have no
better idea of taking the right course than a young child
would have. To the true bushman it seems ridiculous
that a person should wander for hours, and quite possibly
for days, without moving a mile away from the spot where
he first lost his reckoning. Yet this is the rule. Over
and over again has it been proved that men have moved
round in a small circle for more than a week, and
ultimately died of exhaustion within a few hundred yards
of the place from whence they started on the walk of
death. Not only so, but on two occasions I have known of
men dying within five miles of the houses where they had
received hospitality, and in one of these cases the man
must have lived a fortnight, constantly moving round a
circle which never had a diameter of a mile and a half.
He must have repeatedly passed his old fire-places, and
perceived that he was making no headway in any direction,
and yet seemed unable to break away from the fatal
circle. What is the explanation ? It is difficult to give an
altogether satisfactory one. The strange conduct of some
wanderers in such circumstances is suggestive of insanity.
But some well-known facts, coupled with the narratives of
rescued persons, point to the explanation that the lost
persons have simply perished owing to fright — bewilder-
ment. It may not seem much to be lost on a wide plain
or in a forest — an account of such an adventure does not
make very exciting reading in a book — it is really very
unnerving to the wanderer who does not know how to act
with assured confidence in such circumstances ; and the more
he finds himself involved, the more his consciousness that
he is lost seems to have a paralysing effect on the mind
of the wanderer, rendering him incapable of vigorous
thought or action. Sometimes he even dies of sheer
fright ; and some, after a time finding they continually
return to the same spot, give way to despair, lie down,
and make no further effort to save themselves.

Often the question has been put to me : " But how is

THE FATAL CIRCLE 27

it that lost persons have not the gumption to follow
the sun, or to move in a line from one fixed object to
another ? " There is very great ignorance on such points
as these. " I was told if I kept my back to the sun I
couldn't go wrong," said a man who was found in a state
of exhaustion on the Bogan plains. It is not worth while
to inquire which was the more ignorant, the person who
gave this advice, or he who was guided by it ; but it was
the cause of the latter moving round in a circle, from which
he could not break away, although in a very few hours he
discovered that he was going wrong. Following fixed
objects is also a very uncertain and unsafe plan, for it is
impossible to keep the attention fixed for long on obscure
objects such as trees, bushes, boulders, and so on, in a
country where the scene is constantly, though perhaps
but slightly, changing. The educated traveller has a
compass, and this is a sure but troublesome guide ; the
true bushman relies on his instinct — an instinct that soon
comes with experience and practice — and this is an even
surer guide than the compass. The compass cannot lead
to water or to the best route. These and other necessary
or desirable objects seem to be as discoverable by the
bushman's instinct as surely as they are by that of the
brute or the bird. Certainly, a bushman or a native black
will strike a straight line from place to place over any
description of country and for any distance. If they are
compelled to diverge from the true line for a time to avoid
impediments, as lakes, marshes, or hills, they nevertheless
have no difficulty in resuming the true direction as soon
as the obstacle is passed.

The instinct of the native blackfellow in this respect
is passing wonderful. Nobody ever heard of a black
perishing from inability to look after himself in the desert ;
and if anyone asserted that he had known of such a case,
I should receive his statement with much doubt. The
black never perishes from hunger or thirst, or from being
out of his latitude. Game is scarce sometimes, and he
strives to numb the craving of his stomach by tightening
his hunger-belt, but he never dies of actual starvation.

28 THE RIVERINE DISTRICT

If he cannot capture just when he wants them the wallaby
or the emu, he puts up with such fry as snakes, grubs, and
lizards, or sneaks round the station to beg the offal from
the slaughtered sheep ; a meal of some kind he always
succeeds in finding. Is there a drought in the land ? He
seems to smell out the few remaining water-holes, so
skilful is he in finding them. As to his hunger, which the
traveller or other observer too frequently erroneously
puts down to scarcity of food in the land, it is far more
often the result of his laziness. Often the idle fellow will
lie in the sun, or under shelter of his scanty lean-to, until
his hunger-belt no longer serves its object, and he must
eat or suffer. Then he gets upon his feet, orders his
gin to bring his weapons — his spear and throwing-stick,
his boomerang and perhaps his hand-net for fish — and,
followed and assisted by his faithful slave, whom he
probably beats out of mere ill-temper at having to exert
himself, he soon has the wherewithal to gorge like a
vulture; and he does gorge like a vulture. Like other
savages, alternate want and excess seem more to his liking
than a daily moderate allowance. He cares not to eat or
drink at all, unless he can do so to satiety.

On my return to the station I found the hands anxious
about my prolonged absence, and two men had been sent
to look for me. They found the dead horse, and reported
its death to be due to a diseased heart, that organ having
been found on examination to be enlarged to an extra-
ordinary degree, though it had never been suspected that
there was anything the matter.

I now look back with amusement to the scene which
occurred on my appearance, though I was at the time
greatly hurt by it. The loss of the horse was considered
a far more important matter than my peril, and the anger
of the owner was almost without bounds. The animal's
death was attributed to my mismanagement. " They
might have known it ! Served them right for entrusting

a valuable animal to a Johnny Raw ! " Then followed

some uncomplimentary reflections on my personal appear-
ance. " What were they thinking of that they had not

LECTURING A "JOHNNY RAW" 29

discerned spooney in every lineament of my countenance ?
Did I know how to spell ass ? Had I ever seen a mule ? "
All these vituperatives being emphasised with adjectives of
a force only heard, I should think, in Australia.

Being young and " green " I was greatly incensed at
this injustice, the more so as, on the real cause of the
horse's death being discovered, no apology or expression
of regret was offered me. Then I, in turn, lost temper,
and, I am afraid, gave ample proof that in time I should
know how to " tackle a ' Johnny Raw.' " This only amused
the " old hands," who declared, with glee, that they liked
to hear a young pup bark, and see him show his teeth.

CHAPTER IV

ORGANIC LIFE ON THE RIVERINE PLAINS

I HAVE already said that animal life is never absent from
the deserts of the Riverine district. The giant kangaroo,
commonly called " the old man," has become very cautious,
and is only found now in sheltered spots remote from the
neighbourhood of the habitation of man. Wallaby are
numerous in many places ; they were formerly found every-
where in the district ; and rabbits during the last few
decades have become a dangerous nuisance. " Dangerous "
may seem a strong word to use, but really the increase of
this troublesome rodent has become so great and persistent
that it is a question if it will not ultimately oust the sheep
from the district, and ruin many large squatters. Nothing
that has yet been done to diminish the number of rabbits
in this and other districts has been perceptibly successful,
and it looks as if we shall presently have to talk of
" billions " rather than " millions " of rabbits. But there
are districts which are infested in a greater degree than
the Riverine, and I shall have to return to this subject in
another chapter.

Standing on the plains west of the Bogan in summer-
time and looking round, one sees nothing except a
desolate plain, dark coloured almost to blackness. Not a
green thing is visible, not even a blade of grass. The few
trees, mostly standing singly, seem to be dead — and many
of them really are so, perhaps because the wallaby and the
sheep have gnawed the bark. None of them show green
leaves, and the few bushes, seldom rising more than a
couple of feet from the ground, are also bare. For in a

30

APPEARANCE OF THE BOGAN PLAINS 31

season of drought even the evergreens shed their leaves.
Looking closely at the ground, it is seen to be covered with
withered root-tufts of grass and herbage ; and on this
miserable-looking forage the sheep and the wild animals
not only thrive, but fatten as in a land of Goshen.

Water has to be found for the sheep, and this is the
great anxiety of the squatter. In winter the rainfall is
stored in water-holes artificially constructed, but the supply
thus collected usually fails long before the summer is over,
though it is husbanded with the most anxious care. Some-
times there are natural water-holes, situated far apart, on a
sheep-run, and these may last a long time ; but on the run
where I spent most of my youth we often had to dig for
water. This was sometimes found at depths of twelve to
twenty feet, but we occasionally dug wells a hundred feet
deep without finding it. If we were fortunate enough to
discover a supply, it had to be drawn up to the troughs
with hand-pumps, and this was work invariably put upon
the new chums, or "Johnny Raws," as they delighted to
call them on our run. Frequently have I spent whole days
incessantly pumping till my arms felt wearied and strained
to the point of leaving the shoulder-sockets, but never have
I found a squatter, or " an old hand," who had the
slightest care for, or sympathy with, a new chum. All the
dirty and laborious work on a station is allotted to the
unfortunate individual, the latest arrival at the station, who
bears the title of new chum ; and the more he complains
the worse is his lot. Should he presume to remonstrate,
all hands delight to find fresh means of annoying and
oppressing him, and the best thing he can do is to submit
with such grace as he can command. In time things find
their level.

The most common birds on the plains are carrion
crows, and they are always there in thousands. They are
very rook-like in appearance, and have the same call note
as the English rook. Their cawing is incessant, and may
often be heard on moonlight nights till long after midnight.
Like all the genus, they are exceedingly restless birds, and
have a very bad repute with the squatters, who make the

32 ORGANIC LIFE ON THE RIVERINE PLAINS

same charge against them as is made against the raven in
Europe — that they destroy young lambs. They certainly
do peck out the eyes of many newly-born animals, lambs
in particular, and the field-hands such as shepherds, stock-
riders, and the swagsmen (or tramps) have an inveterate
hatred of them, as they say they hover over sick and dying
men in the bush, and begin tearing their flesh as soon as
they perceive they are helpless, and long before they are
dead. Carrion forms the bulk of their food, but they also
eat young birds, rats, and grubs and insects of all sorts, and
any odds and ends they find lying about the stock-yards
and houses. For they are the boldest of birds, fear man
but little, and will enter open doors and windows without
hesitation. The same may be said of the magpies, as the
colonists call the piping-crows, which are nearly as
abundant on the Riverine plains as are their carrion
brethren, but from which they differ much in habits.

There are two species of piping-crows in the Riverine
district, the black-backed {Gymnorhina tibica) and the
white-backed (G. leuconotd). As may be guessed from
their names, these two birds differ from each other but
little. They both have pied plumage, and here, in the
Riverine, the black-backed is the species most numerous
in individuals. Further south, in Victoria, the white-
backed predominates. They are harmless birds, and are
great favourites with the colonists. There are but few
homes, humble or great, that have not a piping-crow for a
pet, and they may frequently be seen hopping about the
stock-yards and enclosed paddocks in a state of semi-
liberty. They become much attached to persons who are
kind to them, and though they never learn to speak more
than a word or two, they often imitate the barking of dogs,
squalling of cats, and similar domestic sounds, while they
whistle and scream like parrots, and utter their own pretty
song.

On the plains they appear in small flocks, which are
numerous, but never exceed twenty individuals and are
oftener less than a dozen in number. They will permit a
man to approach them pretty closely, and on being alarmed

THE BLACK SWAN 33

generally fly no further than the nearest gum- or ty-tree,
where they sit watching the intruder, chattering, piping
softly, and occasionally uttering a very similar caw to that
of their carrion relative. They are affectionate birds
amongst themselves, and are not as mischievous as most
crows. They feed on insects of all sorts, and will, occasion-
ally at least, consume carrion and filth of all sorts, and also
any scraps they find about the homesteads of the colonists,
but they never attack living animals of any kind, great or
small.

The nest of the piping-crow is often placed in the
solitary gum-trees and ty-trees which are scattered about
the plains, sometimes three or four nests in one tree. The
eggs, three or four in number, are typical Australian crow's
eggs, which differ considerably from those of European
crows. Those of the piping-crow are white in ground
colour, with a faint bluish, greenish, or reddish tinge, and
closely blotched with bright brown and purplish-grey
markings.

In winter-time, when the water-holes are full and there
is marshy ground near the rivers, black swans, and the
crane, commonly called " the native companion," are
numerous. There are also white swans and ducks in great
abundance. The black swans may be seen in flocks of
sixty or eighty, and natives and old stock-riders say
that formerly flocks often numbered several hundreds.
They have been much persecuted, many trapped, and
others shot, often wantonly, I fear: hence the reduced
numbers.

The plumage of the black swan (Cygnus atratus) would
be better described as blackish rather than actually black ;
it is never a deep or bright black. The primaries are
white and the beak reddish ; the rest of the bird is a dull
black colour. The habits of this swan are similar to those
of the white species ; but the two birds keep strictly apart,
and I have never had so much as a suspicion that they
ever breed together.

In a few points the black swan differs from the white
species. It does not fly so high, so fast, or so freely as the

C

34 ORGANIC LIFE ON THE RIVERINE PLAINS

latter bird, and it lays fewer eggs in a clutch — usually not
more than six, and never more, in my experience, than
eight, though I have found as many as a dozen in a white
swan's nest. The nest is placed in different situations,
according to circumstances. I have found the nest of the
white species among rocks on the coast ; and they often
breed on rocks at a distance from the shore. I could never
ascertain that the black swan has this habit. In the
Riverine the nest is usually placed in the midst of an
impenetrable marsh ; and I have found one or two
hidden in the thick rushes of the Bogan and other
large rivers. The plumage of the young bird is of a grey
colour.

The nest of the native companion (Grus anstraliacd) I
never succeeded in finding. The crane is a fine, handsome
bird, standing sometimes nearly five feet high. The
plumage is a handsome blue-grey in colour. These birds
never assemble in flocks. Four or five are sometimes seen
together, but pairs are often met with ; and I think it may
safely be asserted that the union of the male and female is
for life. Like that of other species of cranes, the attach-
ment of these birds for each other is very great. If one is
killed, the other will come back and hover about the dead
bird ; so that the sportsman is sure of the pair if he
succeeds in shooting one. The chief food of the native
companion is eels, lizards, frogs, and snakes ; and, as they
destroy many poisonous snakes and other troublesome
vermin, they ought to be strictly protected. I do not think
they catch many fish (eels excepted), but they have been
seen by me to devour rats ; and they often destroy the
young of marsh breeding birds. They have a peculiar
habit of prancing to and fro — dancing, I suppose some
naturalists would call it. This only happens when several
pairs are together ; and the object of the exercise I could
never discover. Their movements on such occasions are
not very quick, but are rythmical and graceful.

The Australian bustard is also a prominent object on
these plains, as well as the swan. I will defer describing
the latter bird for the present.

THE AUSTRALIAN BUSTARD 35

The bustard (Enpodotis australis) is a large bird weigh-
ing at least twenty-five pounds ; and, contrary to what is
reported of the European bustard, when pursued it will
run, and not fly ; and no dogs that I have seen pursue it
could get near it. It is a very shy bird, with an acute
sense of smell ; and it is useless to attempt to approach it
except against the wind ; and then the sportsman will
probably be detected before he gets within three hundred
yards of it. It can only be shot with a rifle.

On account of the difficulty of approaching the
Australian bustard, I have not been able to study its
habits very closely. I know that it eats large quantities of
insects, particularly cicadae, and condescends to prey upon
very minute animals of this class. It also consumes
small frogs and lizards, but I have not found other animal
food in the crops of the few I have shot. In one there was
a great mass of small seeds, and in another the remains
(elytra and legs) of many small beetles. Often a single
bustard may be seen running across the plain, sometimes
a pair, but rarely a party of them together. The Australian
bustard, therefore, is not gregarious.

I have taken but two nests of this bird. In one there
was a single egg; in the other, two; in both cases, the
clutch may have been incomplete. The eggs are light
brown, thickly sprinkled with spots of a darker hue.
There could scarcely be said to have been a nest under the
eggs. The coarse grass was pressed down and arranged
round a hollow, looking more like the lair of a mammal
than the nest of a bird. The spots chosen were in the
midst of dense scrub on the open plain, and the eggs
harmonised so well with their surroundings that they were
difficult to discover, as, I may add, is the bird itself; for
on one occasion I got quite close to a sitting hen, and
should certainly have passed her without discovery had she
remained quiet. The mad rush with which she dashed
away was quite startling, and her speed so great that she
was quite a hundred yards away before I recognised her
to be a bustard. This bird had but a single egg under
her, which was evidently recently laid. I had the nest

36 ORGANIC LIFE ON THE RIVERINE PLAINS

carefully watched, but she never returned to it. It is then
presumable that the bustard, under the influence of fear,
will abandon its nest.

Of mammals the great kangaroo (Macropus giganteus)
is by far the most important found in Australia, and is so
typical of the country that it is impossible to mention it
without causing the mind to revert to the terra australis.
In the Riverine district it is now scarce. It affords such
excellent sport in a run across country with dogs that the
ardent squatter sportsmen have nearly exterminated it in
this part of the country, and indeed in all the settled
districts.

The great kangaroo is the most elegant in build and
appearance of all the kangaroos. I do not know how
many species of kangaroos there are in Australia, nor
where the kangaroos end and the wallabies commence. It
is clear that the two types form but one family, and differ
in little except size, though the smallest species, some of
which weigh only a few ounces, are extremely rat-like in
outward contour. There are at least a dozen species of
kangaroos and wallabies in the district under description ;
and it may be useful to mention that in the popular
descriptions of the country the largest of these marsupials
are termed kangaroos, the medium sized are distinguished
by their native name of wallabies, and the very smallest
are called kangaroo-rats. The notices of all these animals
will be incidental throughout this work. They are so
universally distributed in the country that they must be
referred to in all parts of it ; and to pick out all the
information regarding any one species for record in any
particular chapter would lead to the mutilation of many
interesting incidents and descriptions. The name wallaby
is certainly of native origin, and is still used in many
parts of the country by the aborigines, but not by all.
Tribal names for kangaroos and wallabies are very
numerous, and differ much in different localities. The
word kangaroo is probably a corruption of wallaroo, the
name given to large kangaroos generally in various parts
of eastern Australia. At any rate, none of the aborigines

DERIVATION OF WORD "KANGAROO" 37

now use the term " kangaroo " ; nor does it appear that
they ever did so.

The animal is so well known that a general description
of it is not necessary. Fine specimens of the great
kangaroo are about 5 feet in height when sitting upright,
and the total length from the snout to the end of the
tail is often as much as 10 feet. The tail, owing to its
thickness, is much longer than it looks ; it may be taken,
roughly, at about two-fifths of the entire length of the
animal. The weight varies much with locality and season.
The dimensions of the three largest I have shot are as
follows : — One killed on the Darling plains, about forty
miles north of Blaxland : total length 9 feet 10J inches, tail
4 feet 2 inches, weight 255 lbs. Another from the same
locality, 8 feet 1 1 inches, tail 4 feet 5 inches, weight 189 lbs.
One killed near the station on Bogan river, 8 feet 10 inches,
tail 4 feet 2 inches, weight 203 lbs. All these were males.

Other kangaroos and wallabies in the district are the
black-tailed wallaby {Macropus ualabutus), about the size
of a poodle, but sometimes weighing 60 lbs. ; the padamelon
wallaby (M. theditis), length of fine specimen from nose to
root of tail 24 inches, tail 18 inches, weight 16 or 17 lbs.;
red kangaroo (M. rufus), length 55 inches, tail 40 inches,
weight 152 lbs.; red-necked brush-kangaroo, length 3 feet
6 inches, tail 2 feet 6 inches, weight 80 lbs. These are the
largest and most important of the kangaroos found in the
Riverine plains, and they are found more or less plenti-
fully throughout the eastern side of the continent.

Some of the smaller wallabies are not more than a foot
long (exclusive of the tail), and do not weigh more than a
couple of pounds. The shooting of these small wallabies is
better and more exciting sport than rabbit-shooting, and
they are an excellent article of food. I cannot give
the specific designation of all those that inhabit the
Riverine and Darling plains; but the hare-wallaby
{Largochestes leporoides) is one of the most abundant.
The average length of this wallaby is 18 inches, and I
shot exceptionally fine specimens which exceeded 22
inches, tail about 10 inches, weight a dozen pounds.

38 ORGANIC LIFE ON THE RIVERINE PLAINS

The habits of all these species are remarkably similar.
They all go in small herds or droves of from 40 to 200.
The herds of the larger kinds are often locally called " mobs."
Odd individuals are only occasionally met with, and are
always large males, seemingly only temporarily separated
from their herds. Each herd keeps distinct from others,
and they never congregate in vast droves, like many
species of deer. They all feed on grass, herbage, and
leaves, as well as on bark and roots. They cause the
death of many trees by their gnawing habits. They all
drink but sparingly, and can go long periods without
drinking at all ; and all have the same habit of lying in
patches of scrub, from whence they make excursions over
the surrounding country, but seldom, I think, travelling
any great distance from home. It is only under pressure
of drought that they migrate considerable distances ; but
fright, occasioned by being shot at, or harassed by dogs,
will cause them to forsake their habitual haunts.

Two species of rat-kangaroos are very common in this
district — the brush-tailed {Bettongia penicillatii) and the
potoroo {Potorous tridactylus). The hind legs excepted,
the latter is a very rat-like animal in superficial ap-
pearance ; and both species are about a foot in length,
with tails eight inches long. There are several local
varieties of the potoroo, one being much larger than the
common species.

All the kangaroos and wallabies mentioned above feed
at night as well as during the day ; but the rat-kangaroos
are more nocturnal in habits than any of the others. All
alike are exceedingly timid ; but, like hares, lie until
they are almost trodden on, when they rush away in wild
hops and leaps, and at a very great rate of speed. The
smaller kinds are therefore difficult to shoot, their many
angular turns and twists making a steady aim impossible ;
and they must be knocked over with snap-shots. The rat-
kangaroos are not often used as food, except by the
blackfellows ; but this is a result of prejudice, the flesh of
these little animals being quite as good as that of the
rabbit. Their leaping powers are very much less than

HABITS OF KANGAROOS AND WALLABIES 39

those of wallabies proper, and some of them walk and
run much like a rat. All carry the body much less upright
than do the larger kangaroos ; but it is in the structure of
the tail that these animals differ most markedly from the
kangaroos. That appendage in the rat-kangaroos is
partially prehensile, and they carry bunches of herbage
with it to their lairs ; for these animals, and many of the
wallabies, have lairs like hares ; but none] of them have
burrows, or occupy holes or hiding-places of any kind — all
lie in the open.

The reproduction of kangaroos is the most extra-
ordinary peculiarity of the family. For many years it
was believed that the young entered the marsupial pouch
through the teats of the female. They are, however, born
in an embryonic state, and transferred to the nipple by the
female herself. When she is not with young the teats are
sunk completely in the skin of the abdomen ; but when in
use they project in varying degree, according to the stage
of development of the young. The newly-born kangaroo
or wallaby is so small and undeveloped, that it may easily
escape the notice of a careless observer. Even in the great
kangaroo it is scarcely an inch in length, and looks, in its
first stages, like a malformation of the teat. It is quite
undeveloped — a mere worm in appearance — and so firmly
affixed to the nipple that it may be correctly described as
grown to it. So much force is necessary to detach it that
both the young animal and the nipple of the mother
bleed freely, and the former dies in a few hours, or,
perhaps, in a few minutes. The young kangaroo, called
by the colonists a "Joey," is fully developed before it
becomes naturally detached from the nipple. At that
period it is about the size of a rat, and is very active,
jumping from the pouch with great activity. In some
species of wallaby, however, the young are placed in, or
taken from, the pouch by the mother. There is, usually,
with all species, but a single young one at a birth — never,
according to my experience, more than two ; and I do not
think that any species breed more than once a year. It
is extraordinary, therefore, that these animals are so

40 ORGANIC LIFE ON THE RIVERINE PLAINS

numerous ; and were, a few years ago, much more so.
The explanation seems to be, to some extent at any rate,
that there are few beasts of prey in Australia. Mammals
of the weasel and pole-cat kinds are not represented in
Australia, and there are no cats. Those small carnivores
in most countries are the prime destroyers of the smaller
forms of animals. The dingo is the most formidable
carnivorous mammal in Australia, and he destroys but
very few kangaroos. An odd one or two may occasionally
fall a prey to his fangs ; but he has to be cautious in
attacking the larger kinds, and dare not do so when they
are in herds. The quick stroke of a kangaroo's hind leg
will cut dingo or dog through the backbone like an axe ;
and an " old man " is a match for a dozen dingos.

The kangaroo-hound is a breed of dog of modern
production, specially bred for the sport of kangaroo-
chasing. The requirements of the sport are a swift-running
dog of powerful jaw; but no dog can throw an "old man,"
and the assistance of the hunters is always required to
despatch him ; and if that assistance is not very speedily
rendered, he will disable dog after dog with great rapidity,
every stroke of his powerful sharp-toed foot bringing a
fearful wound to the unfortunate dog at which it is aimed.
Dogs are frequently ripped open, or cut nearly in two ;
and the first hunters that come up to a kangaroo at bay
spring from their horses, and, seizing its tail, hold it up.
This prevents the animal from lifting its leg to strike ; for
if it attempts to do so, it immediately loses balance. Thus
assisted, the dogs pin it by the throat, and soon have it
down.

It seems a cowardly thing to deprive the poor " old
man " of his only means of defence ; but were it not done,
it is tolerably certain he would kill half the dogs, and
ultimately escape. As it is, he is a most formidable
antagonist, and often kills several of his foes before the
hunters come up.

The large kangaroos afford a very sharp and exciting,
but not very long run. They are generally overtaken and
brought to bay by the dogs within a distance of two or three

KANGAROO-CHASING 41

miles. The country to be ridden over is generally of a
nature to try severely the nerves of a stranger. It is
studded with fallen tree-trunks, and other formidable
obstacles, over which the kangaroo goes in a series of
easy, graceful-looking hops, that are often at least thirty
feet in length ; but he cannot clear an obstacle of greater
height than about four feet. Fences, therefore, are an
insuperable obstacle to kangaroo-chasing.

If accidents are to be avoided, trained horses must be
used for this sport — as they always are by the colonists.
The rule is to let the horse have its head ; and a well-
trained horse becomes so clever that if an accident does
occur, it is almost surely the rider's fault. My experience
of kangaroo-chasing is that a spill is more fatal to the
horse than the man. The upset generally occurs at
fallen timber, and the horse has two bad chances to face — -
it may break its back, or be impaled by a projecting snag.
Of course the man has the same risks ; but it is child's
play for an old stock-rider to clear a falling horse.

CHAPTER V

THE RIVER DARLING

I HAVE rather abruptly closed the account of the animal
and plant life of the Riverine district in the last chapter.
The fact is that to describe all the living creatures found
there would be to enumerate nearly the entire fauna of
the continent. But it is to be understood that I consider
the Darling River system as part of the Riverine, and the
animals mentioned here are found generally in the central
plains of New South Wales unless the contrary is expressly
noted.

The Darling is not a Ganges, a Mississippi, or an
Amazon, but it is out of all comparison the largest and
most important river of Australia. It is at least 2200
miles in length, but without a proportionate width and
depth ; yet it is navigable when in full stream for small
steamers nearly to its source. It bears at least twenty
different names, the last three or four hundred miles of
its course being often most improperly assigned to the
Murray, though Australian geographers as a rule term it
the Darling to its embouchure at the sea. The source is
in the New England range, a ridge of mountains forming
the backbone of what is locally called " the New England
district," but the actual source is not known, and never will
be. It is one of many hundred billabungs or collateral
streams, which are continually shifting position and vary-
ing in number. "Billabung" is the aboriginal name for
what in England is termed a " backwater." Billabungs are
rarely or never permanent, and sometimes only exist in a
district in winter-time.

42

SOURCE OF THE DARLING 43

Whichever of the many streams is the source of the
Darling, it starts in life as a mountain-torrent, rushing
down through rocky gullies which are overhung with giant
gum-trees and often choked with fern and brush growths,
and presents a beautiful and picturesque sight to the eye
of the rambler. Soon, however, these billabungs reach
almost level ground, lose their impetuosity, become actually
currentless, and, in summer, degenerate to " a chain of
water-holes," a description that has been applied to almost
every river in Australia. The bed of the river here, as in
most other places, is sandy and very absorbent ; but it has
been discovered that the water often runs underground, as
in other deserts of the world, and reappears where there is
a fall in the level of the land or the soil is hard and firm.

Except where it rushes through deep gullies in its first
reaches, the Darling has not high or rocky banks, and does
not generally run through forests, but has a fringe of
timber two or three miles wide on either bank. Taking a
general view of its entire course, it may be safely asserted
that no other river of the same length on the earth's
surface has so little change of scenery, or is so lacking in
the picturesque element. Sometimes its course is over
arid and most desolate-looking plains which do not seem
to rise two feet above the general level ; sometimes the
banks are quite bare of trees, and sometimes there is a
thin fringe of timber.

In the winter, especially after those sudden bursts of
rainfall, which is one of the characteristics of this region,
the country is flooded for a distance of several miles on
either bank, and billabungs and temporary lakes galore are
formed. But the floods do not last long. The thirsty soil
will in many places drink in an eight- or nine-inch rainfall
in a few hours, leaving only a mud-hole or two to show that
the earth has been wetted. A detailed description of the
whole course of the Darling would be as monotonous as
the country through which it flows. At one part there is
no perceptible fall, and consequently no perceptible current,
for a distance of three hundred miles. Everywhere on the
central plains the river is as quiet and smooth as a mill-

44 THE RIVER DARLING

pond, and in dry seasons it is fordable at hundreds of
places. Going down the course one frequently notices the
extraordinary way in which the bed narrows, yet without
causing a current. The river seems about to lose itself in
the sands, as so many Australian rivers do. It narrows
sometimes to less than fifty yards, then suddenly widens to
a lake-like expanse three or four hundred yards across.

Near the centre of the river — that is, about a thousand
miles from its source, and a similar distance from its
mouth — there are some ranges of low hills approaching
close to the bank, and isolated groups stand out from
distant plains. Contrasted with the flat country causes
these hills to appear much more lofty than they really are.
The appearance of some of them is peculiar : all appear
bare, or at most, with stray trees and bushes and tufts of
herbage scattered over them. None look green, and none
seem to exceed three hundred feet in height ; most of
of them range from one to two hundred feet. Some of
those that we could trace on a map, and that bear the
designation of " Mounts," do not rise a hundred feet above
the plain. Hills seen in the extreme distance, but which
we had not time to visit, might be higher ; but it is probable
that there is not a hill of five hundred feet in the whole
quarter of a million square miles of plains which the Darling
and its tributaries are supposed to drain.

The plains are arid in summer, and covered with grass
and patches of salt-bush and scrub in winter. Isolated
trees are scattered about as in the southern parts of the
plain, and near the river these trees form a belt of
superior size and growth, some of them being a hundred
feet high. The species is mostly the red-gum, and at a
greater distance from the river there is often a fringe of
the box-laurel. In winter the whole plain is rich with
flowering plants.

About the head-waters of the Darling, and for a con-
siderable distance across the plain, small townships and
stations are numerous, and along the whole course of the
river, outlying stations are established at intervals. These
depend for communication on the steamers which regularly

THE DARLLNG BLACKFELLOWS 45

ply from place to place. The service, however, is very
irregular in summer, as then there is often insufficient
water to enable the boats to traverse the river, and the
danger from snags, always great, is much increased. The
bed of the river is full of these submerged tree-trunks, and
though thousands are annually removed, others soon take
their places. A constant lookout has to be kept on the
boats to avoid them, and at night-time a powerful reflected
light (often now an electric light) is thrown ahead to reveal
their position, for these snags are quite as dangerous as
rocks.

I have visited all parts of the river, and taken many
rambles in the adjacent country on both banks, but I have
no adventures to record. There is a sparse population of
blacks along the river, and they are said to be dangerous ;
but such dreadful vengeance is taken for any outrage
committed by them that they are usually afraid to attack
a party of whites. A few wandering swagsmen, perhaps,
fall victims to their savage cruelty, but if they meddle with
the shepherds or boundary riders, they have speedy cause
to rue it. They are under the protection of the law, and
it is a serious offence to ill-use or kill them, but the
Darling plains are wide, and the law cannot take cognisance
of all that occurs there. No evidence can be collected —
no jury will convict. It is understood among all classes
of whites, that outrages on the part of the aborigines
must be put down with a hand as prompt as it is heavy.
I do not think that there is now much cruelty practised
against the blacks, and perhaps the loss of an occasional
sheep is not much resented by the squatter. But if the
lonely shepherd or the wandering traveller is murdered or
even maltreated, black blood pays the penalty of the
outrage. It is useless for the offenders to attempt to fly.
The white man knows that he must, for his own safety,
teach them a lesson, and they are hunted down with
determined persistence, the "station blacks" being used
all too willingly, to track their savage brethren. What
follows is never known to " constituted authority," for if
any eyes but those of the avengers see what happens, they

46 THE RIVER DARLING

are blind to that which they believe to be a necessary
breach of the laws.

There are usually a few blacks hanging about the
stations and squatters' homesteads, known as the station or
friendly blacks. These live largely on the eleemosynary
gifts of the squatter's family and the station hands, for
when the blacks are well-behaved they are kindly treated
and often almost petted. Sometimes they condescend to
do a little fitful work ; and they are always useful to break
the monotony of station life with their corroborees and
other fantastic tricks. They are also extremely useful in
tracking lost cattle and horses, and may sometimes be
trusted to go errands to other stations, or to the nearest
store. Not infrequently they become much attached to
the whites, and some of them have rendered good service
to explorers and other wanderers in the deserts. But
they, one and all, have this failing — they cannot settle
down permanently to civilised life. Sometimes they will
work well for several consecutive months. Then the wild
spirit comes upon them, and they must take to the bush.
If not permitted to go, they run away. In this case, they
will probably not return. If their absence is not resented
by their employer, they generally, after a time, return and
do another spell of work. If permitted to play and work
alternately, they will serve one master for many years, and
kindness of treatment is almost sure to win their strong
attachment.

About the station they are thankful for any trifle that
is thrown to them, and they share the garbage with the
dogs. They are always at hand when a sheep or bullock
is killed, and run off with the entrails ; and if they are
permitted to take the liver, heart, or head, they think they
have a lordly feast in store, and their supper is almost sure
to be followed by a corroboree.

The hands give them their old clothes, and the squatter's
wife looks after the women ; and some preposterous rig-outs
are frequently seen, the blackfellow having no idea of
congruity in dressing himself in European garments.
Certain articles of dress are so highly esteemed that when

A FAITHFUL SAVAGE 47

the blackfellow succeeds in possessing himself of them his
vanity is boundless. " You see my hat, sir ? " said one of
them. " You no tink him berry fine fellar ? " Certainly
the ladies of his tribe regarded him with open-mouthed
admiration.

The general habits and customs of the Australian
aborigines are so well known that it is unnecessary to
repeat them here. Too often an unsavoury savage, he is
not always irreclaimable, and occasionally forms a strong
attachment to the white man. Here is an example,
and read between the lines, I think there is not a more
pathetic instance in the annals of Australian exploration,
or one that shows the savage in a better light. Kennedy,
the explorer, and one black attendant, Jacky-Jacky, are
running through the bush for their lives, closely pursued
by a band of bloodthirsty blacks. Jacky-Jacky used all
his savage ingenuity to throw his fellow-savages off the
scent, and for three days and nights bewildered them.
Then he and his master were surrounded, and spears
thrown which wounded Kennedy desperately in several
places and Jacky across the forehead, but Jacky was
equal to the terrible emergency. He succeeded in carrying
his dying masler into the dense scrub and escaping the
savages, who were still afraid to close in on the two
devoted men.

" You feel better now, sir ? " he asked, as he laid
Kennedy carefully down to rest.

" No, Jacky, no. I do not care for the hurt to my
leg, but oh ! this wound in my side."

11 Are you going to leave me, Mr Kennedy ? "

"Yes, Jacky, I am dying."

" Ah ! blackfellow always die when him get spear
wound there," explained Jacky, who doubtless remembered
the results of many savage encounters in his bush days.

"You must take the books to Captain Dobson ; be
sure to take the books to him," said Kennedy, evidently
anxious that the results of his work should not be lost.
Then he added, " Give me a piece of paper, Jacky : I
will write." But he was too far gone. He leant back

48 THE RIVER DARLING

against Jacky, and died with the pencil between his
fingers.

" Then I go way little bit, and cry long time," said
Jacky. " When I feel better, I go back and dig grave with
axe, and bury Mr Kennedy, and put my shirt and trousers
on him. When it come dark, I go way and leave him.
The blackfellow follow me and throw spear, and I go into
ribber and walk with only head above water and so
escape." And after two days Jacky-Jacky reached the
coast, and hailed the schooner which was waiting for the
members of Kennedy's party. A boat was sent ashore
to take him off, and found him to be in a greatly
exhausted and shaken condition, believing the hostile
blacks to be still close on his track ; but he had been
faithful to his trust, and had brought Kennedy's papers
safely to the terrible journey's end.

The man who cannot respect and love this poor
courageous blackfellow must be seared of heart and
brain.

Several times during my rambles on the Darling I met
with the aborigines. They were quiet enough, but pro-
bably not to be trusted. Of course I always had several
companions with me, and we were all armed, which kept
the savages in awe. They attempted some trifling
thefts, but no violence, and considering the abject con-
ditions in which they live, one cannot be surprised that
they covet the white man's treasures, and endeavour to
possess themselves by craft of that which they have not
the means to purchase.

The aborigines are not numerous on the Darling or the
adjacent plains ; but further north, in Queensland, and
especially on York Peninsula, there are considerable
numbers of them ; and in these latter districts they are
sometimes very aggressive. Indeed they are only to be
trusted after long intercourse with the whites, and not
always then.

The corroborees alluded to above are often described
as dances. They are really dramatic performances, given
mostly in dumb-show, and nearly always represent such

THE CORROBOREE 49

episodes of savage-life as the surprise and slaughter of
enemies, battles, and hunting scenes. To the white who
has learned to understand them they are amusing, and the
skill with which the actions of animals and men, under the
conditions given, are represented is remarkable, and shows
the blackfellow to be a man of great intelligence, and a
past-master of the art of mimicry. Descriptions of
corroborees are to be found in the works of nearly all
writers on Australia ; but these are not always very
intelligible owing to the authors not having well under-
stood what they have witnessed. The actors usually
envelop themselves in various coloured paints — red (called
" wilgy " by the natives of New South Wales) and yellow
and white being the only hues, often arranged in grotesque
patterns, and oftener still drawn along the lines of the
bones, thus making the corroboree-actor look like a living
skeleton. Songs are sung, but there is never any dialogue,
at least I have never heard any. Single actors sometimes
boast of their individual prowess, but this is occasional
only, and not customary.

The Darling plains blacks are not such fine people as
their brothers to the north in Queensland, nor are they
generally in gdod condition — why I cannot surmise, for
there is still an abundance of game on the land, and of fish
in the rivers. As in the days of Sturt and Mitchell, the
aborigines of this district still suffer from a form of
ophthalmia ; and some of them are nearly blind. Horrible
to relate, when they become quite blind, and consequently
helpless, they are abandoned by their companions, and left
to perish miserably in the desert. Some of them told me
that a man thus afflicted contrived to follow his tribe for
days begging piteously for food which was not given to
him, and at last he was knocked on the head with a waddy
that they might get rid of what they considered a
nuisance. But such instances of cruelty as this are not
universal among the blacks. Some tribes treat their old
and decrepit members kindly.

Many of these people also suffer from loathsome skin
diseases, brought on, probably, by the filth they eat, but

D

50 THE RIVER DARLING

few are actually deformed. The men average 5 feet
8 inches in height, and owing to their thinness of build
look even taller ; and they are active and quick in their
movements. Many of the women are of diminutive
stature, and their husbands treat them with great
brutality. The knocking of a woman senseless with a
waddy is a punishment to which the husband resorts on the
slightest provocation, or when he is in a surly temper.

The largest fish in the Darling is the Murray-cod which
sometimes weighs 60 lbs., and quite frequently over 40.
It is the shape of a cod-fish with a spotted skin, and is
esteemed greatly by the colonists for its delicate flavour.
The blacks catch it in a hand-net which they enter the
water to manipulate ; but it bites freely at a bait, and
affords excellent sport. The best baits are grasshoppers,
a large hymenopterus fly and its larvae, which is found in
abundance on the river-banks, and earth-worms.

Birds have suffered greatly from the guns of the
squatters, but they are still very numerous on those parts
of the river which are farthest from the townships and
stations. Parrots and cockatoos are there in great variety,
and ducks and rails at one time swarmed on the river, and
on every billabung and water-hole in the district.

One of the commonest cockatoos on the Darling is the
rose-breasted {Cacatua roseicapilla), which is of a light grey
colour with a beautiful crimson breast and a white poll.
The pale yellow-crested {C. galerita) and a black variety
{Calyptorhynchus banksi) are also found on some of the
reaches. The yellow-crested and the rose-breasted are
sometimes seen in flocks which number thousands, and
when they are all screaming together the noise is extra-
ordinary. Bank's black cockatoo is not so numerous, and
is local. Where it is found the flock seldom number more
than a dozen to twenty individuals. It is not such a
noisy bird as the white species. The cockatiel (Callopsit-
tacus novce hollandicz) is also found in great numbers.
Though the flocks are not so large as those of the white
and grey cockatoos, they are more numerous, and as many
as five or six hundred birds may sometimes be seen

COCKATOOS ON THE DARLING 51

together. The average number in a flock is about two
hundred, and seldom fewer than one hundred. All these
breed in the belts of timber which in many places line the
banks of the Darling, and the aborigines, at the proper
season (July to September) take great numbers of the
young birds to sell in the townships, and it is seldom that
one enters the house of a colonist, in country or town,
without being greeted by the screams of one or more
cockatoos or parrots.

It seems to be generally thought that the food of
cockatoos and parrots in a wild state consists entirely of
fruits and seeds. This is a mistake, and it is interesting,
in the light of the acquired habits of the kaka-parrot of
New Zealand, to know that nearly all the Australian
parrots feed largely on animal food. Cockatoos may often
be seen with large beetles in their claws, biting off the
elytra and legs previous to swallowing the bodies. They
eat insects of all kinds, and on several occasions I have
seen cockatoos robbing the nests of other parrots, and of
small birds. Quarrels and fights between birds of different
species of this family seem to have their origin in this
habit. I have certainly, on one or two occasions, seen
small parrots valiantly defending their nest-holes from the
attacks of cockatoos. I have also seen cockatoos pitch in
swarms on the carcasses of sheep and cattle which have
died on the plains ; but I think that this was to search for
the larvae which were abounding in the carrion.

A very abundant parrot on the plains, often found at
a great distance from water, is the ground paroquet
{Geopsittacus occidentals), which I have found scattered
thickly over large tracks of country. It does not, however,
assemble in close flocks. It is a quarrelsome bird, and
will chase and drive other small parrots from its feeding
grounds. It breeds on the ground in the midst of thick
tufts of herbage, does not make a regular nest, though a
few bents of dried grass may be arranged round the slight
hollow where the seven to nine eggs are laid. The
Australian love-bird {Melopsittacus undulatus), a species
well-known as a pet in England, is another common bird

52 THE RIVER DARLING

of the Darling region ; and is similar in habits to the
ground paroquet. It lives on the plains in scattered flocks
feeding on seeds and small insects, particularly ants ; and
like the last species, breeds on the ground, laying the
same number of eggs ; and though they are rather smaller
than those of the ground paroquet, it is difficult to distin-
guish the nesting-places of the two species.

All these parrots are completely or partially migratory
— the distance and time of their migration depending on
the wetness or dryness of the season, and the consequent
scarceness or abundance of food. It is at the time of
migration that the largest flocks of cockatoos are to be
seen. I feel sure that I have seen as many as 10,000 of
the white species in a single flight ; and a grand sight they
presented to the bird-lover's eye. How the ground
paroquets migrate I do not know ; but I suspect, with
some reason, that they depart in small parties, and mostly
at night-time.

As it is impossible to notice all the birds of the
Darling district I must be content to mention but two
more here. Quails are numerous, and conspicuous owing
to their frequent quarrels with the ground paroquets. These
latter birds try to drive them from their feeding grounds,
and the quails are valiant in defence of their rights. The
result is that the two birds are not found on the same spot,
but whenever one kind tries to invade the territory of the
other the squabbles are incessant and vicious. Both
parrots and quails occasionally lose their lives in the
contests.

One of the noblest birds found on the Darling is the
large and beautiful stork (Mycteria australis). It seems
to be the most gregarious of the Australian herodiones ;
forty or more being sometimes seen together. It is often
as much as five feet in length ; and may often be seen
searching the half-dry water-holes for fish, on which it
preys to a great extent, but small mammals of the rat
kind, rat-kangaroos, lizards, and an occasional snake, are
also devoured by it.

This stork is in the habit of rising in parties of ten or

STORKS AND HERONS 53

a dozen to a vast height, so that the birds appear as mere
tiny specks ; and after wheeling and evoluting for ten
minutes or a quarter of an hour, flying off in a straight line
presumably to some distant feeding ground. The nests of
these birds are placed in trees at no great distance from
the ground. I have seen them not higher than twenty
feet ; and few are built in tall trees. The nest is a large
platform of sticks, pretty well covered with dead rushes
and long bents of grass ; and the nests of a small flock are
built in the same neighbourhood, though perhaps not very
closely together. Twenty or thirty nests may occupy a
mile of the tree belt, though they are quite as often
placed in trees a long way from the river, but always
near a swamp, billabung, or water-hole.

The smaller, but not less beautiful, white-heron,
(Ardea flavirostris) is also found on the Darling, congre-
gating in small flocks which seldom exceed twenty
individuals. Solitary pairs are frequently met with.
This bird also builds on the tops of low trees. The nest
is only a loose platform of sticks, twigs, and roots, and the
young are almost invariably four in number.

CHAPTER VI

MOUNT KOSCIUSKO AND THE AUSTRALIAN ALPS

THE Australian Alps cannot enter into competition with
the European giants whose name they have borrowed, but
they are possessed of a beauty which is all their own,
and cannot be eclipsed by the more exalted ranges.
Mount Kosciusko, the highest mountain on the Australian
continent, is only some seven thousand feet above sea-level ;
but for abruptness and wild grandeur of scenery, not even
Mont Blanc can excel it. Though only seven thousand feet
in total height, it has a precipitous face which is over two
thousand feet high.

The ascent of Kosciusko is a trying one. The ground
is exceedingly rough, much encumbered with fallen timber,
and full of deep rocky gullies which must be climbed
through, or avoided by detours which are too laborious to
be undertaken by any ordinary mountaineers. Indeed
both time and labour are saved by climbing the gullies.
It is a climb, for these gullies are so precipitous that they
first have to be descended into as into a pit and then
climbed out of on the opposite side at eminent risk of neck
and limb. They are all too wide to be bridged, and yet
are so narrow and deep as to be often grave-like in
appearance. There is always a dense growth of bush in
the bottom of them, and on the sides wherever the shrubs
can find a root-hold, while above there is a forest of huge
trees thickly laced with creepers and underwood — quite
different from an ordinary Australian forest. Masses of
rock, exceedingly rough and jagged, litter the gullies and
sides of the mountain, and block the way so effectually
that, without the assistance of a guide who knows the

54

RUGGEDNESS OF MOUNT KOSCIUSKO 55

ground, many days will probably be lost before the explorer
finds an accessible passage. Both the axe and the pick
are required to clear the path, and ropes and a ladder, if
not actually necessary, will be found most useful aids to a
successful ascent. A mass of rock twenty or thirty feet
high may be climbed over with the help of a rope and short
ladder in less than a tenth of the time it would take to
work round it. Even with the assistance of a good guide,
and every imaginable accessory of the mountaineer, I do
not think it is possible to ascend Kosciusko in a shorter
time than two or three days, supposing the explorer to
start from one of the stations which are now tolerably
numerous near its base. I have ascended it three times,
taking from five days to a week to perform the journey ;
but then my object was not to do the feat in a given time,
and there was no hurry at any point of the journey. Twice
I had companions with me, but on the third and last
occasion I had but a single blackfellow attendant, a most
useful man, who could climb like a monkey, and thoroughly
understood the work required from him, and though I
should be sorry to be thought of an unsociable nature, I
must say that I think that dangerous rock-scaling parties
cannot be too small. Where there are several members
of the party, they cannot all be of the same powers of
endurance, nor all have the same steadiness of head, and
the progress of the more active climbers is delayed, and
their danger increased by the necessity there is of looking
after the weak and timorous ones. One man with a
determined object in view, with a single reliable attendant,
is far more likely to succeed than a large party. As to
the mutual help afforded one to another by a party of four
or five, since my first mountaineering experience I have
been strongly of opinion that it is the weak and nervous
who require the help, and they cannot, therefore, be
otherwise than a source of danger to the active members
of the party. On a picnic excursion, with enjoyment as
the sole object of the expedition, it is reasonable that the
strong should make sacrifices to the weak ; but on ascents
with deeper purposes in view it is not unreasonable to

56 MOUNT KOSCIUSKO AND AUSTRALIAN ALPS

leave behind everything and every person that is likely to
spoil the expedition. Where pleasure only is the aim, it
is absolutely wrong to run dangerous risks.

Besides ascending Kosciusko, I have spent several
weeks in exploring the gullies and recesses about its base,
and am consequently fairly well acquainted with the
country in its neighbourhood. My starting-point was a
stock-rider's hut situated about twenty miles south-west
of the mountain — the side which, in my opinion, is the
most accessible.

The base, and sides for quite two-thirds of the height,
are covered with forest trees of large size, many of them at
least= a hundred and fifty feet high. For ages these have
been growing, living their day, dying and falling in inter-
laced confusion, quite undisturbed by the interference of
man, and consequently there is, in many places, a mass of
prostrate trunks barring the most likely routes up the
mountain side. Sometimes this fallen timber is so rotten
that it can be easily cut away ; but often it must be climbed
over, or crept under, both expedients being accompanied
by danger. Some of the masses are so dense that the
incautious traveller may get lost in the maze, and waste
many hours of valuable time before he finds his way out ;
and in climbing over the prostrate mass there is always the
danger of a decayed trunk giving way beneath the feet,
and then a nasty, if not a fatal, fall may be the consequence.
There is also some danger from poisonous snakes which
are pretty numerous on all sides of the mountain.

The diamond-snake {Python spilotis) is both numerous
and large in size on the lower slopes of Kosciusko ; and I
once slipped down unpleasantly close to one of these
dangerous creatures, which, on being killed, was found to
be seven feet long — a foot longer than this species usually
measures. Diamond-snakes are found as high up on the
Australian Alps as the limit of trees — that is generally to
the top of the range ; but Kosciusko, and some few other
high points are without vegetation on their summits. On
Kosciusko the tree-limit is marked abruptly, and there is
only a narrow band of herbage between the forest line and

DERIVATION OF NAME OF MURRAY 57

the bare rocks. Pretty mosses grow among the rocks, one
of a bright flame colour being particularly conspicuous.
Insects, among them moths and butterflies, are found
beyond the forest limit, and the lyre-bird, like the diamond-
snake, is found as high up as that limit. Owing to the dense
nature of the forest and brush it is more often heard than
seen ; and it is singular that a bird which, here at any
rate, cannot have been much persecuted, should be so shy :
for notwithstanding all my precautions I found but few
opportunities of watching its movements on Kosciusko.

The top of the mountain, for the upper two thousand feet,
is bare rock. A few minute mosses and lichens excepted,
there is no vegetation ; and the ground is usually covered
with snow. This, however, in summer-time, often entirely
disappears. The cold at this elevation, although sufficient
to destroy vegetable life, does not seem to be very great.
The blackfellow who accompanied me complained a little
of it ; but I did not even feel the need of extra clothing.

The top of the mountain is a plateau, and on the north
and north-west the sides form perpendicular walls, down one
of which I lowered a stone tied to a sounding line a distance
of 1768 feet before it found a lodgment. Below is a forest,
on the top of which the eye rests as on the billowy foliage
of the enclosed valleys in the Blue Mountains. But here
there are no cascades tumbling over the precipice. In the
tremendous chasm there are several rushing torrents
which form the head-waters of the river Hume. This
river further down to the westward becomes the Murray,
the second great river of Australia ; which, it is generally
assumed, is named after a Scotch official bearing this
time-honoured name. But it seems more probable that it
is an abbreviation of the native exclamation " murrey !
murrey ! " meaning great astonishment or surprise, or
something very remarkable ; a term they certainly used on
first viewing this and other great rivers of the continent.
There does not seem to be any official record of the river
having been named after Sir John Murray, who was a
former Colonial secretary. Rightly or wrongly the
Murray is now the Murray, is so spelt in documents and

58 MOUNT KOSCIUSKO AND AUSTRALIAN ALPS

books and on the faces of maps, and the Murray it will
ever be ; but let it not be forgotten that its native name
truly describes what it is to man and beast in this scantily
watered land ; it is the " Happy- Happy," for in this sense
the word is often used.

The scene from the top of Kosciusko is both beautiful
and imposing. The forest with which the sides of the
mountains are on all sides thickly clothed prevents the
explorer from obtaining a view of the surrounding
country until he is close to the top, when the magnificent
view bursts suddenly on him. Judging from what can be
seen here, one would imagine Australia to be a thickly
wooded country, which we know is not the case. From the
top of Kosciusko, however, the country for an immense
distance has the appearance of being clothed densely with
graceful festoons of foliage. The actual distance to which
the vision can range I do not know. Certain landmarks,
however, are not less that fifty, sixty, and seventy miles
away ; and it is probable that the extreme horizon is
quite thirty miles further off. In the neighbourhood of
the mountain, huge chasms loom in the misty depths
below ; so deep and narrow that only dimly can they be
discerned to be clothed with luxuriant verdure, in the form
of tall trees, and feathery shrubs and brush. Ferns of
gigantic size, nettles equally remarkable for great develop-
ment, and various species of grass-trees, give an exceed-
ingly light and graceful appearance to the vegetation of
the valleys ; and the immense crags of broken rock add a
wild beauty to the general scenery.

Some of the streams which form the head-waters of the
Murray (here called the Hume) can be traced out on the
flat plains which form the boundary of the scene, and the
occasional scintillation, in the bright sunlight, of other
waters can be seen ; but on the whole the landscape lacks
that inexpressible charm which a large river generally
gives to scenery. No lakes, or broad sheets of water, are
visible ; nor are cascades noticeable : though scanty falls
of great height are found in other parts of the Alps and in
the Blue Mountains. Torrents rush along the bottoms of

SPLENDID VIEW FROM KOSCIUSKO 59

some of the gullies which score the sides of Kosciusko, but
none of them form falls of any great height or volume ;
and none roll over the most precipitous cliffs.

In no part of Australia are there waterfalls to compare
in volume and grandeur with those of other continents ;
but many of those that do exist are remarkable for their
great beauty. Some descend many hundreds of feet into
gloomy chasms, which are too narrow and confined to be
correctly described as valleys, and yet have scarcely
volume enough to weigh against the strong mountain winds,
which often blow them into remarkable looking veils of
spray. Some, indeed, are beaten, by successive dashings
against the rock, into spray so fine that they only reach
the gully a thousand feet below as a shower of rain. In
summer these cascades dry up entirely and cease to be
until the winter rains renew their babbling lives.

The melting of the snow on the tops of those peaks of
the Australian Alps where it finds a lodgment for a few
months in each year, must and does form torrents ; but
these are never of any great size or force ; and on
Kosciusko the torrents all run in the direction of the
lesser slopes of the mountain. Occasionally they fall a
few feet into gullies, making charming scenes on a small
scale ; but these are so hidden ^by thick forest and
masses of a bamboo-like shrub that it is only rarely that
a good view of them can be obtained. Speaking con-
jecturally, I should say that there is not a cascade in the
mountain that discharges more than a dozen tons of water
per minute ; and in the dry weather probably all are
exhausted for a time ; or, at most, trickle over the rocks
as runnels.

Among the broken rocks at the bases of the Alps
wallaby are numerous — I should say except where the
colonists have nearly exterminated them — but they do
not ascend the mountains to any great height. I have
never seen any at a greater elevation than twelve or
fourteen hundred feet.

But it is, probably, the smaller " native cats," " native
mice," etc., that are the most Interesting mammals of these

60 MOUNT KOSCIUSKO AND AUSTRALIAN ALPS

mountains. The whole region abounds with mouse and
rat-like animals that belong to very different genera to
those small rodents. The pouched-mouse, for instance,
has superficially so much the appearance of a mouse that
its popular name is quite justified. The pouched-mouse
(Sminthopsis murina), and another species which I have not
identified, are very abundant in the Alps, ascending to
the summits in most places, a height of at least four
thousand feet above the sea. Usually described as insecti-
vorous, they are really as omnivorous as the common
European mouse, and I have caught many of them in traps
baited with cheese, bacon-rind, and similar baits. They
will also nibble bread, but if an attempt is made to feed
captive specimens on such diet, they soon die. They will
eat meat both raw and cooked, preferring the former, and
are very fond of fat, particularly mutton-suet. In a wild
state they eat most kinds of insects, but coleoptera and
slugs form the bulk of their food.

The pouched-mouse varies its habits with its locality.
In the mountains it harbours about fallen and decayed
timber, being very timid and shy. It is to a great extent
nocturnal, especially in the open plain country, where it
lives in the bush. It is more active than the European
mouse, makes a neat nest of grass lined with fine fibres,
and has from five to seven young at a birth, which are not
placed in the nest, but carried in a pouch which is large
compared with the size of the animal.

The native cat (Dasyurus viverrinus) is found at the
base of the Kosciusko, but is a scarce animal in most parts
of the Alps. This curious and handsome little animal is
of a darkish colour spotted all over with white blotches.
It does not at all resemble a cat. Except that it is a
marsupial, it is much more like a pole-cat, especially in its
habits. It is a fierce little animal, and those that I have
kept were dangerous pets, and never reconciled themselves
to captivity. It is a thorough beast of prey, and attacks
any animal it is strong enough to overcome, the exotic
rabbit excepted, and it is singular that the latter pest
appears to have no enemies in the country. The usual

BLOODTHIRSTINESS OF THE NATIVE CAT 61

prey of the native pole-cat (as it should be called), consists
of birds both small and of considerable size. For though
it is arboreal in habits, it leaves the trees at night, and
neglecting the swarms of rabbits, seems to make straight
for the homesteads of the squatters where it, or at most a
pair of them, show their truly weasel-like instinct by
destroying fowl after fowl. Sometimes as many as
twenty head of poultry are killed in a single night,
apparently for the sake of their blood, which always seems
to be sucked from the body. Not many of these animals
are caught in traps ; and they work so silently that, unless
they are specially watched for, the unfortunate squatter or
farmer is seldom made aware of the fell work going on
in his hen-roost.

In the trees they destroy many young birds ; and
pigeons and parrots are surprised in their nesting and
roosting places, and captured in great numbers. This I
have clearly traced by means of the feathers and such
remains as the feet, beaks, and bones. The head is
usually eaten, or at least the brains and eyes sucked out.
The allied animals, known to the colonists as 'possums, also
suffer greatly from their more powerful kinsmen ; and an
occasional tree-snake falls a victim to these ravenous
" cats," but though the opossums eat insects, I have never
found any evidence that the cats do so, and I think they
are altogether too fierce and ravenous to concern them-
selves with such small prey. It is a wonder and a pity
that the native cat does not take to preying on the rabbits
which abound in so many parts of the country ; but, as I
have already hinted, none of the Australian carnivorous
animals have as yet taken to making serious attacks on
them. I have never seen an eagle or a hawk with one in its
talons ; the snakes and the dingoes may destroy a few, but I
have only met with scant evidence that they do so.
Ferrets and weasels have been imported into the country
from England for the purpose of thinning their numbers ;
but these ferocious little animals preferred attacking the
poultry they were brought to protect, and proved only an
addition to the nuisance. Poultry are kept in large

62 MOUNT KOSCIUSKO AND AUSTRALIAN ALPS

numbers by the colonists, and are a great attraction to all
kinds of marauders — human and animal.

The opossum, so called, is the common phalanger
( Trichosurus vulpeculd) of naturalists : but this term is also
applied by the colonists to the phascologale, which is a
much smaller animal, not larger than the European
brown rat.

The common opossum {Trichosurus) is found abun-
dantly in nearly every part of the continent ; and is often
considered by the colonists to be only second to the rabbits
and kangaroos in the mischief it does them. Sometimes
swarms of them, evidently performing a partial migration
in search of food, appear in a district ; and at night-time
they leave the trees, and run over, and into, everything
about the nearest homesteads. Into the barns and open
windows they find their way, eating and destroying in an
extraordinary way every kind of fruit or grain food they
can find. Though, like the rabbit, they never seem to
drink, they eject a foul-smelling fluid over corn and bread
and whatever they touch, rendering everything quite uneat-
able, and arousing the squatters' ire to an extent that only
a 'possum and a new chum can provoke it. Whatever
mischief is done in house or barn is always laid on the
back of a 'possum, or a new chum. Organised shooting
parties are therefore assembled when the 'possums become
troublesome ; or the station blacks are paid so much per
dozen for their skins. Still, like the rabbits, they thrive
under persecution ; and they are one of the few Australian
mammals which show no sign of diminished numbers, in
spite of incessant slaying and trapping on the part of white
men and black.

The 'possum is roasted and made into pies, like the
rabbit, and eaten with avidity by the lower classes of
whites, and by the blacks ; but it is not equal in flavour to
the latter animal. If not habitually omnivorous, it certainly
is not a strictly vegetarian animal, and its diet is made up
largely of portions of any eatable articles that come in its
way. Like rats and mice, it will nibble boots and other
leather articles, and make unsightly breaches in cheese and

DESTRUCTIVENESS OF THE 'POSSUM 63

bacon, two articles that are often eaten by animals that are
supposed to live on a quite different class of viands. Indeed
there are few small mammals that will not eat cheese at
least ; and even insects that are described as entirely
vegetarian will eat it greedily.

The 'possum has a powerful set of teeth which it is by
no means slow to use if carelessly handled ; and it is a
singularly destructive animal for its size. Like rats and
mice it nibbles holes in woollen articles, and as several
invade the house together, the amount of damage which is
sometimes done is almost incredible ; and until I had the
clearest proof of the fact, I could not believe that 'possums
were the culprits.

In the daytime these animals are not seen in any great
numbers, though there are often some wanderers abroad,
especially if the day is dull and cloudy. They are rarely
seen on the ground and appear to leave the trees only to
go on marauding expeditions. Sometimes, on clear nights,
they may be seen scuttling about the branches in large
numbers ; and this is a time that is not neglected by the
blackfellow. He is an adept at ferreting the opossums
from the hollow boughs in which they take refuge on the
least signs of danger. He seems to know by instinct exactly
where the 'possum lies, and cutting the dead wood away from
behind it, whips it out by the tail, and with one smart blow
kills it before it has time to turn and bite. The gins, or
native wives, are often employed whole days in this work,
which is a profitable one to them, for the bodies of the
little animals supply a relished food, while the skins are far
more valuable than those of rabbits, and are an object of
barter with the white man, bringing in return many coveted
luxuries to the savage, of which pipes and tobacco are
not the least.

The " native-bear " {Phoscolarctus cinereus) called by
the blacks the koala, is the largest and perhaps the most
curious animal found on the slopes of Kosciusko to a height
of about two thousand feet. It is a couple of feet in length,
and of thick-set, bear-like appearance. It also greatly
resembles a sloth, of which animal it seems to take the

64 MOUNT KOSCIUSKO AND AUSTRALIAN ALPS

place in the Australian forests. It is as harmless as a
sloth ; and no instance of one attempting to defend itself
ever came to my notice ; though if it chose to bite it could
inflict an ugly wound. Sluggish and harmless, it resembles
the sloths closely in habits as well as in appearance, and
its food is similar — leaves, and leaves only, I believe ; and
it will not accommodate itself to any other kind of food.
The leaves of the gum-tree it must have, and no others are
an acceptable substitute for them : consequently, when a
constant supply of these leaves is not obtainable, the
animal cannot be kept in captivity — indeed, it never
thrives in confinement.

In its native forests, it is only seen singly or in pairs.
Probably it pairs for life, and they never wander far from
each other. When one only is seen the other may be
lurking in a hollow-tree within a few feet of it. The two
are often seen near the top of a tall tree, and present a
singular sight. They frequently remain motionless for
several hours at a time, and are never active. Though
they come to the ground it seems only to be for the
purpose of travelling from one tree to another. They
never drink, I think ; at any rate, they can exist without
water, and though, from the scientific naturalist's point of
view, they differ greatly from the sloths, their habits,
attitudes, and ways are entirely those of sloths with this
one exception — they do not hang back-downwards from
the under sides of boughs.

When surprised on the ground in the forest, the native-
bear makes some slow and awkward attempts to get to
the nearest tree. In this it always fails — escape is impos-
sible, so slow are all its movements. Resigning itself to
its fate, it seems to entreat, by a series of grotesque
movements of its great pluggy head, the commiseration of
its captor. It groans and sighs, and sways and contorts
its body in an apparent agony of entreaty, which,
pathetically comical as it is, is so suggestive of pleading
for mercy that few persons, except blacks and cruel boys,
have the heartlessness to hurt it. Perhaps the meaning of
all its gestures are mistaken by man. I scarcely think so

HABITS OF THE KOALA 65

myself. It is certain that the animal is not an intelligent
one ; yet I am not prepared to admit that its low type of
brain-organisation is responsible for this, and in its
peculiar habitat it is not without a certain intelligence
that shows it to be well fitted for its mode of life. It
chooses only the largest trees, where the leaves are in
greatest luxuriance, in which to live and feed ; and it
moves from branch to branch with adroitness, never
stripping more than a small part of the leaves from any
one portion of the tree. These leaves it does not eat as
it gathers them, but they are stored in its large cheek-
pouches which are capable of holding more than a pint.
The food is consumed while the koala is sitting quietly
in the top of the tree. The red-gum is the species it
prefers ; but it is always a gum-tree of some kind in which
it feeds and rests.

The sharp and strong claws of the koala seem to be
of no use to it except for pulling down the branches upon
which it cannot trust its weight. It is one of the most
harmless of all animals, and never makes even a show of
defence against either men or dogs, while it is quite as
tenacious of life as the sloth. I have witnessed some cruel
scenes when unfortunate koalas have fallen into the hands
of blackfellows. " Him no good waddy ; so cut heart out."
The meaning is that it is useless to strike a koala with a
waddy (club) ; so the poor animal is ripped open while
alive and the heart pulled out

The female has only one young one at a birth, which
is of very slow growth. At the proper stage of develop-
ment, she transfers it from her pouch to her back, where it
clings so firmly, and digs its claws into her woolly coat
with such vigour, that the lower part of her back is often
rubbed not only hairless, but sore also. In this way she
carries her young one until it is about half-grown, when it
begins to shift for itself.

The young koala is much esteemed as an article of
food by the blacks, who climb the trees and knock
mother and young one together from the branches.
Though they often fall more than a hundred feet to the

E

66 MOUNT KOSCIUSKO AND AUSTRALIAN ALPS

ground, they are never killed outright, and sometimes not
even disabled. It is left to the knives and hatchets of the
gins to complete the cruel tragedy.

The implacental group is, to me, an exceedingly
puzzling one. The various families of which it is composed
clearly represent genera of the placentals which are far
removed from them. It is not enough to say (as has been
done) that the Australian kangaroos take the place of deer,
the wombats and koalas that of sloths, etc. These animals
seem to me to have an affinity, though certainly a very
distant one, to the families of placentals they are supposed
to represent on the Australian continent. The kangaroo
is not a deer, and no naturalist, in his right senses, would
attempt to prove that it is one ; but, admitting evolution,
it is easy to believe that it might have been evolved from
a specialised member of the deer family.

A careful dissection of the koala has convinced me
that it is a specialised wombat ; and though it differs as
much from the sloth as the kangaroo does from the deer,
I think that both wombat and koala may, by and by, be
found to belong to a parallel branch of the Bradypodidae.

CHAPTER VII

THE COLONY OF VICTORIA, AND THE EASTERN
RANGES OF MOUNTAINS

The mountains which in north-east Victoria are called
the "Alps," bear different designations in the westward
parts of the range. They are known locally as "The
Grampians," " The Pyrenees," etc., etc. These mountains,
which are all parts of one continuous range, afford some of
the most delightful scenery in Australia. To the north
and west it is still, to a great extent, unspoiled by undue
thinning out of the timber ; though it is to be regretted
that much unnecessary destruction of trees has taken
place. It is an old-settled colony, and there is very little
ground within its boundary lines that has not been
thoroughly explored ; still a fair percentage of its total
area is in a state of " unspoiled nature." Every bird or
mammal that is worth powder and shot has had its
number decimated, and more ; yet there remain in this
colony of Victoria a greater variety of species than in any
other district of equal area ; and the wallaby-shooting of
some localities is sufficiently celebrated to draw sportsmen
from other parts of the continent, from America, and even
from the old country.

The eastern range of mountains nearly everywhere
present that remarkable cliff-like outline which is the
characteristic of Australian mountains. The plains are
walled in with cliffs that are often much more than a
thousand feet high ; and so precipitous that it is impossible
to climb them ; indeed it is often possible to drop a stone
from the top on to the level ground below.

Wood is abundant on the mountains, and there is a

67

68 THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

park-like sprinkling of it on the plains — there was much
more before the squatters destroyed it to make room for
their sheep. The grass is excellent, and as green as in the
English meadows ; and probably this is the best watered
part of Australia. No wonder, then, that it is thickly
strewn with the homesteads of squatters and stockmen,
homesteads that often rival the stately homes of the old
country aristocracy in splendour of architecture, and are
fully equal to them in luxury of appointments. There is a
fad in this district for imitating the mother-country in all
things ; and British trees are planted, and British shrubs
cultivated, to an extent that often completely deceives the
eye, and renders it impossible, by sight alone, to detect the
difference between the mansion on the Australian sheep-
run from the old country family-house of which it is, as
nearly as possible, a replica.

The bases of the mountains are much littered by
masses of rock, great and small, which must have rolled
down from the heights above ; yet it is often difficult to
realise that this is the correct explanation of the origin of
some of the masses. Huge rocks, weighing hundreds and
perhaps thousands of tons, and surrounded by numerous
smaller masses, lie in positions which they could not
possibly occupy if they fell from any of the existing heights.
Some of these rocks are half buried, apparently to the
extent of one or two hundred feet, in the ground upon
which they lie ; and generally they are half-hidden in a
thick growth of brambles, brake-canes, and ferns, with
many sweet-scented wattle-trees and other flowering shrubs.
It is here that the " rock-wallaby " love to lurk, and so
closely do they lie that they may often be literally kicked
from the shrubs before they will fly. It is fine sport is
this wallaby-shooting, and the man who wishes to enjoy
it fully does not use dogs to flush the game ; rarely indeed
are dogs used at all. The sport is very hard work, for one
is constantly climbing in and out of holes and small deep
gullies formed by the massing of the loose rocks, and the
vegetation is so thick that here and there it is impossible
to force a way through it.

WALLABIES OF VICTORIA 69

If not the commonest, the most important on account
of its size, of the rock-wallabies is Petrogale xanthopus, and
it is unique among the wallabies in having a ringed tail,
alternately marked with buffish colour and dark brown.
The whole animal is conspicuously marked with brown,
grey, black, and buff. This wallaby is from 2J to 3 feet
long, and the tail is 20 inches in length. It is a graceful
and active animal, and is generally found in herds of about
ninety in number.

In the plains to the north of the range the hare-wallaby
(Lagorchester leporoides) is the commonest species. It is
from 18 to 20 inches long, and is also a pretty and graceful
little animal, with great leaping powers. It probably clears
a space of at least twenty feet at a bound when flying from
dingoes or dogs ; but it is impossible to make accurate
measurements under ordinary circumstances. The colour
of this wallaby is a sandy-red, which, in some districts,
renders it almost invisible at a short distance. It lies very
close in the scrub ; but when it is once started it leaps
across the plain in a straight line, and at a pace that
prevents any but the best dogs from overtaking it. The
female will stick to her young one until all chance of escape
is lost. Then, if it is heavy, she will take it from her
pouch, I think rather with a view of urging it to escape
than from a desire to abandon it, and save herself. The
wallabies, unlike the larger kangaroos, never attempt to
defend themselves ; but an incident that occurred while I
was exploring this district led me to think that one species
at least seemed to be provided with a special organ of
defence.

Many of the squatters, though ignorant enough of
science themselves, were quite in sympathy with my taste
for investigating the marvels of animated nature, and often
drew my attention to matters of interest that they had noted
among the wild creatures which surrounded their dwellings,
and from them I gleaned items of valuable information.

One of these gentlemen sent for me to look at a curious
wallaby which had been sent to him from North Queens-
land. I soon recognised this little animal as the spur-tailed

70 THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

wallaby (Onychogale tmguifera). The remarkable point
about this wallaby is that its tail is furnished at the
extremity with a large spur or claw, which in the specimen
I examined was more than an inch in length, thick and
heavy and sharp-pointed. I do not know that the animal
uses this as a weapon of defence ; but it struck me, taken
in conjunction with the great length of the tail, which was
as long as the animal's entire body from the snout to the
root of the tail, that it might be able to strike a very sharp
blow with it, and I cannot think of any other use for such
an appendage. If it is not a weapon of defence, I can
only suppose that it is the remnant of some defunct organ
which the animal has no longer a use for, and which is
gradually devoluting.

This animal was two feet in length, and, as I have said,
the tail was as much more. Of the habit of the species in
a wild state I could glean no information. My friend's
pet was in good health, cheerful, and disposed to be play-
ful. It knew him, and was not at all shy, and was kept in
an enclosed garden where it helped itself to what vegeta-
tion took its fancy. This diet was supplemented with
grass and herbage brought from the meadows ; but it was
not a large eater, and did but little damage in the garden.
During the heat of the day it liked to remain hid in its
hut, but at sun-down it came forth and was very lively. It
could leap sixteen or seventeen feet in a straight line, but
could not clear obstacles that were more than two or three
feet high. It was not afraid of the station dogs, permitted
persons it knew to touch it, but was timid in the presence
of strangers.

The native porcupine is plentiful in the range
mentioned above, though, on account of its peculiar habits,
it is not often seen by persons who do not specially watch
for it. This, the Echidna aculeata of naturalists, is another
of those extraordinary animals which are peculiarly
Australian. It is generally considered to be one of the
least developed of all mammals, and its low type of brain
is pointed to as conclusive evidence of its want of intelli-
gence. On the surface of this organ, in the echidna, there

DESCRIPTION OF THE ECHIDNA 71

are not so many of those convolutions which are found on
the brains of the highly-organised and intelligent animals.
If we are to be guided by this fact the echidna is much
below the birds in the scale of creation, though it is
extremely bird-like in its skull-formation. But both the
echidna and the platypus (for which see Chap. VIII.) are
far more intelligent animals than is generally thought.
In their cases brain development has little to do with
mental power. Both are extremely cautious animals, and
this one fact, if it stood alone, would prove them to be
possessed of a considerable power of thought, but it does
not by any means stand alone. Animals of a low mental
development are always lacking in the gift of self-protec-
tion. It is in the lowest forms of animal life that the
natural gifts of mimicry and protective-colouring are
found in greatest perfection.

The echidna is a burrowing animal, and its power of
quickly burying itself must certainly be as great as that
which is reported to be possessed by the American
armadillos. The animal is always found on rocky ground
in the hills and never on the plains. I have caught them
on the highest plateaus of the Alps, the Sierras, the
Grampians, and the Pyrenees — that is, at an elevation of not
less than four thousand feet, and in some spots of perhaps
nearly five thousand feet ; but I never found the least sign
of the animal's presence in level country. In such ground
there are few, or no, soft places ; and indeed the echidna
dislikes damp spots, yet if it is suddenly come upon its
captor must be quick in seizing it, or it will be out of sight
in a few seconds. If surprised at a distance from its
burrow, it does not run for that shelter, but proceeds,
at once, to bury itself where it is. The head and shoulders
are under ground by the time an active man can run a
distance of thirty or forty yards ; and then such an exer-
tion of strength is required to draw it back that I have
frequently feared I should tear the animal asunder in
doing so. But it is tough, and after being subjected to a
tug that could not have been less than fifty to sixty
pounds in force, appeared to be quite unhurt.

72 THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

On capture these little animals show signs of much
fright. Their heart can be felt violently beating, and
they emit their faeces, and also squeak with a characteristic
bird-like or chirping note ; but there is never the least
attempt at self-defence. Indeed they are quite incapable
of defending themselves, for there are no teeth in their
remarkable bird-like beaks. More harmless creatures than
echidnas and duck-bills do not inhabit the earth. They
hurt no creature but the minute animals which form
their natural prey, and do absolutely no harm to the
squatter or the agriculturist.

In captivity, if properly treated, and provided with
their natural food, they will live a long time, and like the
duck-bills, give clear evidence of recognising their masters
— another proof that they are not lacking in intelligence.
Their food consists of insects and earth-worms, some of
the latter being of considerable size. They consume so
many ants that they are frequently called ant-eaters — a
name that is, perhaps, considering the extensile character
of their tongues, correctly applied to them ; but they
differ greatly from the true ant-eaters, and ants form only
a portion of their food. More correctly the echidnas (there
are two species in Australia, one in Tasmania, and
another in New Guinea) take the place of the ant-eaters
in Australia, as the koalas do that of the sloths, the
kangaroo that of the deer, etc. In Australia, as I have
remarked, nearly all classes of the placentals are repre-
sented by implacental families.

So rapidly can the echidna burrow that a minute is
amply sufficient time for it to put itself completely under-
ground, and that in ground which is so hard that a man
can dig into it only with difficulty. Unlike the rabbit,
the echidna takes care to conceal the entrance to its
burrow, which is placed under a mass of tangled roots, or
amongst a thick tuft of ferns or grass. There are always at
least two holes to each burrow, and sometimes three or four.
It is very difficult, therefore, to obtain the animal by
digging. At the bottom of the main burrow, which is
seldom a less distance than forty feet from the entrance-

AN EGG-LAYING MAMMAL 73

hole, and six, eight, or even ten feet beneath the surface
of the ground, the echidna makes a nest which greatly
resembles that of the platypus, or duck-bill. It is composed
of fine fibres, grass, and feathers, with sometimes tufts of
wool or fur. The wool and feathers must be gathered
from the ground, and in various nests which I have
examined consisted of sheep's wool, and the fur of
kangaroos, wallabies, and the small rat-like marsupials
which abound in the mountains. Much of this fur or
wool belong to animals which are only found on the
plains, and unless it was blown to the mountains by high
winds, it must have been fetched by the little animals
from immense distances.

The former may possibly be the right explanation ;
for the animal is a bad walker, and cannot escape by run-
ning. The hind feet are used most awkwardly, the nails
being turned backwards, and the ankles only placed on the
ground, causing the animal to appear as if crippled when
viewed from behind. It does, however, travel long distances
from its burrow ; on such occasions it is frequently captured.
It seems to be very dull of hearing, and when surprised,
if its captor runs quickly upon it, it may be seized before
it has time to bury itself. Though its spines look formid-
able they do not seem to be intended by nature to serve
as a defence. At any rate, the echidna may be handled
with more freedom than the European porcupine can be.

The nest is not at all like that of a bird, but is a mere
bed of materials on which the egg is laid. I have not been
able to ascertain if the eggs are incubated ; and, if so, for
how long a period. They greatly resemble those of the
duck-bill, and are about the size of those of a thrush. One,
I think, is the normal number laid annually ; but some-
times there are two, which is just the reverse of the case
with the duck-bill, which usually lays two, but occasionally
one only.

These eggs are far more avian than reptilian in char-
acter. The shell is parchment-like, quite white in colour,
and tough in texture ; but the yolk exactly resembles that
in birds' eggs. The young, like those of the duck-bill, are

74 THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

blind when hatched, and remain so for a considerable time,
though I am unable to definitely state the period of their
blindness. It is not less than six weeks ; and when recently
hatched the animal is without a beak, the orifice of the
mouth is round, open, and cannot be closed ; and for some
time after coming into life the young one remains firmly
attached to the nipple of the mother ; and, as in the case
of most, or all, of the other Australian implacentals, it means
death to it if it is separated from the parent by force.

Like the duck-bill, the echidna is furnished with spurs
on the hind feet. These spurs are sexual, being found on
the males only, and the accepted explanation is that they
are used during the breeding season by the rivals which
contest the possession of the females. This explanation is
not, I think, very satisfactory ; but it is the best that can
be put forward at present. I have never witnessed any
combats between the males of this animal, and its timid
nature is strong presumptive evidence against its ever
showing a combative disposition. I must make the same
remark concerning the duck-bill. There is a canal down
the spur, which was formerly supposed to be a channel for
the exudation of a poisonous fluid. I have not been able
to discover such a fluid ; wounds inflicted by the spur on
other animals, and on men, are not hurtful. Quite possibly
the weapon was formerly poisonous, and may have been
an effective defence to the animal. The fact that the
female is not furnished with them is a difficulty in the way
of the acceptance of this theory ; but occasionally the male
echidna is without them : I have taken a specimen that
had but one, which was on the right foot, and several of
these animals of both sexes have been found which had
not the normal number of toes. So that we may reason-
ably suppose that the animal is still actively in process of
evolution.

Southward of the mountain range the country of
Victoria is most English-like. Orchards of apples, cherries,
and plums abound ; there are hedges of hawthorn and
hazel, and sometimes fences of loose stones, reminding one
of the North country of the mother-land. Houses are

SPARROWS, ROBINS, AND ROOKS 75

built on the English plan, covered with ivy and exotic
creepers ; and the domestic animals are nearly all of the
old country types, though occasionally one is amused at
the incongruous scene of an emu stalking about amidst
common poultry, or a couple of tame kangaroos hopping
about the lawn. Not improbably, too, the visitor may be
saluted by the screaming of several parrots and cockatoos,
which enjoy semi-liberty in the trees which shade the front
of the house. English trees abound everywhere — in the
garden, field, and by the roadside ; English sparrows
swarm in many places, and other old country birds are to
be found where protection is afforded them — rooks, robins,
blackbirds, thrushes, and many finches — all the descendants
of a few pairs which have been imported by some home-
sick enthusiasts. English game-birds abound on many
estates, and the red deer, fallow deer, and other animals
may be found by the diligent naturalists ; while in no part
of Australia is that pest, the wild rabbit, more abundant.

The pasturage of this country is the richest on the
continent. Many squatters own 50,000 or 60,000 sheep,
and a few have 100,000 or more, besides cattle and horses
in proportion. Victoria is the country of the " wool-kings."
Huge fortunes are made here : while northward, in Queens-
land, the stockman reigns supreme, and can show almost
as many head of cattle as the southern squatter can of
sheep. Both classes of men depend entirely on " natural-
feed " for the support of their stock. Hay is not made —
in any great quantity, at any rate — and turnips, for sheep
feeding, are quite unheard of. I do not know if swedes
would grow in this country — many European vegetables
will not prosper in Victoria. The nature of old country
plants is often changed by planting in this land, as
Australian plants are by transference to European soil.
In a few cases vegetables and fruits are improved by the
change.

North of the ranges described in the first portion of
this chapter — in the back-runs — the country is still of a
rich character, and except in the extreme west, as well-
watered as any Australian country. The grass is beautifully

7& THE COLONY OF VICTORIA

green, and when it is well cropped by sheep or cattle, as
short as in any English meadow. Daisies and buttercups
are lacking, but the brilliant yellow of the latter flowers is
imitated by that of a ranunculus which grows in myriads ;
and other attractive and brightly coloured wild flowers
may be found in great variety by the diligent collector.

Large tracts of these northern plains are marshy
during the winter season, and harbour vast numbers of
wild-fowl, especially in those districts, mostly on the
banks of the rivers, which are covered with rushes. The
most notable bird among these is, perhaps, the pied-goose
{Anseranas melanoleucas), which looks as much like a huge
crow as a goose. The beak, in the first place, is not of
the typical anserine shape, but is bent, or arched ; and the
feet, also, are abnormal, being furnished with strong claws,
and only partially webbed. The bird spends much of its
time perched on low trees, and does not often enter the
water. Yet it is fond of marshy places, and preys on
such reptiles and insects as are found in damp spots ;
particularly it feeds greedily on the fish and eels which are
found in the partially dry river pools and water-holes.

Not only is this bird crow-like in outward appearance,
but its notes also are hoarse and croaking, resembling
those of a raven. Sometimes it is very noisy and calls
incessantly for a long time. At other times its hoarse
cries may be heard as it wheels, in small flocks, through
the air. It does not fly in ranks like geese in general,
and seems to migrate from one part of the country to
another according to the scarcity or abundance of food in
a district. I have never seen it in large flocks, but there
are always a number together — perhaps a dozen or twenty,
and sometimes nearly a hundred. If a hawk should happen
to seize one, the remainder of the flock combine to attack
it, which they do with many fierce cries and great hubbub.
At a homestead near Dunkeld the owner had imported
several birds from England, and turned them loose in his
grounds in the hope that they would breed and establish
themselves. Amongst these were four or five pairs of
robins and some larks. The larks disappeared, but one

ENGLISH BIRDS IN AUSTRALIA 77

pair of robins built in a bush near the house, and success-
fully reared a family of five young ones.

Warblers and parrots and pigeons are so numerous in
all parts of Victoria that it is impossible to notice them
here in detail. Probably the abundance of woods account
for their numbers, for Victoria, on the whole, is a well-
timbered colony, and what native wood has been destroyed
has in a great measure been replaced by European and
American timber-trees.

CHAPTER VIII

MORE REMARKS ON THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF
VICTORIA AND NEW SOUTH WALES

Before leaving the south-eastern parts of Australia there
are some animals and plants which must have notice, as
they are either entirely confined to those regions or, at
least, have their headquarters there.

Foremost among these is the platypus, or duck-bill,
almost as remarkable a creature as the echidna, but one
which is generally better known to naturalists. My remarks
concerning it therefore may be brief.

The duck-bill is a rather larger animal than the echidna,
a fine specimen being at least a foot and a half long, and
weighing at least five pounds. One uncommonly large
male which I captured was twenty-two inches long, and
weighed five pounds eleven ounces. Though the duck-bill
is a larger animal than the echidna it lays smaller eggs.
These are usually two in number, and are a trifle larger
than those of a house-sparrow.

Like the echidna, the duck-bill makes burrows of a great
length — often forty feet long ; but not very deep down in
the earth. These burrows are always made in the banks
of rivers and pools, but never where there is a perceptible
current in the water. The still, pond-like reaches of the
smaller streams are the favourite haunt of the duck-bill, and
there is always more than one entrance to its home. One,
and perhaps two, of these entrances, are situated a foot or
two under water ; the other is well concealed under roots
or amidst tangled grass.

The surface of the brain of the duck-bill is almost

78

THE SPURS OF THE DUCK-BILL 79

entirely without those convolutions and furrows which are
found on this organ in animals of highly-developed organi-
sation, and which are considered by anatomists an indica-
tion of superior intelligence. But with the monotremata
this indication is not to be relied on, for notwithstanding
that the echidna has, superficially, the highest type of brain,
it is the least intelligent of the monotreme family, while
the duck-bill is by no means lacking in intelligence, though
it has the lowest type of brain of all known mammals.

The echidna is a solitary animal, a pair, at most, being
found together ; but the duck-bills congregate in small
flocks of twenty to sixty or eighty individuals, the number
living in company seeming to depend on the size of the
pool they inhabit. In very small pools, not more than
twenty or thirty yards across, there may not be more than
six or eight duck-bills, but there are sure to be others in
the neighbourhood. Sometimes, when a large pool is well-
stocked, there may be a few duck-bills in all the smaller
ponds for a distance of many miles along the river — these
pools being generally separated in summer by stretches of
perfectly dry bed. Never, under any circumstances, is a
solitary pair of these little animals found living alone.
There are sure to be more than one pair in a pool, and
many others in the water-holes close at hand.

The duck-bill though a curious, is, I think, a pretty
animal. Its fur, of a fine deep brown colour, is soft and
velvet-like to the touch, and very thick, and its small eyes
are bright and expressive. Like the echidna it is a
perfectly harmless creature, and absolutely incapable of
aggression. The spurs of the males are large and strong,
considering the size of the animal, but they are certainly
never used for defensive purposes. Their use is a great
mystery. I am almost sure that the duck-bills, as well as
the echidnas, pair for life ; the sexual contests, therefore,
which are supposed to be the objective of these weapons,
are not likely ever to take place ; besides, though I have
watched them very closely, I have never seen anything
like fights or quarrels amongst them. They are very
peaceable animals. Some few creatures prey on them —

80 MORE REMARKS ON FLORA AND FAUNA

snakes chiefly ; but as the females are not provided with
spurs, these appendages can scarcely be intended for
defensive purposes. There are glands at the bases of the
spurs, but I could never discover any fluid, poisonous or
otherwise, and my theory that these spurs are in process
of evolution, or devolution, is probably the correct explana-
tion of their presence on the animal.

The duck-bill is a strong swimmer, and this is a singular
circumstance considering that the animal inhabits small
bodies of water only, and carefully eschews currents and
running water generally. In swimming it assumes the
ordinary recumbent attitude, but it has a habit of floating
motionless for a long time at a stretch, and then it assumes
a vertical position with its head and beak held upright. In
this position duck-bills have a very extraordinary appear-
ance, like the tops of so many small posts appearing above
the surface of the water. The slightest noise is sufficient
to cause them to disappear instantly by sinking beneath
the surface of the water, where they swim to the submerged
entrances to their burrows and take refuge within.

This habit is well known to the blackfellows who,
having alarmed a colony of duck-bills and driven them to
their retreats, proceed to dig them out with their roughly
constructed paddles. The course of the burrow is ascer-
tained by driving a pointed stick into the ground ; and
when the direction of it is satisfactorily ascertained, holes
are dug at intervals of four or five feet until the nest
chamber is reached at a distance of three or four feet
beneath the surface of the ground, where the animal is
found curled up with fright. It makes no attempt to
escape, and one sharp rap on the head kills it, for it is
not so tenacious of life as the echidna.

The skeleton of the duck-bill is very reptilian in
general characteristics ; the arrangement of the bones
being, in several parts, similar to that found in the
skeleton of a lizard. The young are suckled through
lacteal-pits and not by means of teats ; but this peculiarity
is common to many of the wallabies and kangaroos as well
as to the monotremata. They are nearly always two in

HABITS OF NATIVE ROBIN 81

number : never more, but sometimes I have captured
females with but a single young one clinging to them.

The duck-bill feeds on fresh-water Crustacea, worms,
and slugs, and does not eat below the surface of the water.
The food is first collected in the cheek-pouches with which
the animal is provided, and seems to be consumed when it
is at rest in its burrow ; or, perhaps, when it is quietly
floating in the vertical position. In captivity a small
quantity of food is sufficient to keep them in health, but
they must be kept well supplied with water.

The distribution of the duck-bill is not wide on the
Australian continent — certainly not extending to a tenth
of its entire surface ; and in many parts it is a local
animal, being found perhaps on the upper reaches of a
river, but never on the lower parts of the same stream. I
have found it on the Upper Darling, near Caidmurra, but
this seems to be about its northern limit. Eastward I
could find, or hear, nothing of it beyond the line of the
river Murray. In the interior of New South Wales, and
of Victoria, it becomes gradually scarcer, and the Darling
probably bounds its range in that direction. It is not so
nocturnal an animal as many naturalists have stated it to
be. Probably they have been misled by its extreme
shyness, which causes it to be very chary of showing itself
during daylight.

It is a lively and playful animal, and the spectator who
takes care to keep himself concealed and remains perfectly
still, will be amused by the many pretty gambols of the
duck-bills, both in the water and on the banks of the
streams. The duck-bill never wanders from the imme-
diate neighbourhood of water. In time of drought they
gradually collect in the larger pools ; and at such times,
under pressure of necessity, they may be found on the
banks of lakes, and in running water.

It is a remarkable coincidence — if it is a mere coin-
cidence— that the range of the native-robin {Petronia
Phoenicia?) is identical with that of the duck-bill. This
small bird is a robin in size, liveliness, and familiarity with
man ; but its plumage is most brilliant, and so strongly

F

82 MORE REMARKS ON FLORA AND FAUNA

contrasted that the arrangement of colours are more like
the effect of art than the work of nature. The breast is
vivid scarlet, gradually shading to rose-pink on the
abdomen. The back, wings, and tail are deep black with
white stripes and markings, and the top of the head is
also bright white. The colours are very distinctly marked,
and separated from each other with decided lines ; and
this fact, with the bird's restless and amusing habits,
draw the attention of the traveller to it. Like the
European robin, it is fond of visiting the neighbourhood
of houses, and if encouraged and fed, it will become so
tame that it will hop close to the feet of the squatter and
his family. Like the English red-breast it is protected by
the common consent of the people.

Another remarkably pretty little passere is the pheasant-
tailed finch {Stipiturus malacurus). The tail feathers of
this tiny creature resemble those of the lyre-bird in being
incompletely webbed. They are, in fact, mere skeleton
feathers. The two central ones are more than twice the
length of the bird, and when it runs quickly among the
scrub, or through the bushes, it looks like a mouse. It is
very quick in its movements on the ground or amongst
the branches of shrubs ; but it flies weakly with undulating,
jerky movements. It has a soft, pleasing note that can
scarcely be called a song, and though it is tame in the
bush, and will permit a close approach to it, it seldom goes
near the homesteads of the squatters.

Yet another very common finch in most parts of New
South Wales and Victoria is the black fan-tail (Rhipidura
motacilloides), with very similar habits to the last species.
It runs about the ground looking more like a mouse than
a bird when in motion, stops suddenly and shakes its tail
to and fro rapidly with a lateral motion, then on again
till a fly attracts its attention or comes near enough to
be captured, when it gives a little hop, captures its prey,
and resumes its amusing run. It has a lively chirp and
several call-notes, but no song.

All these finches lay light-coloured spotted eggs, the
nests being built of fibres, grass, hair, and moss, lined with

IMPORTED INSECTS 83

wool, hair, and feathers. Sheep's wool is frequently found
incorporated in their nests, or used for the lining, and one
fan-tail's nest that I found was lined with dingo's hair.
The nests are placed in bushes or shrubby trees, without
much attempt at concealment, are all neatly made, and
much resemble each other in general appearance.

Several Australian butterflies and other insects are
identical with European species ; but when I drew the
attention of an English entomologist to this fact, he sug-
gested that these are imported species, the chrysalises
having, in the first place, been sent out from the old
country in bags and bundles of seeds, etc. This is a very
reasonable explanation, and is probably a correct one.
Among the species which are quite common in many parts
of New South Wales I may mention the following : the
white admiral (Limenitis Camilla), the meadow-brown
{Epinephele janira), the purple hairstreak (TJiecla quereus),
copperstreak (Polyommatus phleas), the skipper {Pamphilea
silvanus), the tortoise-shell ( Vanessa polychlorus), and some
others which I am not able to so clearly define. The
cosmopolitan painted-lady (Pyrameis cardui) may be
indigenous to Australia, though I think this improbable.
The spike-winged butterfly (Erycina anlestes) and a few
others are certainly American.

English grasshoppers (Meconema variuni) and the great
migratory locust (Pachytylus migratorius) sometimes make
their appearance in menacing numbers ; but whether the
latter comes over the sea or breeds from imported eggs
or larvae I have not been able to ascertain. That the
English grasshoppers, of several species, are imported, is
certain.

Of native insects several are as peculiar to the country
as are the marsupials and monotremes. Not the least
remarkable is the huge giant-moth (Zelotypia stacyz), which
often measures as much as nine or ten inches in spread of
wing. The moth with wings closed, and when sitting on
a branch, measures from four to five inches long. The
general colour of the body and under wings is light reddish,
with some dusky and black markings. The upper wings

84 MORE REMARKS ON FLORA AND FAUNA

are obscurely tinged with several hues — brownish, reddish,
whitish, with an ocellated brown spot on each of the
wings. The insect cannot be properly described in words,
the colouring is altogether so undecided and peculiar.

It is not a scarce moth, but it is very local, and it is
difficult to find, and to capture when found. The usual
way of obtaining it is to procure the larva, and await its
development. By this means a perfect specimen of the
moth is obtained. The larvae harbour in hollow stems of
the gum-tree, and are difficult to find. The best plan is
to hire a blackfellow to climb the trees and test the
branches. The acute aborigine is an adept at finding
hollow places, and the creatures of all kinds that harbour
in such retreats, and he will procure a dozen larvae before
the novice can discover one. They are seldom found at
a less height than sixty to eighty feet from the ground,
and the moth itself flies very high, never coming within
reach of the net of a collector standing on the ground. It
is absolutely necessary to climb the trees they frequent to
effect a capture, and much patience must be exercised,
much disappointment endured, if the moth hunter would
be successful in his pursuit. Some poor persons turn an
honest penny by the capture and sale of these moths, which
are sought after as curiosities. From ten to twenty shillings
are demanded for good specimens ; but perfect insects,
such as a naturalist requires, are seldom to be obtained in
this manner. The body of the moth is so large that it must
be cleaned and stuffed, or the specimen soon becomes
worthless.

The giant-moth flies swiftly as well as at a great height.
It may be seen shooting over the tops of the tallest gum-
trees, and the higher the collector ventures to climb, the
greater is his chance of effecting a capture. He should
keep close in to the trunk, and remain motionless until the
moment comes for him to use his net. He will find it
better, however, to rely on larvae for specimens, as owing
to the size and strength of the insect it is almost impossible
to capture it uninjured.

Giant-moths are seldom seen abroad until after mid-

HABITS OF GIANT-MOTH 85

day, but they fly freely during the afternoon, and until a
late hour at night. They seem to be fond of moonlight,
and on bright nights may be seen in great numbers, but
shooting about in scattered array. They are never seen
in flocks; and they appear so large, and move so swiftly,
that by unpractised eyes they are often mistaken for birds ;
especially as the movement of their wings produces a loud
whirring sound, like the flight of a bird.

The larva of this remarkable moth is a large grub of
a light yellowish-green colour with various brown and red
markings, of which it would be futile to attempt to give a
description in words. The native blacks eat this and
other large grubs ; and for a short clay pipe and an ounce
of tobacco, one of these men, or his gin, will find and bring
to the collector several good larvae. The hollow branches
in which they harbour should be cut bodily off, and kept
in a warm, dry place. The hollow is formed by the larva
itself, which feeds on the wood : it is usually fourteen or
fifteen inches long, and the larva freely moves about
within it. The chrysalis is also very large — fully three
inches long.

Regarding the distribution of this insect I must write
with some reserve. Reports that I have collected from
stock-riders and the natives are contradictory ; and this
is all that I can state with certainty. I have never seen or
heard of the moth south of the meridian of Sydney. It is
found near St Albans, and stray insects have been taken not
more than thirty miles, in a straight line, north of Sydney.
In Maitland, Durham, and Brisbane counties it is abundant,
though in many local spots it is unknown. Thence north-
ward I have seen and heard of it at intervals as far north
as the Clarence River. It approaches pretty close to the
sea-coast, but does not seem to have been able to cross the
mountains known as the Liverpool, New England, and
Macpherson, etc., ranges. At any rate I feel safe in assert-
ing that it is unknown in the interior of New South Wales.
I have heard that it has been seen in South Queensland,
but could obtain no evidence of the correctness of the
report.

86 MORE REMARKS ON FLORA AND FAUNA

The giant-moth is a gum-tree haunting species ; and
where gum-trees are not plentiful there are no moths.
The blue gum seems to be its favourite tree ; but it also
breeds in the red gum and others. Of course, the branch
attacked by the larva is killed ; but I have found no
evidence that these moths cause a serious destruction of
timber, like that occasioned by the ravages of some
European species ; indeed it is but seldom that I have
obtained two specimens of the larva from the same tree,
and the moth, as I have already stated, is not gregarious.

The giant-moth is not the only giant native of the
regions I have been writing about. In Victoria, some
fifty miles north of Melbourne, and near the township
of Fernshaw, are " the world's big-trees," which completely
eclipse the Californian Wellingtonias. It is strange that
these trees should have existed undiscovered for so long
so near one of the New Continent's great capitals — stranger
still that they have attracted so little notice that the
American pretenders are still, popularly at least, permitted
to enjoy a title they can no longer justly claim. Three
hundred and seventy-six feet cuts a poor figure before five
hundred and twenty-two ! these being the reported heights
of the tallest Wellingtonia and giant gum respectively. I
think that the latter figure can be proved as the height of
one at least of our big gums. I have measured one huge
trunk as it lay on the ground, and found it to be four
hundred and fifty-one feet, and there was still several feet
of this mighty fallen one standing over its root.

These huge gums are a wonderful sight and should be
seen by every visitor to the country. And why should
they not be ? People cross a great continent to view the
Californian pines — the Victorian gums are within five or
six hours journey of the Melbourne hotels ! Yet, strangely
enough, the Fernshaw gums attract no great regard^ in
their own country. The gum is regarded, like the
kangaroo, the 'possum, and the rabbit, as a nuisance ; and
these big trees are rapidly being exterminated. The land
they grow on is good land, with twenty or more feet of
vegetable soil in many spots, and it is wanted : and so

THE WORLD'S BIG TREES 87

the gums are given as victims to the axe and the fire-
brand.

As statements of the unfamiliar, and particularly state-
ments of great size, are generally received with scepticism
and ridicule by the ignorant, it will be well to give here
actual authenticated measurements. I have never seen a
big gum which measured as much as five hundred feet ;
but I believe those who say they have made such measure-
ments. I have measured with my own hands several trees
which exceeded four hundred and forty feet. The average
height of the trees in the Fernshaw gum forests is from
three hundred to four hundred feet. As late as 1890,
thousands of trees of four hundred feet might have been
obtained. I have not seen them since that year. They
were then being felled and destroyed wantonly.

The girth of these trees varies much, and does not
always bear a true relation to their height. Eighty-eight
feet is the greatest girth I have measured at a height of
five feet above the roots. A circumference of from forty
to fifty feet may be taken as the average of the biggest
trees. Planks of about two hundred feet long have been
cut from some trees, but the timber is not held in much
esteem.

The varieties of the gum-tree are very many in number;
but they mostly bear local names which are quite different
from their ordinary specific names. Iron-wood, black-wood,
blood-wood, etc., etc., are all varieties of the gum ; and
there are blue, red, and white gums, and some others.
The gum they all exude is valueless, or nearly so. It may
have a small medicinal value ; but it cannot be used as a
cement, or for any of the ordinary uses to which the true
gums are put.

As is well known, the eucalypti shed the outer coat of
their bark ; but it is a mistake to assert that they do not
shed their leaves also, though they are evergreens. When
a gum forest is in process of bark-shedding, it presents a
most ragged and untidy appearance : strips of the bark of a
light tan colour hanging from the trunks, some of them
thirty feet long, and waving weirdly in the passing breeze.

88 MORE REMARKS ON FLORA AND FAUNA

I disliked walking in the gum forests at the bark-shedding
season — the trees seemed to be in mourning, and there
was scarcely any animal life to be seen. The strips of bark
fall to the ground, where they make a great litter, and
render walking laborious work. It is only the thin outer
bark which is shed. The real bark is, perhaps, the most
useful part of the gum-tree to the Australians : that is, of
some varieties of it.

It is by the process of barking that most of the trees
are killed. The bark is stripped off in sheets of five, six,
and seven feet square, and used for roofing houses, build-
ing sheds, and similar work. After being barked, the tree
usually stands for five or six years, or perhaps a little
longer ; but it is killed and soon falls. If the impatient
squatter or locater wants the land for immediate use, he
sets fire to the forest, and then there is no limit to the
mischief that may be done. It is against the law to destroy
the trees ; but the law is openly defied in this matter.
The utility of clearing the land is generally acknowledged ;
and juries will seldom convict an offender for forest-burn-
ing, and never for " barking."

The undergrowth of the giant gum forest is composed
of tree-ferns and a mass of lovely flowers, and is a sight
that is only second in interest to that of the great trees.
There are no gloomy shades in the forest. The trees grow
quite a hundred and fifty feet high, and often much more,
before they shoot forth branches, and the foliage is so thin
and feathery that the light is not excluded, and flowers
flourish beneath them in great variety. It should be
mentioned that all the finest of the trees grow in deep
valleys and gorges amongst the mountains ; and those
which die from natural decay must soon rot away, for
there is very little fallen timber lying about.

The village of Fernshaw is in the heart of the big-tree
region, and is a convenient stopping-place for those who
wish to visit it. Fernshaw, with its whitewashed cottages
and narrow country lanes, has a decidedly English appear-
ance. Fowls, ducks, chubby children, and an occasional
pig, wandering in the road, remind the English visitor of

FERNSHAW FLOWERS 89

the old country ; but the huge trees that rise abruptly from
the environs of many of the houses are quite unlike any-
thing English. European flowers crowd the gardens of
the cottages ; and the seeds of many of these have flown
into the forest, or been carried thither by birds, and found
a suitable soil in which they have rooted and prospered.
Pansies, sweetwilliams, fuchsias, evening-primroses, and
others which are certainly not indigenous to the country,
have been found at spots which, so far as I know, are at
least twenty miles distant from the nearest houses. Some
of these flowers are slightly changed, especially in colour,
from their natural characteristics, and some are much
developed and improved by the change of habitation.

The wonders of the native flora found in the Fernshaw
forests, and in the country for many miles around, cannot
be here described. Remarkable form is strongly con-
trasted by brilliancy of colour in almost every genus of
plants found here. Wattle-trees, perhaps, attain the
perfection of their development, filling the air with their
delicious scent, while the eye is gratified by sight of
immense trailing masses of the Tecoma australis, a large
trumpet-shaped flower, which climbs the trunks of the
gum-trees to a great height, and hangs in graceful festoons
between the huge trunks. Other climbers show clusters of
curious bell-shaped yellow flowers {Billardiceas, I think),
and others a bright-blue blossom. The colours of all the
flowers are as remarkable for great brilliance as are those
of the birds which harbour in these giant forests.

Palms are numerous ; and many of them, like the
mammals, are remarkable for abnormity of form, so much
so that no person, having ever seen them, could fail to, at
a glance, recognise an Australian palm ; but as the palms
of the north part of the continent are the most remarkable,
I will defer noticing the genus for the present.

The lyre-bird is found in the forests about Fernshaw.
It was abundant twenty or thirty years ago, and, I think,
may still be pretty numerous in the interior of the woods ;
but, naturally a shy bird, it has been rendered very
cautious by continual persecution.

90 MORE REMARKS ON FLORA AND FAUNA

The birds which are sure to attract a stranger's notice
first are the splendid cockatoos and parrots. One of the
most gaudy of these is the scarlet lory, which is abundant
enough to be seen every day close to Fernshaw.

Scarcely less gorgeous and beautiful than the lory is
Leadbeater's cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri), several parties
of which I have seen on the outskirts of the forest ; but
this species is far more numerous and seen in larger flocks
in the open country to the eastward.

CHAPTER IX

A RAMBLE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

There are some desolate spots in South Australia —
portions of the coast of Spencer's Gulf, for instance. On
the other hand, some of the scenery, even well up in the
interior of the colony, is as beautiful as any that can be
found on the continent. I have made several long
rambles into the heart of the colony, and beyond the
settled portion of it. Journeys, perhaps, I should call
them ; but as they were made under easy circumstances,
either with pleasure as the chief object, or with prospecting
parties that were in no hurry to complete their surveys,
the term rambles may be justified.

The start was always made from Adelaide, a colonial
capital which, for elegance of general appearance and
fineness of individual buildings, is second to none on the
continent. One of the best railway lines in the country
has its terminus in Adelaide, and a fine prospect of con-
siderable stretches of the country may be had from the
windows of a railway carriage ; but the conditions of my
journeyings were such that, being encumbered with several
pack-horses, I usually performed the whole journey by
road.

South Australia promises to be, at no distant time, a
great mining country. The minerals are numerous, and
many of them are of such excellent quality that they are
renowned all over the continent, and are in demand in
many distant places. Some of the most important
quarries are in the neighbourhood of Adelaide, and are
mines of wealth, more reliable and profitable than gold

91

92 A RAMBLE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

mines. The Mintaro slate quarry is the most important
in Australia ; and visitors to it never fail to be delightedly
told by the miners that the largest slab ever quarried was
taken from this quarry. It measured 15 feet long, 9 feet
broad, and 3 inches thick — truly a sizable slate — but I
know not whether the boast that it is the largest ever
quarried can be substantiated. Certainly Mintaro slates
are extensively used in all parts of Australia.

But even in its mines Australia is peculiar, and differs
from other continents ; and one fault of mines and quarries
in this district is the erratic way in which lodes and strata
are arranged, and the remarkable way in which they
sometimes " give out," or cease to yield. One of the most
notable instances of this peculiarity was experienced in
the case of the Burra-Burra copper-mine.

In the year 1845 the Burra-Burra district was a back-
country sheep-run. Only a few adventurous shepherds
had penetrated so far inland, and these men lived with a
crook in one hand and a musket in the other. For although
the wandering blackfellows were few in number, they were
viperish in disposition, and many cruel tragedies occurred.
" Kidney-fat," too, is a temptation that the wild black-
fellow cannot resist, and perhaps many of the murders
would have been prevented if the shepherds had not
resented too fiercely the loss by theft of a few sheep.
The old class of shepherds was an uneducated one, and
often drawn entirely from the convict establishments, and
vendettas between them and the blacks were very prevalent
on many of the back-runs where there were no magistrates
and police to maintain order.

One of these outlying shepherds, who had penetrated
further afield than his mates, was astonished to perceive
what looked to him like a huge inverted cauldron of copper
half buried in the earth. He reported the matter and the
country was prospected, and numbers of these inverted
cauldrons were discovered studded over the face of the
country, sometimes lying far apart, often clustered close
together. They looked, according to the description of an
eye-witness, like huge bubbles of copper that had welled

EXTRAORDINARY COPPER FORMATION 93

up in boiling. So extraordinary was the sight that it is
said many geologists came from Europe and America to
witness it, and none could give a satisfactory theory of so
strange a formation.

Miners came from Cornwall, the copper was worked,
and for a few years the mines proved to be a very profitable
concern, but the lodes puzzled the miners. They had
never seen any like them before, and, indeed, declared that
they were wholly erratic, and if they existed for any
distance underground, were so deeply buried and hidden
that it would be mere waste of capital to search for them.
The surface copper was soon exhausted, and at the time
of the "gold rush" (about 1851-52), the miners deserted
almost in a body. Work was afterwards resumed at the
mines, but at the time of my visits (between 1892 and
1899), they seemed to be exhausted, and work had entirely
ceased. I had not the gratification of seeing one of the
remarkable bubbles which had attracted so much attention
from a former generation.

Burra-Burra is the name of a district rather than that
of a town. Collectively it means the whole mining city of
the Burra-Burra creek or river; but each party of miners
had a township with a designation (usually national) of
their own. Thus the Scotsmen had an Aberdeen, the
native Australians resided at Kooringa, and so on, the
various townships being seldom separated by a greater
distance than a dozen or twenty yards.

The country between Burra-Burra and Adelaide is now
the most populous in the colony, and also the most
prosperous, and consequently the larger animals and birds
have become comparatively scarce — killed by the gun and
net, or driven away by the rapid advance of the agriculturist,
for the land is being brought under culture, and the corn-
grower is fast superseding the wool-raiser. Profitable as
the latter business is, corn-growing is more so, and land
that was formerly thought to be desert waste is now known
to be excellent for grain crops.

Nothing is more disturbing to the fauna of a country
than the operations of the cultivator, except actual

94 A RAMBLE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

destruction by means of the gun and trap, and both fauna
and flora are generally greatly modified, and in some
degree changed, when tillage breaks up the forest covert
and the open plain. The numbers of wild animals and
birds are always much reduced, and some species exter-
minated. Perhaps the flora suffers even more than the
fauna when a new land is brought under cultivation.

The distance by road from Adelaide to Burra-Burra is
about a hundred and ten miles, and in that space I passed
through several districts in which I rode miles without
seeing more than a few scattered birds. Formerly this
tract of country swarmed with black swans and other
water fowl, including the beautiful french-grey heron
known as the native companion. Three times did I ride
between Burra and Adelaide without seeing a single heron.
Once or twice I saw small flocks of swans flying at a great
height towards Spencer's Gulf, where, in days past, they
assembled in thousands. These birds must have been
journeying from some distant feeding-ground, for it is a
very unusual circumstance for swans to fly high. Ducks
are plentiful on rivers and water-holes which are not too
near a human dwelling ; but they are wild and difficult to
approach, and have learned to fear the gun. The report
of a firearm is sufficient to send all those within the radius
of a mile flying to some distant retreat, and the wild-fowler
seldom gets a second shot at the same spot.

The European sparrow has established itself in the
Burra district, and I noticed it at several other places on
the road from Adelaide, where also it is as common as in
an English town ; but whether it has found its way up
from the capital city, or has been taken thither by the
amateur acclimatiser, I could not discover. There it is,
however, as pert, saucy, and as much at home as I perceive
it to be in the city of London. Used to the bird as I
have been from the days of my boyhood, I have always
looked upon it as an Australian native, and have scarcely,
until recent years, been able to understand the surprise
that many emigrants to Australia evince at finding it so
firmly established in the new land. Though most emigrants

THE ENGLISH SPARROW 95

have heard of the rabbit pest, and are surprised at not
meeting with immediate evidence of the destructiveness
of that little rodent, few are prepared, on their arrival,
to be greeted by the chirping, impudent, feathered friend
that they have been so intimate with in their native
land.

Other English birds are sometimes met with here, and
in other parts of Australia ; but, as a rule, they are confined
to particular estates, where they have been turned loose
and protected by the owner. Blackbirds and thrushes
seem to have prospered best, but on one estate the robin
seemed in a fair way to establish itself; and on several
large farms in Victoria the skylark has made itself
sufficiently at home to breed. There are some enthusiastic
bird-lovers in the country who would give a large sum for
a few pairs of English nightingales could they be procured ;
but I believe, though many attempts have been made, that
a nightingale has never been landed alive in Australia.
Even the robin will rarely endure confinement sufficiently
long to enable it to be imported to our continent. Once
safely there, however, it seems to be able to find abundance
of acceptable food.

On the alluvial flats near Spencer's Gulf, the cornfields
are often crowded with scarlet poppies ; and dandelions,
buttercups, and daisies, large and small, abound on the
grasslands, both artificial and natural. The seeds of these
flowers must have been brought to Australia in corn-seed
bags or sticking to the wool of sheep. That seeds are
transported from country to country entangled in the wool
and fur of animals has been proved beyond dispute.
Several Spanish plants came to the colonies imbedded
amidst the wool of a flock of merino sheep ; and other
instances have been noted by colonial naturalists.
Sometimes serious consequences follow importations,
accidental and otherwise. I have heard a story of a
Scotch gentleman who had much trouble with his neigh-
bours through his attempt to raise a crop of genuine
Scotch thistles. I am not sure that European plants have
yet obtained a sufficient hold upon Australian soil actually

96 A RAMBLE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

to oust any native species, except very locally ; but no
doubt some Australian plants are menaced by the intro-
duction of foreign genera; and, in my opinion, the
domestic and other imported animals will ultimately
materially affect certain families of the native flora.
Man, above all other agents, is effecting great changes.
Here, as in all the settled parts of Australia, are many
spots, sometimes entire estates, that might, if superficial
appearances only are considered, have been cut out of an
English county and bodily transplanted hither. Every-
thing, from the house in its patch of hawthorn-planted
park, to the gooseberry bushes and gilliflowers in the
garden, is English. The horses, the dogs, the ducks, geese,
and fowls, are all of British origin if not of British breed,
and the owner of all these does his utmost, on Sundays at
least, to make himself thoroughly English, in a silk hat
and black frock-coat of perfectly Oxford Street style
and cut.

Though so much of the land has been cultivated, and
more, at least, improved, there are long stretches of salt-
bush scrub within a short distance of Adelaide. When
this scrub is in flower (that is in winter time) it presents a
by no means unpleasing scene ; nor is this scrub any
evidence that the land is bad. Much really good land is
covered with salt-bush, and sheep readily eat and fatten
on it ; patches of it, therefore, are often left on the sheep-
runs, and in time of drought it is very valuable, as it lasts
long after the grass has failed, and no degree of aridity
will kill the roots. Many of the Australian birds nest
among it ; and I have noticed that the destruction of the
salt-bush generally results in these birds forsaking a
district.

The celery-pine (Podocarpus asplenifolid) is a remark-
able-looking tree which is sure to attract the attention of
a stranger. It is very plentifully distributed on most of
the hills in this district, especially on those eastward of
Adelaide, covering some of the highest to their very tops
— that is over four thousand feet above sea-level. Nearly
all the telegraph-poles in this and the adjoining colonies

PECULIARITIES OF MALLEE-SCRUB 97

are made of trunks of this tree, and it affords valuable
timber for many other purposes.

On the flat plains beyond the hills there are many
miles of " mallee-scrub." This singular plant is a species
of eucalyptus, though if one tells an ignorant squatter or
stock-rider that the mallee plant is of the same family as
the "gum-tree," he is stared at in blank astonishment.
Such is the fact, however.

The root of the mallee is a large, flat, woody disc, often
more than a yard across, and some eight or ten inches
thick. It is called a " scab " by the colonists, and from the
underside of this scab a great number of small fibres, or
rootlets, penetrate the ground to a great depth — until they
find moisture, indeed — so they are sometimes at least a
dozen feet long. From the upper side of the scab sprout
a number of cane-like sticks, or stems, reaching a height
of fourteen or fifteen feet, and sprouting, at the top, into a
dense cluster of leaves. The ground in a mallee-scrub is
thickly covered with these strange, disc-like roots ; and
each " scab " is so firmly held to the ground by its numer-
ous rootlets, that, as I have proved by actual experiment,
the strength of a dozen oxen is not sufficient to tear one
of them up.

The rootlets of the mallee-scrub contain a great
quantity of moisture ; and where it abounds the bushman
cannot perish of thirst. If the rootlets are dug up, broken
into small pieces, and placed to drain into a billy (or small
tin pan), a goodly supply of drinkable fluid may be
speedily obtained.

Mallee-scrub is tiresome country to travel through,
the numerous scabs being a great nuisance to a horse, and
a still greater annoyance to a bullock team, and the
monotony of the scrub is very depressing to the mind of
man. There is absolutely no break in the general appear-
ance of the country, one scab being as like to another as
two pins are.

Mallee-scrub is characteristic of what is called desert
country. It does not grow near rivers or on well-watered
plains, and I have ridden through a hundred-mile patch of

G

98 A RAMBLE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

it without finding a single creek or water-hole, but there
is always water at no great depth beneath the surface of
the earth. The roots must have moisture or the plant
cannot exist, and on digging, water is always found at
depths varying from eight to fourteen feet, and this water
is invariably of good quality.

Wallaby abound in the mallee-scrub, and so do several
species of lizards, particularly that remarkable creature
the " spiny devil " {Moloch korridus), which looks like a
nightmare phantom, but whose harmlessness is in direct
contradiction to its horrible appearance. Its monstrous
form and stout spines are protective rather than actively
defensive ; for as it squats on the ground it resembles
some dull-coloured prickly vegetable mass of the cactus
kind. In hue, also, it harmonises well with the soil on
which it is found, and probably hundreds would be passed
by a possible enemy before one was discovered to be a
thing of life.

In size and bulk generally, the spiny devil is about
equal to a large toad ; but, as is the case with many other
reptiles, individuals sometimes grow to an abnormal size,
and I have taken them weighing nine ounces, the average
being about five. The whole body, including the short
stumpy tail and the thick limbs are covered with short,
fine-pointed, conical-shaped spines. Two of these spines
form formidable-looking curved horns on the head ; and
the lizard must be handled carefully to avoid a prick. It
is certain that a snake could not swallow it; but I am
inclined to think, as I have already stated, that its appear-
ance is protective — that it is a strange case of mimicry,
for there is an (apparently) fungoid growth in some parts
of the desert region which, as it bursts from the earth,
presents almost exactly the appearance of a spiny devil.
Still more remarkable, I once saw the lizard feeding on
this plant. If it forms a constituent part of the reptile's
food, the strange armament of the latter is surely, to a
great extent, a mimicry of the plant, though it must be
noted that the plant is not really spiny. It simply appears
to be so until it is closely examined. While the lizard

THE SPINY DEVIL 99

lives partly on vegetable matter, it also consumes small
insects, flies, worms, and grubs. It seems to feed sparingly,
but on this point I cannot speak positively. It roams
abroad at all hours of the day, crawling about in an
apathetic way ; but when alarmed it mends its pace and
endeavours to escape. This it cannot do from man. It
lives in burrows which are seldom very deep, and it can
easily be unearthed. When captured it puffs with its
breath like some other lizards, but it does not emit any
cry, and makes no attempt at resistance. If placed on the
ground it tries to escape ; but after two or three such
attempts it remains quiet, either simulating death, or
waiting for the danger to pass away.

It is found singly, or in pairs, and sometimes a few —
perhaps as many as five or six — will be found scattered
about a small space of ground. I have never found more
than one in the same burrow, and know nothing from
personal observation of its breeding habits. If the hand is
accidentally pricked, or scratched, with the spines when
handling the lizard, no ill effects result. The wounds heal
as quickly and cleanly as those made by thorns.

Other lizards, and animals which are usually thought
to require moisture, are abundant in this arid scrub. But
perhaps the ground and atmosphere are not so dry as
they seem to be. I was surprised to experience frequent
rainfalls in this scrub at a season of the year when no rain
is expected in more favoured parts ; and I heard from old
settlers in the neighbourhood, that a considerable amount
of rain constantly falls during the year. This has induced
many small holders to clear patches of the scrub land to
make orchards and market gardens, and these men seem
to prosper well — perhaps better than some of their more
pretentious neighbours. They all have wells of good
water on their small estates, and there seems to be a good
prospect of the entire district soon being parcelled out
and cultivated. The wells never fail ; and there is, no
doubt, an abundant supply of water at a very few feet
beneath the surface, which can be obtained in all parts of
the desert. Indeed, in what is known as the Ninety-Mile

100 A RAMBLE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Desert, the Colonial Government has sunk an artesian
well which has never ceased to yield a constant stream of
perfectly pure water ; and a great part of the district is a
desert no longer.

On the lower slopes of the mountains, a little to the
eastward of Adelaide, and on many of the low hills, grows
that grand flower called by the natives the warryta, and
sometimes by the colonists the Australian tulip. This, I
believe, is the most westerly range of the shrub which
bears it. It is not very abundant, and much mischief is
done by persons who cut the flowers to sell in the city,
where there is a brisk demand for them.

The plant, which is in danger of extermination in this
district, is a low black trunk, with a great crest of large,
coarse, grass-like leaves, something resembling the grass-
tree in general form. From the tuft of leaves there springs
a tall stem, at the top of which grows a huge cluster of
vivid scarlet flowers. This is the warryta, and wherever
it grows it is one of the most striking objects in the
landscape — so striking and beautiful that, unfortunately, it
is hunted for far and near, no Australian floral decoration
being considered perfect without it.

There is also a very fine species of melaleucus growing
in the Adelaide neighbourhood, which has beautiful
scarlet blossoms ; and I noticed that a large proportion of
the wild flowers of this part of the country are of the same
bright hue.

CHAPTER X

THE SPENCER GULF DISTRICT

Port Augusta, one of the most thriving ports of South
Australia, stands at the head of Spencer Gulf; but it is, in
my opinion, a place of far more interest to the mercantile
man than to a lover of the picturesque. It is a flat,
uninteresting-looking place, more remarkable for its huge
piles of grain-bags, its store-sheds, and its wharves, than for
anything else. The corn grown on an immense area of
the adjacent country is shipped from Port Augusta, and
grain trains are constantly arriving from the interior.
There was a time when the corn was brought down to the
wharves much faster than it could be shipped ; the conse-
quence was that enormous piles of bags were often to be
seen heaped up on the ground near the water. One such
pile that was shown to me was said to consist of fifty
thousand bags of wheat, and I can well believe that this
assertion was no exaggeration.

But though Port Augusta is a place of little interest,
except to certain classes of men, there is much that is
remarkable and beautiful in the surrounding country. The
shores of the gulf are flat and muddy ; but mountains of
striking elevation and curious shape are in full view.

The old idea that the interior of Australia was an
inland sea may not have been so wild a conception as it
is now generally thought to have been. There are strong
indications that, at a geologically recent date, the sea
penetrated very far inland, perhaps nearly right across the
continent, forming what may justly be termed an inland sea.

The water seems to have gradually receded, leaving behind

101

102 THE SPENCER GULF DISTRICT

an immense salt marsh, of which Lake Torrens, other
inland quagmires, and the shores of Spencer Gulf, are
remains. Until improvements were made, and protective
dykes erected, Port Augusta, and the scattered settlements
near it, were in constant danger of inundation ; and to this
day wide stretches of the shore are horrible mud wastes on
which no man dare set foot for fear of being engulfed.
Some of those mud-flats are covered with reeds, but I
found it impossible to penetrate far among them. Often
I sank into the soft ooze above the knees, and more than
once was in some danger of being embedded in the mud.
So far as I could discover there were few inhabitants of
these reed beds except ducks and black swans, and these
are not nearly so numerous as they were a few years ago.
They are shot in great numbers by the farmers and others ;
and the black swan, a particularly shy bird, seems to
forsake a neighbourhood where it is much disturbed. In
the quieter reaches of the gulf, and in remote bays, they
still breed in considerable numbers; but in 1896 when
my last visit to this district took place, a black swan was
rarely seen anywhere near Port Augusta.

At Port Augusta the gulf has narrowed to a creek, and
looking across it to the country on the opposite shore, one
sees a range of hills flat topped, and horizontally striated
near the summit ridge, as so many ranges in Australia
are — a characteristic that hereafter will frequently be
referred to — and the origin of which is clearly a puzzle to
the geologists, their attempted explanations notwithstand-
ing. That which puzzled Darwin seems to also puzzle more
modern professors of the earthy science ; at anyrate I
have not yet seen an explanation of the peculiar Australian
mountain forms which is quite convincing.

Turning the eyes southward and eastward more lofty
mountains are seen, some of them at a great distance ;
and these seem to be of a quite different formation. It
is nearly always so with Australian mountains ; rarely
does there seem to be much system in their arrangement,
indeed I may say no system at all. A jumble of small
ranges, isolated mounts, and erratic groups, is the usual

MOUNT REMARKABLE 103

arrangement of the elevated parts of this strange land.
To give a reasonably lucid description of them, they must
be described in detail.

In the immediate neighbourhood of Port Augusta
there is absolutely nothing worth a line of description.
There is not a tamer or more uninteresting tract in all
Australia ; and that will scarcely be wondered at when it
is stated that most of the land was originally a mud flat.
There is not a tree, shrub, or flower, or even a blade of
grass, on this land that has not been planted there ; or, at
any rate, the few weeds that have found a rooting-place
there have only recently come, seed-blown before the
desert blast.

One of the most remarkable mountains in the district
is a nearly detached mass which, correctly enough, bears
this very name, " Remarkable." It is the terminal outpost
of the Flinder's range, and is in full view of the road just
outside Port Augusta, distant some thirty-six or thirty-
seven miles. From the south, however, it is visible to a
traveller nearly sixty miles from its base. On all sides
except the east it is shut in by the lower wooded slopes of
the Flinder's range. On the east it rises abruptly from
the almost dead level of the plain, a precipitous wall of
rock which, in most places, is nearly perpendicular. A few
buttresses project from its face, which is also seared with
many deep and rugged ravines ; but it is only here and
there that a clump of trees or bushes find it possible to
obtain a hold for their roots. When there is rain, water
runs down these ravines in fierce torrents ; but I could not
discover any permanent stream.

The wood on some of the hills has a singular
appearance. It consists, mostly, of stunted miall bushes,
which are scattered about at nearly regular intervals,
giving the hill, from a distance, the appearance of a huge
plum-pudding. Other hills are better clothed with timber ;
but many of them, like Mount Remarkable, are almost
bare rock. The range, generally, is flat topped, but there
are some sharp-pointed peaks. None of the trees on the
hills are of great size, and the low ground is everywhere

104 THE SPENCER GULF DISTRICT

covered with salt bush. In the interior part of the range
are many deep gullies, and sharp and broken masses of
rock are strewn about in great confusion. Near the town-
ship of Quorn, which is situated on the top of Flinder's
range, at an elevation of about two thousand feet, there is
a conical hill which is surmounted by two of these masses
giving the outline of the mount a strong resemblance to
the devil's horns, hence it is called " The Devil's Peak."
The view from this peak is very fine, embracing an
extensive stretch of Spencer Gulf to the east, and the
plains to the south and south-east. Townships which are
fully fifty miles distant, are distinctly visible through the
beautiful clear Australian air.

The broken masses of rock often assume very fantastic
shapes, and as is usual in such cases, bear equally fantastic
designations. There is a small host of Devil's Peaks,
Devil's Punch-bowls, and Devil's Horns in the Port
Augusta district. Passing by these, I may mention the
Cathedral Rock situated at the back of Mount Remarkable.
The Cathedral is thought much of by the people of Port
Augusta and the townships for many miles around ; and
it is a favourite resort of pleasure parties, the more so,
perhaps, because a good deal of hard climbing is entailed
in the reaching of it. It is a rugged mass embedded in
the steep slope of a hill, and seems to threaten to fall
headlong, ere long, into the ravine below. The situation
is, I think, more remarkable than the rock itself, and
further northward I have found several more singular
masses. One of these, which was about half a mile in
circumference at the base, and more than two hundred
feet high (four times the dimensions of the Cathedral Rock)
was notable for the number of ragged pinnacles which
crowned its summit. Up this rock I contrived to climb
about halfway, but the top seems to be inaccessible.

All these rocks, and the bare mountain sides, are
everywhere covered with lichens and beautifully tinted
mosses, which add greatly to the beauty of their appear-
ance, but render the surface so slippery as greatly to
increase the danger of scaling the sides of those which are

ANIMALS ON MOUNT REMARKABLE 105

very steep. In the crevices the mosses cluster in tangled
masses, and are usually intermingled with lovely coloured
and shaped wild flowers in great variety. In the hills, as
on the plains, the forest is nearly always of an open
character, and offers no impediment to the traveller's
movements.

Mount Remarkable rises about three thousand three
or four hundred feet above sea-level (the base is but a
very few feet above the surface of Spencer Gulf) ; and the
Devil's Peak seems to be of not much less elevation.
Both mountains are often enveloped in clouds, which
float more than halfway down their sides, and both have
occasionally shown a thick layer of snow on their
summits ; but the climate, generally, on the plains below
is hot, which is the cause, probably, that several small
townships and many lone homesteads have sought shelter
in the gullies of the range, or close to the bases of some of
the loftiest peaks.

The echidna is found in some parts of Flinder's range ;
but I could nowhere find or hear of the duck-bill in the
Port Augusta district. There are traditions of the emu
having been abundant once ; but it is now rarely seen
until the traveller gets much further north than the head
of the gulf. The ubiquitous rabbit is not unknown, as
many of the settlers will tell one with a rueful tone of
voice ; but in the mountains the rock-wallaby is by far the
most abundant of animals, and yet it is a much persecuted
creature. Rock-wallaby shooting is a favourite sport with
all classes of colonists ; and it is a sport. He who would
make a good bag of rock-wallaby must exert himself to do
so. The game lives in difficult ground, where the sports-
man is continually climbing up or down, is very quick in
its movements, and gives no more chance to the gunner
than a rabbit in thick cover.

The rock-wallaby of Flinder's range is Petrogale
xanthoptis, which is the largest animal of the family, being
about thirty inches long, exclusive of the tail which is
about twenty-five inches. These animals seem to have
undergone considerable modification from the ordinary

106 THE SPENCER GULF DISTRICT

type of wallaby, which is never found on rocky ground.
They differ in several respects from the wallaby of the
plains, particularly in the tail, which is thin and cylindrical
with a heavy tuft of hair at the tip. In habits they do
not differ so much from the ordinary type. They are
found in small droves of sixty or seventy ; or twenty, or
less, where they have been much worried by the gunners.
They are shy ; but this is probably an acquired trait, as in
distant parts of the colony I have watched them basking
in the sun, feeding and playing together for an hour at a
time. They are very playful animals, the young especially
so, and will gambol with and chase each other, the old
ones also often playing with the young. I have seen
them as far north in this direction as I have been, that is
nearly to the extremity of Flinder's range.

Many of the typical Australian birds such as the
laughing jackass, cockatoos both black and white, and
other parrots, are often found at a considerable elevation
in these mountains. The parrots range up to two thousand
feet at least, the jackasses even higher. The wedge-tailed
eagle, eagle-hawks, and a gregarious kite are frequently
seen. The last-named will descend to the carcass of a
horse or sheep in flocks of twenty to thirty, and prey on
the carrion like vultures. More singular still, they breed
in company, and I have seen more than a dozen of their
nests placed like a great platform on a low tree some
thirty feet above the ground. The nests were so close
together that they actually touched ; and some of the
birds perched on branches and anxiously watched, and
others hovered overhead while I climbed up to examine
their homes. There were three unfledged birds, or eggs,
in each nest, except in one case, where there were four.
The eggs were white splashed with light brown. I could
find no evidence that the young were fed with living prey ;
and the nests were in a very filthy condition.

The sea-eagle occasionally sweeps in from the gulf and
pays these mountains a visit. I think it breeds in some of
the ravines ; but I could not find the nest.

In the winter of 1893 I Pa^ Lake Torrens a visit, and

LAKE TORRENS A SALT MARSH 107

spent a week or two in the desert to the north-east. I
was accompanied by one white attendant only, and a
couple of blackfellows. This journey, out of the beaten
track, was trying enough ; but railways will ultimately
open up all this country, and what is of interest to-day
will become common and unworthy of notice to-morrow, I
fear. For I have perceived that one peculiar trait of my
advancing countrymen is that they are greatly interested
in the hidden portions of their wonderful land only so
long as they are unknown. As soon as the country is
opened up, and its capabilities for money producing well
known, interest in its natural wonders wanes rapidly. I
am sorry to see this money grubbing spirit so rife.
Strangers come hither with the unconcealed intention of
using the land for the sordid purpose of amassing wealth
to be spent in their mother countries ; and even our
home-born sons frequently nurse the desire to forsake the
country when their purses are full, and spend their latter
days in the land from whence their forefathers came.
When the land is thickly peopled and covered with a net-
work of railways, what will be the lot of what I shall here
call the Lake Torrens district? Will it be left as a
desolate playground for the tired citizen who is willing to
face danger and privation as a welcome change from too
much prosperity? or will the manufacturer and the miner
find huge fortunes here ? The latter will probably be the
lot of the country, for it is rich in certain classes of mineral
productions ; and the ground covered by the so-called
lakes, if drained, will, I think, be found to be very rich
land.

Lake Torrens is a salt marsh of great extent, a large
portion of its surface being hidden in reed beds. The salt
is as white as snow ; but the layer is not very thick, in
those parts I visited being generally from half an inch
to two inches only. It will not bear the weight of horse or
man, breaking under slight pressure like thin ice.
Beautifully white as it is it covers a bed of black, stinking
mud, so soft that it is impossible to walk over it. It seems
to be impossible to devise any means of crossing this

108 THE SPENCER GULF DISTRICT

marsh until it is drained. Of its width I have no know-
ledge— it stretches in many places far beyond the range of
human vision. It is not less than a hundred miles long
from south to north, and may be much more. I followed
its line of reeds for the distance mentioned, and did not
then come to the end of it. Heavy rains turn the banks,
and probably much of the surface of the lake, into a quag-
mire which compels the traveller to seek firmer ground. I
do not know if much water settles on any portion of the
marsh ; but I could see the appearance of a large lake
about ten miles to the westward. Other large bodies of
water were perceived to the northward and on our right.
It is certain, therefore, that a few heavy showers result in
the country being temporarily inundated, but the water
all soaks away in a few days. It can be obtained by
digging — in the winter-time at least. Near the marsh it is
found at depths of from six to twelve feet, but the water
is salt. Five miles from the edge of the salt pan, water is
found at ten or twelve feet which, though brackish, is
drinkable. It is more or less brackish in all parts of the
western side of the Torrens valley, or depression, and, no
doubt, on the eastern side also ; but as the latter part was
not visited by me I cannot say so of my personal
knowledge.

Lake Torrens is situated in a valley of at least fifty
miles in width, the mountains on the east side approaching
much closer than on the west. This range is flat topped
with a line of horizontal strata near the top. There are
several peaks which look two thousand feet in height ; and
these mountains are quite distinct from the Flinder's
range which trends much more to the eastward. Several
lakes lie between the two ranges, some of them of
considerable size ; but it is doubtful if any of them are
permanent. The mountains must drain into Lake Torrens,
but there is no permanent stream on the east side ; and
the quantity of water collected is not sufficient to prevent
the formation of the saline crust described above.

Further to the north a great many streams empty
themselves into Lake Eyre, but these streams are of the

DIGGING FOR WATER 109

usual Australian character — a mere series of water-holes
in summer, and some of them dry up altogether. I had
but a cursory view of this country, the conditions of
travelling being such that I had to hasten back with all
speed to avoid starvation. Relying on reports of men
who professed to have visited this country, I expected to
subsist partly on the game which was said to abound
there. I saw but little game, and that little was very wild.
It comprised a few kangaroo and wallaby, and; an odd
emu or two, which were so shy that I seldom succeeded
in getting within shot of them. All the previous informa-
tion I collected relating to this district was misleading.
Water which it was predicted we should want badly, was
always to be found by digging.

A long experience in the bush has led me to place
great reliance on digging for water, and I always carried a
pick and shovel on my journeys. The time wasted in a
fruitless search for surface water would often be more
profitably spent in digging for it. In nearly all parts of
Australia it is usually found a few feet beneath the surface
of the ground. Of course the depth to which a poorly
equipped traveller can dig is limited. It is not possible to
delve more than twelve or fourteen feet, nor safe to
attempt to do so. Rough supports to the soil may be
extemporised from trees or large bushes ; and the use of
side pieces and cross supports should never be neglected,
as the earth is very apt to cave in ; and in any case the
timber is of use to enable the men to climb up and down,
which is better and safer than the use of a rope. These
precautions are unnecessary if the well does not exceed
six feet in depth. Such wells do not take so long to dig
as might be imagined. If the water lies near the surface
of the ground its presence can soon be detected, and two
men used to the work can dig a six-foot well in as many
hours ; after that depth an hour and a half may be allowed
for every foot sunk, that is eighteen hours for a twelve-foot
well. Compare this time with the five or six days' feverish
search for water which is often the enforced work of the
bushman, and it may be seen which is the wisest and

110 THE SPENCER GULF DISTRICT

safest course — to dig or search. Very little time need be
lost in digging. At least one experienced bushman should
accompany every band of explorers, and an experienced
man will be able to tell with an hour's digging if water lies
near enough to be reached with the spade. If it is argued
that digging must be, to some extent, chance work : the
reply is, that searching for water in Australia is certainly
chance work. Hundreds of dead have been found, empty
billy in hand, who evidently spent their last minutes in a
wild rush from gully to gully in search of a few drops of
the precious fluid which would have meant life to the poor
unfortunate ; and I have seen it proved that abundance of
water was lying three of four feet beneath some of the
corpses.

However, I found water everywhere in the Torrens
district ; often bad, it is true, but always drinkable. In the
summer time it is probably more difficult to find. In
many places at the foot of the Flinder's range it lies not
six feet beneath the surface, and there it is of very good
quality. There are also some water-holes in this range
which are probably never quite dry.

Some of these mountains are pitted in a very singular
manner with a number of small round holes, similar to
those which are called by geologists " pot-holes," but they
could not here have been formed by the action of running
water on rounded boulders. They seem rather to be the
result of a peculiar form of weathering or disintegra-
tion of the rock. They are so numerous on some of the
mountains that the rock might almost be described as
being honeycombed with them. The holes are nine or
ten feet deep generally, and about the same across, being
pretty symmetrical in shape. Some are more than twenty
feet deep, and after rain are full of water. Possibly the
larger ones have water in them all the year round. In one
we found a drowned wallaby, which had been dead some
time, having probably accidentally leaped in and been
unable to get out again.

The plain country at the foot of the range is a succes-
sion of low sand ridges which are thickly covered with a

SPINIFEX A NUISANCE 111

growth of reeds. We accidentally set fire to some of
these reeds when making our camp-fire, and in a few
minutes the whole country around us was blazing and
roaring fiercely. It was a grand but nerve-trying sight.
Never have I seen fire spread with such fearful rapidity as
on this night, nor with such a hungry fury. In the
morning we could see, from some hills, that several miles
of country had been cleared of vegetation.

It is difficult to conceive how these sand ridges were
formed. The ground is firm, there being a kind of marl
mixed with the sand. There is similar land on the west
side of the continent, but there it is not covered with reeds.
In some parts of the Flinder's vale there is a sprinkling
of trees scattered over' the plain, and many of these trees
are dead. Where the ground is flat some patches of the
grey salt bush were noticed. It was in flower, and this
and some other beautiful wild flowers were almost the
only objects to relieve the terrible desolation of this district.
Mallee-scrub was also seen, and desert-like as the country
is, it is everywhere covered with some sort of herbage,
including kangaroo grass in places, which is one of the
best of the native grasses, and is always a valuable and
much appreciated food for a traveller's horses.

Where the reeds ceased to be found the ground was
covered with spinifex, a horrible kind of plant, with sharp
spines for leaves, which are an intolerable nuisance to both
man and beast. Three of the horses were badly lamed by
this grass, and a dog we had with us had to be carried a
distance of thirty miles. Wallabies and kangaroos avoid
spinifex-covered ground, and scarcely a bird was seen
during this part of our journey. We would gladly have
cleared the ground by fire, but the flames would not
spread, and one night we had to cut away the grass before
a sufficient space could be had for the horses to lie on.

We had six horses with us, two of them being pack
animals, and these we would hobble at night and turn
loose to gather their own food. They seldom wandered
further than a few yards from the camp — well trained
Australian horses never do — and as a rule lay down to rest

112 THE SPENCER GULF DISTRICT

almost within reach of our hands. "Camp" is rather a
misleading term, but it is in general use, and is well
understood in Australia to mean no more than a fire and
a " shake-down " on the ground. No bushman seeks for
better accommodation in summer-time, but in winter it is
occasionally a little trying to lie out in the open. The
nights may be very chilly, and during this journey we had
several unpleasant drenchings. The rain fell in torrents
between midnight and two or three o'clock in the morning,
putting out the fire, and benumbing us with a penetrating
coldness that deprived us, for a time, of the full use of our
limbs.

The rainfall is more or less uncertain in most parts of
Australia, and the fall of one or two years is no guide to
that of the average of a district ; but I feel sure that in
the Torrens district there is a greater rainfall than is
commonly believed. The water is quickly absorbed, but
it does not sink further than a few feet, and there is no
good reason for considering this land an irreclaimable
desert. On the contrary, I am convinced that it will some
day become a highly cultivated and thickly peopled region.

What the mining wealth of the district is I do not feel
qualified to state with any degree of assurance. I saw no
signs of auriferous reef; but there is copper in the northern
part of Flinder's range, and profitable salt works could
be established on the Torrens marsh.

As a general result of my rambles in this part of the
continent, I have formed the opinion that Torrens and
Eyre lakes were anciently a portion of Spencer Gulf, and
probably the sea at one time almost cut Australia in two ;
indeed it would not surprise me if the old theory that
Spencer and Carpentaria gulfs were, in former days, in
communication with each other, should prove to be a
correct hypothesis.

CHAPTER XI

THE HEAD OF THE AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

There is one portion of the Australian continent of which
I know but very little, though for many years I have been
diligently seeking information about it. Perhaps my
interest in this portion of the country rests largely on the
fact that it is the least known of all the districts of our
great land. I mean the central region, which, commencing
about the head of the great Australian Bight, stretches in
an immense expanse to the heart of the continent. A
good deal of this country is still a terra incognita. On one
occasion, while I was still little more than a youth, I made
great, but unsuccessful, efforts to gain permission to join a
certain exploring party which traversed a large portion of
the west. Afterwards I was a member of several prospect-
ing parties which penetrated far inland, but of that more
in future chapters.

As far back as 1888 I wished to spend a month or two
in the desert on the Australian Bight. The difficulties in
the way of my gratifying this wish were great. The
country in question is entirely unsettled : there is not a
single port, or even house, for a distance of several
hundred miles, one coastguard station and depot excepted,
and the mere proposal that I should attempt to land on
this desolate coast was sufficient to induce several persons,
including my own father, to question whether I was per-
fectly sane. But I was not to be turned from my purpose.
Finding it impossible to reach the head of the Bight by
any ordinary channel, I purchased a small cutter-yacht,

the Swan, fitted her out at my own expense, and with a
113 H

114 THE HEAD OF THE AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

crew of three men and a boy, started on what I consider
the most adventurous journey I have ever made.

The Swan was purchased at Sydney (where her owner
called her the Esmeralda), but sent round to Adelaide, as
the most convenient port for my purpose, to be fitted out.
She was rather old, and her burden was only twenty-four
tons, and it was predicted that she would prove to be my
coffin, which, I must confess, it is a wonder she was not. I
believe my men thought no great things of the proposed
voyage, but good wages induced them to take the risk.
Fearing that my friends would interfere and stop my
preparations, I said nothing of my intentions either at
Sydney or Adelaide, and it was supposed that I was only
using the little vessel for a pleasure trip from port to port
along the coast. Even that was thought a risky proceeding
in so small a ship, if ship I may call her, for she was only
partly decked, and her small cabin and store-room were
scarcely larger than lockers.

At the last moment one of the men repented of his
bargain and left me, and I had to replace him with the
only man who was immediately available — a Hollander.
I have a dislike of foreign seamen, but the sturdy Dutch-
man proved a good man and true ; and as he had been a
fisherman, and used to small craft in his own country, he
was particularly useful on the present service.

We left Largs Bay on 28th March 1888, but were
twice beaten back by strong north-west breezes at the
head of Investigator Strait, and were obliged to put into
Nepean bay, Kangaroo island, for shelter. It was not until
the 5th April that we succeeded in clearing the land and
putting the head of the tiny Swan towards Fowler's bay, a
spot ever memorable as the site of the gallant Eyre's
depot camp. For several days it was calculated that we
did not make more than eighty miles in the twenty-four
hours. This was as much owing to heavy seas, which
prevented headway being made, as to adverse winds,
though these last were troublesome. We were swept out
of our course, and abandoned the intention of making
Fowler's bay. Long rolling seas came in from the south-

FIRST VIEWS OF THE BIGHT 115

ward, and kept the Swan rocking in a troublesome and
often in a dangerous way ; and the advisability of returning
to Adelaide was more than once debated.

We were four days out of sight of land, and on the
morning of the 12th high cliffs were seen right ahead,
apparently about twenty miles distant. In three hours
we were near enough to see the surf breaking at the foot
of the rocks, and dashing the foam high up the face of
the cliffs. There was not even a strip of beach here, and a
landing was clearly impossible in the teeth of the half-gale
which was blowing from the south-east. We therefore
stood along the coast to the westward making a good
eiisg; and running before the wind at six or seven knots,
which was all that could be screwed out of the little
Szvan.

Either owing to currents, or from the strength of
the insetting sea, the boat showed a tendency to warp
inshore, and it was considered necessary to tack and work
out to sea. The wind moderated during the night,
though the heavy swell continued, and in the morning the
land was quite out of sight. We had a trying day, several
waves broke over us, and we expected to be swamped.
Our escapes were so marvellous that I do not wonder
at sailors believing in the " sweet little cherub," or some
other form of special Providence.

On the 14th the land again hove in sight, and we
determined to attempt to reach it, for the Swan seemed
strained and was making a good deal of water. At four
o'clock in the afternoon we were within a mile of some
lofty cliffs that showed clumps of bushes on their faces,
and as if in answer to our prayers, thought, if not actually
uttered, the weather underwent a sudden change, and
the wind dropped to a light breeze. The cliffs here,
however, descended sheer to the water, and we could
not see a landing place, nor could we find anchorage.
We had not line enough to take deep soundings ; but
the depth exceeded fifty fathoms a mile from the
shore.

We thought we might venture to stand along the

116 THE HEAD OF THE AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

shore during the night; but just after midnight the
lead suddenly gave eighteen fathoms and we let go the
anchor. Worn out with the exertions of the past fortnight
we all enjoyed the first undisturbed sleep we had been
permitted to have since putting to sea.

At daylight the land was seen to be less than a mile
distant, and as it seemed to be accessible, the skiff was
put out, and as it would only hold two men, Martin and I
entered her and pulled ashore.

There was a strip of beach at the foot of the cliffs
about six yards wide ; but the rocks rose almost per-
pendicularly from it ; yet I assayed to climb them.
After ascending two hundred feet, I found it impos-
sible to go further, and if I had not taken the precau-
tion to carry a coil of rope with me, I do not think
I should have succeeded in descending without an
accident.

We had no option but to return to the Swan, and
coasting along the shore we found, about nine miles to
the west, a vast ravine-like gap in the wall of cliffs, which
was about five hundred feet high at this spot. There was
good anchorage in six fathoms half a mile off this opening,
and again landing we made another attempt to reach the
country above our heads.

The gap had been made by extensive falls of a chalk-
like formation, and huge blocks, and small fragments, lay
piled together in such wild confusion that it was only with
difficulty and much exertion that we climbed over and
among the crumbling mass. Tangled scrub and large
bushes covered the broken rocks below and the sides of
the ravine, and we had to cut a way through it. The
stronger branches, however, were of great use in assisting
us to climb up, and in a couple of hours we had reached
the top. Nothing was visible except a few low sand-hills
and a dense mallee-scrub. Not a single tree could be
seen ; but no very extensive view of the interior of the
country was obtained.

We were in want of water, as no great quantity could
be carried on board the Swan, which was but a boat,

APPEARANCE OF THE CLIFFS 117

scarcely larger than a man-o'-war's barge, and as it was
necessary to obtain it at once, Martin returned to the
vessel to fetch tools and another man, while I endeavoured
to walk a little way inland. I got about half a mile, and then
found my way barred by a dense thicket of thorn bushes
intermingled with a shurb of trailing habit, which formed
such a labyrinth of roots over the ground that walking was
impossible. Here I shot three or four quails, which, with
a small snake, were the only things with life I saw.
Flowers too, which are rarely altogether absent from the
Australian forests and scrub lands, were here scarcely
to be seen. The most conspicuous was a small bine
which crept over the bushes, covering some of them with
a scanty show of bright little white blossoms.

When Martin and Snell came up we commenced
digging without loss of time. There was plenty of water
at a depth of nine feet, but it was brackish, and only
urgent need induced us to be at the great trouble of
carrying a few gallons of it down to the boat. The
amount of labour entailed in this work may be inferred
from the fact that it took us more than two hours to get
each four-gallon keg down the ravine to the beach, then
the kegs had to be taken, two at a time, by one man in
the skiff to the cutter.

There was no sign of water-wear anywhere on the
cliffs. On first sighting the ravine I had hoped to find it
the embouchure of a stream of some sort ; but I do not
think that water ever found its way down the gully — in
any great quantity at any rate. Above there was no sign
of a water-course ; but a few gutter-like ruts in the soil
might have been formed by heavy rains. While we were
off this coast no rain fell ; and it is probable that a few
tempestuous showers annually form the only moisture
this desolate land ever enjoys. Judging from my experi-
ence in other desert districts of the continent, I think
that the rainfall here is probably greater than the appear-
ance of the country would lead a casual observer to think ;
but as it falls in sudden showers, with long and uncertain
intervals between them, and is quickly soaked up by the

118 THE HEAD OF THE AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

soil, the vegetation does not reap the full benefit of it. I
have known as much as two or three inches of rain to fall
in the central desert of the west in the space of six or
seven hours, and evaporate and soak away so speedily
that the next morning it could not be discerned that any
moisture had blessed the land for months past. Yet these
sudden showers have a great effect on the grass and scrub
growths of the country. A single shower in the space of a
few days can turn a sandy desert into a green and flower
besprinkled meadow. But the moisture does not affect
the larger growths of scrubs and trees. Yet many of the
desert plants are remarkable for the great length of their
tap-roots, which descend to the water which collects in
most Australian plains at a short depth beneath the
surface.

The spot where this first landing on the coast of the
Great Bight took place, I suppose to lie about mid-way
between the frontier post of Eucla and Dover Point ; but
as I was not seaman enough to take bearings, points and
distances can only be laid down approximately.

The quails referred to above were of the Syncecus
australis species. There was nothing remarkable noted
about them or their habits in this district ; and they
are only mentioned as showing the distribution of the
bird.

We remained at anchor during the night and at day-
break continued to coast westward. The cliffs were so
high as to appear almost mountainous, but very little
verdure showed itself. Here and there were a few trees
and bushes ; scrub could sometimes be seen on the tops of
the cliffs, or descending a little way down their faces. All
these plants seemed to be stunted in growth, and occasion-
ally a dead tree stood out, weird-like, against the sky-line.
In most places the cliffs rose sheer from the water, and
nowhere was there an actual break in the line ; but
in a few places great falls of the rock had occurred,
forming gullies similar to the one at which we had
landed, and down these the scrub ran almost to the brink
of the sea.

SCHOOLS OF WHALES 119

Several points rose boldly from the sea forming bays
and open roadsteads ; but none of them, I should think,
would afford shelter from southerly gales ; and nowhere
could we find a landing-place where it would be possible
to reach the country above without a stiff climb. Along
the base of the cliffs there is a narrow strip of beach, often
completely covered at high-water ; and in some places the
action of the waves has eaten out caverns in the face of
the rocks at a considerable height above the water ; but
for long distances there are absolutely no landing places ;
and a vessel caught in a storm off this coast would have
no alternative but to put out to sea or be dashed to pieces.
I cannot dwell on the risk of such a craft as the Swan
remaining on such a coast, lest it should be thought I wish
to magnify the importance of what was a mere pleasure
trip in a tiny yacht ; but I felt a good deal of uneasiness,
especially as the weather more than once threatened
trouble. The Swan had never been a crack sailer, and
recent alterations, although they had strengthened her
frame, had not improved her sailing qualities. We could
not have got off the coast in the face of a stiff gale.

Nearly the whole of the time we were in the Bight, we
had plenty of wind, but not a drop of rain, though several
times a storm seemed to be imminent. We did not land
at all on the 16th. On the morning of the 17th, a ship was
seen hull down in the offing, and a large sperm whale
(Physeter macrocephalus) was lying quietly very near to us.
Shortly afterwards a school of twenty of these animals
came in sight ; and we concluded that the vessel in the
offing was a whaler, in pursuit of them. She had pro-
bably made a capture as she appeared to be stationary ;
but she was so far off that we could only see her topmasts
through a spying-glass. Several of the largest of the
whales were thought to be sixty feet long ; and they must
be dull of sight and hearing, otherwise it is impossible to
believe that they would not have discovered us. Some of
them passed very leisurely within three hundred yards of
us, going eastward, in which direction the school dis-
appeared. Before the last of them was out of sight an

120 THE HEAD OF THE AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

enormous shark passed so close to us that we had a
full view of it. Like the whales, which it appeared to be
following, it swam slowly, passing the Swan at a distance
of eighty yards. I can, therefore, testify that its length
was at least forty feet ; and in bulk it seemed to be nearly
equal to some of the whales. From the circumstance of its
great size, there can be no doubt that this was a specimen
of Rhinodon typicusi or the great Pacific basking-shark.
Had we known this at the time we should have been
spared a shudder : for the basking-shark, though the
largest fish of its genus, and probably the largest of exist-
ing fishes, is harmless to man. Indeed, some naturalists
declare that it is a vegetable feeder ; and the conformation
of its jaws show that, at least, its prey is much smaller
than that of the " man-eating shark."

Coasting along very leisurely, we reached a spot where
the landing looked so comparatively easy that I was
tempted to go ashore again. This was behind a great
headland six hundred feet high, which was crowned with
bushes, but was perfectly bare on its faces, and of a white
colour, all the cliffs on this part of the Bight seeming to
be of chalk formation. The headland, which we believed
to be Point Dover, was ninety miles by dead reckoning
(or guesswork, if that term is too nautical) from the last
landing-place. We landed here on the 18th, and found
no great difficulty in climbing up to the country above.
From the top of the cliffs we could trace the coast-line
much further to the south-west than was possible from
the deck of the Swan. The atmosphere was so clear
that we were convinced we could trace the cliffs for a
hundred miles. The ship seen on the 16th was still in
the offing, distant about fifteen miles, and there could
now be no doubt that she was a whaler, and probably
a German or Hollander. We had a good view of her
through a glass, and could see by her movements that
she was looking out for whales, probably for the school
of which she had already taken toll.

Inland the view was bounded on the north, north-west,
and west, by some low hills, covered with scrub and g

THE SHRIKE-TIT 121

few trees and bushes, many of which were plentifully
furnished with long, strong thorns that made sorry work
with our clothes when we attempted to walk among them,
and inflicted severe scratches. There was here also a
dreadful plague in the shape of the sand flies, which
irritated us greatly. These tormenting pests could not
be kept out of our eyes and ears, and small as they were
they bit most cruelly, and set up an irritation of the eye-
lids that lasted many days, causing a running which
effectually glued the lids together after sleep, so that
they could not be opened till they had been bathed in
warm water.

We searched the country east and west for water,
but no stream or pool could be discovered ; and though
we sunk several wells, one of them as much as twenty
feet deep, we could find none of the precious element.
On the 19th we walked inland to the hills to the north-
ward, hoping to find water there, but were disappointed
in this.

The country, as viewed from the top of this ridge,
presented no relief to the eye. It was a scrub waste,
with here and there a ridge of low sand-hills. To the
south-west we could perceive a range of more pretentious
elevation. It was situated at a great distance, as much
as thirty or forty miles, it was thought, from the spot
on which we stood.

The only living things we saw were insects, a few
lizards, which were too nimble to be caught, and some
birds flying at a distance. The only shot we fired was
at a solitary small bird, which fluttered from bush to
bush till the cruel gun put an end to its pretty tricks,
which much resembled those of a titmouse ; such as
hanging head downwards, prying and searching under
the leaves, etc., and flying restlessly from branch to branch
of the bushes. It was, in fact, a shrike-tit {Falcunculus
leucogaster), a beautiful little bird, several species of which
are found in the southern half of the continent. This
particular species is, I think, confined to the west. It is
distinguished by a white breast and abdomen, while the

122 THE HEAD OF THE AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

same parts in another bird of the same family, common
near my home in New South Wales, are of a light yellow
colour.

As these birds are eminently woodland haunters, it
is singular that this odd specimen should be found here,
where there are but few trees, and these not very flourish-
ing. They are not solitary birds in their habits either,
but generally associate in small parties, which, though
they scatter a little when in search of food, they seldom
fly out of sight of each other. Sometimes a dozen may
be seen on the trunk of one tree, tearing vigorously at
the bark that they may get at the insects which lurk
beneath it, and it is surprising what strength so small
a bird is capable of exerting. Strips of bark are some-
times torn off which weigh more than the bird that
tugged them from the trunk.

The shrike-tits have a noisy and boisterous note,
freely uttered when anything annoys or angers them,
and they will fiercely attack other birds that intrude on
their particular trees. They feed on insects and grubs
of all sorts, principally on those which infest trees, but
the birds will attack ant-hills, and may often be seen
on the ground turning over leaves and rotten sticks with
an impatient jerk of their pretty crested heads. They
are as familiar in their general habits as English tit-mice,
and will permit a near approach of an observer ; but, as
a rule, they work on the trunks and branches of trees
at some distance above the ground, and I have seen them
at work on fallen timber which was in a state of decay.

We were now compelled to seek water without delay,
the stock on board the Swan having sunk very low.
We therefore coasted along the cliffs, still to the westward,
landing at every likely looking spot, ascending to the
plain and digging whenever we thought it likely the
necessary element would be found. In this way we
succeeded in replenishing our barrels with water which,
though neither actually brackish nor saline, was not good
and had an unpleasant flavour, something like that which
is often found in peat-water.

CLIFFS NEAB DOVER POINT 123

My crew consisting of so few hands, only two in fact
capable of working the boat, we could not keep an
efficient watch at night, and always anchored during the
hours of darkness, We found good holding ground in
from four to twenty fathoms at varying distances from
the shore — the greatest being about two miles, and though
on a few occasions there was wind enough to cause a
long rolling swell, we never dragged our anchor, or seemed
to be in any great danger — the occasion already referred
to excepted.

At no part of the coast did we find any material
change in the characteristics of the back-country. The
range of hills which had first been sighted by us from
the back of Dover Point (as I suppose) was visited, and
found to be a barren terrace of cliffs some two thousand
feet high. At the top of them was a stratified line
looking like an artificial wall. They were almost bare
of herbage, but there was a dense scrub on the plains
which surrounded them, and this scrub was full of
wallaby, and six emus were seen in the distance. We
tried to approach them, but they were wary and
moved away long before we could get within gun-range
of them.

At this part of the coast the cliffs gradually diminish
in height, are easy of access, and broken at frequent
intervals. A landing can be effected almost anywhere,
but there is no water and but few trees. Parrots and
other birds were seen, and there is considerably more
animal life here than on any other part of this coast
which we visited, yet the land is a desert. The soil is
poor, and I am not sure that irrigation would materially
improve it. Where there is mallee-scrub good ground
may be confidently hoped for. Therefore it is probable
that it is only the lack of water that renders the land
above the cliffs at the head of the Bight so sterile, but
we saw no mallee-scrub westward of Dover Point. The
herbage near the cliff-range (which may be that marked
Russell range on the maps) consists of low thorny bushes
and dwarfed plants of many different kinds, amongst

124 THE HEAD OF THE AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

which we recognised several that are known in South
Australia to be indicative of the worst description of
land.

On the 23rd we saw four natives on a cliff looking at
us. Through a glass we perceived that a white-bearded
old man and a boy of about fourteen years were of the
party. Two other men had spears and throwing-sticks in
their hands — the old man and the boy seemed to be armed
with waddys (a kind of club) only. I would have liked
to go ashore to them ; but neither of the men would
accompany me, and I thought it unadvisable to go alone.
The blacks remained watching us for about half an hour
and then disappeared. Their presence is proof that water
must be obtainable in this country though we could not
find any ; and it may be mentioned that natives have
been seen by travellers and seamen at various points all
round the Great Bight, even at those places where no
water could be found to exist. Where do the blacks
obtain this prime element ?

My opinion is that ponds, or water-holes, must exist
at a short distance in the interior, and one of the chief
objects of my journey hither was to make an excursion
into that huge blank space, which is still found on all
maps of this region. This wish, when it came to the
crucial point, I was unable to gratify. Though Martin
had promised to accompany me, his courage failed him at
the last moment. Suyker, the Hollander, offered to go
with me, and we made three several attempts to penetrate
the scrub in a northerly direction. We never advanced
five miles from the coast. To walk through the scrub was
impossible ; and to cut a passage we found so difficult,
that it is certain we could not have advanced at a greater
rate than four or five miles a day. There was no game
in the country, and no water. Both would probably have
been found if we could have advanced a few miles ; but
meanwhile we should have been compelled to carry all
our necessaries, water included, and have worked our way
a yard at a time. The task was manifestly beyond the
strength of two men no better provided for such an under-

FISH IN THE BIGHT 125

taking than ourselves, and therefore the attempt was
abandoned.

It was our custom to put out fishing-lines at night
while the vessel lay at anchor, and we also frequently
fished during the day, the food thus obtained being a
most valuable addition to our daily fare. The fish bit
very freely, and we could always catch many more than
we required. The night-lines were invariably drawn in
with a fish on each hook.

The most notable fact concerning the fish of this great
bay, or gulf, is the large number of bream or perch-shaped
species that are found in its waters. Many of these I
never saw before this occasion, and most of them were
new to my companions also. One of the most remarkable
captured was a handsome zebra-fish of the Chcetodon family.
Bream-shaped and weighing four pounds, this fish was
striped zebra-fashion with bright bronze, yellow, brown,
and blue, with some shades of red about the regions of
the fins. The fish most prized by us for food were
albicores, barracudas, bonitos, and dories. The three
first named were very abundant, and formed the bulk of
our captures ; but altogether more than fifty species were
taken, nearly all of them edible.

At this time I do not think that the waters of the
Bight had been much frequented by professional fisher-
men ; consequently the fish swarmed, and were com-
paratively tame. It may not be generally known that
fish, like other classes of animals, learn caution by
acquaintance with man's destructive ways. Such is the
case, however, and ground that has been much fished
over, especially by trawlers, is always noted for the shyness
of its fish ; and notwithstanding the vast numbers of these
animals that swarm in some waters, constant fishing
materially diminishes their numbers. The great fishing
stations of the world are experiencing this. The fish on
the Newfoundland bank are far less numerous now than
they were as recently as the years 1861-70, and I have
recently learned that boats sometimes labour all day on
the Dogger Bank and take not more than forty or fifty

126 THE HEAD OF THE AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

pounds weight of fish. Australia is a young country, and
no great destruction of the fish has yet taken place in any
of its waters, but more than one well-founded complaint
has been made of wanton waste in this respect. Fish are
destroyed wholesale, and used for manure, especially by
certain classes of agriculturists, with the result that there
is a perceptible diminution of their numbers in some of
the most frequented fishing districts.

During our little voyage round the Great Australian
Bight we saw some immense shoals of fish, but my chief
interest lying in another direction, I had not much time
to devote to studying their habits. I hope to give more
attention to Australian fishes in a subsequent chapter
treating of the Great Barrier Reef. I do not know from
personal observation, but I have heard that the Bight
waters are now much used by fishermen. What particular
parts of the Bight they frequent I, also, do not know. It
must be a dangerous coast for such craft as the fishermen
generally use : probably they do not approach the head of
the Bight. The fishing therefore must be a deep-sea fishery,
for there is a good depth of water (more than fifty fathoms,
the length of our sounding-line) two or three miles off all
parts of the coast approached by us.

I can, in concluding this chapter, only add my evidence
to that of others who have explored this Bight, by repeat-
ing that there does not seem to be a stream of any kind
emptying itself into the bay for a distance of several
hundred miles, nor a single water-hole, even of the smallest
size, on the same extent of coast. Neither did we see
any bay or inlet which could be turned into a good
harbour, or even into a temporary refuge, for a ship in
distress. It seemed to us that a vessel caught by bad
weather within the heads of this vast bay would have
no chance of living unless she could at once work
seawards.

On the morning of the 25th a strong north-west breeze
set in and blew us off the coast. The Swan could not stand
before it, and though the weather would not have been
heavy for a large vessel, such a tiny craft as ours was in

PERILS OF THE SWAN 127

some jeopardy, while the wind was at its height. We
shipped several seas, and there was some anxiety amongst
us. Fortunately my men were good sailors, and no chances
of making the best of the little Swan's capabilities were
lost. But we were driven an alarming distance from the
land : it is believed about four hundred miles.

I wished to make for Swan River ; but in the face of
opposition from the men I had to abandon that intention.
They consented, however, to try and beat up to King
George's Sound ; chiefly, I suspect, because that there we
should find the nearest harbour of refuge, but the wind
was too strong. In vain we strove to tack : every hour we
were driven further and further out to sea ; and at length
we threw up the boat's head, and shaped the best course
we could back to Adelaide.

The last part of the coast of the Bight we saw was a
group of small islands, the largest appearing to be less
than a mile across, and on an outlying rock of which we
nearly came to an end. The wind took us perilously near,
and it was only by a nice manoeuvring of the sail that we
escaped a disaster that could not have been less than fatal
to us all.

On the 28th we passed close to a large foreign steamer
(believed to be a Russian), the name of which could not be
discerned. We were in such straits at the time that I
felt justified in ordering signals of distress to be shown,
but no notice whatever was taken of them. The same
thing happened again on the 29th, and this time, I am
sorry to say, with a ship that was undoubtedly English.
As she passed under full steam at a distance of four miles
it is possible that we were not seen, for merchant ships at
sea, I fear, seldom keep an efficient lookout — if, indeed,
they keep any at all. I earnestly hope that this was the
cause of our being left to our own resources by both the
Russian and the Englishman. At anyrate their remiss-
ness, or unkindness, saved the Swan and the few belong-
ings we had on board of her, for if the opportunity had
offered, I should have deemed it my duty to abandon
her.

128 THE HEAD OF THE AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

During this day we rigged up outriggers, and they
proved to be useful, and helped us to lay what we
considered a better course for our " desired haven."
Previously to the use of these aids we had to be much
more careful to dodge the heavy seas, for often we
expected to be swamped.

On the morning of the 29th we had the first rain that
fell upon us during our cruise, in the shape of a series of
heavy squalls with violent showers. The squalls bothered
us greatly: but notwithstanding the great labour of the
little vessel (her movement was too jerky to be termed a
roll), we saved more than a dozen gallons of the best water
we had tasted since the Adelaide supply was exhausted.
This was collected in a tarpaulin spread over the waist
of the Swan. The canvas was first lashed across this
dangerous space as a protection ; but when the storm beat
a hollow in it, and the rain settled therein, we took the
hint with the result that a couple of kegs were collected
during the day. It is worth noting that if it had not been
for this unexpected supply we should not have had
sufficient to last us until we sighted land.

On the last day of the month the weather moderated
considerably ; but for the next four days we had what
sailors call dirty weather, that is gusty squalls, with nasty
chopping seas that caused the boat to work fearfully and
make several inches of water in an hour. The boy, or the
cook, was, therefore, nearly constantly working our small
hand-pump, and all of us suffered greatly from exhaustion.
Not one of us had more than an hour's consecutive sleep
during a period of eight days, and that short doze was
only taken at long intervals, when extreme exhaustion
rendered the frame incapable of further endurance, and
the tired man dropped where he stood, and instantly slept,
in spite of his sodden clothes. For the water somehow
found its way under the oilskins, and when the man was
heated with exertion quite a cloud of steam rose from his
body.

This was no time for nice behaviour ; and when the
sudden occasion arose, as it did all too frequently, a heavy

AN AMATEUR NAVIGATOR 129

kick, and a rough expletive, admonished the sleeper that
he must instantly arouse himself if the ship was to be
saved. To me it was an experience of a lifetime, and I
have often wondered to myself that I contrived, consider-
ing my inexperience, to make myself as useful as I did.
I knew, however, the value of a bold front, and was quite
aware that however unfit I might be, in a practical way,
for a command at sea, that a sign of collapse on my part
would certainly unnerve the two men on board on whom
the salvation of the boat must depend, for the cook was
no sailor, and the boy too young to be of much use.

For several days there were gusts of wind and drizzling
showers, which, though no great quantity of rain fell, were
very cold and depressing, and occasioned a fog which
prevented our seeing more than three or four hundred
yards ahead. The wind shifted occasionally, varying
between north-by-east to due west, with an occasional
squall of exceptional violence from the south-west or
nearly due south.

The reckoning we kept was all by guesswork ; and
though, as I afterwards found, the course was wonderfully
correct under the circumstances, I am afraid I must confess
that it was a lucky chance that befriended us. Yet I
had a system in my dead-reckoning. Calculating, as we
did, from the knowledge that the Swan could not
possibly make more than seven knots on a wind, and
that we were probably four hundred miles off the western
head of the Great Bight, we thought it would be perfectly
safe to edge away to the north as much as the prevailing
winds would allow us ; our great fear, as I have said, being
that we should be carried right out into the southern
Pacific. The one or two spells of southerly winds which
we experienced probably took us a hundred miles to the
north, but on the whole we thought we were gradually
drifting to the south.

It was not until the 4th May that we had sufficiently
clear weather to enable me to take the sun, a nautical
operation that I performed, no doubt, clumsily enough,
but which was of great value to us as approximately fixing

I

130 THE HEAD OF THE AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

our position at L. 129.35 E. by 39.20 S. This agreed so
well with our dead-reckoning that we were greatly en-
couraged, and renewed efforts were made to get further
north.

It was certain now that we were quite four hundred
miles from the nearest land, and at the rate we were
going it would probably be a week before we sighted it.
This anticipation gave occasion for anxiety, as the stock
of provisions was getting low, and the cook was instructed
to economise the expenditure of it to the utmost. Lines
were kept towing, in the hope of catching more fish, but
in this we were not very successful ; and it is singular that
few fish are ever taken by a vessel under weigh, though
the moment she casts anchor they may be pulled up as
fast as the hooks can be baited.

A westerly breeze helped us a good deal on the 5th
May, though the weather was again dull and inclined to
be hazy. We passed several ships this day, but they were
all at a great distance, and probably did not see the signals
we made. We were not now in any great danger, but I
was anxious to communicate with a passing ship with the
object of ascertaining our exact position. More ships were
seen on the 6th, and no fewer than seven on the 7th, yet
none came very near, and not one answered our signals.
Either these were not seen, or were misunderstood, or no
lookout was kept on board these vessels.

After this date we had a spell of fine weather, with
light westerly and north-west winds, and we knew that we
must be approaching land. My observation placed us
considerably more to the northward than we really were,
and when on the nth land was sighted, it was supposed
to be the coast of Victoria. We reached a beautiful but
uninhabited shore at three o'clock in the afternoon, and
began to coast southward under the impression that we
were nearing Cape Otway. It was soon discovered, how-
ever, that we were rounding the southern end of a large
island, which we knew could be no other than King's
Island in Bass's Strait. Immediately the helm was put
to the north, and two days later our adventurous voyage

A HARDLY EARNED REST 131

came to an end in Port Phillip on the forty-sixth clay from
its commencement at Adelaide, and it was with a deep
sigh of relief that I went that night to a comfortable hotel
bed in Melbourne.

The Sivan, I may remark, had received such a shaking
that, being old when I purchased her, she was now of little
worth, and was sold to be broken up.

CHAPTER XII

A FEW GENERAL REMARKS ON THE SOUTHERN COAST

OF AUSTRALIA

I CONSIDER the yacht cruise described in the last chapter
to be one of the most important journeys I ever undertook
in the interests of natural science. I fear that the results,
the new information gleaned, were not in proportion to the
risk and expense incurred ; but I had the satisfaction of
seeing and examining a large extent of the coast of my
native land, of which I could never have had an adequate
knowledge from books and accounts alone.

My fellow naturalists cannot fail to note that, in my
account of the waters of the Great Australian Bight, I
have omitted mention of many important genera of animals
inhabiting that region. I thought it best to devote a
chapter to those genera, the narrative being, as it is, much
broken by references to specimens seen under particular
circumstances, and consideration of space compels me
to skip over a description of many of the less interesting
creatures, or those which are fully described in other parts
of the book.

All the native mammals, and most of the birds, of
Australia are considerably reduced in numbers, as a result
of the increase of man on the continent. Not only have
I reliable accounts of old settlers and others for my
guidance, but I have a distinct recollection that in the
days of my youth many animals, and birds especially, were
much more numerous than they are at the present day, or
have been for many years past. In the older settled parts,
and in the vicinity of the great towns especially, whole

132

COLONISTS A SOVEREIGN PEOPLE 133

families have been driven away, and are seen there no
more. It does not follow that they have been extermi-
nated. I cannot say that any particular Australian animal
has become extinct within the last twenty or thirty years,
except, of course, locally ; but many have been driven
quite away from districts where twenty years ago they
were numerous. The cultivation of the soil has had as
much to do with this abandonment of haunts as the more
acute persecution of the gunners and bird-netters ; but
there are some species that will certainly soon be exter-
minated if active means are not resorted to for their
protection. The question is what means can be adopted?
Probably an appeal to the common sense of the people
would have more effect than drastic laws, for the Australians
are a people strongly imbued with republican notions, and
they have in several instances defied certain protective
laws (notably that for the preservation of the large gum-
trees), and they have shown that where the people are
determined to oppose an unpopular law, the authorities
are powerless to enforce it. This is hard to be believed by
law-reverencing Englishmen in the old country ; but when
and where did it ever happen that the mob in England,
impatient at official delay, took it upon themselves to
perform important public functions by force, thrusting the
" constituted authority " aside in no uncertain way ? Such
a thing has happened more than once in my native colony.
And I do not think the people would tolerate any inter-
ference with their shooting and hunting rights. But they
might be persuaded, and I hope they will, for that same
popular will which is strong enough to defy an unwelcome
law is strong enough also to enforce one the wisdom of
which is recognised — in fact would enforce it more
effectually than an army of police and justices could do.
There are certain birds for the curious or splendid
plumage of which there is a never-satisfied demand in the
large towns. This is a great inducement to a number of
scamps of " larrikin " type to devote their idle energies to
the capture of those particular birds, for an idly earned
shilling is more thought of by these fellows than a sovereign

134 GENERAL REMARKS ON SOUTHERN COAST

gained by the honest sweat of the brow. Among the birds
to disappear first will be the lyre-bird, and several of the
brilliantly hued lories and cockatoos.

No Australian mammals have suffered more from the
continual pursuit of man than the seals, Otaria lobata and
Otaria forsteri, the only two species of this animal, I
believe, which inhabit the coasts of our continent. I
expected to see something of the first named, commonly
called the hair-seal, which used to be very common in
King George's Sound and in Bass's Strait ; but if it is not
entirely exterminated, not more than a few odd ones remain
either in King George's Sound or in the Straits. As long
ago as the year 1840 the seals were becoming scarce in
Bass's Strait. The islands in that channel were occupied
by a race of men known as Straitsmen. Each assumed a
territory to himself — usually an entire island — where he
lorded it as an absolute king. His subjects were a harem
of native women from the continent or Tasmania, and a
few half-breeds born of these unions. These blacks were
employed by their white lords to capture the seals, and
as they were expert at the work, the animals rapidly
diminished in number. No respite was granted to the
unfortunate animals, nor was the breeding season respected,
and the result is that a seal in Bass's Strait is now as
remarkable a sight as one on the coast of Cornwall. Truly
an odd one is occasionally seen, and that is all, I believe.

Fur-seals (O.forsteri) were found in the Straits, as well
as hair-seals (O. lobata), and the former may occasionally
be seen on the retired portions of the coast of my native
colony ; but the seal-rocks near Sydney, and the Port
Stephen district, have long been entirely forsaken by these
animals.

No fur-seals have ever been reported from the south-
west coast of Australia ; it is the hair-seal that inhabits
that region, and though it is of inferior value commercially
to the fur-seal, it has been much sought after. According
to the reports of many whalers with whom I have spoken,
the hair-seal has been seen, in limited numbers, along the
entire coast of the Great Bight. That these reports are

EXTERMINATION OF SEALS 135

correct I have no doubt, but I am afraid that those whalers
saw but to slay. At anyrate, at the time of the Swarfs
cruise, they were so scarce, or shy, that I failed to discover
any.

In King George's Sound a few still linger ; but if one is
seen there by any wild fowler he never fails to discharge
his gun at it though it may be only charged with an ounce
or two of small shot. So it happens, sometimes, that the
poor animal gets away to die a lingering death. If killed
it is of small value, as the skin is comparatively worthless.

How far north, on the west coast, this species ranges
I do not know. I have not traced it beyond Flinder's
bay, where one was killed near Port Augusta in 1889.
There appear to never have been any seals on the northern
parts of the west coast, nor on the north-western ; but it
is tolerably certain that both hair- and fur-seals visited
nearly all parts of the coast of Victoria and New South
Wales, until those colonies became pretty thickly inhabited
by white settlers. They, however, always retired to breed
to the small islands at a distance from the mainland.
Very small islands were generally chosen for this important
function — why, is a puzzling problem which I have been
unable to solve. If concealment was the intention of the
animal, its instinct seems to have misled it — a very
unlikely thing. An island of a few square miles of
surface is not a spot where an enemy would be likely to
look for the young of so large an animal as the seal,
especially when the breeding place was situated many
hundreds of miles from the mainland ; but once found, the
smallness of the area greatly facilitated the destruction of
the game, and rendered escape impossible.

All the typical Australian gulls and terns were seen in
the Great Bight, though some of them appeared to be only
casual visitors to that district, and others were more
numerous than on any other part of the coast known to
me. The commonest was the Australian tern {Sterna
australis), and almost equally abundant was Larus
pacijicus, the only true gull known to me as an inhabitant
of our coasts. The tern is found all round Australia, but

136 GENERAL REMARKS ON SOUTHERN COAST

the gull is confined to the south coasts. I have not seen
it on the east side so far north as Sydney ; and only odd
individuals, or small roaming flocks, come eastward of
Wilson's promontory, Victoria. From that point, it is
more or less abundant as far as Cape Leeuwin, and
seemingly as occasional visitant, I have met with it as far
north as the North-West Cape, Exmouth Gulf — that is a
hundred miles within the tropics. Probably, however, these
northern flocks are only wanderers ; many of the gulls are
great rovers, and if what whalers have told me is correct,
this bird, generally called the great black-backed gull, is
found as far south as their ships ever venture, and that is
almost, or quite, to the antarctic circle. In Australia it is
nowhere so abundant as on the coast of the Great Bight.
It cannot be questioned that it breeds in the desolate lofty
cliffs of that vast bay. Without actually seeing the young
(we were probably there at the wrong time of the year to
find them breeding) we saw the nesting places of these and
many other species high up the face of the cliffs. The
number of birds that assemble there on occasions, and
the extent to which the rocks were discoloured with their
droppings, placed it beyond doubt that millions of those
birds annually breed there. In fact the east of the Bight
is as remarkable for the multitude of its sea-birds, as the
country inland is for the scarcity of land-birds. Every
morning immense numbers of them go seaward, no doubt
to their feeding places, but many hover about the waters
inshore all day long ; the noise of their cries when they
are assembled at their roosting places on the cliffs, can be
heard at a very great distance, and is much accentuated to
the listening ear of the wanderer by the awful solitude of
that district.

The storm-petrel is also a plentiful bird in the Bight.
Oceanites Oceanians, Wilson's petrel, is the specific name of
this bird ; but the whalers still call all species of this bird
that are recognised by them to be petrels " Mother
Carey's chicken," and their lives are as sacred in the eyes
of the rough sailors as are those of certain land birds to
shore people. During our trying voyage, this little petrel

THE WANDERING ALBATROSS 137

was always in close attendance on us, flying close to the
tiny vessel, and often over it at a height of a few feet
only, and without indulging in any foolish superstition,
I certainly shared the satisfaction of the men in having
this friendly little stranger so constantly with us. It
seems that the popular opinion among landsmen is that
sailors hold the petrel in awe, and look on its approach to
a ship as an ill omen. This is a mistake, or else sailors
have greatly changed their opinion. It is the desertion of
the neighbourhood of a ship by these birds that is con-
sidered a forewarning of doom.

Among the rarer birds of the Bight the wandering
albatross may be numbered, but it is seen occasionally off
all parts of the coast, especially in remote places, for this
is a bird that avoids the haunts of man. It will follow
ships and hover about them ; but I have never seen it
near a big coast city. In Australia I have seen it only as
a solitary bird. There a pair, or a greater number, are
never seen together, but as I have seen an albatross near
the same spot for several consecutive days, I have been in
doubt whether I was viewing the reappearance of one
bird, or of two, or more of them.

In the Bight I witnessed the very unusual sight of an
albatross swimming — I suppose for the purpose of resting
its wings, for it feeds on the wing. Old navigators and
naturalists were much puzzled at finding the albatross at
vast distances from land, and put forward all sorts of
theories to account for its apparent ability to do without
rest for days, if not weeks, together. It was described as
flying thousands of miles without alighting, as never
resting except occasionally on the mast of a passing
vessel, and as sleeping on the wing. All this guesswork
was wrong, the fact being that the albatross sleeps, like
many other species of the gull tribe, while floating on the
water. Probably all gulls occasionally sleep in this
situation, certainly most do. They also rest and sleep on
any floating object they find at sea, as on a castaway barrel
or plank ; and off the coasts of North Australia and
Queensland, I have often seen terns sleeping while perched

138 GENERAL REMARKS ON SOUTHERN COAST

on the backs of floating turtles, which also seemed to be
asleep. Yet these birds (and no doubt albatrosses) roost
on rocks when at home. As I have said above gulls are
great wanderers, and I am convinced that the albatross is
not the only species that spends many days at a time on
the open sea without a visit to the land.

I have not collected as much information as I should
like to possess concerning the food of the albatross, but I
am convinced that it is a sea-scavanger, a marine vulture,
preying on any garbage it can find, or that is thrown to it
from a ship. It will pounce eagerly on the entrails of a
fowl thrown overboard to it, or on a dead fish or piece of
salt-junk, or bit of biscuit — in a word, on anything eatable;
but no sailor that I have conversed with has ever seen
an albatross catch a fish for itself, and as I have watched
them for hours at a time wheeling and sailing, rather than
flying, over the surface of waters that I knew were
swarming with fish, I am convinced that they do not catch
living prey. I once amused myself by throwing dead rats
to some ravenous albicores which were following the ship,
when an albatross, which was also attendant on us, made
several attempts to obtain a rat, but displayed an amusing
caution in avoiding contact with the albicores. Whether
these ravenous fishes would, or could, seize a bird of the
size of the albatross I do not know ; but the albatross
was evidently disinclined to run the risk of such a fate.

The albicore, like the shark, is one of the few fishes
which can be caught by hook and line trailed behind a
rapidly sailing ship ; and on the occasion referred to, no
fewer than fourteen of them, most of them weighing over
thirty pounds each, were hauled aboard, and the garbage
from all these found its way into the hungry maw of the
bird. The actual weight of the food consumed by the bird,
in the course of a couple of hours, I cannot state, but it
could not be less than six or seven pounds — that is about
half its own weight. For these birds, notwithstanding
their great expanse of wing (often ten or eleven feet) and
great apparent size, seldom weigh more than fourteen or
fifteen pounds. Digestion is performed very quickly by

ALBATROSS AND ALBICORES 139

gulls, and I daresay a portion of the food passed through
the body of the bird before its meal was finished ; but that
it gorged itself so excessively fully justifies the title I have
applied to its kind. They are sea vultures.

After its gorge this albatross disappeared, to seek, I
presume, a much needed rest.

CHAPTER XIII

KING GEORGE'S SOUND

The year (1889) following my voyage in the Swan, I paid
a visit to King George's Sound, and subsequently to other
West Australian ports, my business being to prospect the
country with a view to starting a cattle farm in the
colony, for even at this date most of the best land in
all the eastern colonies was occupied. What the future
of the country will be I have sometimes thought over with
anxiety. Unless the land is to enrich a favoured few, and
a favoured few only, the land-grabbing mania will have to
be counteracted, or peremptorily stopped.

I was surprised, on my first arrival in England, to find
many persons, whose education and intelligence I should
have thought would be a guarantee of better information,
believing that there were few, or no, abjectly poor persons
in " prosperous Australia." This is a common and serious
mistake in England. There is, proportionally, as much
sordid misery and vice in our big cities as there is in
Liverpool and London, and those who expect to land
penniless in any one of our colonies, and yet pick up a
fortune in a few years, are as simple as the old-fashioned
bumpkins one reads about in old books who were
persuaded that the "streets of Lunnon be paved with
gold."

Capital is wanted in Australia to ensure the prosperity
of the individual as surely as it is wanted in the mother-
land, and the big capitalist has the best of it in the new
land as in the old — far too much the best of it ; and men
with sixty or a hundred thousand acres, without reckoning
a back-run of perhaps three or four times that extent, are

140

THE CONVICT DANGER 141

inconsistent with the existence of a yeoman population.
The two classes, the large gentleman farmer and the
small yeoman, cannot exist side by side in a country like
Australia. What they do elsewhere I do not know, and
therefore will not presume to judge how they work
together ; but in Australia it is the men with excessively
large estates who are causing rises in the price of land in
the old colonies ; and rises in the price of land beyond a
certain sum are fatal to the prosperity of small farmers.
But this is not King George's Sound, and " the rambles of
a naturalist."

King George's Sound is an important region both in
a historical sense, and as a sub-district in Australian fauna.
With the first I have here nothing to do, but I may pause
to remark that it was the spot selected by the French
Government, in 1825, for the settlement of a colony, which,
had it been established, would have robbed us of half our
goodly continent. Fortunately the French were anticipated
by Major Lockyer and some companies of the 39th Foot
(the gallant primus in Indus) who guarded a working party
of those bugbears of the land — convicts sent from New
South Wales — and for a time the settlement was an out-
post of my native colony. With the establishment of
another settlement at Swan River the colony of Western
Australia entered into life. Its actual birthday, as registered
in the official records, is the 1st of June 1829; but the
convict labourers were at work there some considerable
time before that date. These men worked in fear of the
lash and the loaded musket, and though their compulsory
labour was not without beneficial results to the general
community, it is surprising that any settlement survived
this introduction. The early history of nearly every settle-
ment on the continent is a revolting story of flogging,
hanging, and the crimes which led to those drastic punish-
ments. As, in time, the convicts were granted tickets-of-
leave, they became practically free men, and permeated
nearly every class of colonial life with disastrous results,
which, by mere good luck, I think, stopped short only of
being fatal to our great and progressive country.

142 KING GEORGE'S SOUND

The scenery about King George's Sound is not in any
way so striking as that of most parts of Victoria and
South Australia ; yet there is far more vegetation on the
land than on some spots further north and west that we
shall have to glance at presently. There are hills also
about the shores of the Sound, and some forty miles
inland can be discerned the Stirling range, the most
imposing rocks in this part of the country. The natural
features of the land have undergone great changes owing
to the works of man, and the improvements of tillage and
cultivation, and it is not until the naturalist has penetrated
well into the interior that he is in a position to appreciate
fully what a decided change there is in the fauna and
flora of the country when compared with the eastern side
of the continent. Precisely where the change begins I
cannot say, since I was unable to penetrate the country
from the head of the Great Bight. I believe the line is,
with regard to many species at least, very sharply drawn ;
which is the more remarkable, as no great barriers exist
which would be likely to interrupt the spread of species.
The Blue Mountains of New South Wales, the Alps of
Victoria, etc., confine a few species to the eastern coasts ;
but there is absolutely nothing to prevent the spread of
animal forms from the westward of the ranges mentioned
above to the coasts of the opposite side of the country.
Some species are so spread — are universally distributed
over the continent ; but they are few in number, and
mostly of the larger forms of birds. The great grey
kangaroo is not found on any of the great grassy plains
of the west, although the country seems admirably suited
for its subsistence ; and most of the small birds are of
quite different species on the two sides of the continent,
though on both sides those of the north, where, on account
of difference of climate, one might expect to find a
difference, do not vary so markedly from those of the
south.

That the vegetation should differ is not so remarkable.
That is probably due in great measure to the aridity of the
soil on the desert portions of the continent. This is a

DISTRIBUTION SHARPLY DEFINED 143

circumstance that I do not feel so well qualified to discuss
as I do the fauua of the two great divisions — for naturally
the divisions are two — east and west. North and south
the species do not vary sufficiently to make a very marked
division ; at most they are sub-divisions, and the variation
of species on the central plains, so far as I have seen, is
utterly unimportant.

Perhaps the most widely distributed of Australian
birds is the emu. It is found all over the continent,
certain restricted areas excepted ; but the birds of the two
sides certainly differ. On the east the Dromcens novce
hollandice is a larger bird, and less mottled in plumage
than Dromceus irroratus of the western plains. The latter
is also a lighter coloured bird, but advancing inland,
toward the centre of the continent, I have found an inter-
mediate variety, and I am not sure that it is correct to
speak of two species. At any rate, as the two varieties
approach each other on the northern central plains, the
difference between them becomes very much less discern-
ible, and I am sure that the two species, if species they
are, interbreed. I have seen the two birds paired, but I
have not observed any difference in the young. The eggs
of both species are green in colour, but there is great
difference in the shade of the hue. Some clutches, those,
I think, of very young birds, are quite a light green, while
those of old birds are a dark rifle-green. This opinion,
which is the result of careful observation, seems to be
confirmed by the number of eggs in a clutch. If they are
light in colour, there are usually no more than seven or
eight in a clutch ; if intermediate in hue, nine or eleven ; if
very dark the full number of thirteen. I have never seen
more than thirteen in a clutch, nor fewer than seven, and I
think that the number in a complete clutch is always an
odd one. But rarely have I seen even numbers in either
clutch or brood of young birds, and I think that the incu-
bating cock (it is always the male bird which performs this
duty) has some reason for prefering an odd number to sit
upon : for I have often found a single egg lying on the
ground a few yards from the nest as if it had been ejected

144 KING GEORGES SOUND

for some purpose. In such cases there was generally
evidence that an egg had been broken in the nest. Was
the ejected egg pushed out to maintain an odd number ?

The emu is generally described as a gregarious bird, but
it is only partially so. I believe that it sometimes goes in
family parties ; but odd birds scouring the plains are an
everyday sight in the interior where emus are abundant.
And birds may be seen feeding alone in districts where
the traveller may ride for days without seeing another.
The hen and her young, also, are often found solitary ; for
though the cock incubates, the hen seems to take charge
of the hatched young. This is contrary to the experience
of a keeper at one of our public gardens, who told me that
the cock of a pair of emus which bred in the grounds,
showed great solicitude in caring for the five chicks which
were hatched from a clutch of thirteen eggs. But perhaps
the habits of birds and animals in captivity undergo much
change. The fact that only five eggs out of thirteen were
hatched showed that the birds, although in their native
country, were not living under natural conditions.

The emu has been driven from all the thickly settled
districts, and is now seldom seen near the dwellings of
men, even on the most remote of back-runs. In 1889, and
on the occasions of a few other visits within a couple of
years of that date, emus might be found at the back of the
Stirling range in scanty numbers, and generally under
circumstances which pointed to their being chance visitors
in the neighbourhood, though I found one nest at a spot
some fifty miles north of Albany. Still further north, as
nearly as I can guess another fifty miles beyond Stirling
range, small flocks of emus, four or five to a dozen in
number, were to be found on all the occasions I rode so
far afield.

I shall have occasion to mention this incidentally in
subsequent chapters ; but I think it will be well to finish
my remarks on its habits in this place

When emus are sighted on the open plains of the
interior they are often travelling in an apparently straight
line at a very fast pace. I have chased them, and found

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMU 145

that it takes a very good horse to keep them in sight. I
do not think that a single horseman could ride an emu
down without the assistance of dogs. Emu hunting is
quite as good sport as kangaroo chasing, and is not
without that spice of excitement which comes of risking an
ugly attack from the pursued game. A kick from an emu
is nearly as dangerous as one from a kangaroo. It will
break the leg of a man, or send a too venturesome dog
spinning through the air with a broken back : and the
dogs, unless numerous in number, seldom succeed in
pulling the bird down without assistance from the hunter.
In helping the dogs the latter should always approach the
bird from the front, otherwise he may be badly crippled.

Solitary emus are nearly always travelling across
country when sighted, which circumstance leads me to
think that they may be only temporarily separated from
their flock. When the flock is resting, some members of
it will be squatting on their bent legs in a particular
manner, quite unlike that of other birds in the same
circumstances. The position is a kneeling on the true
ankles of the bird, with the legs bent forward, only the tail-
end touching the ground. From this position the emu can
instantly rise without exerting much muscular power, and
thus kneeling they slumber with their heads buried amidst
the feathers of the shoulder. They are very light sleepers,
and cannot be surprised asleep.

While the kneeling position is the one usually chosen
by the emu for resting and sleeping purposes, it also often
lies on its side, wallowing like a hen in the dust and sand,
and kicking the gravel in clouds about it. It also shakes
its feathers in a dog-like manner, and with a noise which
can be heard a considerable distance. The sound of this
feather-shaking has often apprised me at night-time, when
lying out in the desert, of the presence in the neighbour-
hood of emus when none had been previously seen ; and
has proved that they are not afraid to approach within one
or two hundred yards of a watch-fire, though in daylight
the traveller has difficulty in getting nearer to these
cautious birds than half a mile. In all the postures of

K

146 KING GEORGE'S SOUND

rest the emus are constantly preening and arranging their
feathers, and perhaps destroying the vermin which are apt
to invest them. In the act of feeding they are much
given to standing on one leg, with the other held loosely,
the toes bent backward, ready to take the next step
forward.

The calls and cries of the emu are not numerous, or
often used. Generally it is a silent bird. When irritated
or alarmed it utters a shrill sound — a kind of hiss or low-
pitched scream. It has also a sharp, single-note cry of
surprise or warning, at sound of which, uttered by the
cock-bird, the flock takes to instant flight. The usual
note of the bird, used on occasions of which I can only
specify a few with certainty, is termed a "booming" by
the colonists. It is a deep hollow sound which nearly all
hearers describe in different terms, but which seems to
me to be well imitated by drumming on an empty cask
with muffled sticks. This peculiar sound is uttered when
the cock is coaxing the hen, when the latter is teaching
her chicks to feed, and by both birds on most ordinary
occasions, and especially when there is going to be a
change of weather. Incessant booming of the emus is a
sure sign of impending rain, and generally of a storm-
burst. The loud hoarse cries — almost a bellowing — uttered
by the hen emu during the pairing season is a distinct
sound from the usual boom, and seems to be produced by
her by means of a peculiar purse-like enlargement of the
wind-pipe — an apparatus with which the male bird is not
furnished. The hen emu is much larger than the cock —
a peculiarity common enough among the Falconidae, but
unique, I think, in the Struthionidse.

Down to the middle of last century the emu was found
from shore to shore of the Australian continent. Very
few are now left in the old colonies. Though so much
scattered in distribution, the bird was not as numerous
in individual numbers as many naturalists seem to think
it was. They never assembled in large flocks, three or
four family parties might be seen in a day's ride, the total
of birds not amounting to sixty. I feel sure that the

FOOD OF EMU 147

brood of young birds remain an entire year with their
parents, and pair off at the breeding season. Many small
flocks, much scattered, give an observer who does not
habitually make careful notes, a sense of great numbers,
which is very misleading. While the emu was formerly
met with in all parts of Australia, and therefore could not
be said to be scarce ^ it certainly was never an abundant
bird, in the sense in which we should call the kangaroo,
wallaby, and exotic rabbit abundant.

Its destruction by the colonists is often very wanton.
The blackfellow likes emu, but no white who has tasted
emu flesh cares to be at the trouble of cooking a bird for
himself. They are shot, therefore, because they are big,
or because the gunner wishes to secure a curiosity for
himself or his friends, or for any other reason, the food
reason being always excepted. The bird is generally very
fat, but the flesh is coarse, tough, and tasteless — in a word,
not worth the trouble of eating unless a man is starving.

The food of the emu is largely frugiverous, and like
all struthious birds it swallows large quantities of sand
and pebbles. In some districts of Australia where smooth
pebbles are scarce, I have found the stomachs of emus
crammed with sand and coarse grit mingled with vegetable
matter. In the desert there are a number of shrubs,
brambles, and creeping plants, which bear small fruits :
these furnish the bulk of the emu's food. The largest of
these fruits is a plum-like blue berry, and of this emus
are very fond. In districts where this berry is abundant
there are sure to be emus, unless the presence of the
settler keeps them away. Probably any sort of vegetation
is eaten by them when their favourite food becomes scarce.
I have found leaves and stalks in the mass of undigested
matter taken from the stomach of a recently killed bird,
and I have seen them swallow large snails with the shells,
and beetles, and other insects ; for though the general
opinion is that the diet of the Struthionidae is entirely of
a vegetable nature, this is an error, so far as the two great
Australian representatives of the genus are concerned.
The Australian cassowary in particular is an almost

148 KING GEORGES SOUND

omnivorous bird, and will devour rats, lizards, and any
small creatures generally that come in its way.

Taking King George's Sound as a typical district of
the south-west part of Australia, we notice that the change
of flora and fauna which takes place there forms the first
decided demarcation between the two sides of the continent.
I exclude the central desert, which may be a sub-district,
but is intruded on, to a great extent, by types from both
sides which gradually die out, rather than meet, as they
approach the centre of the continent. There is some co-
mingling and overlapping of typical families, and some
universally distributed species as I have already said, but
taking into consideration certain features, as the great
compactness of the country, and the absence of many of
the usual barriers to the migrations of plants and animals,
Australia maintains its reputation for eccentricity in its
many sharply drawn limits of species.

So far as I know, the country lying between Spencer's
Gulf (South Australia) and King George's Sound is a
desert without a single typical tree or animal, and probably
without many plants or animals of any kind. There are
certainly no great forests, or other prominent and life-
influencing features in that vast region, which is at least
seven hundred miles wide, and of unknown depth inland.
It is probably the most desert part of Australia, the fact
that there is no stream, not even a brook of the smallest
size, in such a great length of coast as that surrounding
the Great Bight, is sufficiently indicative of the aridity of
the back country.

But when we reach King George's Sound we light, at
once, on a flora that differs markedly from that of Victoria,
and the known country to the west of it — that is the colony
of South Australia. And the fauna, also, greatly differs,
but not quite in so marked a degree as the flora. We
must get away from the settlements to note this fully.

Albany, one of the most beautiful and important towns
of Western Australia, and destined to be, if it is not
already, one of the most frequented ports of call on the
continent, is decidedly English in appearance. Here are

TYPICAL ANIMALS AND PLANTS 149

English houses, English gardens with apples and pears,
and other eminently British fruits, and brave old British
oaks abounding and prospering all over the district as
they abound and prosper in South Australia and Victoria.
Nor are these the only English trees, by very many species,
which abound in and about all the townships on the Sound,
quite altering the natural features of the land.

But when we get out into the wilds, beyond the settle-
ments, we are better able to note the native species of
trees and plants, and compare them with those of the other
side of the country. Perhaps the hills, and broken char-
acter of the country, afford some shelter to the vegetation of
this district. Certain it is that the country for many miles
inland on all sides of the Sound, though rather barren in
general appearance, has a variety and beauty of scenery
which is not found further north on this part of the coast.
The hills are typical Australian hills ; they are remarkable
for strangeness of form, or peculiarity of stratification, and
the two elevations between which Albany lies, Mounts
Clarence and Melville, are the most Australian-like features
of the place.

Another important influence on the vegetation of the
Sound must be exercised by the climate of the district,
which is cool and moist. Rains are frequent, and often
heavy ; and fogs from the sea sometimes drift inland,
enveloping vegetation and everything else in a thick,
clammy deposit of moisture, which is trying to animal life,
but seems to be peculiarly beneficial to vegetation of most
kinds.

On the plains there is a thick growth of rank herbage,
with several species of plants which are common in Europe,
yet, strange to say, seem to be indigenous to the country.
This is the case if the accounts of the first settlers are to
be relied upon, and I see no reason for rejecting them.
Among these plants are the common dandelion, and a
species of orach {A triplex halimus). The latter I have
found in situations to which it could scarcely have
travelled, if introduced, in the few years since the establish-
ment of the colony. The "native parsley" (Apium pro-

150 KING GEORGE'S SOUND

stratum), found mostly in damp gullies, but cultivated for
household use by the colonists, is an undoubted native
plant, the range of which I do not know ; but I have found
it as far north as Shark Bay, where it grows on some parts
of the Gascoyne River.

Among the larger members of the vegetable kingdom
" swamp-oaks " (Casuarinas) and eucalypti (here, as else-
where, called "gum-trees"), hold the most prominent
place, and at the time of my visit formed, in places, woods
of sufficient size to be denominated " forests " by the
colonists ; but a very careless and wasteful destruction of
the trees was taking place, which threatened a sad thinning
of their numbers before many years had elapsed. The
"wild honeysuckle" (a Banksia) is a universal favourite
with the colonists, and is spread all over the country in
suitable places for its growth. This plant is certainly not
found many miles to the eastward of the Sound. It
appears about here for the first time, and is found in much
greater perfection further north. In this district also the
grass-tree (Ringia australis) first appears ; but it is not
found in the immediate neighbourhood of the Sound,
except as a cultivated shrub in gardens, nor does it attain
to perfection. Other trees which form important objects in
the landscapes further north on the west coast, appear here
of the size of shrubs. In fact King George's Sound is a
starting-point for a large portion of the western flora.

Among plants, well known on the eastern side of the
continent which reappear here, I may notice the valuable
kangaroo grass {Anthistiria australis). This grass appears
to be the prevailing herbage of those areas in the interior
of the west side which are so frequently marked on the
maps as " rich grassy country." It is confined to limited
tracts near King George's Sound, but higher up the
country, and especially in the neighbourhood of Swan
River, it is one of the prevailing grasses.

Near the Sound a variation of species in animal life is
also noticeable. The district is the extreme southward
and eastward limit of a very typical wallaby, which is so
distinct from other members of the family that it is placed,

BANDED WALLABY 151

I understand, in a genus by itself, of which it is the solitary
representative. This is the banded wallaby (Lagostropkus
fasciatus) which is so small that medium sized individuals
only weigh seven or eight pounds. The habits of this
animal differ in some degree from those of other wallabies.
It creeps under the dense herbage, forming tunnels which
completely conceal it, and enable it to travel across the
country without exposing any part of its body to view. It
is consequently very difficult to get shots at it. But it
sometimes ventures into the sandy desert tracts, and then,
if disturbed, it squats in the nearest patch of scrub, where
it will lie quietly until it is nearly trodden upon. It does
not seem to be numerous near King George's Sound, but
on account of its peculiar habit, it is difficult to ascertain
much about its numbers or mode of life. It prefers moist
gullies for its haunt, and often inhabits ground which is
very wet and swampy — and such as is avoided by other
members of the family.

There are several species of rat-kangaroo in this district
of which I have identified two only. The first is the
common brush-tailed rat-kangaroo {Bettongia penicillatd)%
which is found everywhere round the eastern and southern
coasts, and is not, therefore, of special interest here. The
second species is a very similar animal, but has the tail
tipped with white ; it must therefore be, I think, Lesueur's
rat-kangaroo {Bettongia lesueuri).

These small animals, which have the appearance of
large rats, are not numerous, and are not often seen unless
watched for. They do not come forth from their lurking-
places till the dusk of evening, and retire on the slightest
sign of approaching danger. They are gregarious to about
the same extent as the kangaroos and wallabies ; that is,
there may be from twenty to sixty or seventy in a colony,
but they scatter much when seeking food ; and though
many may be near, the observer seldom sees more than
three or four at a time. Though they resemble rats in
outward appearance, there is nothing of the rodent in their
general habits, or, indeed, in their internal structure. They
bear a single young one (occasionally two) at a birth, and

152 KING GEORGE'S SOUND

breed but once a year. This slow increase of the rat-
kangaroos, and, indeed, of the whole family of kangaroos,
is in strange contrast to the immense numbers of many
of the species.

The rat-kangaroos do not progress like the wallabies
and true kangaroos by a series of leaps on the hind legs,
but run or canter in a peculiar way, using all four feet.
They can move very quickly, but if found at a distance
from shelter, they can be run down and captured, a thing
that can never happen to the leap-progressing wallabies
and kangaroos.

At King George's Sound the echidnas, the koala, and
the wombat, have entirely disappeared. I thought and
hoped that the latter animal might be found there ; but I
could find no trace of it, nor hear that it has ever been seen
in the district. This is another circumstance that marks
the change of fauna hereabout.

The birds, too, differ much from those of the other side,
though these are overlapping and universally distributed
species. All these I cannot find space to enumerate, and
many of the small birds are described in the next chapter.

In the course of my long rides in this district, which
sometimes extended to a distance of sixty or seventy miles
from Albany, I saw several birds which are not known to
the colonists to be inhabitants of the country, amongst
them a native companion heron, and a stork which I
think was Ardea flavirostris. These birds were probably
stragglers in the neighbourhood, for I could not find others
of their kind.

Neither could I learn anything, locally, of a cuckoo
which interested me much. I heard this bird on several
occasions during my rides, but could never see it, yet the
country was poorly wooded with scattered trees only. I
think the bird, like others of its family, must be a ventrilo-
quist, and have moved from spot to spot while I was look-
ing for it in a wrong direction. Sometimes I heard it on
the right hand and sometimes on the left, and then behind
me ; but as soon as I approached the spot from whence
the sound issued, I would hear the calls in quite another

THE CUCKOO 153

direction. The bird must have skulked from place to
place while completely screened by the scrub, otherwise I
could not have failed to see it. This cuckoo does not seem
to be known in the immediate neighbourhood of Albany,
but is probably identical with a species found on the Swan
River. There, however, it does not seem to be of particu-
larly shy or skulking habits.

Birds of the duck family are rather numerous in species,
and were formerly so in individuals ; but they have been
much thinned by sportsmen and professional wildfowlers
from the townships. I met several men who obtained a
living by shooting the ducks from punts with swivel guns
— weapons which carried heavy charges, and cut the flocks
of birds up in a wholesale way. These men told me that
a few years ago the shores of the Sound and Albany bay
swarmed with ducks, but that these had become so scarce
that they (the men) contemplated abandoning the shooting
as no longer profitable. All the ducks of this part of the
country are found also in the Swan River district, in my
account of which they are described.

Swans are found on the swamps and rivers of the
district, but not in great numbers. They migrate season-
ally, and sometimes seem to reappear only as stragglers.
One old fowler told me that in some years he had seen no
swans at all, though they could scarcely have escaped his
notice if they had been in any of their usual haunts, as he
was in the habit of shooting ducks in the inland swamps.
The black swan is only seen in this district as an
occasional straggler, but it is certain it was once abun-
dant here.

The parrots and cockatoos do not materially differ in
species from those of the Swan River district, but they are
not nearly so numerous, a circumstance that is probably
accounted for by the dampness of the climate ; for nearly
all these birds are extremely impatient of rain, though they
do not seem to be so much affected by a considerable
degree of cold.

The only other remark on the fauna of King George's
Sound that I intend to make in this chapter, is to record

154 KING GEORGE'S SOUND

that the fish found there seem to agree in species very
closely with those found in the Great Bight, a circumstance
which rather surprised me, considering the marked differ-
ence in the characters of the two coast lines, and the fact
that the water of the Sound is much shallower than that of
the Bight.

I spent several days fishing in the Sound, going out
with the fishermen in their boats, and on one or two
occasions proceeding to sea with them. At this time
(1889) whales were sometimes captured by the fishermen
quite close to the coast, and a few years further back it
was not an uncommon occurrence for a whale to enter
the Sound, just as they used to enter Port Jackson and
other great harbours. As the capture of a whale is a
valuable windfall to the fishermen, the larger boats always
had a line, harpoon, and spears aboard, and on the 15th
of October the boat in which I was harpooned a large
dolphin. It was about eleven feet long, and although
I had previously only seen a picture of the species, I at
once recognised it as a Risso's dolphin {Grampus gris).
There could be no mistaking the species, and the peculiarly
long, narrow flukes and toothless upper jaw were quite
sufficient to establish its identity. It was of a dark grey
colour on the back and tail-end of the body, and yellowish
grey on the front, and the sides were covered with
irregularly shaped markings of light colour, causing the
animal to appear as if it had been scrabbled over. It
weighed more than five hundredweight, but was easily
killed and got on board without difficulty, at a spot about
nine miles west of Harding Point.

Dolphins are often captured in this neighbourhood,
but the fishermen had never seen one of this species
before. The kind that is usually seen about here does
not perceptibly differ from Delphinus dclphis, varying in
length, for apparently adult animals, from six to eight
feet, and seldom weighing much more than a couple of
hundredweight, though I heard of a dolphin, sometimes
seen here, which exceeded twelve feet in length. Accord-
ing to the whalers, the "small dolphin," as they call it,

FISH IN THE SOUND 155

that is the common species, is seen in the Bight in schools
of two or three hundred.

Fish that were most common in the Sound and the
surrounding waters, consisted of species of rock-cod, ling,
barracudas, dories, suckers, conyrodus, albicores, bonitos,
and conger-eels. Some of these fish grow to a great size,
and some are but little esteemed for food, though all
find a market in the townships on the Sound. There is
a remarkable absence of flat-fish here, as in most Australian
waters, though a fish which 1 recognised as Psettodes
erunice is found in scanty numbers in the months of
October, November, and December.

All the fish enumerated above were found by me in
the Bight, except the congers and Psettodes.

Other fish of the Sound which were not seen in the
Bight are dog-fish, which are very numerous and voracious,
and the common meagre {Scicena aquilci), which is scarce,
but grows to a large size, some taken just outside Albany
bay having weighed more than one hundred pounds.
Sun-fish, too, have been taken which weighed four hundred
pounds, and there are a vast number of the lower types
of marine organisms, many of which are exceedingly
beautiful and curious in colour and form.

Altogether I collected about eighty species of fishes in
King George's Sound, some of which are common to all
Australian marine-waters. I had nearly forgotten to add
that sharks are numerous in and about the Sound, and
exceedingly dangerous to careless bathers. Strangers
should not enter these waters except at the duly appointed
and protected bathing-places.

CHAPTER XIV

THE SWAN RIVER DISTRICT

A SERIES of flat, open, arid plains, with no mountains
and but few hills of noticeable elevation, one would expect
to find the western side of Australia much warmer than
similar latitudes of the eastern division. The reverse of
this is, however, the case, but there are great variations
of temperature.

I reached Swan River by packet-boat in December
1889. This period of the year is almost midsummer
there and the heat is considerable, but certainly not as
hot as the average at Sydney, though the latitude of
the two places is nearly the same.

I found that during the summer the prevailing winds
at Swan River (the district round Perth) were southerly
and mostly south-easterly. When the wind shifted to
south-west, there was apt to be a spell of chilly weather,
the breeze suddenly chopping round to all points of the
compass within a period of twenty-four hours. Sometimes
there would be showers of rain accompanying this change,
and as the winter drew on these showers became frequent
and often heavy, especially near the coast, with exceed-
ingly boisterous winds which chilled one to the bones,
owing probably to the suddenness with which they came
on.

Acting on the advice of old settlers, I waited until
the so-called winter season before making an intended
journey into the interior of the country, for the western
side stands next to the head of the Great Bight for
deficiency of water. And ultimately I found that the

156

"WESTRALIA" AND « WESTRALIANS " 157

coast rains and storms do not travel very far inland, and
have practically no influence on the climate of the interior.
I never had an opportunity of measuring the rainfall of
the interior, but in the years of my journeys on this side
of the continent it was very small, yet I think, from what
the colonists said, not below the average. It is not
surprising, therefore, that there are no forests here, and
that the face of the country is but very scantily covered
with verdure.

Swan River, considered as a district, has the appearance
of a long settled country, yet it is not at all like any of
the eastern colonies. The country round the townships is
fenced off into meadows, which are mostly of moderate
size, and the gardens are full of exotic trees, plants, and
flowers, and therefore give the traveller no correct notion
of the natural characteristics of the land. But though, as
in the eastern settlements, English trees and English
animals have been brought hither in immense numbers, one
never sees such English-like scenery as is quite common
on " the other side," as it is colloquially called throughout
Western Australia, or in Tasmania and New Zealand. In
both the latter countries I have seen spots which, I am
sure, would have deceived any suddenly transported
Englishman into belief that he was still in his native
country. He could not be so deceived in any part of the
Swan River district. There is an Australian atmosphere
about the whole colony which no amount of foreign
importation can dissipate ; moreover there is a distinction
between the people of the two sides which is quite
marked, insomuch that an " other sider " can immediately
recognise a born and bred " Westralian." We are begin-
ning, it may be seen, to assume the right of a new people
to coin new words. Nobody in the old colonies now
speaks of a West-Australian, but it is a regrettable
circumstance that there is a growing tendency among the
colonists to mention each other in terms which, if not
actually coarse and vulgar, are decidedly slangy.

When this district was first settled it was known as the
Swan River Colony, a name that has stuck to it ever since,

158 THE SWAN RIVER DISTRICT

but Westralians are beginning to resent this error in
referring to what is only a district of Western Australia.

Perth is the chief town of the region and the capital
of the whole colony of Western Australia. It is situated
on the north bank of the Swan, which, at this point, widens
out into a lake-like expanse, but the swans, the former
presence of which gave the river its name, have long since
been driven from the neighbourhood. Yet an occasional
straggler is shot near the city ; and on the upper reaches
of the river, flocks of black swans were seen by me in the
year 1890. Unfortunately parties of sportsmen invariably
turned out in pursuit of any flock reported to be in the
neighbourhood of the townships.

The old buildings of the town of Perth are fast being
cleared away to make room for modern erections, which
are built on a scale and in a style commensurate to the
supposed future requirements of the city, and I have no
doubt there are many fine buildings in the place — or will
be, for several of the largest, if not finest, were in course
of erection at the time of my short residence there. I cannot
say that I consider Perth an imposing place. It is a
remarkably compact and closely built place for an
Australian town ; and what is still more strange, is without
a town reservation, a thing almost unheard of on the
eastern side. The spot pointed out to me as " the public
park " was scarcely large enough for a fowl-run.

If one may judge from the number of cathedrals and
churches closely packed in the place, Perth is inhabited
by a very religious community. I should think that every
denomination on earth has a place of worship here, and I
cannot forbear remarking that there is something ridiculous
in applying the term " cathedral " to what looks, to an
ordinary layman, like a very poorly designed church.

The old town-hall is worth mentioning because it is
not only a large and rather majestic-looking building, but
is said to have been entirely erected by convict labourers.

Turning to the flora and fauna of the district, the
observing naturalist is soon struck by the difference and
development of the vegetable productions from anything

THE EXTRAORDINARY "BLACK-BOY11 159

of the like kind he has seen in the eastern and southern
portions of the continent. Casuarinas, which in other
districts are fine trees, are here usually very poor specimens
of the genus — dwarfed and sickly looking. On the other
hand, some characteristic plants of the west here attain their
maximum degree of development. This is notably the
case with the grass- tree {Kingia anstralis), which in the
Swan River district is one of the most notable objects in
the landscape. About Fremantle, in particular, there are
remarkably fine specimens of this curious plant, some of
which attain a height of seventeen or eighteen feet, though
the tree does not usually grow more than ten or twelve
feet high.

It is a plant, shrub, or tree (I know not which to call it)
of exceedingly slow growth. The colonists say that it
takes forty years to grow a foot in height. I do not know
if this is an exaggeration, but I can state that plants which
are known to be at least a hundred years old are not six
feet high.

The shrub, at first, breaks through the soil, which is a
mixture of sand and loam, or a kind of clay, as a round
mass of tangled grass of coarse texture, resembling in
outward appearance some huge fungus bursting forth from
the ground. Very slowly, taking years in the performance
of the operation, it rises above the earth, showing a thick
black stem which is generally quite straight, but sometimes,
with age, becomes rough, gnarled, and convoluted.
Gradually the stem increases in height, and the tuft of
grass-like filaments spread out and hang in a festoon over
the crown of the tree. Then from the centre of this crown
there springs a long black stick which stands upright, six,
seven, or more feet, according to the size of the tree.
Viewed from a distance the plant looks like a bushy-headed
native holding his spear upright, hence the colonists call
the tree the black-boy. There was formerly a dense forest
of these trees along the coast near Fremantle. There are
still many of the finest trees left, and the road to Rockingham
is lined with them for a distance of several miles.

The wood of the grass-tree is solid, hard, and full of

160 THE SWAN RIVER DISTRICT

resin. It burns fiercely like pine, and fires made with it
blaze brightly, and crackle in a series of small explosions.
It is this property of making good fires that has largely
led to its destruction. I am not aware that the wood is
used for any commercial or manufacturing purposes ; but it
seems admirably fitted for many of those purposes to
which hard woods are applied.

Having resolved to make a little expedition into the
interior, I began my preparations at the end of the summer,
by engaging a couple of blacks and a white man as servants,
and purchasing horses fit for the purposed journey. The
white man, Thomas Hamblin, was an old stockman who
had had great experience on the back-runs. The black-
fellows, John Chuckabe and Jacky Whiteboy, were, of
course, men who had long forsaken the wilds and the
habits of their untamed countrymen. They had both been
in the employ of stock-farmers as cattle-hunters, i.e., hunters
up of stray cows and bullocks which wander away some-
times, and both bore good characters for stability and
willingness — great points in the disposition of a black
servant.

These two natives were engaged chiefly to lead and
look after the pack-horses, of which we had four, besides
the four riding horses. These carried stores of tea, sugar,
biscuit, tobacco, and flour for three weeks ; in addition to a
couple of picks, shovels, axes, and other tools, blankets and
a little extra clothing, and a bottle or two of spirits and
medicine.

Tea, sugar, and tobacco seem, at first sight, to be
luxuries, but the influence of such articles on the health
and spirits of a party travelling in the bush can only be
appreciated by those who have had a bush experience.
The soothing influence to the mind of tea and tobacco is
of the highest importance to a party of men in the lone
wilderness, and a supply of these luxuries often wards off
the breakdown of men wearied with the monotony and
hardship of incessantly travelling in such country as is
usually characteristic of the Australian bush. The want of
tobacco is especially hurtful to men who, like stockmen

NECESSARIES FOR A BUSH JOURNEY 161

and bushmen generally, habitually use it in large
quantities.

I expected to pass a full month in the desert — it could
scarcely be called bush in this country — but the number of
miscellaneous articles it was thought desirable to take
with us was so great, that the horses could not carry more
than three weeks' provisions in addition to their other
loads. Although no travelling party in Australia can
safely depend for food on the game it may meet with, it
was hoped that we should be able to eke out our supplies
with such animals and birds as we might chance to shoot.
Empty water-bags were also carried, to be filled and
loaded on the pack-horses when the expenditure of the
stores should leave them free to bear this burden, for we
expected during the latter part of the journey to have
some difficulty in finding water.

In every respect I endeavoured to make my little
expedition as complete and well provided as my means
would allow, taking with me a maximum of stores with
a minimum of persons, which should be the rule with all
exploring parties in Australia, where the provision of food
is the chief difficulty. All being ready, I left Perth and
proceeded by easy stages via York and Beverley to
Darening, arriving there on the 19th April 1890.

At Darening, which is a small inland township on the
explorer Lefroy's route, we made a halt for a rest and to
fill up our stores to the utmost carrying capacity of the
horses ; and on the 24th we fairly started on our journey,
not following the route of Lefroy and Hunt, but bearing
off to the north-east, as I wished to open up an entirely
new country.

The ground was a monotonous plain, with here and
there a low sand-hill, covered with a dwarfed spinifex.
A few casuarinas were scattered about, and occasionally
we saw a stunted grass-tree or two ; but on the whole, this
was the least interesting country I had ever seen. Yet
there is grass enough here to maintain a goodly number
of cattle ; and we passed the first night at the hut of a
stock-rider who had three thousand beasts in his charge.

L

162 THE SWAN RIVER DISTRICT

He told me his run extended forty miles on each side, and
that he and his chums had dug innumerable wells on this
area as the only means of providing the cattle with water.
Directions for finding some of these wells he kindly gave
me, assuring me at the same time, that there was no
surface water for a hundred miles in the direction I
purposed travelling, and that I should certainly be
compelled to turn back. Beyond the distance mentioned
he did not know the country. His information was of
some value to us, and induced me to alter my course
more to the northward to avoid some arid tracts he

described.

There was no change in the character of the country
travelled over on the 25th. At four o'clock in the after-
noon we halted, and attempted to obtain water by digging.
In this we failed, and the horses consequently had to go
without it, the men having only what they carried in their

water-bottles.

We started very early the next morning and rode fast,

the search for water being an immediate necessity. By

ten o'clock I conjectured that we had ridden at least forty

miles over a sandy, spinifex-covered plain, with gum-trees

scattered over it at almost regular intervals. Some hills

to our left were dotted thickly with bushes, growing singly,

not in clusters. This singularity in the disposal of bushes

and trees I have noticed in an earlier chapter. For a

distance of two hundred miles in this country we found

the ground occupied with scattered bushes and trees, never

growing in woods, groves, or even clusters, but sometimes

half a mile apart, and sometimes only a score of yards.

Many of the trees were leafless, and their black branches

had a most weird and forlorn appearance.

Soon after ten o'clock we sighted a lake, the bright
whiteness of the surface of which announced at once that
it was a sheet of apparently pure salt. Near its margin
we found water five feet below the surface of the ground,
but it was too salt to be drunk. A few miles further on
was a wet lake or swamp, the water of which was bitter as
well as peculiarly briny. We accordingly rode as fast as

DELUSIONS OF THE MIRAGE 163

possible due north, urged now by the actual pangs of thirst.
At three o'clock in the afternoon we found a mud-hole with-
out a drop of water in it. By digging here we obtained a
brackish fluid which was just drinkable. The horses drank
it eagerly enough that night, but would not touch it in the
morning.

The country was still a plain with a few hills on it at
long intervals apart ; but in front of us could be seen what
was thought to be a range of considerable height. Water
is nearly always present in or at the foot of mountains,
and we pressed on eagerly the next day, anxious to reach
the shade of these lonely rocks in a dry land. As we
advanced it was noticed that the mountains did not seem
to come nearer, and hopes were for a short time indulged
that we had really discovered an important and hitherto
unknown range ; but when dense forests and a lake of
large dimensions began to rise above the plain, the word
" Mirage " simultaneously sprang from the lips of myself
and Hamblin, and as the sun began to sink towards the
west, mountains, forests, and lake disappeared as suddenly
as they had come into view.

Early on the afternoon of this day the horses became
so exhausted, especially the pack-animals, that a halt
became imperatively necessary. Two of the riding animals
being still serviceable, Hamblin and I rode round the
country while the blacks made a fire, hobbled the horses,
and prepared the evening meal.

We were at this time, I suppose, somewhere near Mount
Carrall or Mount Burgess ; but neither of those peaks were
visible, or at least recognised. Half a dozen conical hills
were in sight, having curious wall-like cliffs, near their sum-
mits, but none of them were of sufficient elevation to merit
the name of Mounts. They were almost destitute of
vegetation, with one exception, which was covered with
scattered bushes and a few trees.

There are two species of wallaby on these plains. The
hare-wallaby (Lagorchestes leporoides), described in Chapter
VII., is by far the most abundant, and is found in parties
of fifty to seventy, each party seeming to inhabit exclusively

164 THE SWAN RIVER DISTRICT

an extensive stretch of country, so that it is not easy to
obtain a heavy bag of these animals.

The other species was the short-tailed wallaby (Macropus
brachyurus), of which only two small herds, numbering
thirteen or fourteen each, were seen. Those were even
wilder than the hare-wallabies, and only a single specimen
was shot with a rifle at a distance of two hundred yards.
Probably these animals are much harassed by the blacks,
several of whose old fire-places we passed.

We could find no water ; and the impatient " cooes " of
the two blackboys warning us that they were alarmed at
our prolonged absence, we turned towards the distant
glimmering fires. It was then just getting dusk, the sun
having sunk behind a cloud of deep, lowering purple and
red, lying under a bank of intense black. This peculiar
appearance caused Hamblin to predict that we should have
a heavy rain before morning ; nor was he mistaken. As we
neared the camp a bustard was seen solemnly trotting
across the plain at a very leisurely pace. Both Hamblin
and I fired our rifles at it on an off-chance of getting an
acceptable supper, but it was not hit. The raging thirst
from which we both suffered prevented our eating much,
but the blacks ate heartily, they having sucked the blood
from a couple of wallabies we shot earlier in the day

I have much wondered how the natives find sufficient
fluid to sustain life in the parched deserts of Australia :
for they are often seen in the most arid parts of it, and I
believe they frequently drink the blood of such animals as
they kill. Both Chuckabe and Whiteboy confessed that
this was the case among the West-Australian natives ;
and I have no doubt it is also among those of other parts
of the continent. In all parts of the country, but especially
in the west, they dig shallow wells with great labour.
They cannot reach the water if it lies at a greater depth
than eight or nine feet.

Regarding the fanciful and ridiculous names of my
two servants, I may mention that it is the custom of the
stockmen and squatters in all parts of the country to
bestow upon the station-blacks the most absurd names

DISASTROUS NIGHT STORM 165

they can invent. In this nonsense they are aided and
abetted by the blackfellows themselves, who are proud of
their uncouth titles.

In the night between the 27th and 28th April there
was a terrific thunderstorm, with streams of rain. I have
thought since that quite possibly this timely downpour
saved our lives ; for even if we had started back at once
for the settlements — and such action had already been dis-
cussed among us — it is doubtful if we could have
survived the want of water so long. The horses would
have broken down ; and our fate would then have been
that of so many unfortunate bushmen who have perished
from time to time ever since the first colonists " dumped
down " on our arid shores. This desert is one of the few
places in Australia where even an old bushman would find
his usual expedients to obtain water fail him.

But, for the hour, our plight was a trying one. The
fires, of course, were extinguished, and we, lying in the
open, without shelter of any kind, were drenched to the
skin, through blankets and clothing, in the first ten minutes
of rain. The thunder was so terrific, the lightning so
appallingly brilliant, that the horses became mad with terror,
and two of them contrived to break, or slip their hobbles
and scampered away into the darkness. It was a night of
wretchedness. The wind blew with piercing coldness from
a south-west point ; and the storm, I thought, came up
from the sea coast An hour before sunrise the rain ceased
to fall ; the wind did not moderate until nearly noon. A
good deal of our stores was spoilt or damaged by the wet ;
but so awful is the thirst-craving, that we thought nothing
for the present of losses : our hearts were too full of joy at
sight, as the day broke, of the large pools of good water
which were lying on the surface of the earth. The country
was not flooded : far from it. But shallow pools, seldom
more than three or four inches deep and an acre
or more in extent, lay on the land as far as the eye
could reach. Horses and men were satisfied with the
precious fluid, which we perceived was soaking into the
ground with a rapidity that threatened a speedy end to

166 THE SWAN RIVER DISTRICT

our abundance. Yet it was impossible to move forward
that day, unless we abandoned much valuable substance.
It was desirable also to recover if possible the lost horses,
which were two of the best riding animals. The boys
were sent away to track them down, while Hamblin and I
undid the soaked stores, and spread them out to dry.
This they did in the course of the day, for the sun shone
powerfully ; and from the icy coldness of midnight, the
temperature rose to almost tropical heat at mid-day.
The land was concealed by a thick mist, arising, I suppose,
from the evaporation of the surface water.

It was not until nearly sunset that Chuckabe and
Whiteboy returned to the camp. They brought one horse
with them ; the other, as shown by its tracks, had made a
straight line back in the direction we had come. It was,
therefore, hopeless to think of recovering it, and conse-
quently we had to leave about sixty pounds weight of
stores behind. These were all much damaged ; but they
were buried in the sand, and a mark set up, in case we
should have to return, though it was probable that the
natives would find these goods in a very short space of time,
those remarkable men having such extraordinary powers
of tracking, that I believe if a pin were dropped in the
desert, they might be relied on to find it.

By the next morning the ground was nearly as dry as
before the fall of rain ; but some of our things were still
too damp to be packed, and there were other reasons
which induced us to rest another day, and it was not until
the morning of the 30th April that we resumed our way,
still travelling in a north-east direction.

In the course of the day we passed several old water-
holes or wells, which had been dug by the natives, and
which were four or five feet deep and were now full to the
brim. The pools of yesterday had all disappeared, leaving
circular-shaped patches of mud where they had been
deepest. There was nothing to denote why these depres-
sions, which never exceeded a few inches in depth, were so
uniformly of a round form ; but for many miles the plain
was thickly covered with these saucer-like depressions,

NATIVE WELLS 167

with here and there a deep gully with a considerable depth
of water at the bottom.

Early in the morning we came to the bed of a river
with sandy banks nearly seventy feet high. Water had
been recently running in the bed, for it was still muddy,
but it only remained in any quantity in deep holes. Some
of these holes had twenty feet of water in them, and most
of them at least twelve feet; so that there was no
immediate fear of our again running short of this
necessary.

The downward course of this river was toward the
north-east ; but just above where we struck it, it trended
almost due east, indicating that its head was somewhere in
the central desert. I therefore determined to follow its
upward course. This, however, soon proved to be very
tortuous, though the water-holes were found at frequent
intervals, some of them a hundred yards long, about twenty
broad, and twelve or more feet deep, with remarkably pure
and sweet water. Gradually these water-holes became less
frequent and were smaller, some containing scarcely any
water and some being mere mud-wells. By and by we
found some holes which had been widened by stockmen or
other whites and the sides revetted with hurdles made of
brush-wood to prevent the weight of cattle breaking them
down.

Soon after, on the plain near the river, we found the
remains of stock-yard railings enclosing large areas of
ground. Some of the paddocks were hundreds of acres in
extent, most of the rails still standing, though there were
gaps caused by decay ; and the natives seemed to have
been there and done some mischief. Probably they had
carried away the boards of several huts, the sites of which
were plainly marked on the ground.

Here, no doubt, had formerly lived an out-lying
settler ; but Hamblin and the boys knew nothing of this
part of the country, and had not heard of any squatter in
this far-away spot. What had led the lonely adventurer
to forsake his desert home can only be conjectured.
Possibly a year of exceptional drought had ruined him

168 THE SWAN RIVER DISTRICT

or induced him to seek a new home ; or the blackfellows
may have been troublesome. The skulls and bones of
cattle, horses, and sheep were seen lying about the
enclosures, but not in sufficient numbers to suggest a
disaster.

The wood of the railings being handy for making fires,
we stopped here for the night ; and during the hours of
darkness we several times heard the desert savages prowl-
ing about our camp, the loose sand and gravel giving
forth a crunching sound under their tread, which all their
caution failed to avoid ; and my own boys, still in posses-
sion of their acute savage faculties, recognised by other
signs that a party of nearly twenty natives were creeping
around the camp. It was, consequently, a night of watchful
anxiety to us, as spears might have been thrown at
any moment. To avoid the danger as much as possible,
we moved away from the immediate neighbourhood of the
fire, as its light must have shown us plainly to the prowlers.

No attack was made, fortunately, and when daylight
came nothing could be seen of our midnight visitors.
They had quietly disappeared without doing us any harm.

CHAPTER XV

RAMBLES IN THE DESERT

The 1st May was a very hot day, and the sky was quite
cloudless. Chuckabe found the tracks of about twenty
natives who had been prowling round the camp, and these
had gone off towards the east, the direction we wished to
take. During the forenoon we sighted fifteen of them
standing and watching us from the distance of about a
mile. They appeared quite suddenly from a hollow place
or gully. As it was highly desirable to be on friendly
terms with these wild fellows, I made peaceable signals to
them, and after a time they came up to us. Some of them
had been in the townships about the course of the Swan ;
and one said he had been to Perth. He showed a clasp-
knife which he had obtained there in confirmation of his
assertion ; and some of the others had articles which
must have been purchased, or purloined, at the settle-
ments.

Those of the blacks who had been in communication
with the whites at the townships were disposed to be
friendly ; the others were not so, and were guilty of
behaviour which greatly tried our patience. They begged
incessantly; and to win their goodwill I gave them
several articles which were really of more use to us than
to them. One fellow was particularly covetous, and not
content with what I had given him, wanted my gun in
addition ; and this being repeatedly refused, at length he
seized it, and tried to wrench it from my hands. To
prevent his doing so, I was compelled to knock him
down, and this necessary violence gave great offence to

169

170 RAMBLES IN THE DESERT

some of his comrades ; and for a moment I feared that
unpleasant consequences would ensue. But those blacks
who had been among the whites of Swan River took my
part, saying that the fellow had only got what he deserved.
The majority took this view, and we became friendly all
round, even the fellow I had punished professing friend-
ship for me.

The whole party moved on with us ; and afterwards I
saw about twenty women and children following behind,
but no more men appeared. Those with us were armed
with spears and throwing sticks, and some had waddies
(a kind of club) ; and the women, I could see, were carry-
ing bundles of spears. But I did not think this a
suspicious circumstance, as the natives always go armed ;
and, indeed, must do so in the desert, as they live on that
which they can catch or slay.

The women did not attempt to come up to us, but kept
a long way off, until I inquired the reason. I then heard
that some of the women, on a former occasion, had
received attentions from a party of wandering stock-
riders which had excited the jealousy, or mistrust, of
their relatives. On my assuring the men that the women
should not be molested, they were called up, and on my
giving the children a few presents, the whole party ceased
to be troublesome ; satisfied at length, I suppose, that I
felt nothing but goodwill towards them.

The poor women were pitiable-looking specimens of
their sex ; but some of the young children were pretty
little things, with bright, intelligent-looking eyes. With
the exception of one old woman, all the females had a few
rags fastened round them ; but the men and the children
were quite naked. One woman had a kind of apron made
of the skin of an emu with the feathers still on, and
another had the hide of a large wallaby thrown over her
shoulders. The miserable clothing of the others consisted
of linen rags and fragments of old blankets which must
have been obtained from white people, the whole of the
rags being in a disgustingly filthy state.

This tribe followed us for about eight miles, and parted

THE OVERLANDERS 171

from us with expressions of friendship. No true naturalist
can fail to be interested in the ways and habits of the
natives of a wild country ; and, as it is always best to
concentrate and keep together as much as possible in-
formation on one particular subject, I have devoted a
chapter (XX.) to a description of the Australian black-
fellow, in which I hope the ethnologist will find something
that is new ; or at least a few corrections of hasty and ill-
informed descriptions of him. For all that I have read
about the Australian aborigine is not to be relied on ; and
without presuming to contradict the accounts of those
whose work and sufferings in the trying interior of our
great continent entitle them to a reverential hearing, I
have striven to give a truthful picture of a doomed race as
it has appeared to my eyes.

Such a journey as that which I am now describing
would, fifty or sixty years ago, have attracted some
attention ; but in 1890 a ramble of a few hundred miles in
the back-runs, the bush, or the desert interior, was an
everyday occurrence in all parts of the country. With the
experience of the early explorers and hundreds of others
who had afterwards followed in their tracks to guide me,
the journey was robbed of nine-tenths of its danger and
all its importance, and at Perth I was scarcely asked what
I was doing or where I was going ; and though at the
outlying stations some interest was evinced in my move-
ments, it was not thought that I should, or could, reach
any tract that had not been repeatedly passed through
and become more or less well known, in general features
at least. Travelling in Australia has lost all its romance
and most of its danger. Scarcely had such men as Sturt
and Eyre completed their heroic work at the cost, too
often, of life, sight, or health, than scores of daring traders,
known as the Overlanders, not only performed similarly
arduous journeys, but took great herds of sheep and cattle
with them. Early in 1838 two expeditions respectively
under the direction of Messrs Eyre and Howden started
from Port Phillip to endeavour to reach Adelaide, South
Australia. The success of their expeditions, and the high

172 RAMBLES IN THE DESERT

price cattle were then fetching in the South Australian
capital, induced a number of enterprising stockmen (most
of whom were gentlemen by birth and education) to
endeavour to drive their herds overland (hence the
sobriquet bestowed on them) from one capital to the
other. Immediately after the completion of Eyre's journey,
one of these Overlanders took a herd of several thousand
cattle from Melbourne to Adelaide, realising a small fortune
by the exploit ; and according to Sir George (then Captain)
Grey, in little more than a year from that time, sheep and
cattle to the value of ,£230,000 had been driven into South
Australia by the Overland route. The distance travelled
over was often quite nine hundred miles, and the difficulties
of the journey are indescribable in a paragraph, or, indeed,
in a chapter. Many years since the Overland route was
superseded by other and quicker means of transport, and
the incident is only noticed to show how speedily, when
once the country became known, the difficulties and
dangers of Australian travel could be overcome by enter-
prising and adventurous men.

Even so, in these modern days, a journey in the interior
that a few decades ago would have perhaps cost a life or
two, and would, at any rate, have been performed only
with great suffering and deliberate slowness, excites no
interest unless the declared object of the traveller is some
particular discovery which may prove a source of gain. If
he is " on the track of gold," or even of a rich back-run, a
thousand pairs of eyes witness his start, a thousand tongues
wish him good luck ; but let it be understood that he is
only desirous of seeing the country and hunting for birds
and plants, and, with a thousand vile expletives, he is
declared to be a fool, and all interest in him and his move-
ments is instantly extinguished. Thus it came to pass
that though the journey I am now describing cost me
money, time, and suffering, yet it was a mere ramble. I
was told that enough was known of the centre of the
continent to satisfy ordinary minds, that I should never
succeed in reaching it with my small party, and if I did,
the feat had been performed so frequently that nobody

HOLES IN RIVER BED 173

would be interested in another person repeating it, unless
he did it for a wager.

All this I now believe to be quite true, and the assertion
that I should not succeed in reaching the centre of the
continent I know to be so. Within a week of starting I
perceived that I should risk life if I persisted in pushing
on in a north-east direction with such a scanty supply of
food as that I had provided. I therefore turned due north,
determined to make for the coast and the settlements the
moment the food-supply threatened to fall short of our
requirement.

We followed the course of the river-bed mentioned in
the last chapter for a distance of about sixty miles. All
the way we found the banks high, varying from forty to
seventy feet, while the bed itself was composed of white
sand with here and there streaks of a reddish-brown colour,
occasioned by some soil which had been washed into it.
The bed was full of holes, now containing water from the
recent storm-burst, and most of them were swarming with
fish of small size ; but as we had no means of catching any,
I cannot tell with certainty the species. Eels, however,
were amongst them, and a few of these were obtained from
the mud. Everywhere the sand of the bed concealed a
kind of light-coloured mud which held the water, and we
could obtain this in any quantity we wished by scraping a
shallow hole, into which it immediately flowed. All the
river-beds of this district are alike in this respect ; but as
they become drier, the water lies lower. It is only in
exceptionally dry seasons that it cannot be obtained at a
depth of seven or eight feet at most ; and I am convinced
that all the larger streams at least, have an underground
course, as is said to be the case with many of those in the
eastern deserts of America and other parts of the world.
That there is a large body of water under the beds of
these rivers is proved by the rapidity with which they fill
on the fall of rain, showing that they have not to absorb a
large quantity before becoming saturated. On the plains
the rain is absorbed much more rapidly ; indeed a fall of
less than two or three inches is not sufficient to form pools

174 RAMBLES IN THE DESERT

and keep the ground moist for longer than four or five
hours.

I cannot satisfactorily account for the formation of so
many holes in the beds of Australian rivers. These holes,
which are not of the nature of " pot-holes," are not found
so frequently in large rivers like the Murray and Darling,
which have always some water in their beds. But in some
of the rivers on this eastern side of the continent there are
hundreds of these holes, large and small. Some which are
only a few yards in length and breadth are more than
twenty feet deep, and one on this river was as much as fifty
feet deep, though only forty yards long and about half
that measurement in breadth. How could such holes be
formed ? I suspect subsidence, the result of the under-
ground action of water.

What river this could be I know not. It was probably
a channel rather than a river, and never possessed of a
surface current except after heavy rains. It cannot have
an independent outlet on the sea-coast, and is probably
lost in one of the great lakes or marshes in the neighbour-
hood of Lake Moore, or perhaps it takes a due north course
to the great inland marsh of Austin. North-east of my
position on ist May, the map indicated that there are
many large lakes or marshes, nearly all of which are salt,
and probably, like the rivers, only wet during the preva-
lence of rains. I myself saw enough of the country to
convince me that there is a very considerable stretch of
marsh land in this direction. In summer-time it is either
quite dry or a succession of mud-ponds ; but I am convinced
that, the right time of the year being chosen, it would not
be the want of water which would prevent a traveller from
easily reaching the centre of the continent by this route.
Properly and sufficiently provided, I am convinced that an
experienced bushman could, in these days, with ease cross
the country from coast to coast.

As on this ist May we were probably on ground
which was rarely crossed over by white men, I consider
that it is the real starting-point of my journey. Here,
at any rate, I felt that I was on new ground, and though

BRUSH-TURKEY 175

the journey was a mere ramble, and never intended or
considered as anything else, I felt sorry at the time that
I had not brought a few instruments to enable me to
fix points on my route. As it is, I can only state the
position approximately. We were probably halting on
the date named at about 120.30 E. by 30 S., and were
consequently more than two hundred miles north-east of
Perth.

The only ground animals seen so far were the wallabies
already mentioned and a rat, but there was a tolerably
good number of birds about this part of the river bed.
At our last halting-place on it (2nd May) several emus
and many smaller birds came to a water-hole just above
our camp to drink. The emus were very shy, but I shot
one with my rifle at a distance of three hundred yards.
A nearer approach to them I found to be impossible.
As I advanced they moved away, keeping to the now
dry bed of the river, and at length I fired, fearful of
losing the chance of a shot at them. This emu (D.
irroratus) was eaten and greatly relished by the two blacks.
It seemed to me to be a very light bird for its size. Of
course I had no means of weighing it, but by guess I
thought it did not exceed forty pounds. It was a cock
bird, and the flesh on its breast and thighs — and there
was very little on other parts — was scarcely better than
a mass of tough sinews.

Two more shots were obtained at emus, but at ranges
which were too great for our marksmanship. Some of
the smaller birds fell victims to our necessity, and the
most remarkable of these was a species of brush-turkey —
the megapode (Lipoa ocellatd). This bird, in size rather
larger than a common pheasant, is of special interest on
account of the huge mounds it raises to serve as nests.
On the 2nd May we passed through a tract of country
in which there were many of these mounds, sometimes
placed in groups and sometimes scattered over the face
of the country. The birds were also plentiful, but not
quite so easy to shoot as some observers have stated,
but there is no doubt that the natives had recently been

176 RAMBLES IN THE DESERT

much worrying the game of this district. The birds ran
very fast, not readily taking to the wing, and when they
did so, flying but a short distance to the nearest patch
of thick brush, where they easily escaped by running.
Altogether we shot about two dozen in three days, and
found them very palatable food.

It is usually stated that the eggs, which are buried
in the mounds, are hatched by the heat engendered by
the fermentation of the vegetation of which they are
constructed, but I think that the heat of the sun is the
real vivifyer.

The mounds seen here were of many sizes, the largest
being five feet high and twenty-seven in circumference
at the base. Others were three and four feet high and
eight in diameter, and the smallest about two feet high
and five in diameter. As I have seen the mounds of
this and other species in many different parts of the
country and watched the birds at work, it may not be
out of place to give a detailed account of them, though
for a long time naturalists have been well acquainted
with the ways and habits of all the species ; indeed, in
many parts of the country the bird is so well known that
it has been exterminated, by which remark I mean to
convey a rebuke rather than a bit of humour.

The bird works something like a scratching hen, but
such substances as grass, etc., are actually grasped in the
powerful claws and thrown forcibly backwards, sometimes
a distance of several feet. The bird can throw grass and
leaves to the top of mounds, which are four or five feet
high, though substances are also scratched up the slopes
of them. When a new mound is commenced, eggs are
laid in it when it is only sixteen or eighteen inches high,
and perhaps not more than four feet in diameter. The
egg is placed on end, surrounded with a thick layer of
grass, leaves, and loose weeds, and the whole buried about
two feet deep. Perhaps as many as six or eight eggs
are placed in a layer at the same depth, and it is often
asserted that another layer is placed over the first. I
very much doubt the correctness of this opinion, but the

STRANGE HABITS OF BRUSH-TURKEY 177

number of eggs found in a mound differs very remarkably,
and can only be accounted for by another fact, which is
often disputed, viz., that several birds lay in the same
mound. I am convinced that this is the case, although
I have not been able to verify it. The number of eggs
laid by each bird I believe to be very small, but they lay
for quite eight months in each year — the species now
under description from the latter part of July to March,
but the time varies a little with the locality. I have
generally found eight or ten eggs in a nest, but sometimes
there are five or six times that number. I once took
sixty-five from a large mound, and it is obvious that one
bird could not lay so many ; besides, there is a long
interval between the laying of each egg, I believe about
twenty days. Consequently in the breeding season there
are always both young and eggs in the mound, and the
reason that this is not more generally observed by
naturalists is because the young make their escape when
the mound is approached. If the observer wishes to see
them he must advance very cautiously.

There is always much more earth and sand than
vegetable matter in the composition of a mound, which
should be called a nest, for such it really is ; and these
nests are a remarkable instance of natural mimicry, for
they so well resemble ant-hills that they have often been
mistaken for the habitations of those industrious insects,
especially as ants generally abound on and about them —
a remarkable natural provision for the young birds, which
feed on them. Much of the vegetable matter used in the
construction of the nests takes fresh root in the mound,
and seeds germinate, so that there is usually much living
herbage at the base of the nests, and some of them are
quite concealed by growing plants. Sometimes, too, the
nest is placed round the roots of a tree so that the trunk
seems to be growing from the centre of it.

Much further to the north, in the Port Darwin district,
there is another species, well marked by its prominent
pointed crest (Megapodius tumulus), which uses sand and
earth (a kind of loam often found in the sandy districts of

M

178 RAMBLES IN THE DESERT

Australia) in the composition of its nest, the eggs only
being enveloped with an inch or two of herbage or grass.
But the general breeding habits are alike in both these
western species. The eggs are always placed end up-
wards, never laid laterally like those of other birds ; and
they are embedded firmly in the mass of nest materials.
A period of sixty to sixty-five days elapses before the
chick is hatched, and both parents assist to unearth it,
the chick also burrowing upwards, or outwards, according
to its position in the mound ; and it seems to be the
noise it makes in its endeavour to escape that notifies to
the old birds that it is ready to come forth. A tunnel or
burrow is thus made by the passage of the chick to the
surface, and in this it continues to live and hide for a
considerable time — in fact, until it becomes too large to
use the hole conveniently.

From the moment it is hatched the chick can feed
itself, run rapidly, and scratch with vigour. It seems to
be fully aware that the nest is no protection to it against
the attacks of men and dogs (dingoes), and on the approach
of either of these enemies, it quietly skulks away into the
densest scrub in the neighbourhood, where neither dogs
nor natives seem to be able to track it.

Observations made on many captive pairs kept in
public gardens on the eastern side of the continent do not
tally with the above remarks ; and I am convinced that
captivity has a marked influence in causing variation in
the habits of animals, especially their breeding habits.
Captive animals are never in a perfect state of health, as
is shown by the fading of the colours if not of the plumage
of birds, of the ceres, skin of the legs and feet, combs,
wattles, etc., and other signs. However opinions may
differ on such points, it is certain that megapodes and
brush-turkeys in captivity, even in their native country,
do not breed so freely or with the regularity of the wild
birds.

The eggs of these birds are not the least remarkable
point in their natural economy. They are simply
enormous compared with the size of the bird which

REMARKABLE EGGS 179

lays them. Those of the species found in what I call the
Swan River district, though the bird is no bigger than a
small hen, are about three inches and a quarter in length
and seven inches in circumference ; and this great size is
another bit of evidence against the number of eggs laid by
one bird being very large. The colour of the eggs of all
the species is pure white ; but they are encrusted with a
thin layer of a chalky matter similar to that found on
the eggs of some other families of birds widely removed
from the present ; and this layer often becomes tinged
with colour derived from the weeds and earth with which
the nest-mound is built.

The eggs are eagerly sought after by both natives and
colonists for food ; and this is a potent cause of the
destruction of the birds. I have seen natives bring a
hundred of these eggs at a time to a township or a
settler's wife, receiving in return a quantity of necessaries
that made him in his own eyes and those of his com-
panions a rich man. The blacks are always sure of a
good market for these eggs, and the wonder is that the
birds are not already exterminated, seeing that it is
impossible for them to hide their remarkable nests from
the all-seeing and all-finding instincts of the aborigine.

The habits, in some respects, of the various species of
megapodes vary. Some are more gregarious than others.
The species found in the extreme north-west goes in
much smaller parties than that found by us in this district.
Here the bird is found in scattered flocks, which rarely
collect close together. As many as a dozen may be seen
on one tree, or near one nest ; but possibly there are forty
or fifty in the neighbourhood. An odd pair or two, or a
single bird, may often be met with. In the north it is
seldom that more than seven or eight birds are found
together, and pairs are the rule. It seems that each pair
keeps to a selected spot of no great extent, and seldom
wanders far from it. The fact that many nests are found
grouped together is of no significance, many of the nests
being old and disused. One or more hens frequent the
same mound year after year, until it becomes too large

180 RAMBLES IN THE DESERT

and high for further service, when a fresh nest is com-
menced in immediate proximity to the first, unless the
birds have been much disturbed. A nest-mound seems
to be used for ten or twelve years, by which time it has
become too large for further additions. Each season's
eggs are laid on the mound, and covered with fresh
materials ; they are never buried in the old earth. Con-
sequently the nest is increased in size each year until it
sometimes contains quite sixty cubic feet of rubbish. This
means that a small flock of these industrious birds add
three or four hundredweight of material to their nest every
year ! — a truly wonderful performance.

The breeding season was over with the birds we found
in the neighbourhood of our nameless river-bed. There
were many young chicks, which ran about like little
partridges or quails, but no eggs. I broke down several
of the mounds, but only found one egg, and that was
addled and much discoloured with age. By running
quickly the chicks could be caught, as they only rise on
the wing with difficulty. They were very strong, and
perfectly developed, though not so large as common
pigeons ; and even at the time of hatching, these little
things are fully feathered, and not covered with down like
most young birds.

The megapodes have several characteristic habits.
When alarmed they stretch out their necks straight in
front of them and remain perfectly still, appearing as if
in a catalepsy. If the danger approaches nearer, they
either run with rapidity to the nearest cover or rise on
the wing. In the latter case they never fly far, and they
always seem to be very weak on the wing. They occasion-
ally alight on trees, always choosing the lower branches to
perch on ; and I do not remember to have seen one of
these birds on the top of a tall tree. They love best to
hide in thick scrub, and there they scratch and feed much
like domestic fowls. In fact they are nearly always
scratching, and they frequently lie in the loose sand
fluttering their wings and shaking their feathers in great
enjoyment. The food of the species I have been describ-

THE MYSTERIOUS CUCKOO 181

ing consists of insects of all kinds — snails, slugs, and earth-
worms, some of the latter, obtained in damp places, being
of great size. All sorts of seeds and fruits are also eaten by
it, and the food of all the other species is similar ; but the
brush-turkeys of the east side of the continent are, I think,
more frugivorous than the megapodes.

These birds have many different notes and calls, an
idea of which it is almost impossible to convey by means
of words. The sounds most often heard are a loud, harsh,
detached note, quickly repeated, and a low murmuring
sound, which seems to be a note of affection or love.
The cries cannot be compared to those of any other bird
that I know of.

The banks of the river are so high that it is impossible
that it can ever contain sufficient water to overflow them.
Yet a grove of trees grows on each side of the upper
course, attracted by the moisture. This grove is a mile
across in some places, and the trees are so matted
together with scrub and a kind of cane or reed, that we
could not get through it without cutting a passage for
the horses.

While we were engaged in this work I again heard the
cuckoo, mentioned in the last chapter, and this time I
succeeded in obtaining a view of the bird. It was a small,
dull-coloured bird, with a plumage of greys and browns ;
and though I can neither identify it nor declare positively
that it was a cuckoo, there is no doubt about the note.
Though not precisely similar to that of the common
cuckoo, the call is so nearly like it that the bird is known
to the colonists as " the cuckoo." I have heard many of
the men speak of the bird, which is well known in the
Swan River district, but I never obtained a specimen ;
nor can I find it described in any work on Australia.
According to several books I have consulted, the
Australian cuckoo has not the characteristic note of its
family. This, I think, is a mistake, at any rate there is a
bird on the western side of Australia with a note so
cuckoo-like that it deceives all who hear it.

Several small finches were seen here ; but as no small

182 RAMBLES IN THE DESERT

birds were shot, I could not positively identify the species
except in one or two cases.

Following a nearly due north course, we found the
country more freely sprinkled with trees than that part of
it passed over during the first stages of our journey, and
these sometimes were clustered together in woods or groves
from a few score yards to a mile or two in width. It
was always difficult to pass through these belts of trees,
they were so thickly under-scrubbed. Sometimes we
passed through patches of scrub composed of a kind of
cane or tough reed, with an almost arborial growth, and
rising from a dense mass of herbage eight feet high.
This and the tree-belts proved such an impediment, that
on the 3rd May we did not advance more than ten miles
in as many hours. It was as much as a man could do to
force his way through this scrub, and the pack-horses could
not pass until an opening had been cut for them. This
work entailed on us severe labour, and much loss of time.

On the morning of the 4th May the country appeared
to be a flat plain on all sides of us, with scattered trees,
small groves, and patches of dense scrub. Looking due
north the horizon appeared as a nearly level line ; towards
the east it was also flat, with a solitary peak at a great
distance. This hill was probably several hundred feet
high, and was a very prominent object in so flat a country.
Behind us, to the south-west, a line of hills with low cliffs
near the tops could be seen. These we had passed near
to four days previously, and their apparent distance
seemed to indicate that we had not advanced so rapidly
as we had thought ; but hills of moderate height are visible
a very great way on these level plains.

CHAPTER XVI

CONTINUATION OF THE RAMBLES TO CHAMPION BAY

OUR journey was as monotonous as the country we
passed through. Few incidents occurred, and the ground
scarcely varied in character for several days. Several
more dry water-course beds were passed over, all of them
having water-holes, from which we obtained a supply for
our daily needs. The appearance of all these beds was
similar — they differed only in size. The banks were steep
and high, a kind of sandstone cropping out in many places,
and the beds were composed of tenacious mud covered
with a layer, several inches thick, of white sand. At this
time the mud was fully saturated with water, and it was
only necessary to scrape a shallow hole and wait a few
minutes and an abundant supply would collect, and this
water was so good that we rarely went out of our way to
look for a water-hole, especially as it was troublesome to
get the water from the latter, which had already begun to
shrink.

The two kinds of wallaby described further back still
inhabited the country, the hare-wallaby being much the
more numerous. We shot several for our subsistence, and
also a few birds. Yet animal life was not abundant.
Wide stretches of the plain were sometimes crossed
without our seeing anything with life in it, except a hawk,
or a few small birds. Now and then an emu or two came
in sight, but never approached near to us, and sometimes
an entire day passed without our seeing a wallaby.

On the 5th there were two showers of rain which
caused a delightful odour to rise from the aromatic

183

184 RAMBLES TO CHAMPION BAY

herbage of the plain, and we thought the country was
already beginning to show signs of having benefited by
recent showers. There were a few flowers amongst the
grass and scrub, and we passed some trees bearing biu-
nuts. These are a wholesome food if roasted in the ashes
of the fire, but they are very apt to induce sickness if
eaten raw. Large quantities of them are gathered for
food by the natives, who in this miserable desert are
compelled to eat everything they can swallow that is not
positively poisonous.

On this day we saw a party of nine native men, who
followed us for several miles. Thinking they might be
desirous of communicating with us, I rode back towards
them. They halted until I got within four hundred yards
of them, when one fellow threw a spear towards me, either
as a challenge, or to intimidate me. This show of
offensiveness placed me in an awkward predicament. If
I retreated it would be interpreted as a sign of fear, and
provoke an attack ; if I rode on I should perhaps be trans-
fixed by one of their murderous weapons.

I decided, on the spur of the moment, that it would
be better to take the latter risk, as nothing is more fatal
to the safety of a small party than permitting the blacks
to intimidate it. To show my friendly intentions I
waved a white handkerchief, and rode on without checking
my pace. The blacks immediately ran quickly to the
shelter of some small fragments of rock which were
scattered about this part of the plain. I was thus
compelled to halt, as to have ridden amongst an enemy
1 could not see would certainly have resulted in my being
speared. So I halted, dismounted, and placed a piece of
tobacco and a pipe on a rock, and then rode after my
party at a walking pace, glancing back to see how the
blacks would take my attempt at propitiation. The weed
has a wonderfully soothing effect on men's minds. I saw
the blackfellows come forth from their skulking-places
and examine my present. They appeared to be dis-
puting about the possession of it, but none of them
attempted to follow me, and I thought it good to take

DESTRUCTIVE RATS 185

advantage of their preoccupation, and get away as quickly
as possible.

That night we halted in the bed of a small stream, the
pools of which swarmed with frogs, and during the
hours of darkness we heard, not for the first time, the
howling of dingoes. We knew that these animals must
be found in this district ; but we saw or heard but very little
of them. Some came quite close to the camp during the
night, but we could not see them distinctly enough to
obtain a shot. They had obtained prey of some kind on
the bank above us, for we could hear the crunching of
bones in their powerful jaws, and much squabbling and
snarling over the bones of contention. At daybreak on
the 6th, an unfortunate emu, which had come into the
hollow to drink, fell before our guns — the second slain
during our journey. This bird was much heavier than
the first one shot, and it was as full of rank fat as a
goose.

From this point there is more difference in the
natural features in the country than we had noticed in
the region already passed through. Trees grow in
clusters and groves, but there is no continuous forest, and
the wooded patches of land are divided by tracts of great
sterility, consisting of sand, a kind of coarse gravel, and
bare rock. It is useless to dig here for water ; the soil is
quite dry to a great depth ; but there are several beds of
streams at no great interval apart. All the rivers of this
district are evidently dry during the greater part of the
year ; perhaps it would be accurate to say that the only
times they have water in them for a few days or hours
at a time is during the prevalence of heavy rains.

On the sandy tracts there is a scanty vegetation, con-
sisting of woods, leafless trees, and a kind of coarse, wiry
grass, that is so tough that it will bear a strong pull without
breaking. This ground was over-run with rats of two
kinds, which were troublesome, for they gnawed our
clothing during the night, and also got at our biscuit bag.
One species of these troublesome little rodents was Mus
fuscipes, the common brown-footed rat ; the other seems to

186 RAMBLES TO CHAMPION BAY

be a variety of the Queensland rat {Xeromys myoides). It
agrees with that species in most points except size, it
being much smaller than the Oueensland kind. Both
these rats (perhaps the last named is a mouse) are
numerous in this country, sometimes being found in
what seemed to be colonies. They live in holes in the
earth, and are omnivorous.

In the scrub near the woods the jumping rat (Hapalotis
genus: I am not sure of the species) is numerous but
local. None were seen until we had certainly passed the
28th latitude. Then we saw patches of scrub jungle in
which they swarmed, jumping away from before us like
huge grasshoppers. Many leaped at least thirteen or
fourteen feet, rising six or seven in the air. This
animal also lives in colonies ; for, after passing through a
patch of jungle, perhaps a mile wide, which was alive with
them, we would see no more for several days. Where
there was one there was sure to be many. This rat was
about seven inches long, exclusive of the tail, of a fawn
colour, and not pouched. It inhabited the thickest scrub,
and waited until almost trodden on before taking its leap.
Then perhaps half a dozen sprang together into the air
all in different directions, and with such startling sudden-
ness that the horses were rendered restless, and with
angry snorts intimated their dislike of the active little
rodents.

The birds in this part of the country were very
numerous, including cockatoos, parrots, pigeons, and
hawks, with ducks and other water-fowl near the water-
holes at night-time. In the morning the ducks were
seen flying northward and north-eastward in flocks of
twenty to three or four hundred, which led us to think
there must be lakes or marshes in the country in those
directions. Why they should come to pass the night in
dry river-beds, where there were only a few small water-
holes, I cannot conjecture ; but they did so. They were
so shy that during the whole journey we only succeeded
in shooting four or five, and these were surprised in the
dusk of evening. On one occasion I heard them flying

REMARKABLE JUMPING SNAKE 187

and whistling over-head, and, firing several shots at
random, brought down one bird. We were so short of
fresh meat that we were glad to eat anything we could
procure, and many small animals were roasted at our
nightly camp-fires.

There was heavy rain on the 6th, followed by an evening
of lovely serenity, the sun-setting amidst extraordinary-
looking clouds of the most vivid red, yellow, and green
tints, which, as darkness set in, gradually merged into a
deep purple colour.

We passed the night in a gully which was nearly a
hundred yards deep, with water trickling at the bottom.
This spot was a frog's paradise, and there were no fewer
than six species in the gully, viz., the " bull frog," which
is a creature of very different size and appearance from
the batrachian bearing the same title in America ; a
yellowish-brown frog; another of a tawny colour, with
dark spots ; a bright green ; and one of grey colour. There
was also a very small species, with bright reddish-brown
markings.

Probably attracted by the abundance of food, the gully
was also resorted to by many snakes, the most remarkable of
which is the "jumping snake " of Westralians. This seems
to be a lizard of the Seps type, and it is certainly one of
the most notable of a notable genus. The finest specimen
I could find was less than a foot in length, and the usual
length is about nine inches. It has a single pair of well-
developed legs, with five toes to each foot, placed near the
vent, and these legs are nearly two inches long. No siren
or amphisbaena with which I am acquainted has such well-
developed legs, nor do I know of any that can use these
very small appendages as a spring to leap withal ; but
the jumping snake is capable of springing a distance of
five feet, and a height of two or three ; in fact, it is quite
as active as the most agile of Australian frogs. In colour
this lizard is of a dingy black or dark grey, with greenish
shades, and lighter tint beneath. The legs are a dirty
flesh colour inside and greenish outside, the eyes small
and bright, and the head and body those of a snake,

188 RAMBLES TO CHAMPION BAY

showing clearly how nearly the lizards and snakes are
related in an evolutionary point of view. Of the habits
of this extraordinary reptile I had not here an opportunity
of learning anything. There seem to be two or three
species of these jumping snakes inhabiting the western
side of the continent, but in many places they are very
scarce animals, and all I was ever able to learn with
exactitude about their daily life was that their food con-
sists mainly of soft-bodied animals, such as slugs, worms,
and grasshoppers. They are quite harmless creatures.

The black snake was the species which here attracted
most attention, because it is the most dangerous of the
western snakes. Those seen here were about four feet
long, and before we left one was seen to capture a frog
and swallow it.

The 7th was a bright, fine day, and the atmosphere hot
during the middle hours. Early in the morning as many
as fifty-seven natives were seen at the distance of two
miles. As soon as they perceived us they came up with
great confidence, several running on ahead of the main
body making friendly signals. At first I was doubtful if
it were wise to permit so large a body to surround us,
but when I saw that more than half of the party consisted
of women, some of them with babies slung to their backs,
my alarm subsided. This tribe was very friendly, and
seemed much pleased with the few small presents I gave
them. They appeared to be better fed than most of the
aborigines of this district. One very old man was blind,
and it was astonishing to witness the skill and ease with
which he moved about, avoiding obstacles with as much
facility as the best sighted of his companions. I was glad
to see that his fellows were kind to him, for there can be
no doubt it is a prevalent custom among the blacks to
destroy old people, cripples and others, who become a
burden to the tribe.

These people had been much in intercourse with the
colonists in various parts of the coast district, and had
evidently benefited by the association. They possessed
many useful articles, which had been given to them ; and

BARKING LIZARD 189

it is pleasing to know that the whites of this side of the
continent seem to be on very good terms with the blacks.
In the townships, I may mention, there are many amiable
people who are most anxious to benefit and raise morally
the poor wanderers of the bush, not the least active of
whom are certain missionaries, who devote their whole
time to the attempted redemption of the savage, and who
deserve all the help and encouragement they get from
those placed in authority in the land. The great strength
of this particular tribe (for it is but rarely that as many
as fifty or sixty adult blacks are found in one party) was
quite possibly owing to the influence of some of these
gentlemen who may have induced them to spare their
aged members and young children, for infanticide is quite
common among them in seasons of adversity.

The tribe remained with us nearly all day, and
explained, when we parted company, that they could
not go any further without trespassing on the territory
of another party, a thing that all the aborigines are very
careful to avoid.

We travelled this day across a sandy plain where the
bush was very thick, but trees were again scarce, and we
found no water. We had sufficient, however, in our skin
bags to meet the requirements of the day ; and we passed
the night on a hill which, though probably not a hundred
and fifty feet high, had appeared to us for many hours
before reaching it as quite a mountain. From its summit
we could perceive many other elevations to the east-
ward, which gradually trended downwards to the north,
where they merged with the plain.

At the foot of this hill we saw several "barking-
lizards," as the colonists call them, pretty little reptiles of
a bright black colour, with blue and purplish and green
reflections. They are only seven or eight inches long,
exclusive of the tail, and are remarkable for uttering the
sound of a cry. This, though not very loud, might easily
be mistaken for the barking of a toy-terrier or other
small dog, hence the popular name the colonists have
bestowed on it.

190 RAMBLES TO CHAMPION BAY

Until this day we had not met with any iguanas,
although it was known that those reptiles inhabit all
this part of Australia. But on the 8th several were seen
and shot, as they are excellent food. They were small,
however, none of them three feet long. According to
works on natural history, these reptiles favour marshes
and wet localities for their haunts. Here, however, they
are found quite as often in dry, arid situations, which are
miles away from water ; yet there is no doubt they are
aquatic in their general habits. They swim gracefully and
well, and can run on dry land with great rapidity. But
the iguanas and other creatures seen during the remainder
of this ramble must have a chapter devoted to their
description. For they are so many in number that I
feel I must omit mention of some of the most interesting
if I pause to describe them at the moment of finding
them.

The time had now arrived when it was necessary to
decide on a homeward course. I supposed our position
to be about 300 miles from the coast, almost abreast of
Champion Bay, and I had the choice of returning to the
Swan River district or turning due west for Geraldion.
The latter seemed to be the wisest and safest route to
now take ; for the stores were running short, and to return
to Perth would compel us to again pass through a trying,
if not a dangerous country. I quickly decided for Champion
Bay and Port Grey, and on the 9th May we turned our
horses' heads due west.

The day broke overcast and cloudy, and a cold drizzling
rain set in and lasted till noon. At that hour a strong
wind began to blow straight in our faces, and although
this drove back the clouds and we had a bright afternoon
we all felt the cold acutely.

Two small parties of natives were seen during the day,
but neither of them came near us. One lot, consisting of
three men and two women with children, had a couple of
dogs with them ; and I have forgotten to mention that
some of the parties previously met with had a dingo or
two following them. Neither of these parties came up to

AUSTIN MARSH A SINK 191

us, and though they could not fail to see us, one lot did
not so much as stand to watch, or, as far as could be seen,
glance towards us. But they are strange people are these
blackfellows, wayward and uncertain in their actions, often
treacherous, but rarely ungrateful or unfaithful to those
they know well and who have been kind to them.

On the ioth we passed several dry salt lakes, which
were only moist near their centres. One of these was two
miles wide, and had the bed of a small stream running
into it. There was water in the holes in this bed, but
notwithstanding the quantity of rain which had recently
fallen, the country generally was very dry. We camped
on the open plain under shelter of a few stunted casuarinas,
and found water by digging at a depth of eight feet.
From this day, during the remainder of the journey, we
were never short of water, but obtained it either from
water holes, or by digging. It was generally found at a
depth of seven or eight feet, but there are some extensive
tracts in this district in which it cannot be obtained by a
use of the spade, for it is certain that if it does not collect
at a reachable depth in the wet season there cannot be
any near the surface of the ground in the hot, dry summer,
when even a chance shower can hardly be expected.

Very few wallabies were now met with, but there were
plenty of birds, chiefly parrots, cockatoos and finches, with
ducks on the great marsh we reached on the i ith. Parrots
and cockatoos were shot for food, but the ducks were
exceedingly wild. Only the largest birds we could see
were shot at, for the ammunition was beginning to run
short, the original stock having been small on account of
its weight.

The great marsh referred to above must be that which
was discovered by Austin, but where we came to it, it was
passable without difficulty. Much of it was dry salt pans,
and no drinkable water was obtained here, that which
oozed into the wells we dug being too salt or brackish to
be used. Clearly this district is what in the western part
of America would be called " a sink." We saw the beds
of several small rivers which run into it, but they probably

192 RAMBLES TO CHAMPION BAY

discharge more water underground than above. The
beds have lost their high banks long before they reach the
marsh, and where we crossed them are very shallow,
showing that the water can rarely or never rise to a
height of five feet. Many miles of the country was
covered with reeds in which " black snakes " and " whip-
snakes," as the colonists call them, were dangerously
numerous, for both these species are very poisonous.

Looking westward we saw some higher ground, of
cliff-like appearance, with a few prominent elevations, two
of which we took to be the East and the West Mount
Magnets, but which were probably West Mount Magnet
and Farmer's Mount. The country between these eleva-
tions was sterile, with but few trees on it, and nearly
abandoned altogether by living creatures, but on the ridge
of some hills we found a couple of moloch lizards, known
on the west side as " mountain devils." They were
basking in the sun, and according to the report of the
blackboys, who found numerous tracks of these strange
creatures, they must be abundant here.

On the nth we crossed a ridge of low hills, with cliffs
on the north-east side, which were covered with native
drawings, or devices. Similar drawings had been seen
on the vertical portion of some of the rocks enclosing the
river beds, but here they were more numerous and
elaborate in design, representing native scenes, hunts, and
corroborees, and also animals, birds, fish, and even insects,
with wonderful accuracy, although with great roughness of
execution. From these drawings we perceived that there
must be several animals in the country we had passed
through which we had not met with. For instance, a
large kangaroo was well delineated, and a bird of the
eagle species — perhaps an eagle-hawk — neither of which
had been seen by us.

The drawing is performed by scratching the face of the
rock with some sharp instrument, probably a splintered
shell, bone rubbed to a point, or a piece of chipped flint,
thus removing the discoloured face of the rock, and
showing in strong contrast the lighter shade beneath. A

ABORIGINAL DRAWINGS 193

great deal of time must be devoted to this amusement, for
the number of delineations seen during this short journey
was very great, and none of them could be of great age.
The proof of this was furnished by the state of many of the
drawings, which showed that the action of the weather was
very destructive to them, and it is probable that they are
completely obliterated by rain and lichens within a period
of ten or twelve years.

Beyond the cliffs were several sand-ridges covered with
spinifex and scattered thorn-bushes. The soil was poor,
with here and there a strip of good land, which seemed to
crop up from a deep-lying bed of vegetable mould ; at least
I could not otherwise account for its presence amid so
much aridity. Several river-beds crossed this plain, all of
them dry, but with water in the mud a few feet below the
surface. These beds had reeds growing thickly right
across them, intermingled with a few tea-trees and bushes.
So it is reasonable to suppose that there is never water
enough in them to drown this vegetation. I call them
river-beds, but they were mere brooks at best.

On the 1 2th we crossed a plain which was covered
with " everlasting flowers," some white, some yellow ; and
on the 13th we came upon a herd of twenty wild cattle,
the descendants of escaped animals. One of the bulls
made a determined charge upon us, and paid the penalty
of his rashness. A plump-looking cow was also shot ; so
we fared sumptuously that evening.

The next day two stock-riders were met. They were
looking for stray cattle, and had a black tracker with them.
From them we learned that we were forty or fifty miles
further north than we had imagined, and we therefore
turned more to the south-west. They reported Port Grey
to be a hundred and twenty miles off — nearly twice the
distance we had supposed it to be. They gave us direc-
tions for finding the nearest outlying station ; and that we
reached the same night, receiving a warm welcome. But
it was a small hut, with but a man, his wife, and two sons
for sole occupants ; and I felt that our presence would be
a burden to them ; so after a night's rest we proceeded

N

194 RAMBLES IN CHAMPION BAY

westward, and late on the evening of the 15th reached the
station of Mr Scott, a gentleman who insisted on our
remaining with him until we were all thoroughly refreshed ;
and there is no doubt that, although we had not met with
hair-breadth escapes, imminent perils, or suffered the
extremes of hunger and thirst, we were considerably worn
with constant exertion and sleeping on the ground.

At Port Grey, Packington, and other places on the
west coast, I stayed for the remainder of the year 1890,
visiting several distant spots, and taking two or three trips
along the coast in a fishing-boat hired for the purpose.
These rambles I cannot stay to narrate here. The infor-
mation concerning the animals and plants of the region is
embodied in the next chapter.

The country round about Port Grey, now parcelled out
among the settlers, is of a similar character to that
described after crossing the sand-ridges near the great
marsh. Behind the township of Geraldion there is a ridge
or range of flat-topped hills with two prominent peaks,
which are not, however, of any great height Mount
Fairfax, four miles from the sea, is about six hundred feet
high ; while Wizard Peak, seven miles to the south-east,
is seven hundred feet. Both are of ironstone formation,
and between them there are three or four water-courses
which are wet only in rainy weather. The "river"
Greenough is one of these water-courses, emptying itself,
if it ever does empty itself, into the sea at Port Grey. It
is a series of brackish water-holes at the bottom of
limestone banks thirty feet high. The last mile is a
salt-water creek, and in several places in the bed trees
and grass were growing at the time of my visit. I must
add, however, that the plains about the Greenough bear
the character among agriculturists of being the most
fertile land on the middle portion of the West Australian
coast ; and the richness of cultivated vegetation here bears
witness to the correctness of their judgment.

Along the shore to the south from Port Grey there
are hills of ironstone and sandy ridges of one hundred to
two hundred feet high as far as I have been along that

COUNTRY ABOUT PORT GREY 195

portion of the coast. Northward sand-ridges run parallel
with the coast-line and close to it ; and these, and the
whole country where it has not been cleared by the
colonists, are covered with scattered clumps of scrub and
trees. Well away from the clearings there are scattered
trees and small groves or clumps of banksias, eucalyptus,
and grass-trees ; and there are a few patches of the white
and yellow everlasting flowers that are one of the
characteristic features of this country. Other vegetable
productions that may be noticed are tea-trees, wattle-
grass, and cabbage-trees.

As far as I rode northward this was the character of
the country. Four or five miles behind Mount Fairfax
there is a range (the Victoria of Grey) of hills of about
eight hundred feet above sea-level. These are also of
ironstone formation, and have similar features to those of
Moresby's flat-topped range near the coast.

This description of the country around Port Grey will
give a good idea of the whole region for many miles on all
sides of it. The trees and vegetation generally has a
stunted and withered appearance ; but after rain this grass
and herbage improves, and looks green and vigorous.
There is scarcely a fine native tree in the whole district ;
but imported fruit-trees, and others that are cultivated
and cared for in gardens, flourish and yield well.

There are but few land animals in the district, and
those few daily grow fewer before the guns of the settlers ;
but there are plenty of birds ; and the seas all along the
west coast swarm with fish. Some of these animals I
now proceed to describe.

CHAPTER XVII

NOTES ON THE FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

FOR the purpose of fixing the localities of the animals
described in these notes, I have divided the rambling
journey described in the last chapters into divisions. The
ground passed over during the first part of the journey I
term the Swan River district, although it extends inland
fully three hundred miles, and may cover an area that
extends to the square of that distance. The second part
of the journey is denominated the Champion Bay district,
and is of similar extent. I do not say that there is a
marked difference in the fauna of these two contiguous
districts ; but the division is a convenient one, and its
usefulness will, I think, be obvious.

It is clear that I cannot, within the compass of one
volume, give the details of all my rambles on the great
island continent which is my native land ; therefore I include
in this chapter descriptions of animals extending to a much
wider range than the two districts named, and I have
clearly indicated the locality and circumstances under
which each specimen was found or obtained. I should
have liked to detail many other rambles on this western
side of the continent, but as I cannot describe all, it seems
to be best to select those which will probably be most
interesting to the naturalist, and concentrate the results
of others into as small a space as possible.

The indigenous beasts of prey in Australia are few in
species and also in individual numbers, and are all of
small size ; but so far as I am able to judge, they are, in
three cases at least, the fiercest and most bloodthirsty of all

196

DINGO SEEN BY DAMPIER 197

carnivorous animals. The thylacine and the Tasmanian
devil far exceed in greed of prey and ferocity of disposi-
tion anything I have read of the lion and the tiger ; but
not being strictly continental animals, though both were
formerly abundant on the mainland, they cannot be
described here. The wild dog of Australia, the dingo, how-
ever, is another matter, and to write an account of Australia
and not describe the dingo, would be like eschewing
mention of the lion in a work on Africa. Yet the dingo is
thoroughly well known to naturalists, and even to persons
who do not claim to have a scientific knowledge of the
world's fauna. Therefore I will not give a complete
history of the animal, but simply describe it from the point
of my personal experience of it.

The first actual mention of the Australian dog is by
Dampier, who saw a native accompanied by one when he
visited the western side of the continent. Thus we have
evidence that the animal was seen by one of the earliest
navigators of Australian seas. I have found the bones of
dingoes under sixty feet of alluvial deposit, and those of
the same or a closely allied species in early tertiary strata.
The dingo is, therefore, an old established inhabitant of the
continent ; but I do not think that it is indigenous. The
dingo (Cam's dingo), the Malay dog (Cam's rutilans), and
the Indian dog (C deccanensis) are, in the view of many
naturalists, myself included, mere varieties of a single
species. They all agree, generally, in size, habits, and
coloration. The dingo varies more perhaps in colour
than the other two ; but the usual, and therefore the
natural, colour of all three is a dingy red, with a shade of
yellow on the hair of the flanks. The dingo is often of a
dingy yellowish colour, and there are nearly always black
points, as on the face, legs, etc., about the animal, and
many black hairs are scattered about the coat, particularly
on the back. The tip of the tail is usually white. Black
specimens of the dingo are sometimes met with, but this is
purely accidental.

The dingo rarely exceeds thirty-two inches in length
from the nose to the root of the tail, which is fourteen or

198 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

fifteen inches long. It is a well made and shapely animal,
with strong legs and ears of moderate size. The number
of young at a birth is usually three or four, occasionally
five. The assertion that it has seven or eight is not con-
firmed by my experience. I have a record of twenty-five
litters of dingo bitches by domestic fathers, mostly
pointers, stag-hounds, and retrievers. Fifteen of these
were of three pups each, seven of four, and three of five.
The dingo will cross-breed with any kind of dog that can
pair with it, and the pups sometimes most resemble the
mother ; occasionally have a much stronger likeness to the
father. When they are most mixed they would probably
be guessed to be the offspring of a Scotch collie and a
retriever.

In disposition the dingo is a quarrelsome, sly, and
treacherous animal. It has an excellent memory, and
never forgets an act of ill-treatment on the part of either
its master or any other person. It is now never kept by
the colonists, who thoroughly abhor it on account of its
wolf-like destructiveness ; and its numbers have been
greatly thinned, even within my recollection. It is a
match for most dogs of double its own size, and its
ferocity and strength are very great ; yet it is an exceed-
ingly cowardly animal. When caught in traps or pit-falls
it often simulates death — a habit which I also find recorded
of the wolf. It will then permit itself to be handled and
held head downwards ; but the moment it gets its chance,
with a snap and a snarl it inflicts a bite on his captor which
he never forgets, and in an instant is gone.

The dingo is never thoroughly tamed. Old ones
captured and taken home escape on the first opportunity,
and cubs reared by hand also frequently forsake their
owners when they are grown. They always do so if
beaten, and sometimes if merely scolded. The blackfellow
almost idolises his dingo, and pets and fondles it in a
ridiculous manner ; but the animal, besides following him
and him only, never evinces the least affection for him.
No member of its master's family dare touch it ; and it
takes notice of none except perhaps to revenge some injury

DESCRIPTION OF DINGO 199

by a sly and savage bite. This habit of unexpectedly
biting persons it dislikes is very common, and is in-
eradicable. It is one reason why the colonists have given
up the practice of keeping a dingo or two about the
stations. I remember, in my youthful days, that many
persons were anxious to breed crosses between dingoes
and domestic dogs, under the impression that the excellent
noses, speed, and powers of endurance of the former, and
especially their silence when following a trail, would be of
great value in a breed crossed with animals of approved
strain. But that theory has long since been abandoned
as a failure, experience proving that it was the bad, not
the good, qualities which were most prominent in the
offspring.

Sheep-worrying is one of the most troublesome habits
of the dingo. Like the wolf, they destroy many more than
they require for eating. If a couple of them get amongst a
flock in a paddock, the squatter is fortunate if he does not
lose more than a score of his best sheep. It is always the
best of his flock that are first attacked ; and the heaviest
and strongest ram is as easily pulled down by a dingo
as a rabbit is nipped by a terrier. One dingo has been
known, within the space of a few hours, to destroy several
score of sheep, killing some outright, and mangling
others so badly that they had in mercy to be made
away with.

The only wild animal in Australia that is a match for
the dingo is the "old man" kangaroo, and perhaps the
large light-coloured kangaroo {Macropus unguifer) of the
west, and these he rarely ventures to attack. In attacking
the larger wallabies, at least three or four dingoes combine
together, and then the victim has but a poor chance of
escape. I have seldom seen as many as a dozen dingoes
hunting in a pack. I have read of packs exceeding one or
two hundred in number, but have never seen such a thing.
But dingoes are not now as numerous as they formerly
were. The Colonial Governments, and even private
individuals, have from time to time offered rewards for
their destruction, and thousands have been shot, trapped,

200 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

and poisoned, with the result that they have become scarce
animals in many districts, and are not numerous anywhere.
The dingo was not abundant in any part of the west, not
even in the unsettled parts of the north-west, at the time
of my visit in 1889-90; nor do I believe that it ever was
as numerous as some writers have reported. I base this
opinion on the accounts of the blacks, who are the most
likely to be correctly informed, and on the fact that a
single dog, or at most two or three, was all I ever saw in
the possession of one party of the natives. The animal is
so valuable to them that I am sure they would have more
were it easily procurable.

At a distance from settlements where there are no
sheep or poultry to steal, the dingo lives on such wild
animals as it captures. Birds always form the bulk of its
prey, and its adeptness at catching these is extraordinary,
quite equalling that of a cat. It rushes on them as they
perch on low bushes or hop along the ground, and not
infrequently snaps them as they fly past. Such ground-
haunting species as quails and megapodes suffer a good
deal from the dingo's depredations, for it is the animal's
habit to destroy as many as it can before beginning to eat ;
and when the female has a litter of pups, she brings them
much more than they can eat. She continues to hunt for
her young until they are quite three parts grown.

No Australian animal can escape from the dingo by
speed, and such as take refuge in holes it will dig out with
extraordinary pertinacity, working for hours if necessary,
with its powerful paws. It also digs burrows for its own
habitation, but these are never very deep, and it prefers
shallow caverns, holes among loose rocks, and hollow trees
for dwelling- and breeding-places.

The dingo never barks, but howls like a wolf, and also
snaps like other angry dogs, and snarls. They are said to
learn to bark when associated with domestic dogs, but
their bark is never very perfect. If they learn to bark
like other dogs, it is a proof that they are not pure-blooded.
Many of those which roam at large and are considered to
be wild specimens are the part progeny of domestic dogs

A LUGUBRIOUS HOWLER 201

which have associated with dingoes — hence, in some
degree, the variation in the colour of these animals. I
have had abundant proof that dingoes entice away domestic
dogs at certain seasons, just as " brumbies " (wild horses)
entice mares from the stations, and though these dogs
almost invariably return to their homes, they leave their
mark on their progeny. The howl of the dingo is one of
the most lugubrious noises heard in the wilds of Australia.
It is seldom uttered during the day-time, but at night, and
especially on moonlight nights, it may be heard in the
distance for the greater part of the hours when the lone
wanderer is most anxious for rest. If they come near
the camp, a shot fired at them will send them scampering
away ; but if they are a few hundred yards off (quite
close enough for five or six of them to be an intolerable
nuisance), they take no notice of the sound. I do not
know what induces them to set up this howl, but as in
districts which they haunt there were generally several
near the camp soon after darkness set in, I thought
perhaps the smell of food attracted them.

Dingoes are incorrigible thieves. In the days when
they were kept as pets about the stations it was never
safe to leave them unwatched. They would do immense
mischief to any articles they could destroy, such as curtains
and household linen, books and papers, and everything
that was tearable ; and perhaps the owner would see his
pet meekly blinking on some soft mat or skin, stretched in
the graceful attitude of rest as if it had been calmly sleep-
ing for the past hour, to find, when he passed on to the
side of the house, some dozen or more of his choice breeds
of fowls and ducks with their heads nipped off. It is small
wonder that the dingo has ceased to be a favourite through-
out Australia.

The dingo is an exceedingly lithe and active animal.
It can spring upwards at least four feet from the spot on
which it stands. It can run with great speed, and its
habitual movements are all performed with a sly, slinking
gait, and without the least noise. Those that are in captivity
or are half-tamed like to be nursed and carried, and it is

202 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

quite a common sight to see a native with his dingo in his
arms, caressing it and talking to it as a mother might to a
young child — to all which kindness the animal is quite
oblivious.

The animal is spread over the entire continent of
Australia, the islands excepted, on none of which it is
found unless introduced by human agency. It has been
practically exterminated in the thickly settled parts of the
country and in some localities where its many depreda-
tions have provoked determined reprisals.

There are at least seven species of snakes in the Swan
River and Champion Bay districts, of which, unfortunately,
I can specifically name but two or three, as no specimens
were brought away. Several of these are exceedingly
poisonous, particularly the black-snake and the whip-
snake, which are well known to all Australians; but
accidents to men and cattle do not seem to be frequent,
and there is no such disastrous loss of life from the bites of
these venomous creatures as we hear annually occur in
India. I have rarely heard of the death of a native from
snake-bite, and still more rarely of that of a white man
from the like cause.

Two of these snakes are species of python, one of them
seeming to be a variety of diamond-snake {Python spilotis),
but dark coloured and much marked, like the kind still
called the carpet-snake by the colonists of the other side of
the continent. It is called Biggemoodo by the blacks, the
g's having a soft sound. Waggil is the native name for
a snake ; but I am not sure whether this is a general or a
specific name. I collected the names of several, but
cannot remember the particular snakes to which some of
them are applied. The blacks eat them all, and they have
no fear of any of them, though the diamond-snake is five
feet long, very active, and disposed to be aggressive when
disturbed. The usual method of capture is to set fire to a
patch of bush, and slay the affrighted snakes and other
animals as they wriggle forth from the approaching smoke
and fire. Sometimes, maddened by fright and pain, the
venomous snakes leap quickly from the ground and attack

NATIVES AND SNAKES 203

the hunters, who are killing every living thing that rushes
from the advancing flames ; but trustingrto that sureness of
eye, which is an additional sense to the savage, the
threatened man beats down the infuriated reptile, and in
an instant it is faintly wriggling on the ground, its back-
bone broken, and it is seized and finished off by the
women or children. All wild creatures are much frightened
and bewildered by the approach of fire, and fall an easy
prey to the blacks. After a " burning off" there is usually
a great feast in the savage encampment.

To what has been already said about the lizards of this
part of the continent I have but to add a description of
a very curious species of this class of animal which I saw
on visiting the Abrolhos Islands, a group of small isles
lying some forty miles westward of Champion Bay.

There is nothing very remarkable in the general
features of these islands, which are all small, but they
stand on a coral reef, and the sight of the branched and
curiously shaped masses of coral, which is visible in the
perfectly clear water to a great depth (twenty fathoms
at least), is remarkably beautiful. Thousands of fish dart,
glide leisurely, or bask quietly, in the submarine forest, of
which the chief are sea-bream of the genus Sparidce^ the
"whiting," "herring," and "cobblers" of the fisherman,
which I cannot identify, and common snapper, or schanpper,
as I believe it should be called. The last named fish is
found in immense shoals, and takes a bait so freely that a
small boat may be filled with them in a few hours, and
they form a lucrative object of pursuit to the fishermen of
this coast.

Here also lurks that pirate of the deep, the shark,
which is invariably accompanied by a brace of pilot-fish.
Why always two? It is a curious question, and puzzling.
Conversing with an ichthyologist on this point, I was
surprised to hear him cast some doubt on the fact. His
view, not gleaned from personal observation by the by,
was that there is oftener one than two pilots with the
shark, and sometimes a number. My experience extends
to the coasts of Australia only, and though the shark is

204 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

sometimes seen unattended by pilots, when those fish
accompany it, the number is always two ; and this fact is
so well known that the native draughtsmen invariably
depict this number in their representations of the shark —
an object they are very fond of graving on the rocks of the
coasts.

While off one the islands, noted on the chart as Rat
Island, one of these monsters glided slowly under the
boat. The appearance of all fish in the depths of the sea
is deceptive to the eye ; but the size of this shark was
remarked by all the fishermen as being enormous. It was
accompanied by the usual pair of pilots, one swimming
close to the snout, the other near the right side.

Neither book nor naturalist that I have yet met with
has given a satisfactory explanation of the object of the
attendance of these pilots on the shark, and I have none
to offer. On this west coast of Australia I never saw a
shark without its attendant scouts — if scouts they are.
They seem to guide, or warn, the shark in some way, but I
could never discover proof that they really do so. The
pilots are sometimes seen without the shark, but the latter
is probably lurking near at hand on such occasions. At
any rate the pilots never go in shoals, large or small, in
Australian waters. Four or five is the greatest number
that I have ever seen together ; but when a large number of
sharks are assembled in one spot, each seems to be
accompanied by its pair of attendants. This refers to the
common blue and white sharks only, the basking-shark
and the smaller sharks never having pilot-fish with them.
That some mutual benefit follows the association of
creatures so incongruous in general habits and organisa-
tion is certain, otherwise the pilot-fish would not be safe
in the company of the shark, for the latter often snaps at
very small prey. I have actually seen them seizing smaller
fish than the pilot, and one which I saw captured had more
than a hundred small fish in its stomach, not one of which
exceeded five inches in length.

Regarding the species of sharks in this sea, I am pretty
sure that there are many accidental visitors in addition to

FISH AT THE ABROLHOS 205

our common species ; and I also think that there are
monstrous fish of this genus in the southern seas of the
existence of which the compilers of works on natural
history are not informed. The monster referred to above
as passing under the boat I was in, looked like some huge
torpedo gliding through the water. It could not have
been less than thirty feet long, and may have been more
than a dozen feet longer. And this fish was by no means
the largest I have seen near our coasts. The huge teeth
which are sometimes dredged from the bottom of the
ocean and are supposed to have belonged to species now
extinct, are quite possibly the remains of individuals of
genera still existing. Most South-sea whalers can tell of
creatures of such size and strength that it is not much to
be wondered at that landsmen are suspicious of exaggera-
tion when they hear their stories. I, however, have seen
sufficient to make me willing to accept the tales of the
intelligent men of those ships, with whom I have often
conversed, and whose manly and straightforward
narratives were evidence in themselves of their truth.
There are monsters in the deep so formidable in size and
fierceness of disposition that it is doubtful if they could be
captured with the appliances carried by an ordinary whaler ;
most certainly if they could, the return would be inadequate
to the danger and loss sustained in the exploit. For
instance, one captain told me how he was persuaded by
his crew to try the experiment on what seems to have been
a huge basking-shark of fifty feet in length. After a two-
hours' fight, in which the men were several times in
extreme jeopardy, the immense creature got away, having
done nearly a hundred pounds' worth of damage to tackle
and boats.

This is a digression. I was about to mention a curious
spiny-tailed lizard which was found on all the islands of
the Abrolhos group I landed on, except one or two of the
very smallest. It was very abundant on Rat Island, and
also on a nameless islet that was not a hundred acres in
extent. This singular lizard is very active, living in holes
which it burrows under pieces of loose coral. The tail is

206 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

covered with spines ; and the creature seems to be confined
to those small islands, notwithstanding the short distance
of the group from the mainland, for I could not find or
hear of such a lizard on any part of the coast I visited.
The animal's habits seem to be similar to those of other
small lizards, nothing remarkable about them being noted.
Some were seen to capture spiders (a species of Lycosd) and
another ate a beetle, but some which I took to the main-
land ate nothing for several weeks, and then readily took
some moist sugar and crumbs of bread, as well as flies,
which I caught for them. One or two lived for a long time,
only requiring food about once in six weeks. They shed
their skins twice a year, in March or April, and again
about November ; and it was during this evidently trying
function that most of them died.

Rat Island was obviously named from the rodent, which
swarms there. It is absolutely over-run with these vermin,
which prey largely, if not entirely, on the molluscs and
crustacians which they find on the sea-shore. They have
the singular habit of swimming about in the quiet lagoons
which are found here, and in the pools among the coral-
rocks.

There are some strange phenomena on some of these
islands. For instance, on one of the most northern, called
on the chart Middle Island, a spot of land which does not
seem to exceed half a mile in length by a quarter in
breadth, there is a tiny water-hole in which the water ebbs
and flows with the tide outside the reef, and yet it is
perfectly sweet, and the best water I had tasted during
the whole of my stay on the West Coast. As if to make
this circumstance the more remarkable the water obtained
by digging on Middle Island, or on any of the others
which form the group, is either quite salt, or very brackish.

Although the islands are of coral formation, their bases
seem to be a kind of limestone of a light buff colour.
Most of them have low cliffs, only six or seven feet high,
on the coast-line ; but some are very low, and covered
with mangrove forests. From the highest points on
several of them the mainland is plainly visible, the atmos-

REMARKABLE WELL 207

phere being delightfully bright and clear. There are
bushes and herbage on nearly all of them, and there used
to be wallaby on some of the largest, and seals in the
lagoons ; but these are nearly, or quite exterminated, and
I saw none in 1889 at the time of my visit.

The islands have been the scenes of many wrecks ; and
it is said that some castaway Dutchman lived on Middle
Island for several months some hundred and fifty years
ago. Fishermen and others now use the islands a good
deal ; and a class of poor persons come hither in boats in
search of wreckage, of which considerable quantities are
often washed in from the westward. Whence this wreck-
age comes it is difficult to say ; but I have seen some which
appeared to have floated all the way from India, and to
have been in the water months, and perhaps years. Most
of the islands on which I landed showed signs of many
visitors having been there previously. On one was a large
quantity of broken glass, which seemed to have been there
a very long time.

In many places the bottom of the sea is plainly dis-
cernible through the clear water, revealing the base of the
barrier reef, both inside and outside the lagoon. The
bottom is a lightish grey sandy mud ; and the beautiful
formation of the coral cannot fail to rivet the observer's
attention. The base of the reef is composed of tree-like
branched masses ; and above the coral assumes the shape
of huge fans of striated pattern, some of the masses being
twenty, and occasionally perhaps thirty feet wide. The
fans overlap each other in a rather curious way, with deep
interstices between in which many singular creatures find
a lurking place, among them a huge crab, with a stretch
of claw-like leg of at least six feet. One of these crabs,
which I captured, weighed more than twenty pounds. Of
course these very large ones are the finest specimens.
They were of many different sizes, and appeared to be of
the Oxyrhyncha genus or family. There were also other
crabs, smaller and brighter coloured, violet and red, and
one a bright yellow.

Sea-birds are abundant on these islands; insomuch

208 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

that large quantities of guano have been taken from them ;
and this seems to have much disturbed the terns and other
birds which are said to have bred here formerly. The
entire soil of some of the islands has been removed.
Where we found it remaining it consisted of a mixture of
limestone, sand and disintegrated coral, with guano ; and
the rank herbage was sufficient proof of its great richness.
On one small island, forty or fifty acres in extent, this soil
had not been disturbed, and it was full of holes made by
the u mutton-birds," as the whalers call them, or common
sooty-petrel (Ossifraga giganted), a bird which formerly
bred in large numbers in these islands, probably because
they were seldom visited previously to the establishment of
the Swan River Colony. This circumstance, and the fact
that this group is the southernmost point in Australia, and
I believe in the world, where coral is found, is alone
sufficient to make the Abrolhos a remarkable group in the
eyes of a naturalist.

The natives of Australia not using sea-going canoes
probably never visited these islands, as they could scarcely
venture so far from the mainland on the rafts they some-
times use. I could find no traces of them on any of them
except on a small islet ninety yards long by forty to fifty
wide, where I picked up a native spear and wommera, or
throwing-stick. Those, no doubt, had been brought
thither by some blackfellow in the company of whites, the
natives sometimes being employed by the fishermen and
wreckers, on account of their skill as divers. For though
the blacks are no navigators, not having advanced in the
art of ship-building beyond the raft-making stage, they
are nearly equal to the South-sea islanders in skill as
divers and surf-swimmers ; and I have known them swim
off to islands that are four or five miles from the mainland.
They have no fear of sharks, which they can dodge with
perfect ease, and indeed they often actually chase fish in
the water, driving them into shallows, where they can spear
them with the greatest ease.

The island on which this spear was found was com-
posed of huge pieces of the fan-shaped coral mentioned

TORTOISES AND FISH 209

just now. These pieces which were dead lay flat, and a
few weeds had already established themselves among the
d6bris. As illustrating how the fauna of isolated islands
begins to obtain a footing, it may be interesting to record
that three species of small beetles — a lycosa, another spider
of minute size, and some gnats — comprised, as far as I
could see, the total permanent population of the islet
These, or their larvae, had probably been brought to this
small spot of land in the plumage of birds which had
chanced to alight there.

To return to the mainland.

All the rivers, marshes, and water-holes of the western
colony are more or less haunted by tortoises, the commonest
kind in the Champion Bay district and the country to the
northward being a small Chelodina^ or long-necked tortoise.
These Chelodinas — of which there seems to be two species
near Champion Bay, one of which is C. oblonga — are very
commonly turned up when one is digging wells in the
beds of the rivers, and they are almost sure to be found
in the wet water-holes, where they are sought for by the
blacks as an esteemed article of food.

The fish found in the fresh waters of the same districts
are very insignificant in point of size, though some of
them are very numerous. I am not a very enthusiastic
disciple of Izaak Walton, and have not devoted much
time to what I think I have heard termed the "gentle
art " ; and therefore when I record that one of the largest
fishes I caught in a western river did not exceed ten or
eleven inches in length, I do not mean to say that
Westralian waters do not contain any bigger specimens.
If they do contain larger fish, considerable patience will
have to be expended in the task of finding them.

The fish in question seemed to be a kind of bream of
rather singular appearance about the head, it having a
peculiar ridge, in which the nostrils were situated. A
much smaller fish from the same waters was notable on
account of its singular marking. It was of a dark olive
green colour on the back, gradually becoming lighter to
white on the belly, and on each side were three prominent

O

210 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

black spots. A maggot is the best bait for these fish,
and if they are in the humour to bite, fifty or sixty may
be captured in the course of an afternoon's sport.

Insects are numerous and curious in the Champion
Bay and Swan River districts, but the only invertebrate
animal I can find space to mention is a very singular
springing centipede of considerable length — generally
thirteen or fourteen inches ; but one very fine specimen
I captured was nearly seventeen inches long. This
centipede is of a coppery hue, with greenish reflections,
and frequents plains on which the herbage is short and
scanty. When disturbed, and wishing to ensure its escape
from danger, it draws the tail end of its body up to the
head, forming a loop in the manner of some caterpillers
when progressing along a twig. Then the centipede
suddenly springs a distance of twelve or sixteen feet,
and repeats the movement, generally disappearing in two
or three springs.

This centipede seems to be unknown to science. Some
which I sent to a friend were lost while passing through
the post, and unfortunately I did not hear of this until
it was too late to obtain others. It does not seem to be
very abundant nor very widely spread, many of the
colonists never having seen it, and most of those who
had expressing great fear and abhorrence of it; and it
must be confessed that a centipede considerably exceeding
a foot in length is a rather formidable-looking creature.
If this animal is a true centipede, and I have some doubt
about it, I think it will prove to be the largest of its
genus, while its peculiar habit renders it one of the most
noticeable. In vain have I searched books for a reference
to this arachnida, and visited museums in search of a
preserved specimen, and the only gentleman of education
and literary culture whom I could find acquainted with
it was Mr Davenport Cleland, who is an authority
on Australian subjects, but scarcely, I think, a finished
naturalist. He, like the farmers of the Champion Bay
district, seems to have had too great a dislike to the
creature to examine it very closely. This centipede was

NATIVE BOTANICAL NAMES 211

seen in greater (but not numerous) numbers on the
Kolaina Plains north of the Gascoyne River, Shark Bay
district.

Of the vegetation of the region I have already said
something, and now offer a few more brief remarks. In
the Champion and Swan River districts trees are not
abundant near the coast. In places, or locally, there are
more in the interior of the country, though many have
been destroyed. All have popular colonial names, and
most of them native names, which I collected. There
are about fourteen species of eucalyptus, some of which
are unknown or. at least very scarce at Swan River. Of
these the blue-gum, red-gum, white-gum, and " mahogany "
[sic] are the commonest, and the native names in order
are : co-lort', car-dau', wandow, and ghar-rah-el. There
is one palm (Zamia tnedia — native, gherge), the nut of
which, called bay-i-o by the blacks, is much sought after
by them, as they are very fond of it This tree is much
more abundant in the back country of the Shark Bay
district. I do not remember to have seen it south of
Swan River, where it is not abundant even in the interior,
a hundred miles beyond the outlying settlements.

The " black-boy " grass-tree (Zanthahasf), bal-ga of the
natives, I have already described. It flourishes as far
north as I have been — that is a good hundred miles beyond
the Gascoyne River. The " honeysuckle " of the colonists,
mang-joy-te of the natives, a Banksia, flourishes in a wild
state throughout the west and in other parts, and is largely
cultivated about the stations and houses of the wealthy
colonists, who justly esteem it for its delightful odour
and appearance. The "beef-tree" is the solitary species
of casuarina I saw here, and the " raspberry -jam " and
the " black-wattle " are acacias.

Other noteworthy plants in this district are the native
apples (kwe-ou-ni), potato (tu-buc), turnip (kan-no), and
yam (wer-rang), generally called the warren-root. Of
these the potato is an Orchis ; the natural orders of the
others I cannot tell. These, some other roots and fruits,
and nuts, form a large part of the ordinary diet of the

212 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

natives. There are several species of nuts which are
common in all the western districts I have mentioned from
King George's Sound northward, of which I have learned
the native names of two kinds only — the bi-u or bay-i-o
and the mad-dah. The latter is obtained from the zamia
palm, and if it is eaten before it is perfectly ripe and has
been well dried, it is very apt to produce the symptoms
of incipient poisoning.

The " swamp-oak," called by the natives the yi-em-bak,
is a most useful shrub to them. The bark is thin and
paper-like, and is used for a great variety of purposes,
particularly to make water-bags and vessels of, to make
waist-cloths, and to cover their huts when they are at
the trouble to construct the latter.

Among the smaller plants the dandelion is so widely
distributed that I think it must be indigenous ; but I could
gather no certain information on this point. The flowers
are often very large, and the plant grows in great masses
in some of the retired spots north of Champion Bay.
Near the settlements it is kept down by the farmers, with
whom it is no favourite. There is also a species of mallow
that is certainly indigenous ; and the New Zealand flax
{Phormium tenax) is very abundant everywhere in the
west ; north of the Gascoyne large patches of the desert
in the interior are covered with it

I now conclude the chapter with some account of the
birds of the west coast — one of its most important features,
from the naturalist's point of view. Near the sea, and
for a considerable distance from the mouths of the larger
streams, when they have water in them, are many gulls.
All those mentioned as having been seen in the Great
Bight are found on the coasts of Westralia, and in
addition the great sooty-petrel is found on some of the
small islands. Formerly the Abrolhos swarmed with
them. A few are still there, and they are found, as
wanderers, on many different parts of the coast ; but I do
not think they breed elsewhere than on the Abrolhos on
this side of the continent.

Pelicans are also found on these coasts, and they

SNOW-LIKE MASSES OF COCKATOOS 213

breed in large numbers on the rocks about Exmouth
Gulf, and on some of the islands of Dampier's archipelago,
especially those that are surrounded with a fringe of
mangroves. Flocks of them may be seen on the north
coast which number the birds by tens of thousands ; but
they are not so abundant near the colonies, though 1 have
seen a large flock hovering over the upper reaches of the
Swan.

A species of gannet (Sula piscatrix) must also be
mentioned ; for though I do not know that it is common
on the west coast, two were shot by me near Port Grey.
They were remarkable for their red legs and feet.

The cockatoos and parrots are the most characteristic
birds of the district. They are most abundant in the
interior, especially where the trees form woods and
groves. There are at least eight species or varieties of
cockatoos in the country between Swan River and Shark
Bay. The commonest is the sulphur-crested {Cacatua
galeritd), which, in some parts of the country, especially
where the rivers are edged with mangrove thickets, may
be seen in flocks so great that the trees look as if covered
with masses of white wool. If these huge flocks, which
on the Gascoyne sometimes number thirty or forty thousand
birds, are fired at, the screaming they set up is deafening.
There are two varieties of the black cockatoo — Calyptor-
hynchus xanthonotus with a yellow-banded tail, and a
variety with a red-banded tail, the plumage in both being
of a bright sheeny black. These birds are not nearly
so abundant as the white kind, and do not go in large
flocks. It is rare to see more than twenty or thirty
together ; but occasionally they assemble in flocks of a
few hundreds, I think for the purpose of migration.
Both kinds of these cockatoos, called slender-bills (Lic/i-
metis nasica and L. pertinator), are found in the Swan
River district in considerable numbers, and are still more
abundant in the Champion Bay locality and further
north. The beautiful pink C. leadbeateri is occasionally
seen in the inland parts of the Swan River district, and
has been shot near Perth, while the still handsomer C.

214 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

roseicapilla, with brilliant rose-coloured breast and grey
back and wings is abundant enough, especially about
Champion Bay, and Gascoyne River.

A kind of crested paroquet, the cockatiel (Callopsittacus
novce hollandice), with plumage of grey and yellow and
white markings on the head and wings, is found in many
localities, and is a great favourite with the colonists on
account of its gentle ways and pleasing tricks ; and this
parrot and the rose-breasted cockatoo are two of the
kinds most frequently kept in their houses as pets. The
cockatiel frequently manifests great affection for its
master ; and has been known to pine to death when the
hand which used to feed it has been suddenly removed by
death.

The most gorgeous plumaged of the parrots in the
Champion Bay region is the Rosella paroquet, which
seems to me to be a mere variety of the Rose Hill parrot
of Gippsland (Platycoreus eximiiis), a bird which, I am
told by some brother naturalists, is confined to South
Australia and Tasmania ; but as they have not seen the
Champion Bay variety, I think they may be wrong, and
that the bird has a greater range than is supposed. At
any rate, there is no more difference between the two
birds than is common in widely scattered varieties of a
species.

In its habits the Rosella greatly resembles the grass
paroquets, and is quite as often seen on the ground as on
trees, and is not infrequently seen perched on the back of
cattle, where it evidently searches for the parasites which
infest the hides of the animals. For this parrot is nearly
omnivorous, and will eat animal food as freely as it does
grain. The farmers say it does much mischief to their
corn-crops ; but I have proved conclusively that it is not
grain only that attracts it to ground that is under
cultivation. It preys largely on the larvae of insects of the
grasshopper kind, which also; prefer to haunt cultivated
ground, probably on account of its looseness. The farmers
are therefore in error in destroying this bird, which they
do without mercy. Many are caught in traps baited with

AFFECTION OF COCKATIEL 215

meat, which they seek eagerly, and in confinement will
take in preference to any other kind of food. The bird
goes in flocks of considerable size in districts where it has
not been persecuted. I have seen perhaps four or five
hundred together ; but when feeding, the flocks scatter
very much, as all the ground - feeding Australian
parrots do.

Among birds which it may interest naturalists to know
were found in the districts between King George's Sound
and the Gascoyne River, but which can only be incidentally
noticed, was a species of Meliphagus, not specifically deter-
mined, which was remarkable for feeding on beetles and
other insects, as well as on the food to which its genus is
supposed to be confined

On a point of land near the entrance to Shark Bay, I
saw a small flock of painted snipe {Rhynchus australis)^
three of which I shot. This bird has been obtained near
Fremantle and at other places northward along the
coast ; but it is not abundant in those localities. On the
Gascoyne I found a nest of this species, with four young
ones in it ; but though I watched long and carefully, I did
not get a sight of the old birds, and in the settled colonies
I could obtain no information about this snipe, which
seems to be almost unknown to the colonists.

Curlews, plovers, and allied genera of many different
species, are numerous along the entire coast of Australia,
some being accidental visitors seldom seen, others
migrants, and a few rovers which are well known in
widely removed parts of the earth, the glossy ibis (Falcinellus
igneus), for example, which is not a rare bird in the
Champion Bay district.

Plovers are very numerous, although they seldom or
never assemble in such immense flocks as their European
allies seem to do. They are generally found in small
flights of forty to seventy birds ; sometimes a few hundreds
are seen together. On the other side of the continent, in
some of the great marshes, I have seen much larger flocks
of the same species that are common here ; but yet I think
that European plovers are more gregarious than Australian.

216 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

One of the most notable of the plovers on the west coast
is Himantopius leucocephalus, remarkable for the length
of its slender legs and its equally slender bill. It is gen-
erally seen in flocks of about twenty birds, which frequent
the sea-shore and the banks of rivers nearly through-
out their entire courses. This bird is very wild and difficult
to shoot, even in spots that are perhaps never — certainly
very rarely — visited by the colonists or other persons
using guns.

There are at least two species of oyster-catchers : one,
called by the colonists the red-bill, has a pied plumage
and a bright red bill ; the other bird is Hcematopus
unicolour. The red-bill is very common, especially in
favoured localities ; the other is fairly abundant, but is a
somewhat local bird. There is, I believe, a third species,
but as when I fired at it I missed with both barrels, I did
not have an opportunity of examining the bird very closely.

There is a godwit on the coasts of both the Swan River
and the Champion Bay districts ; and this bird, which I
cannot perceive to differ from the bar-tailed godwit
(Lzmosa rufd) of Europe, is found, with another species
which does not differ from the black- tailed {L. melanurd)^ in
the Gascoyne River locality. I have seen both these birds
at various points on the south coast of Australia, but
never on the east. They are nowhere numerous, and I
never could learn anything of their breeding habits. I
therefore conclude that they are migrants or occasional
visitants.

In the country south of Swan River, and also in Shark
Bay, there is a species of dotterel {Eudromias rufiventris)
called by the colonists a plover. This bird is more
plentiful in other districts, and seems to be very widely
spread in Australia, for I have shot specimens near Port
Darwin, in North Queensland, and in South Australia.

All the birds enumerated above are as often found on
the courses of rivers as on the shores, except where the
settlements are thickly established. I have rarely found
any of them far from water ; but on some streams, in the
dry season, when only a few holes contain mud or water,

QUAIL AND WEAVER-BIRD 217

those holes will be covered with flocks of these birds,
perhaps seven or eight or more species intermingled.
Small fish, fresh-water mussels, and doubtless worms and
minute crustacians, are the prey they seek in such spots.

The common grey plover of Europe {Charadius helveti-
cus) is also the common species of the Westralian coasts,
and differs in habits from its allies mentioned above in that
it is often met with in the interior on dry barren plains,
and especially on hills and elevated spots, where I have
occasionally found its four spotted eggs laid in cup-shaped
hollows lined with a little fine grass. About twenty birds
is the usual number in a flock, and it is rarely that more
than a hundred are seen together. Whether it is from
scarcity of food, or for some other reason, I cannot tell,
but this species, in common with others of the family, often
break up their flocks into parties of four or five (family
parties, perhaps), and seem to wander to the very sources
of the streams. I have found them at water-holes three
hundred miles at least from the coast ; and the grey
plover may be seen on some of the most desert-like of the
western plains.

Besides the common quails, which are found nearly
everywhere in Australia, and are too well known to require
description here, there is a bird called by the Swan River
settlers the painted quail {Hcemipodins melinatus), found on
both the mainland and the small islands off the coast ; and
I think all along the north coast. At any rate I have seen
it near Port Darwin and in Queensland. On some of the
Abrolhos islands it was abundant at the time of my visit
— more so than on the mainland. It is one of those birds
called by modern naturalists bustard quails ; but it seems
to me to be more nearly allied to the coursers or plovers.
Its breeding habits are quite different from those of the
quails, and its eggs are very dissimiliar to those of that
family — they are four in number, and thickly blotched and
spotted. On the Abrolhos the birds are scattered all over
the islands they inhabit ; on the mainland they generally
run in flocks of about sixty, and their food consists chiefly
of insects, but they also eat grain, seeds, and fruit. They

218 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

are not pugnacious like the quails ; and while the cocks of
the latter may often be seen fighting in the breeding
season, the Hcemipodins is a quiet and inoffensive bird,
pairing with one partner, and seemingly remaining true to
her for life — a very different habit to that of the common
quail.

There are, of course, many small birds in this region,
but it is impossible that I can mention them here. One of
the most beautiful, and at the same time peculiarly coloured,
is a finch or passere {Emblama picta), which seems to be
rather rare in the Champion Bay district, the only place
where I found it, though I heard that it had been seen on
the Abrolhos, which, for such small islands, seem to be a
favourite resort of a great many birds. The breast of the
bird mentioned is black, spotted with white, longitudinally
striped with bright crimson or blood colour. There are
also patches of crimson about the neck, and the tail coverts
are of the same bright hue. Of the habits of this bird,
meeting with it only once, I learned nothing. Some of the
colonists had seen such a bird on previous occasions, but
thought that it was very rare near Port Grey.

On the Gascoyne, at several places, I found a very
beautiful weaver-bird (Amadina gouldics), the plumage of
which was richly coloured with bright green, sheeny violet,
and lemon yellow. It has a pleasant little song, not con-
sisting of many notes it is true, but soft and pleasing in
tone. I found the nest of this bird, which was scarcely a
typical weaver-bird's nest ; but it was well made of inter-
woven grasses, roots, leaves, and lichen, so firmly lashed to
the small twigs of the bush in which it was placed, that it
could not be removed without much cutting. There were
neither eggs nor young in the nest, the breeding season
being over at the time of my visit to the Gascoyne.

Two birds of the duck species are all that can be
mentioned in this already too long chapter. The first is
the green cotton teal {Natapus pidchellas), a beautiful little
duck that looks like a miniature goose. It is only from
twelve to fourteen inches in length, with a dark-green back,
wings, and tail, light underparts, and a distinct white band

PLACENTAL ANIMALS ABUNDANT 219

across the wings, which is very prominent when the bird is
flying. This teal is rare on the coast between Swan River
and Shark Bay, some oT the colonists never having seen it.
It seems to be more abundant in the north, and I saw four
flocks on the Gascoyne. It generally flies in very small
parties, those I have seen varying in number from eight to
thirty birds. It is wild, flys high, and is more often met
with on rivers and inland marshes than near the sea-coast.
I know that it is found along the shores of the Gulf of
Carpentaria, and in York Peninsula, and some other parts
of Queensland.

There are two or three species of goose in the Champion
Bay and Swan River districts, of which the Australian
brent goose is the scarcest. This bird (Bernicla jubata) is
only as large as a hen, and, like the teal, goes in small flocks
only, generally about a dozen individuals in each, or twenty
at most. It is a shy bird even in districts where it cannot
possibly be often disturbed ; and it is remarkable that this
shyness of disposition is a characteristic of so many
Australian birds. It is quite contrary to what one so often
reads of the birds in little frequented lands. The brent
goose is found on the sea-shore as well as about the
estuaries of streams and on marshes. I have never found
it, however, on marshes which were further than an easy
flight (some fifty or sixty miles at most) from the coast. It
feeds to a great extent on small crustacians, including
young crabs, crawfish, and such molluscs as are not pro-
tected by a shell too hard for it to break, though I have
seen it breaking mussels by beating them on hard ground.
As it eats grubs, slugs, etc., it is a useful bird to the
farmers, and is often seen wandering over ploughed fields —
a habit it must have learned, of course, since the settlement
of the country ; and it is surprising how many Australian
birds have modified their habits since the occupation of
the country by a civilised population. This modification
of habit is less marked in the mammals, which are, I fear, in
many instances doomed to extinction with the increase of
cultivated areas.

Australia is invariably referred to as the land of

220 FAUNA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

marsupials, and beyond controversy it is the headquarter
region of that remarkable class of mammals ; but placental
animals are more abundant in species in the great southern
continent than seems to be generally realised, and in
numbers of individuals some of the last named group far
exceed any of the marsupials, the kangaroo and wallaby
genera perhaps excepted. The native rats and mice,
which are not marsupials, abound to such an extent in
many parts of the Swan. River and Champion Bay districts,
that large tracts of country are completely honeycombed
with their burrows. I have found spots over which it
was impossible to walk, owing to the fatigue occasioned
by sinking in up to the knee at every step.

Other exceedingly prolific animals of the placental
type are the so-called " vampires," which, though not
previously mentioned, are almost omnipresent throughout
the western districts. Go where one will in this part of
the country, he will hear the howling of the wild dog (not
a marsupial) and be disturbed by the shrill screeching of
the vampires, as the colonists persistently insist on calling
them. They are really fruit-bats, and as guileless of blood-
seeking as the most innocent of animals, but prejudice is
rife against them, and they suffer to some extent in
consequence.

Where they have not been destroyed, the number of
bats is very great and the species is much varied. I am
not sure that I have noted all, but there are at least a dozen
or fourteen different kinds in the country between the
Swan and the Gascoyne. These are not all fruit-bats,
and they differ widely in appearance, colour, and habits.
The commonest and largest of the fruit-bats in the Champion
Bay district is the red-necked fruit-bat, which seems to be
specifically different from Pteropus poliocephalus. This
bat flies in large troops at almost all hours of the day,
and the noise it makes is surprising. Notwithstanding that
it is about in the daytime, flights of them roam about also
far into the night, especially when the moon is shining
brightly, and the noise of their screaming, which is exceed-
ingly shrill and loud, effectually prevents the sleep of the

NOISY AND GREEDY BATS 221

tired traveller. Sometimes six or seven hundred fly in
one troop, but more often five or six parties wheel about
the same neighbourhood, the number in each lot varying,
but the aggregate amounting to several thousands. This
is in spots where the colonists have not decimated them,
for the fruit-growers are their inveterate enemies, and
destroy them by every possible means. Poison is used
against them in several ways ; it is mixed with honey,
and sometimes with beer, and the pots containing the
mixture suspended in the trees where they congregate at
night. Not many seem to be destroyed by this means, for
they are so greedy for both beer and honey that com-
paratively few individuals taste the fatal mixture. Those
that first get at the pots drive the others away, and much
more of the poison is wasted than is swallowed. Shooting
is another way of destroying them, a great many being
killed at a shot as they hang thickly in the trees. Yet
the numbers still remaining, especially in lonely spots far
from the habitations of men, is enormous ; so much so, that
it is surprising that they find sufficient food, especially as
they are very greedy animals. They eat apples and pears,
as well as the softer fruits, and knock off much from the
branches in their struggles and squabbles to secure the
best places on the trees.

These bats are almost incessantly fighting among them-
selves, and one of the most common causes of disagreement
seems to be the possession of certain trees for resting-
places. They congregate on four or five trees, to the
exclusion of others close at hand that seem to be well
suited for their purpose ; and I am sure that I have seen
more than a thousand on one tree, though, as they hang
very thickly, looking like a lot of old rags, it is impossible
to count them. The trees they frequent can always be
recognised by the state of the ground underneath, which
is covered with the refuse of fruit and their droppings, and
also with multitudes of leaves, which they tear off for no
discernible purpose.

I could never discover if they make a nest, or where
the young are brought forth. They seem to have but

222 FUANA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

one at a birth, which the female carries head downwards
on her breast, with its legs clinging round her body.
This does not appear to at all impede her flight, although
the young one retains this position till it looks almost as
large as its mother.

A very curious bat is the tube-nosed fruit-bat (Harpyia
australis), which does not seem to be known in the Swan
River district, is seldom seen at Champion Bay, and is not
very abundant in the Gascoyne River district, though it
is tolerably plentiful in North Queensland. Possibly it is
more numerous in all the places mentioned than appears,
but its small size and nocturnal habits prevent its being
observed.

This species is rarely seen abroad in the daytime, and
its habits are consequently difficult to study. It does not
go in large flocks, nor hang in clusters on the trees. I
have found a few hanging on trees, but always in situations
where they were well concealed ; and generally they are
found clinging to the sides of hollow trees. In such
situations I have found about twenty together. They do
not usually appear until the evening shades are deepening
into the darkness of night ; and on the only occasion on
which I discovered a tube-nosed bat feeding it was eating
the pulpy matter of the fruit of the baio-tree (Zamia
media).

The tube-nosed bat differs very markedly from all other
bats with which I am acquainted, not only in the extra-
ordinary appendages from which it is named, but also in
the remarkably large size of its eyes, and the extreme
backward position of the ears. The tubes are an external
prolongation, to the extent of nearly half an inch, of the
nostrils ; and this bat probably relies for guidance during
flight on the sense of smell, as some others are known to
do on that of touch. I have carefully watched bats of
this species during their flight, on every possible occasion,
with the result that I feel sure that the strange nasal
development serves a similar purpose to that of the equally
remarkable " nose-leaves " of some other species is believed
to do. Experiments with a captive specimen showed

TUBE-NOSED BATS 223

these tubes to be very sensitive organs. This captive
tube-nose would not eat while caged, and as I feared it
would die, I soon gave it its liberty. It was most restless
during the whole time I had possession of it. It uttered
a cry which was quite different from that of other Australian
fruit-bats, being neither loud nor harsh ; indeed, this re-
markable bat is altogether different in appearance and
habits from the red-necked and other species.

^ Of the leaf-nosed bats I could discover only one in the
neighbourhood of Champion Bay (Rhinolophus megaphyllus),
which is mentioned chiefly to show its distribution. By
some Australian naturalists this species is believed to be
confined to York Peninsula. I, however, obtained it
thirty miles inland from Port Grey, and shot another
specimen a few miles to the north of that place. I have
also seen it near Port Darwin. It does not, however, seem
to be known in the Swan River district.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

I HAVE made three separate visits to Port Darwin, the
first being as long ago as 1870, when Palmerston was quite
a newly-founded township, being scarcely a twelvemonth
old. The vicissitudes of the northern settlements, and
attempted settlements, have been very great, even con-
sidering the trying experiences of Australian settlements
in general, which have almost always been such as to
demand extraordinary courage and self-sacrifice on the
part of the colonists ; but it is beyond my province to
narrate them here. As the point of contact of the great
British-Australian cable and the headquarters of the
equally great (from an Australian point of view, at any
rate) Overland-telegraph, Port Darwin has become a place
of the highest importance to the colonies ; and Palmer-
ston's future is now as firmly established and sure as that
of Sydney or Adelaide. The township is a place of
telegraph-men and Chinamen, the latter especially ;
indeed, the population might truly be termed a yellow
one, for " John Chinaman," as he is locally called, is here
in thousands. Half the tradesmen and all the servants
are of Chinese nationality ; and the industrious men of the
celestial empire here perform all those offices which in an
English or refined Australian home invariably fall to the
lot of the lady of the house and her maids. Here the
white lady was a rare exotic at the times of all my visits,
the last of which, and the one referred to in this chapter,
took place in 1882.

At the times I refer to, the " Northern Territory," as it

224

BRAVERY OF ABORIGINES 225

is always called by Australians, was reached by means of
steamers engaged in the China trade. These, mostly
starting from Adelaide, called at intermediate ports, and
landed passengers and parcels at Port Darwin. The route
invariably taken, so far as I know, was via the east coast
and Torres Straits, and the voyage usually took about
three weeks to perform.

Palmerston is situated on a marked rise of the ground,
and, with its colonnaded and verandahed, chimneyless
houses, has the appearance of a small Indian town ;
though, at the time of my knowledge of the place, the
absence of lofty and imposing buildings was very con-
spicuous. In its neighbourhood there were several
interesting mementos of the past, consisting of trees with
names and dates cut by explorers and navigators who had
taken part in charting the coast. Captain Owen Stanley's
tree was carefully preserved, and another still bearing
evidence of the Beagle's visit ; nor may Stuart's tree be
forgotten. But perhaps the most interesting, because
the most pathetic, evidence of the struggles of brave men,
were the many relics of the ill-fated pioneers of colonisation
in this region.

As at Perth, Port Grey, etc., the country for a wide
area in the neighbourhood of Palmerston bears much
evidence of those alterations in contour and general
appearance which are the inevitable accompaniments of
civilisation. Hosts of imported plants, trees, and animals,
make it difficult to study the natural productions of the
country in the vicinity of the settlement.

The first noticeable difference between this and the
districts of Australia I had been most used to was the heat
of the climate, which seemed to be semi-tropical, and, as a
consequence I presume, the vegetation was luxuriant to a
degree I had seldom witnessed in other parts of the
continent. Fig-trees were large, abundant, and in
flourishing condition ; and near the town I saw some
magnificent specimens of the banyan. These, and many
other species to which I was a stranger, were, I suppose,
importations. Of native trees and plants I saw but few

P

226 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

that were new to me ; but many trees which at Swan River
and Champion Bay were small, if not mere bushes, were here
very fine and vigorous in appearance. Even beyond the
settlements, in the milder parts of the district, trees and
shrubs which further south had in the deserts a withered
and half-dead appearance, were fine trees, full of life and
beauty.

Yet it must not be supposed that there are no barren
and sterile spots in this region. Much of the interior of
the country has the usual Australian desert-like appear-
ance ; though most certainly at least nine-tenths of the
whole northern territory can be made good, fertile,
produce-bearing land. The rain-fall, I think, is greater here
than in any other part of the continent. It is said to be
always at least over sixty, and often over seventy inches
annually. To my personal knowledge, it is very great
compared with other great divisions of the country.

Of course I rambled much about the district, venturing
a considerable distance inland in spite of friendly cautions
concerning the hostility of the blacks, who, naturally
enough, strongly resent the white man's encroachments on
their birthrights. The natives in the vicinity of Palmerston
are amenable enough, but idle, and lead loafing, aimless
lives, subsisting on the charity of the white men, which is
rather lavishly bestowed on them. In the interior, how-
ever, the blacks are a fine, warlike race of men of great
independence of spirit, and have often shown what in any
other race would be called heroic bravery. Knowing full
well the deadly effect of firearms, they have still had the
courage to face the white invader in the open, and that at
close quarters, though armed only with clubs and their
puny spears and throwing-sticks.

At the time of my rambles, there was no loose or
floating white population at Port Darwin. The farmer, or
stockman, had not yet made his appearance in any
appreciable numbers, and white servants were not to be
had on any terms. Everything was excessively dear,
including even Chinese labour. At Port Darwin, indeed,
the wily celestial has found another paradise, as will be

THE WILY CELESTIAL 227

perceived when I mention that one of these cunning money-
gatherers charged me a shilling for a shave, and two more
for cutting my hair. A week's washing (the climate is hot,
and clean linen an essential) usually cost a sovereign, and
all other things were charged for in proportion.

The Chinaman cannot be correctly termed an immi-
grant : he is simply a sojourner in the land in search of a
competency, which he intends to enjoy in his own land.
Money is his one want, and for this he sacrifices every-
thing, including health. He is here, as elsewhere in
Australia, a mean, cringing fellow, who is never properly
fed, unless when he is a domestic in a colonist's house
and has not to buy his food. Half-starved, dirty in habit,
and facing every risk, many Chinese die of privation ; yet
all those who have spent a year or two in the country are
passing rich. In from five to seven years they have
generally saved sufficient to enable them to live an inde-
pendent life in China, and thither they return with their
wealth.

No white followers being procurable, I was compelled
to ramble accompanied only by my personal servant, a
man only twenty-two years of age, a couple of Chinese
rogues who robbed me systematically, and three black-
boys for horse-leaders. The horses, by the by, were the
most wretched specimens of their race that I ever owned.
There are no good horses at Port Darwin, and few horses
of any kind. I had to make a shift with such animals as
were procurable ; and the lack of proper transport and
reliable companions deterred me from undertaking any
long or adventurous journey. I advanced just so far into
the interior as to get a tolerably good idea of the nature
of the country ; but not so far, by several hundred miles,
as I would have ventured had I been properly equipped to
undertake the risk.

Generally, the country within three hundred miles of
Port Darwin is a flat plain, undulating occasionally, more
often very marshy, and according to my experiences,
impassable. The scrub is tall and exceedingly dense,
and there is plenty of wood, not massed in extensive

228 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

forests, but usually in groves of a few miles extent in
length and breadth. Frequently it is impossible to force
a way through these groves, and even through the scrub.
It would take several days to cut a passage a mile long.
The traveller must therefore take a very circuitous route
to avoid these frequently recurring obstacles. Some of
the marshes are exceedingly dangerous, abounding in
quicksands and quagmires, in which, once embogged, the
traveller would find himself fatally trapped. Escape would
be impossible, so thoroughly rotten is the ground.

This country abounds with game, consisting of
kangaroos, wallaby, emus, bustards, ducks, geese, and
small animals and birds unnumbered. It is the best
supplied district in this respect that I have ever seen in
all Australia. The blacks also are numerous and danger-
ous. They have seldom an inclination to communicate
with the white wanderers amongst them, and require no
provocation to commence an attack.

The rivers and streams have short courses in this
district, but many of them are deep and have water in
their beds at all times. The banks are not so steep as
those of the streams in the Swan River-Champion Bay
district, and they are usually covered with thick beds of
reeds, or a kind of grass, which is often nearly twenty feet
high. There is also a goodly belt of trees along the
courses of many of the rivers, and in these the largest
flocks of cockatoos I have ever seen congregate, completely
covering the trees for a distance of several hundred yards,
and presenting a scene as extraordinary as it is beautiful.
When these birds rise in a body, the noise of their scream-
ing is deafening, and can be heard when the birds are so
far off that they cannot be seen. When wheeling about
in the air, with the bright sunshine reflecting on their
snowy plumage, they present a truly magnificent sight.

My journey commenced on the 19th September, I
having spent several days previously rambling about the
country in the vicinity of Palmerston. Much of the land
formerly under cultivation had been abandoned at this
time ; and I saw several ruined coffee plantations, with

RATS, BLACK AND BROWN 229

the shrub growing wild, and still bearing berries, though
of very inferior quality. Attempts seemed to have been
made to grow fruit also, and there were apple-, plum-, and
cherry-trees in some of the orchards. The plums were
the only ones in a flourishing condition.

The dwellings, mostly timber-built one-storey bunga-
lows, were generally in an advanced state of decay, and
swarming with rats and other vermin, including snakes in
some of them. Strange to relate, the two common species
of European rats, the black (M. rattus) and the brown
(Mus decumanus\ were both seen inhabiting the same
houses, the black kind seeming to be in a majority.
However these rats may disagree in European countries,
the larger and stronger kind has not in Australia as yet
gained the mastery. I have frequently observed the two
kinds on the eastern side of the continent, in many parts
of which they are plentiful ; and though they often keep to
separate districts, I could never discover that there was an
active enmity between them ; while I learned from the
whalers that both kinds are almost invariably occupants
of their ships, where they prove a great pest.

Ships are great transporters of rats. Long-distance
sailing vessels, such as whalers, which are often beached
for careening purposes, seize such opportunities for getting
rid of the majority of their rats. Planks are placed from
the ship to the dry land, and great drumming of tin
kettles, etc., is kept up below for some hours. This so
terrifies the rats that many of them escape from the ship
by means of the planks. In this way many districts of
Australia have been peopled with vermin in a former
generation, when the beaching of small wooden vessels
was a common practice.

Besides the brown and the black there was also the
common native species ; and I also found the Queensland
rat (Xeromys myoides), thus proving that this species is
found right across the northern part of the continent.

The blacks had visited all the deserted houses I passed,
breaking down the partitions and doors, which they had
carried away, probably to make their wurleys, or lean-tos.

m

230 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

These people had also dug up the gardens in search of
roots, hacked some of the trees, and made their fire places
on what had formerly been lawns. There were signs that
the hostile blacks often approached to within a few miles
of Palmerston. The occupied outlying settlements were
very few in number, and not established at any great
distance from the Port.

We reached the head of the Adelaide River on the
afternoon of the 19th September, and camped there in a
thick grove of trees, which we penetrated to some distance
in the hope of hiding our fire from any prowling blacks
who might chance to be in the neighbourhood. The
country is a flat plain about here, the Adelaide appearing
to rise in the only elevated ground we could see — a range
of low hills to the southward. The plain is well wooded,
and the scrub a kind of jungle, which makes travelling
dangerous, as the hostile blacks have excellent oppor-
tunities under its cover of creeping up unseen.

There being signs of the presence in the neighbourhood
of a considerable tribe of the natives, we spent an anxious
night. Once or twice during the night one of my black-
boys and myself quitted the shelter of the wood and went
on the plain to reconnoitre. We could see five or six fires
burning brightly at an apparent distance of two miles ;
and it was the opinion of my black that our tracks had
been discovered.

This was no doubt the case, for when we resumed
our journey in the morning, a party of forty armed men
stood near the wood and watched our movements. They
did not make any threatening movement, and after
following us some distance they closed in and surrounded
us. They were not very friendly ; still, they refrained from
any active display of hostility. My blackboys seemed to
be the object of their greatest dislike, at which I was
surprised. I suppose, however, that patriotism may have
been at the bottom of their enmity, and that their feelings
were akin to those of the Highlanders for the " lowland
carls who let the enemy in." These blacks accepted a few
presents from my hand ; and about noon the whole tribe

COUNTRY COVERED WITH ANT-HILLS 231

abruptly departed, going southward, and we saw no more
of them. They were exceedingly fine men, most of them
being five feet nine or ten inches in height, and well pro-
portioned. There were no old men amongst them, the
oldest not exceeding forty years.

Seven miles beyond the wood we came to a patch of
most extraordinary looking country. It was covered with
enormous ant-hills, many of them nearly twenty feet high.
They completely shut off our view of the distant country ;
and we seemed to be passing through a necropolis of
strange tumuli. Many bones were strewn about, the place
seeming to be a favourite haunt of the wild dogs, whose
monotonous howling we heard both night and day, though
we never saw more than five or six of the animals at a
time. These ant-hills were, many of them at least, of
great age, the sides rutted and seamed deeply, and often
covered with a kind of brown, yellow, and reddish lichens.

The colonists are fond of remarking that nobody has
ever seen a freshly erected ant-hill, and that there is some
mystery about their formation. This is simply a popular
error. Ant-hills of all sizes may be found where these
insects (Termites) abound. They are increased in size so
gradually that their growth is not perceptible to the
careless eye. By constant watching I have perceived that
small hills are thrown up comparatively more quickly than
they are afterwards increased in size. In the first year
they may be brought up to a foot in height ; at the end
of seven years it is a good hill that is three feet high.
After that the increase is very slow — a hill of twenty feet
high is probably several hundred years old. The highest
hill I have measured, near the Burdekin River, Queens-
land, was twenty-two feet four inches. Hills of fourteen
to eighteen feet are very common, both in Queensland and
in the Port Darwin district.

Ant-hills, especially the large and old ones, are
generally crowded with parasites, of which the largest are
rats and snakes. Whether or not these annoy the ants I
could not ascertain, but the latter are powerless to remove
them. Quite large snakes burrow into the hills, and a

232 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

multitude of the rats sometimes occupy these mounds, and
I suspect prey on the pupae. The rats I have found in
the hills comprise numbers of all the native species except
the large water-rat, and also the brown rat (M. decumanus).
Of lesser creatures, such as lizards, centipedes, and beetles,
the numbers in a hill frequently amount to thousands.
All these, without doubt, prey on the termites and their
pupae, and the termites seem to have no power of retalia-
tion.

Those insects, invariably called ants by the colonists of
the districts where they abound, are one of the most
intolerable nuisances of the country. They undermine
everything that is constructed of wood, and houses have
been known to fall as the result of their burrowing habits,
while chairs, tables, and other articles of furniture are
often exhibited as curiosities, the arms, legs, etc., being
completely hollowed by these destructive insects, and the
whole article reduced to a shell scarcely thicker than
paper. Accidents often happen as a result of this hollow-
ing habit of the termite, for it is impossible to detect the
mischief done to beams, rafters, etc., until they give way.

All the animals and birds mentioned in the last chapter,
with the exception of a few of the rarer kinds, were seen
in this district, most of them in increased numbers. They
do not require further mention here.

Although we lost sight of the party of natives who
witnessed our start from the camp on the morning of the
20th, we heard others shouting and calling to each other
all day long, their cries being often intermingled with the
howling of native dogs which accompanied them.

Towards night a tribe of about thirty men and women
with four young children came up to us quite fearlessly,
and with but very few weapons in their hands. They had
heard of my gifts to the tribe in the morning, and they
came to beg. They expressed great friendliness to me,
and begged that I would not go further into the interior,
as there were fierce tribes there who would certainly kill
me. These men, like those met with in the morning, were
not particularly friendly with the boys in my service, and

NATIVE NOSE ORNAMENT 233

the Chinese they completely ignored ; but to myself and
my white servant, Thomas Anderson, they were quite
friendly. This did not prevent our being very guarded in
our movements and keeping a strict watch all night,
though I have never met with an instance of attack from a
tribe that has been thoroughly friendly. The Australian
black is not so treacherous as he is often described to be.

This tribe passed the night about half a mile distant
from our camp, and did not attempt to follow us in the
morning, though they again tried to dissuade me from
continuing the journey. The males of this tribe, and all
others I met with in the district, had a piece of reed
pushed through the middle cartilage of the nose. It was
more than a foot long, and projected beyond the face on
each side like a well-waxed moustache. This singular
custom seems to have been originally copied from a
similar one amongst the natives of New Guinea, and to
have gradually travelled to this region, the natives of
York Peninsula being the first inhabitants of the Australian
continent to adopt it. The operation of thrusting the
reed through the nose is attended with considerable pain
and loss of blood, but I could not discover that the custom,
like the knocking out of teeth practised by some tribes
living further south, has any religious significance, or is
connected with the induction to manhood. Though these
natives used a reed, a piece of wallaby bone or emu bone is
more often seen in the noses of those who inhabit the
country further to the south.

Continuing my journey in a south-easterly direction, we
came about noon to a wide open plain, across which some
columns of dust, occasioned by whirlwinds, were travelling
at the rate of about twelve miles an hour, for a brisk breeze
was blowing, though the weather was beautifully bright
and clear, and quite hot, the wind moderating the heat
but very little.

This plain was sandy and very sparsely covered with
trees and bushes, though there was grass and some low,
weedy scrub. Judging from the number of old fireplaces
we saw, the spot seemed to be a favourite resort of the

234 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

natives, who were evidently more numerous here than in
most parts of the country ; but we did not see any this
day, although we two or three times heard distant shouts,
probably signals or warning cries from individual blacks
who had discovered us.

Five or six emus were seen on the plain, and there
were plenty of kangaroos and wallaby about. One species
of kangaroo was large in size and light grey in colour ;
another large kind was, I think, Macropus rufus ; but as
neither of these large kangaroos were shot, I cannot be
sure. Of the wallabies, several very small and very darkly-
coloured animals were shot. These were, without doubt,
of the Petrogale concinna species, and were found on a
portion of the plain which was thickly covered with frag-
ments of whitish-coloured sandstone. There was plenty
of quail and other birds on this plain.

I tried to approach one or two of the whirlwinds, or
sand-spouts, but, like a will-o'-the-wisp, they retired before
me. They were not very thick, but about twelve feet
high, and disappeared towards night, when the wind fell.

On the far side, towards the east, the plain rose into
undulating ground, the highest being about a hundred and
fifty feet high ; and the ground was here so well covered
with trees, that it presented the appearance for many
miles of a forest. Cockatoos and parrots of many different
kinds abounded in great numbers, as well as small birds
and hawks of three species. In this wood we passed the
night of the 2 1st without incident. But towards morning
there was a very heavy storm of wind and rain, lasting
until eleven o'clock in the forenoon, when the wind
dropped ; but it continued to rain heavily all day, and we
were glad to take shelter with the most perishable of our
goods in hollow-trees, the poor horses having to put up
with a thorough drenching, which made them look forlorn
enough. There was a very great fall of temperature with
this rain, which made us all shiver with cold ; and as we
had not brought much heavy clothing with us, we had to
wrap the blankets round our benumbed bodies. The
Chinamen particularly complained of their misery, and I

TROUBLE IN THE DESERT 235

have always found men of this race very thin-skinned ; in
fact, this was the only occasion on which I employed them
as assistants on my travels, as they are useless in an
emergency, have little pluck, and no faith in their master.
One blackboy is worth three or four Chinese.

It was still drizzling at dusk of evening on the 22nd,
and we had great difficulty in lighting fires. The night
was fine and clear, but disturbed by many noises, of which
the howling of the wild dogs was perhaps the most
annoying. Other sounds emanated from birds, of
which one seemed to be an owl and another a species
of Caprimulgus, the incessant " mar-purk, mar-purk " of
which reminded one much of the " more pork " of other
districts. Nor was the screaming of fruit-bats wanting in
this medley of uncanny sounds, the cold and wet having
apparently much discouraged these at all times irritable
animals.

Sometime during the night two of my Chinese servants
deserted, taking with them two of the packhorses and a
quantity of the most useful and necessary stores. As this
was a serious loss, I was compelled, accompanied by
u Shanks," one of the blackboys, to pursue the rascals.
The black followed their tracks with perfect ease, and
it soon became apparent that they were taking what they
thought to be the shortest cut back to Port Darwin.

After riding about eight miles we came upon the
bodies of the two men and one horse, all speared through
and through by hostile blacks. The appearance of the
corpses was horrible, and a large quantity of the flesh
had been cut from the carcass of the horse — for food, I
suppose. All that was eatable among the stores had
been carried away ; the rest lay scattered about the
ground, much of it trampled and destroyed. According
to the estimate of Shanks, my boy, about forty natives had
been engaged in this murder, and there could be no doubt
that they had been following and watching my party for
a considerable time. The tracks of the missing horse
showed that it had been led away by the thieves ; but it
would have been suicidal for me to follow after them. I

236 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

therefore rode back to the wood where I had left the rest
of my little expedition under the charge of Anderson, my
white follower, and, after thinking the situation over, I
came to the conclusion that I could not continue the
journey — at least on the intended plan. I consequently
hurried back into the territory of the friendly natives met
with two days previously, keeping a sharp look-out for
the hostile blacks, whose success in killing and robbing the
two Chinamen would doubtless whet their courage to the
attempting of more daring enterprises. We, however,
saw no men throughout the day, and on the 24th reached
territory in which I felt quite safe, knowing that the
natives, except when at war, never encroach on each
others' hunting-grounds.

We could not find our friendly natives, and when I
had disposed of my following in a safe and advantageous
position, I determined to leave it in charge of Anderson,
while I took a number of long, solitary rides in the
neighbouring country. This I thought I could safely do,
as I had a fairly good mount, and could therefore keep
out of the way of any hostile blacks I might chance to
meet. The only risks I had to face were surprises by
night and the natural perils of a difficult country, but
these I feared not to encounter.

I took with me as much food and ammunition as I
could conveniently carry, and having given my final
instructions to Anderson, started on the first riding ramble
on the 26th. That proved a very wet day, which, I
thought, was in one particular in my favour, as the
natives generally seek shelter in such weather, and are
not on the prowl for game or nobler victims.

I had to camp early myself, passing the night, as is
usual in such cases, in a hollow-tree on a hill over a
hundred feet high. The horse, hobbled and picketed
outside, was very restless all night ; and fearing that his
nervousness arose from the presence of prowling blacks,
I did not sleep, but sat with my gun in my hand ready
for instant defence. When daylight returned I was not
a little startled to perceive that the whole country as far

THE COUNTRY FLOODED 237

as I could see on every side had the appearance of a wide
lake, with here and there an island, where the ground was
high, rising from its surface. I thought that there could
not be any great depth of water on the land ; but it was
clearly converted for the present time into a wet quagmire
that would make very stiff riding.

The rain had ceased, and the morning was fine, bright,
and not very warm. There was sufficient breeze blowing
from the north-west to ruffle the surface of the water and
give the waves the appearance of those of a great lake.
It was certain that there could not be any blacks about,
and with great difficulty I found the materials for making
a fire, and boiled a billyful of water for tea. An hour
later I saw a stream of smoke blowing from a hill similar
to the one I was on some five or six miles distant. It
was evident that the smoke of my fire had been seen by
the blacks of the district, and mistaken for a signal.

Without loss of time I saddled the horse, and en-
deavoured to continue my ramble southward. At the
foot of the hill I found the water much deeper than I had
expected, and I soon found that I could not reach the
plain on the south side without swimming the horse over
very uncertain ground. In succession, I tried all sides of
the hill, and found my retreat completely cut off. That
the water was deep on the plain seemed to be proved by
the number of animals that I could perceive, as the day
advanced, had taken refuge on those spots of rising
ground which were not submerged. On my hill, the
superficial area of which could not have exceeded three
hundred acres, there were several emus, and a host of
kangaroos and wallabies.

Often have I desired to shoot emus and bustards, and
found it impossible to get within range of those cautious
birds. Now, when it would have been cruel and useless to
slaughter them, I might have bagged nearly twenty.
Wallabies were so numerous, and so crowded together,
that I killed the two or three I needed for immediate use
with stones picked up on the hill-side. Rats and other
small animals swarmed all over the hill, as did lizards and

238 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

snakes, some of the latter being exceedingly poisonous.
I killed about thirty of them, as they were so numerous
that I feared to walk about among the trees.

During the day I saw no fewer than seven columns of
smoke, which must have arisen from native fires kindled
probably for signalling purposes, as the savages of this
country generally covered their cooking fires with great
cunning and skill, often making them in hollow-trees or
in the midst of woods, where the smoke disperses before
it can rise in a visible column.

For two days I was kept a prisoner on this hill, the
quantity of water lying on the surface of the land being so
great that it was quite unsafe to attempt to ride through
it, as, had the horse floundered into a hollow or among
submerged bushes, my fate would have been inevitable.

During this time I obtained plenty of meat from the
birds and animals I killed ; but there was so little herbage
among the trees, that I was compelled to give nearly all
my stock of biscuits to the horse. At first he refused to eat
a thick dough made of flour and water, but on the second
day was very glad to do so.

Although I had not previously seen a bandicoot in
this district, several hundreds of them had taken refuge
from the flood on the hill where I was prisoner. They
were of two species, neither of which I can now record.
These animals are very destructive — quite as much so as
the most mischievous of European rats ; and although
they are marsupials, they are omnivorous in their diet.
They, like the brown rat, will gnaw and eat anything and
everything.

On the morning of the 29th the water had sunk away so
much that I could see a tolerably good route to the south,
and I once more resumed my ride in that direction. The
country was simply awful to ride over. The horse sank in
up to his fetlocks, and sometimes almost to the saddle-
band. It was killing work for the poor animal, and
wherever it was possible I dismounted and led him. By
the time he was knocked-up, I had not proceeded more
than eight miles from the hill of refuge; and we passed

A SEASON OF FEASTING 239

the night on a much smaller elevation, which rose out of a
sea of mud. The country by this time had the appear-
ance of an extensive marsh, the water having so far
evaporated that there now remained far more mud than
wet. The land was well wooded with groves and scattered
trees, intermingled with patches of jungle-scrub. The tall
reeds which marked the courses of streams was beaten
down by the heavy rain, and made the neighbourhood of
the water-courses a forlorn scene. Large flights of ducks
and other waterfowl flew through the air, and the groves
were full of huge flocks of restless, screaming cockatoos.
The stormy weather had evidently much disturbed some
classes of animals. Every little rise of the ground I
passed was crowded with creatures that were still seeking
shelter.

On one hill a party of natives, wild with excitement,
were slaughtering kangaroos, wallaby, and even rats and
snakes, wholesale ; while the women and children, squatting
at fires, were indulging in a feast such as probably only
fell to their lot on extraordinary occasions such as this.
The shouting and screaming with delight could be heard
for a mile or two across the plain, and the scene was
altogether one of the wildest and most characteristic I
ever witnessed. The men rushed about with savage
alacrity, throwing spears, and beating with waddies, and
shouting incessantly ; while their wives and children
clapped their hands and kept up a kind of screaming
laugh, pausing now and then to snatch some dainty frag-
ment from the glowing fire, and eat it as they squatted on
the ground. So intent on their occupations were they that
I passed near them without attracting the least notice.
This I did very much against my inclination ; but the
dangerous condition of the ground left me no choice but
to pass close to the rising ground or flounder in a deadly-
looking marsh ; and I am not sure that those blacks could
have approached within spear-throwing distance. They
were probably temporary prisoners, as I had been, on
their little hill. However, if they saw me at all, they did
not think it worth while to stop their sport to look at me ;

240 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

and I, on my part, was very glad to escape attentions that
may not have been of a very pleasant kind.

Unable to proceed far on that day I was compelled to
pass the night at no great distance from my sable neigh-
bours, whose triumphant and joyous shouts I could hear
at intervals throughout the night. I found a dry spot on
which to hobble my horse ; and as I was pretty confident
that the blacks were too well occupied with their own
concerns to trouble about me, I ventured to light a fire, as
there was a very chilly wind blowing ; this wind, however,
rapidly dried the land, and although there was a shower
or two of rain the next day, I found far less difficulty in
making my way across the country.

On the slight elevation of ground which I selected for
my resting-place on this night, I shot a large water-
monitor of the species Varanus salvatory called iguana
by the Colonists. It was fully seven feet long, of which
more than four must be allotted to the tail ; and the colour
was very dark, almost black, with slight stripings of dirty
white. The monitors of this species are common in this
district, and are also found in the intermediate country as
far south as Gascoyne River ; but I did not see or hear of
them in the Champion Bay and Swan River districts.
Further south the lizard, called an iguana (or " go-an-na,"
as the people will insist on calling it), is a much smaller
creature.

But there is a " bob-tailed goanna," in the Champion
Bay region which I also found in this Port Darwin dis-
trict. This curious lizard is the stump-tailed lizard
{Trachysaurus mgosus), one of the most curious-looking
creatures on the continent. It is about fifteen inches long,
with a remarkable flattened projection for a tail — as un-
tail-like an appendage as it is possible to imagine. The
whole animal, when squatting quiescent, would never be
taken to be a thing of life ; it looks rather like an
elongated pine-cone. In habits the stump-tail is one of
the most inanimate and sluggish of lizards. Run it cannot,
and unless frightened and trying to escape, its pace
is never greater than a lethargic crawl. Like other

STUMP-TAILED LIZARD 241

lizards, it loves to bask in the sun ; but the greatest part
of its time is spent in its burrows, which are shallow, but
often, in some localities, placed close together in little
colonies. The food of this species is not very dissimilar
from that of other lizards ; but it eats vegetable matter, as
well as flies and soft-bodied creatures of the worm and
slug types. I do not think that it ever touches beetles ;
and I may remark generally that all Australian lizards
which I have kept in confinement have been ready to eat
food of a kind which they could not obtain in a state of
nature — as crumbs of sweet-cake, syrup, and tiny pieces of
raw and sometimes cooked meat, such food having been
given to them when other was not immediately procurable ;
but cakes made with soda are very poisonous to lizards ;
and it is desirable, if the pet's health is the first considera-
tion, which it always ought to be, to supply it, if possible,
with its natural food. Lizards will always eat maggots
and ant's eggs ; and these, though not always procurable
by travellers, may be bought in towns.

On the 30th of September I rode about sixteen miles
in an almost due south direction through a country which
may be described as a level plain, although there were
certainly a few hills and undulations of the ground in
places. On the whole the country was well wooded and
the land evidently fertile ; and the number of animals on
the dry spots, and flight of birds in the air, were sufficient
proof that it was well stocked with game. The number of
native fires also, indicated by columns of smoke, showed
that the human population was far above the average of
an Australian desert region. I did not actually see any
blacks this day ; they were probably all far too well
occupied in their slaughterings, feastings, and corroborees to
be wandering abroad on the plain ; and I rejoiced that
the poor savage had found better employment than
possibly murdering a lone traveller, who has certainly
never wished them any harm, nor ever failed to raise his
voice, in season and out, for the son of the soil.

I crossed several streams this day, some of which had
I the usual deep holes in their beds, with long stretches of

Q

242 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

moderate depth between. Few had less than three or four
feet of water at any parts of their course, and all were very
full, so that it was often a dangerous thing to cross them.
Once the horse was swept off his legs ; but he very
cleverly recovered himself, so that a good ducking was the
worst I suffered from the mishap.

The banks of these streams were not steep, most of
them being nearly level with the surrounding country.
But there was much mud about, consisting of a mixture of
sand and clay, and this in places was very slippery. All
the streams contained abundance of fish, consisting of the
spotted kind referred to previously, a kind of bream, cat-
fish, and eels ; and one of the largest, which may be styled
a river, had a party of eight crocodiles (Crocodilus porosus)
floating slowly in mid-stream. I do not know what river
this may be, nor how far I was from the sea-coast ; but
these reptiles are seldom found above the lower reaches of
a stream. These could not have been less than one
hundred and twenty miles from the mouth of the river.
Their presence made me hesitate to cross the river
though I found a ford with not more than four feet of
water on it.

Turning therefore to the east, I rode along the bank of
this stream, and soon found myself bearing round to the
north-east, and approaching a country where there were a
greater number of hills than I had hitherto seen in this
district. These hills had a singular appearance, being strewn
with masses of loose rock of various sizes, but mostly
small. The ridges often looked from a distance as if they
were covered with large flocks of recumbent sheep.

On the plain there were a number of gouty-stem trees
— one of the strangest vegetable growths of Australia.
It looks like a monstrous production, being usually a
pyramidal mass of wood springing from the earth to a
height of twelve to twenty feet. From the top of this
sprout a number of straggling branches which bear but a
scanty crop of leaves ; but the flower is a star-shaped, sweet-
smelling blossom, and the fruit, large and egg-shaped, is a
solid white mass, in which are embedded a quantity of flat

GOUTY-STEM TREES 243

seeds. The fruit is pleasant in taste, and is one of the
stock articles of native food. The tree does not seem to
grow near Port Darwin, and I never met with it further
north than on this unknown river, which probably is the
Fitzmaurice, or a branch of it. The gouty-stem tree is
always of scattered growth ; I never saw them growing in
woods or large clusters. Some of them are of enormous
growth. One which I measured in the Gascoyne River
district was forty feet in girth at the level of the ground,
and sixty-three, nine feet above it. Some of the rougher
individuals in settled districts take a mischievous delight
in digging deep holes in these remarkable trees, which leads
to their speedy death. Unfortunately, in Australia, the
idle element does not always meet with that sharp
magisterial correction which would teach it to respect the
feelings of those who are desirous of protecting the native
plants and animals, many species of which are so utterly
unlike anything of a similar class to be found in other parts
of the world.

Just before I hobbled the horse and camped for the
night I saw a pack of six dingoes kill a large kangaroo,
the only occasion on which such a sight was witnessed by
me. Although these dogs are usually very noisy, and
howl during both night and day, it would seem that they
hunt in silence. I first saw these dogs in the distance,
and I think they had only just started their game. They
came straight towards me at a tremendous pace, the
kangaroo making frantic bounds in its efforts to escape ;
but it made a perfectly straight run, and never once
attempted to double. At most it did not run, or rather
leap, more than three-quarters of a mile, before the
dingoes were upon it. Two of them siezed it by the
throat, the others behind. I think at least one dingo
seized it by the root of the tail ; at any rate, they had it
down in an instant, killing it far more quickly and skil-
fully than I ever saw kangaroo-dogs kill one.

This happened at a distance of about one hundred and
fifty yards from the spot where I had reined in my horse
to watch the run, and the dingoes proceeded to tear their

244 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

prey to pieces without noticing my presence and appar-
ently oblivious of it. When, however, I attempted to
approach nearer, they retired to a distance, snarling and
howling. Afterwards I camped close by, and could hear
the dingoes quarrelling fiercely over the bones of the
unfortunate kangaroo, which, though of large size, was not
of either of the two largest species. As already stated, it
is doubtful if the dingo ever dares to attack an " old man,"
or a red kangaroo.

While in the deserts on the west side of the continent
scarcely a day elapsed but I heard the howling of dingoes,
though the animals were not seen so frequently ; and lest
this circumstance should be construed into a contradiction
of my previous assertion that dingoes are not so numerous
as some writers appear to think, I may remark that these
widely spread animals are in the habit of howling at all
hours of the day and night, and as they can be heard a
very long distance it is not surprising that their presence
in a neighbourhood should be soon perceived. A pair of
dogs, or at most a family party of six or eight, seem to
arrogate to themselves the sole right of hunting over a
certain district, and I have observed frequently that they
resent the intrusion of others of their kind, except at
certain seasons of the year. They often fight savagely
together, and I have seen trapped, poisoned, or shot
dingoes which bore many marks of former frays. Dingoes
also have a habit of following travellers and parties of the
natives ; especially if they are accompanied by dogs, or
half-tamed dingoes.

At the foot of the ridge on which I passed the night,
there was a swampy wood of about four hundred acres in
extent, the bark of the trees of which was covered with a
luminous fungus or lichen, which glistened very brightly
when darkness had completely set in. I have seen this
fungus in several other parts of the country, not only on
the west side, but also on the east, and especially in some
of the swampy forests of North Queensland.

The same wood was haunted by a flight of bats, one of
which flew against my lanthorn (suspended in a tree), and,

LARGE OWL 245

falling with the shock, was captured, permitting me to
examine it closely. It proved to be of the same species as
a well-known kind which is common in all the islands of
the Indian Seas to the north of Australia — Vesperugo
abramus. Here, at my camp, they were flying about
until a very late hour. I do not think the last of them
disappeared until the first streaks of dawn were showing
in the east. They were attracted by my light, many
hovering about the lanthorn, but only one actually
touched it.

A large owl, almost the size of an eagle (undoubtedly
Ninox stremmd), also had its home in the wood, and
disturbed me much during the early part of the night by
its abominable screaming cry. It looked like a great
spectre flitting to and fro often quite close to me, so that I
could actually feel the wind of its wings. It was evidently
annoyed at my presence so near its home, or perhaps the
light disturbed it.

This owl is not common in any part of Australia
known to me. I have seen it more frequently in the
north than elsewhere. I remember a specimen being
shot on the Clarence River, New South Wales, but I am
inclined to think that this was a stray bird. About the
24th parallel seems to be its southernmost range of
distribution. At any rate, I have never found it in any
part of South Australia.

It is not a strictly nocturnal owl, for though it certainly
hawks during the earlier portions of the evening and
night, it is quite as often seen in the early afternoon and
in the morning. The time of hiding, or rest, seems to be
between eight in the morning and two in the after-
noon. It is a bird that seems to be particularly fond of
large-sized animals for its prey. The smaller wallabies
are its favourite quarry, and I have never seen it attack
the small rats and birds. It is a bird of rapid and
audible flight — two characteristics that are very uncommon
amongst the owls.

The night was close and hot, and the sky obscured
with heavy banks of clouds, with almost incessant

246 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

lightnings, but no thunder or rain. Often I thought I
could perceive dusky shadows moving about the plain
near me, and I thought it wise to let my fire die out. I
felt so sure that there were prowling savages in the
neighbourhood that I saddled my horse in the dark, and
rode off as soon as there was light enough to show me
whither I was going, doing without other food for
breakfast than a draught of water and a piece of dough
made of moistened flour, which I ate as I rode along.

About seven o'clock I reached a spot where I could
easily cross the river, which was here not more than
twenty yards wide. Resuming a southward direction, I
soon found the country rapidly assuming a hilly appearance.
There were a few narrow valleys with abrupt hills enclosing
them. These heights were covered with fragments of
large rocks, like those previously mentioned, and some
were very rugged and seamed with gullies which had the
appearance of being water-channels during rains, though
they were dry now. The ist of October was a very hot
day, and had the effect of rapidly drying the face of the
country, so that, except for the circular, basin-like marks,
left where the water had settled in pools, it was scarcely
possible to perceive that there had recently been very
heavy rains. Yet here and there I noticed broad sheets
of water that were probably permanent, or nearly so —
small lakes in fact.

A few of the hills were pyramidal, running to quite a
sharp point ; but most of them were flat-topped, and a few
had a line of cliffs at, or near, the top. In the valleys
and near the river there were groves of trees, but on
the hills only a few scattered ones, and bushes. There
was no continuous range of these hills, most of which were
isolated elevations.

Near the river, birds of the plover and duck kinds
were very numerous, especially a small brown whistling
duck. On the plains there were many pigeons, also of
a brown colour, and flying in flocks of two or three
hundred each. One unfortunate lot came so close that I,
being in want of something for dinner, fired amongst

BUSH LIFE 247

them, and brought down a dozen with the two barrels ; but
they proved to be so small when plucked, that the lot was
no more than a sufficient meal for a hungry man. How-
ever, kangaroos were so numerous that I had no difficulty
in procuring one for a supply of meat.

Kangaroos, invariably stated in works on natural
history to be nocturnal in their habits, are always to be
found at any hour of the day. For an hour or two before
noon and after it they usually rest, lying under trees,
bushes, or amongst scrub ; and during this rest they are
very playful among themselves, the old males excepted.
Where they have not been much disturbed by hunters,
native or white, they will feed during daylight, though
generally they prefer the dusk of evening for this purpose.
The habits of species, however, vary, and locality has its
influences.

Finding the features of the country very monotonous
and unvarying, I turned homewards, making a big sweep
to the north. As far as I could see from the top of a hill
about seven hundred feet high, which I ascended at the
end of the day's ride, the country was a poorly-wooded
plain, with hills and ridges such as I have described
scattered over it. The trees were small, and not even the
banks of the one or two streams I passed had a fringe of
wood along them. Possibly this country may be fairly
good grazing land ; it certainly, for Australia, is an
abundantly watered district, and saline pools are
not very prevalent. But it is not a picturesque region ;
and the comparative scarcity of wood is a great draw-
back, for in some places the scanty supply would not be
sufficient for fuel. To the naturalist the country has its
attractions, for it is thickly peopled with some of the
most interesting forms of Australian animal and vegetable
life, many of which I am compelled to leave unnoticed.
Of the multitudes of parrots and water-fowl I have made
frequent mention ; in addition to these, there are in this
district several of the brightest coloured of our finches or
passeres, and several curious birds, as the brush-turkeys, etc.,
which have no representatives in other parts of the world.

248 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

Partly to avoid country which I knew to be inhabited
by hostile blacks, but chiefly that I might view as wide an
area of country as possible, I returned by a route lying
much further to the east than that I had come by, thus
entailing a journey of more than two hundred miles
further than I need have travelled to rejoin my followers.
But as I knew that Anderson would not expect my return
for at least another week, and as I had no difficulty in
finding grass for my horse, and could live myself for so
short a time on kangaroo meat and birds, I felt no
anxiety in thus prolonging my rambles. My horse was
actually in better condition than when I started, and
though it was certainly trying to be deprived of biscuit
and flour food, I felt I could endure a week of such depriva-
tion, especially as I was not altogether without vegetable
food. Several fruits were growing in the country I have
just described, though the gouty-stemmed tree was only
beginning to burst into blossom. Flowers, I should
have mentioned, though not very conspicuous, were
blooming in considerable variety.

One of the best fruits of this district is a strange,
plum-like berry, growing in clusters on a leafless tree.
Each berry is as large as a thrush's egg, and of a similar
shape, and the taste, though unlike that of any European
fruit I have eaten, is a pleasant one. These berries, and
another smaller kind growing on a kind of creeping
bramble, were abundant, and afforded a very agreeable
variation of my meat diet. Of the latter food I had as
much as I required, for not a day passed in which I did
not have the opportunity of shooting a kangaroo or
wallaby.

Sleeping on the ground in dry weather, and with a
good fire and blanket at one's command, is an experience
that no good bushman would think a hardship, or, indeed,
worth a second thought ; and in such a country as this I
am describing, in which water and fodder were procurable
every day, the one danger and inconvenience arose from
the uncertain temper of the aborigines. And these
strange people are, in all parts of the country, exceedingly

GROUND DOVES 249

variable in disposition. The tribe one meets and is
friendly with to-day may to-morrow be succeeded by
one of murderous instincts. But the wild blacks never
having horses, a well-mounted traveller is sure of escape,
unless he is surprised in his sleep.

On the 2nd and 3rd of October nothing of interest
occurred. The features of the country were similar to
those already described, and birds and game were such as is
met with and has been described in the accounts of the
Champion Bay and Gascoyne River districts. In the two
days I saw perhaps a couple of dozen emus in three small
groups, four large bustards, and two parties of natives.
Neither of the latter took much notice of me, nor did
either tribe attempt to communicate with me. The smoke
I saw every day throughout this journey was proof that
this is one of the best peopled districts of the continent ;
that is, so far as the native population is concerned. How
it will be when the whites vastly predominate, I do not
think it would be wise to predict. At present the white
population at Port Darwin belonging, on the whole, to an
official and well-educated class; is not likely to ignore the
rights of the black men.

On the 3rd, after passing across some twenty miles of
level plain tolerably well wooded, I again reached a
hilly tract. Here the hills were nearly all crowned with
a line of cliffs from eight to fourteen or eighteen feet high.
The highest hill was about six hundred feet in height.
Some of these elevations had steep faces rising abruptly
from the plain. As usual, there were few trees on these
hills, but a uniform sprinkling of bushes was spread over
the slopes.

On these hills were a large number of ground doves of
the long-crested kind {Lophophaps plumiferd) scattered
about in what I supposed to be family groups of ten or
twelve birds. Each little flock was separated by a wide
interval from others ; and they never seem to congregate
in large crowds ; for I have seen these doves and other
allied species on other occasions, and had some oppor-
tunities of studying their habits. Their gait and run is

250 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

just that of the quail, and they are so shy that it is with
difficulty the sportsman can get within shot of them.
They generally rise at a hundred yards, or at a greater
distance if the gunner is accompanied by a dog ; and as
they take wing they utter a curious cry quite unlike that
of any other pigeon or dove. Grass seeds form the bulk
of their food ; but I have seen them eating the thick
fleshy leaves of a dock-like weed which covers some of the
sandy patches on the highest ground. The doves avoid
marshy or wet ground, and often may be seen squatting
close to rocks which are quite hot in the blaze of the
noon sun. Generally the bird has none of the usual
habits of the pigeon genus. On account of the difficulty
of approaching them, they afford good sport to the gunner,
but they are very dry and indifferent eating as food.

A shallow stream which ran near the foot of the
highest hill was covered with water-lilies ; and I have
seen these flowers in many other places in this district.
The most attractive of other blossoms at this spot was a
creeping plant bearing a small but very pretty scarlet
blossom. All the flowers, which were numerous in kind,
were small in size, the lilies excepted.

A marshy spot, which I suppose was the head of the
stream, was thickly covered a mile wide with tall reeds ;
and similar reeds are found on the banks of all the waters,
running and still, in this region. The marsh was the
haunt of thousands of ducks of two kinds — a large darkly-
coloured species, in which browns and deep greens were
the prevailing colours of the plumage, and a small kind
of a light grey colour. Owing to the denseness of the
reeds, among which I could force myself but a very short
distance, I could not study the habits of the birds, which
I scarcely saw except on the wing ; but many species of
water-fowl found a home here, amongst others a large
chestnut-brown ibis {Falcinelltis ignens) ; another ibis,
white with a black neck {Ibis strictipennis, I think) ; and
several Rallidce ; also a small flock of the beautiful white
egret (Ardea garzettd). The last named bird is not common
in any part of Australia ; but I have seen a few of these

ACCIDENTAL SPECIES 251

birds in the Swan River district, and near Rockhampton,
Queensland. It is more common about the Rockingham
Bay district ; but as I have never succeeded in finding its
nest, it is probably only a bird of passage on our continent.
A careful observer in this, as in any other country, will
find that many species occur accidentally; and I may
record that I succeeded in collecting forty-three species that
are more or less common in India and Southern Asia, but
have never been known to breed in Australia, or visit
that country in large numbers ; eight that are considered to
be exclusively New Zealand species; fifteen from the islands
of the Indian Archipelago ; four from China ; and six only
from the island of New Guinea. Besides these I have
found at least twenty cosmopolitan species. A few of these
birds have been known to nest in various parts of the
continent.

On the 4th the weather was so excessively hot that I
was unable to travel between eleven forenoon and four
o'clock in the afternoon. Having no instruments with me,
I was unable to register the exact degree of heat ; but
that it was unusually great seemed to be shown by the
extraordinary stagnation of animal life on the plain. The
birds all ceased to fly ; and, I suppose, hid away in the
groves and beds of reeds. Kangaroos and wallabies crept
under the thickest bushes, and where they could be seen,
lay quiet, like dead animals, without indulging in any of
their usual playful gambols. No living creature was
moving about except insects. The gnats, which nightly
had been an intolerable pest, cruelly torturing both myself
and the horse, had disappeared ; but in their place an
army of tiny black sand-flies, showed that numbers make
a " weak folk " formidable indeed. In addition to these,
several kinds of flies not previously noticed suddenly made
their appearance, amongst them a terrible species of
horse-fly, which nearly drove my poor horse frantic.
They swarmed upon him in such numbers that after
many contortions and writhings and lashings out, he laid
down on the ground and fairly rolled in his misery, the
flies hovering about him in thousands, until he broke into a

252 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

profuse sweat. When he was covered with white foam the
flies did not care to pitch on him.

The night was very close and sultry, and in the early
morning there was a violent thunderstorm, with heavy
showers. This drove away the insect pests, including the
gnats which had made their appearance at dusk. The
following day was sultry, but not so hot as the previous
one ; and I rode about twenty-five miles through a similar
country to that already described, except that the only
water met with was a few shallow pools left by the recent
rain.

This day I met a party of natives thirty in number, of
whom twelve were full-grown men. Some of them ran
forward, dropping their spears, and gesticulating with
their hands. Perceiving that they wished to speak with me,
I thought I might venture to permit them to come up, and
that it would be good policy to evince no fear of them.

They came on quickly, followed by the women and
children, who, I noticed, picked up the dropped spears.
Still, I felt no fear, for, though a different opinion exists
amongst many persons acquainted with the Australian
black, I have never found him treacherous. Others no
doubt have had a different experience, but have they
always recorded the whole truth ? If he means outrage
he shows his teeth at once, and without hesitation throws
his spear. I have never known a case of his inveigling
his victims with a show of friendship and then treacher-
ously turning upon them without provocation. I am sorry
to add what in justice to the blackman I feel I ought to.
There is an opinion among the rougher classes of
colonists that the black is always ready to sell his wife
for a plug of tobacco or a peg of whisky. Sad to relate,
this is too often the case in some parts of the country ;
but generally the native who has not been corrupted by
the delights of the dram-shop is jealous of the virtue of his
womankind, and the " treacherous incidents " we some-
times hear and read about have, almost invariably, their
origin in just resentment of undue interference with the
women,

FRIENDLY ABORIGINES 253

To my surprise I found that several of these blacks
could speak a few words of English, though I could not
ascertain where their linguistic ability had been acquired.
They could ask readily enough for " 'bacca " and " matchum,"
and though 1 had but a pinch of the precious weed remain-
ing, I gave it to them, and also my pipe. This pipe was
rather an ornamental one, being embellished with the
figure head of a remarkable species of goat, and the fellow
who received it fully appreciated the gift, as the expression
of his happy face plainly enough told. His envious mates
crowded round him, and passed many, to me unknown,
remarks of admiration of that wonderful head, while the
almost naked women and children, squatting on the
ground a few yards off, looked on, their mouths wide
open in wonder.

I explained as well as I could that I had no more
tobacco, or I should have been willing to give it to them,
and they cheerfully offered me some food, of which they
had an abundance with them, some of the women being
loaded like pack-animals with it. But I would take
nothing from them but a few warren-roots, which I was
glad to have, as I was becoming tired of eating flesh so
frequently. Considering the value of the friendship of
these people, I was sorry that I had so little to give them in
return for their kindness. I parted with everything that
I could spare, which was little enough, as I had come to
the end of all my stores, and had but a couple of dozen
cartridges to last until I rejoined my companions, distant
now, I hoped, not more than two or three days' ride.

From the expression " see before," repeatedly used by
one of these men, I concluded that these blacks had seen
me on my outward journey, and were perhaps one of
those tribes I had avoided, fearing their hostility. I
should explain that I was not sufficiently master of the
native language of this part of the country to understand
it without the aid of an interpreter. They now accompanied
me some miles, I going, of course, at a walking pace to
avoid seeming to wish to get away from them. At length
their spokesman exclaimed, " Stop now. No further go,"

254 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

and offered to shake hands, a convincing proof that this
tribe had had repeated intercourse with colonials. I shook
hands with them all, and so we parted excellent friends.

Before they were out of sight the rain began to fall,
and during the night there was another heavy thunder-
storm. I took shelter as usual in a hollow-tree, but there
was at this spot a large banyan-tree which afforded pro-
tection to the horse also, for the branches and foliage were
so thick that scarcely any rain found its way to the ground
beneath. This was the first banyan-tree I had found in
the desert, and the furthest south I ever saw ; but round
about Palmerston, and in the extreme north, there are
many fine specimens of this tree. Are they indigenous ?
or how did they get here? In my opinion, it is evident
that, like the dingo dog and several other animal and
vegetable productions of the continent, they were origin-
ally exotics. The seeds of the banyan may have
been accidentally, or perhaps intentionally, introduced by
Asiatic voyagers ; but I think it is far more probable that
they were brought by migrating birds. I base this opinion
on the very scattered distribution of these trees. That
they are not found in the southern parts of the continent
is, no doubt, attributable to unsuitable climatic conditions.

Throughout the next day there were heavy showers at
intervals, with clear, hot skies when the rain ceased. The
heat was so great that I was unable to continue the
journey, and during the night and following day I was too
unwell to travel. The horse also appeared very jaded,
and I attributed this and my own illness to the great
heat.

For a day or two I was so unwell that I could not bear
the exertion of riding much, and probably did not travel
more than a dozen or twenty miles until the nth of the
month, when, having eaten nothing for thirty-six hours,
hunger compelled me to seek food. This I found in the
flesh of one of a couple of dingoes which came sneaking
round my camp in the early morning. At any other time
I should have been reluctant to taste such food, but the
smell of the roasting carcass was savoury enough, and I

SPECULATIONS ABOUT THE BANYAN 255

thoroughly enjoyed the meal I made off the flesh of this
beast of prey.

During the day I got much better, and late in the
afternoon made another stage on my journey. I soon
became convinced that I had lost my way, the result of
inability to pay proper attention to the route. I ought by
this time to have been nearing my companions, but I
could not recognise any of the landmarks for which I was
looking. It was not until the 12th October was well
advanced that I reached country which I could recognise.
Duriug these last days I passed across some very sterile-
looking tracts, but I never failed to find water — the neces-
sary which is always the first consideration to an Australian
traveller.

There being now no reason to husband the strength of
my horse, I made a spurt, and on the afternoon of the
13th reached my waiting servants, glad enough to have
access to those stores I was now so badly in need of.

Near our camping-place there were two " playhouses "
of the bower-bird (Chlamydoder nuchalis), and I saw
several others during my rides about the country, all of
them north of the Gascoyne River. I do not know if
these birds are found in other parts of Westralia, but
there did not seem to be any in the neighbourhoods of
King George's Sound or Swan River. On the east side
of the continent I have found nests and playhouses of the
satin bower-bird ; but the bird is scarce in my native
colony, though more abundant in Queensland. There
are nearly a dozen species and varieties, few individuals
if any of which are found in the south of the continent.
Most of them have spotted plumage, but that of the
satin bower-bird is black in the cock, and greyish-green
in the hen, inclining to yellow on the belly. The young,
however, are speckled, and the cocks are not in full black
plumage until their third year.

The playhouses are quite distinct from the nests
which, with most species, are placed in bushes, or in the
hollows of decayed trees. The young are four or five in
number, and the eggs in some species are greenish,

256 THE PORT DARWIN DISTRICT

speckled with grey or dull brown. One or two species
lay eggs which are not spotted.

They do not all make playhouses. Two varieties
clear open spaces in the bush which may be as much as
twelve or fourteen feet in diameter, and on these twenty
or thirty birds often meet to parade or " dance," appar-
ently for amusement. The cocks of one species amuse
themselves with building spare nests which are never used
for breeding purposes. At least six species make play-
houses ; and no person who has watched the antics of the
birds when assembled at these can doubt that amusement
is the sole object of the little creatures in constructing
them.

The playhouses in the Port Darwin district were made
of small twigs set very close together, and sloped so
that the tops just met at a height of twenty inches.
Inside, the house was lined with fine grasses, roots, and
filaments of a kind of cotton procured from a species of
Bombax which grows in the neighbourhood. There were
also a few brightly coloured feathers interwoven in the
lining ; and the sides of the house were so compact that
the birds could not be seen when running through it.
Hundreds of small shells were strewn about the floor of
the house and on the ground near it, covering an area of
six or seven square yards. Some of these shells were
marine, and supposing them to have been brought from a
river estuary they had been fetched from a distance of at
least a hundred miles. But they might have been brought
from other playhouses, and so have gradually found their
way up the country. The feathers, few in number, were
all those of parrots, red, green, blue, and yellow in colour.

There were houses in an unfinished state about this
country, but I could never surprise the birds at work
upon them, and I do not know if a house is the work of
one or of several birds. Probably the latter is the case,
as sometimes several birds play about the same house,
chasing each other through it, fluttering their wings,
uttering lively cries, and occasionally flying in a flock
over the structure, which here was thirty inches long and

A BIRD'S PLAYHOUSE 257

seventeen wide, so that several birds could fly through
together.

Sometimes a single bird amused itself for hours at a
time at one of the playhouses, carrying the shells through
the house from one side to the other. If two or more
birds were present at the same time they invariably chased
each other in a playful manner, and sometimes a squabble
arose among them, which seemed to be a kind of mock
fight.

Sticks, coloured stones from the hills and river banks,
fruit stones, berries, a metal button, a small piece of tin, a
piece of native twine, and a number of wallaby teeth, were
among the numerous articles lying about these playhouses.

CHAPTER XIX

A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND

I MUST hasten to Queensland, a colony which, as it adjoins
my native country, I have naturally visited more fre-
quently than any other part of the continent, and as I,
for a time, possessed a stock-yard within the " frontier
lines " of the queenly settlement, I have had opportunities
of a prolonged study of the native life of the region.

Of course the convict had a leading hand in the
founding of Queensland, and equally of course there is a
good deal that is sordid in the early history of the colony.
It is so with each of our five great States of the future.
Forgive the word " five," little Tasmania. Though small
in size thy position may one day make thee great in
reputation. Without another word, I must drop references
to the history of the great northern colony.

Viewed as a whole, Queensland is a characteristically
Australian country. It is as remarkable as any other of
the great divisions of the continent for animal and
vegetable curiosities and eccentricities and variations of
natural features, but its position under the tropic of
Capricorn has a marked influence on all its productions,
and in no other part of the land can a more luxuriant
growth of vegetation be shown than in Queensland.

There are, or perhaps I should say were, in this colony
the thickest and most extensive forests on the continent.
Many of these have been burnt to clear the land, others
felled for their valuable timber, but to a recent date, at any
rate, many large woods remained in the least accessible
parts of the country. Much of the land is very park-like

258

PROSPECTING AND SQUATTING 259

in general appearance, the trees growing in clumps and
groves rather than in woods ; but where it has not been
interfered with, there is always a wide belt of trees on the
banks of the rivers and streams ; and in the interior,
towards the north, several valleys of great width are
occupied with unbroken forests, some of which are more
than a thousand square miles in extent.

In 1890 I joined a party of squatters on a prospecting
journey, with the view of examining the country lying
westward of the Burdekin River. Wide as the colony of
Queensland is, there was, even so long ago as 1891, but
very little good land unoccupied — at least in an accessible
position. Successful stock-raising requires wide areas of
ground in a country like Australia ; and this north-eastern
part of the continent is subject, in spite of the beauty and
fertility of a great portion of it, to disastrous droughts,
which try the capitalist severely. His best chance of
averting disaster in these times of trial lies in his having
extensive tracts to move his cattle over. Hence estates
of 60,000 acres are quite common, and this means that the
landed proprietor has, with back-runs and common rights,
something like 200,000 acres at his command. All his
days, however, are not passed in sunshine. Often, when
he begins to prosper, there comes along a peculiarly
wretched type of " squatter," who, taking certain advan-
tages of the land-laws, makes a claim of the choicest
portion of the stockman's back-run. This person has no
intention of setting up as a stockman himself; he has
neither the inclination for, nor the means of doing that.
What he wishes is to be " bought off" by the rich
proprietor, and bought off he invariably is. Then he
departs to practise his mean tactics in some other
locality.

It was to prevent the possibility of such a black-mailing
interference that eight stockmen, of whom two were my
near relatives, undertook the expedition referred to above
The object was to secure, by a joint occupation, all the
good land lying behind the estates of three members of
the party. I joined the little band, as much for the

260 A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND

purpose of indulging my prevailing taste, as from the wish
to forward business.

The rendezvous was beyond the river Burdekin at
Clark's station, the home of one of the overseers. Besides
the eight principals of the party, three stock-riders, and
four blackfellows, servants, were taken with us, forming a
well-mounted, well-armed party of fifteen persons, with six
pack-mules.

The country around, and for sixty or seventy miles
inland to the west, was fairly well known to the riders at
the station, and several outlying parts had already been
established ; but it was our intention to push out consider-
ably beyond these, with the object of thoroughly examining
the country, and forming an opinion of its value as a cattle
run. There was known to be good grass land to the west,
but only surface water, with a few wells with wide intervals
between them. The real value of the land depended on
the discovery of permanent water, and as water in no
uncertain quantity is the first need of a stock-farm, the
time chosen for the journey was the winter, or wet season,
in order that we might judge what quantity of this
necessary would be procurable at the most dangerous
season of the year. The start was made on the 22nd
May.

The country near Clark's station is level, and tolerably
rich in grass, and there is a fair sprinkling of trees, mostly
in clumps and small woods ; but the sides of some of the
gullies are thickly clothed with trees. The gigantic gums
of this district are not so gigantic as those of Victoria,
but they are fine specimens of their race ; and even here, on
the borders of the desert, there are some good examples
of the ficus genus, with most picturesquely twisted and
gnarled trunks. Nearer to the coast some of these fig-
trees grow to an enormous size and height, and are,
indeed, to be classed amongst the finest and grandest-
looking trees of Queensland.

The first day we rode about thirty miles, and so
thoroughly had the kangaroos and wallabies been cleared
off the land, that we did not see a single animal of either

ESTUARINE CROCODILE 261

of these families. Great efforts have been made in
Queensland to reduce the number of grass-eating wild
animals (kangaroos and allied forms), and large sums of
money have been wasted in efforts to destroy them whole-
sale. It is almost entirely owing to private effort that the
numbers of these animals have been reduced, and in some
localities exterminated. It was hoped by means of a wire
fence of immense length to prevent the rabbits from
spreading from New South Wales northwards, but this
was an utter failure, as might easily have been foreseen.
The rabbits have migrated into South Queensland, where
they are numerous enough, and they will spread over the
entire country in spite of the drastic penalties inflicted for
such offences as permitting rabbits to escape from captivity
or wilfully turning them loose, amounting to as much as
;£ioo for a repeated offence.

The dingoes are far less numerous in Queensland than
they are on the opposite side of the continent. They
have been shot, trapped, and poisoned, till comparatively
few remain.

Crocodiles infest most of the big rivers in the northern
parts of the colony, but these also have been much thinned
by the hand of man. It is asserted that they will seize
and drown bullocks and horses ; but no such incident ever
came to my knowledge, nor have I ever known of a fatal
accident to human beings ; yet some of these crocodiles
are quite eighteen feet long. The average of fully grown
reptiles is fourteen or fifteen feet. The species is the same
as is found in the Port Darwin district, the estuarine
crocodile, which it is asserted in " popular natural histories,"
often goes out to sea, and is rarely found far from the
mouths of rivers. In Australia I have never seen or heard
of its being found in the sea ; and though it mostly
frequents the lowest reaches of rivers, it is often found
almost up to the sources of many streams ; and the only
limits to its wanderings into the interior seems to be the
shallowness of the water in the upper streams. Fish
forms the bulk of its food, and though it probably often
surprises ducks and other aquatic birds, I very much

262 A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND

doubt if it habitually feeds on terrestrial species of
animals. I have found the broken shells of water
tortoises in the stomachs of several that I have shot.
The largest of these reptiles was eighteen feet five inches
in extreme length. There were five toes on the fore-foot,
the four first being deeply webbed, the outer one un-
webbed ; four toes on each hind-foot, the three first deeply
webbed, the outer one half-webbed ; eighteen teeth on each
side of the upper jaw, fifteen on each side of the lower jaw.
The teeth were very unequal in size and length, the
largest being two inches long. This crocodile, in the
deep furrows of its hide and rough appearance of the
scales, etc., gave indications of being very aged. I caught
it in shallow water in a billabong of the Wickham river ;
but it was not killed without much trouble, and I found
that a shot through the body just behind the fore-leg was
more fatal than one in the head.

The Australian crocodile lays its eggs in the sand
among the reeds on the banks of rivers, sometimes at a
great distance from the coast. I have found them on the
Burdekin River, for instance, which is quite an inland
river — the greatest part of its water, being lost in desert
sinks. The exposed sand-banks in the midst of rivers
are also favourite resorts of crocodiles for breeding
purposes. The number of eggs laid is about twenty,
and they are incubated, the crocodile always passing the
night squatting on the buried eggs. It is also often in
this position during the daytime ; but I could never learn
if it is the mother, father, or both parents which perform
this office ; nor am I sure whether the animals pair or are
polygamous. I have sometimes thought that the latter is
the case, but I have no certain evidence of it. The young
crocodiles when first hatched are very small and only
four or five inches in length. The mother watches and
tends them, and is, while thus engaged, exceedingly bold
and ferocious. At other times these reptiles seem timid
and anxious to avoid man ; they have probably learned
here, as they are said to have done in other countries, that
the lord of creation is a dangerous antagonist.

BOTTLE-TREE AND NETTLES 263

Our second day's journey brought us to a well-grassed
country, which seemed admirably suited for a cattle-run,
but was at present a back-run in the joint occupation of
several stockmen, who had together about eight thousand
head of cattle upon it. Beyond this point no man of our
party knew the country.

During our two days' ride I noticed several trees
common on the other side of the continent, which varied
curiously here. The grass-tree, for instance, has a still
more singular appearance than it has on the west side.
It is here without the long central stick, but has instead
a curious matted mass under the grass tuft, and from a
short distance looks just like the enormously gigantic head
of a blackfellow stuck on a post. The appearance is really
sometimes quite startling.

Then the gouty-stem tree in this district, though still
greatly swollen, has a symmetrical shape, looking like a
huge beer-bottle with a plant stuck in the neck. It is
called by the colonists the bottle-tree, and is clearly a
distinct species from the common gouty-stem.

In sheltered gullies, and sometimes in ravines on the
hillsides, I found the fruit called the native plum, and
also the native cherry (Exocarpus cupressiformis), and
several other fruits and nuts which are largely used by the
natives for food.

Among the most prominent trees I noted fine speci-
mens of the iron-bark {Eucalyptus resinifera), on which
the fig-tree is often a parasite. These were sometimes
a hundred and thirty or a hundred and forty feet high,
and twenty-five or twenty-six in girth.

We passed, too, several nettle-scrubs, in which the
nettles were seventeen or eighteen feet high, with leaves
the size of large fans ; and though ferns were not so
numerous as on ground nearer the coast, there were
some fine displays in the gullies, the fronds of many
kinds being exceedingly delicate and lace-like, and of
most beautiful tints. These fern-gullies are favourite
resorts of a multitude of small birds, and also of
parrots and cockatoos, and have unpleasant inhabitants

264 A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND

such as snakes of poisonous kinds, and other unlovely
creatures.

The number of snakes in Queensland is enormous ; I
have recorded fifty-three varieties, and I learn that this
great number does not exhaust the list. Every gully and
scrub in the unoccupied parts of the colony swarms with
them. Four or five species are poisonous, the diamond-
snake being the most dangerous ; yet I never heard of an
accident with these reptiles. The dangerous kinds retire
very quickly before the advance of the colonists, though
occasionally one hears of the deaths of cattle and horses
through the attacks of the diamond-snake, which is the
most aggresive. As a rule, all kinds endeavour to escape
on the approach of man, they having probably learned
caution from the continual persecution on the part of
the blacks, to whom a dish of snakes is a much esteemed
luxury.

We all lay out on the open ground on the night of the
23rd with picketed horses, and most of us, I think, slept
soundly until we were awakened at dawn by the noisy
screaming of thousands of cockatoos and parrots which
wheeled about in the air above us. One of our party
amused himself by shooting at them as they flew past;
but he did not make a heavy bag, for the whole of them
quickly flew away on the loss of two or three of their
number.

At this spot we were dependent for water on a well
which had been previously dug by some of the stockmen ;
but the supply was limited, and we had to wait our turn
in watering our horses, while the water slowly percolated
into the cavity, which was about twelve feet deep. Pro-
bably there would have been a more abundant supply of
water if the well had been dug deeper.

Still continuing to the west, we rode another thirty
miles on the 24th, the character of the country undergoing
a considerable change. The grass gradually became
shorter and thinner, until it ceased to grow altogether, or
only in deep depressions of the ground, and a thickly-
growing creeper took its place, covering the surface of

SPLENDID CLUSTERS OF BLOSSOM 265

the ground for many miles, and in spots being so deep
and tangled that it was a serious hindrance to our
advance.

Trees began to appear stunted and withered, and not
numerous on the plain ; but where the ground rose a few
hundred feet above the level, it was covered with a thickly-
matted forest growth. On the plains there were bottle-
trees, but no grass-trees. Near the forests we saw some
splendid specimens of Angustifolia, with clusters of its
blossoms ten feet in circumference, one of the most lovely
sights of the district, though here were many magnificent
flowers of all shades ; and it seemed to me that never
before had I beheld such vivid scarlets and blues, crimsons
and yellows.

The country in this neighbourhood is intersected with
ranges of low hills, beyond which we could perceive
mountains of unusual height. The outlines of these
ranges were similar to those of all other Australian
heights. The majority of them were flat-topped, while
there were a number of isolated conical hills with very
sharp summits, reminding one of the crude effort of a
child to draw mountains. In one particular they differed
much from similar hills on the west side of the continent —
they were often covered with trees, which, although not
growing in what may be called dense forests, were
generally rendered almost impenetrable by a thick under-
growth of creepers, nettles, and a peculiar kind of reed-like
plant springing up into sticks more than twenty feet
long. Many of the creepers were gay with blossoms of
many different hues, while parrots were crowding in
thousands on the trees ; and one of our party, who was an
adept in the use of the gun, with very little assistance
from his mates shot enough in an hour to provide us all
with a supper.

The night was passed under the lee of a huge citadel-like
rock crowned with an abrupt line of cliffs, which was thought
to be nearly fifteen hundred feet above the surrounding
country. My particular " chum " and I spent the evening
in an attempt to ascend this mountain, and we climbed

266 A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND

high enough to obtain a very fine view of the country to
the north and north-westward. In these directions many
high hills and cliffs could be seen, and also a wide plain,
across which we could see at least sixty miles in the
marvellously clear air of this part of the country, which
has probably, on the whole, the finest climate in the
world. The land was well wooded, and had the appear-
ance of a fine pastoral country, which indeed we afterwards
found it to be.

About the foot of the hill there were a few wallaby
and kangaroos of kinds common in New South Wales,
including the great kangaroo, or " old man " ; but they were
very wild, a pretty sure indication that they had been
much harassed by man ; and we succeeded in shooting
only one small wallaby. Emus and a cassowary were
seen, and a rifle-shot or two fired at them, but none were
obtained. All the parrots hitherto seen were of kinds
found in the southern colony.

It was decided by show of hands that the party should
not proceed any further in the direction of the interior,
a decision which disappointed me much, as I was most
anxious to explore the country in that direction. How-
ever, I was bound by the decision of the majority, and
when the start was made, it was towards the favourable-
looking country to the north. Over this district we rode
sixty miles in two days, and found the soil rich and
covered with a kind of kangaroo grass, with patches of
creeper and jungle scrub — in fact, a very good land for the
stockman's business, but lacking in water. The only
pool we found was a stretch of mud a dozen acres in
extent, with a dirty puddle in the centre. We saw at a
glance that cattle had been there, and soon found that the
country had been known and used for some time by
several stockmen from the neighbourhood of Bowen.
We met two of their riders, and saw several thousand head
of cattle.

The riders were very chummy, not having seen a
white face, they assured us, for eight months. They
were expecting to have a relief sent immediately, when

"LAMBING DOWN" A CHEQUE 267

I suppose they would proceed to Bowen, or some other
township, and " lamb down " {i.e., waste in drink) the
wages due to them. Wages are almost invariably paid
by cheques. These cheques are handed by the recipient
to the landlord of the inn where the drunken spree takes
place. That individual nearly always contrives to delay
handing the change to the customer until the latter is too
drunk to see clearly, much less to count, and by and by
the foolish fellow is turned out of the house penniless,
robbed by the innkeeper and the loafers who live on the
hard-working fools, who seem to become temporarily
insane the instant they enter a dram-shop, so madly
anxious are they to " shout " for, or treat, any dirty fellow
who chooses to sponge on them. It may seem a drastic
suggestion, but it would be a wise and just regulation if
bankers were requested not to cash stock-riders' and
shepherds' cheques when passed through the hands of
innkeepers. I do not mean that all colonial innkeepers
are dishonest men. I do not hesitate to say that those of
them who permit farm-servants to " shout " on their
premises are.

The first thing our two friends asked for was whisky,
of which, however, they obtained but little, for most of
that brought with us had already been drunk. A life in
the wilds seems to breed an irrepressible longing for
fiery spirits ; and I regret to say that, outrageous as are
some of the tales I have heard or read of American
topers, we have men in our country who can claim,
without boasting, to be the heroes of far more dreadful
orgies than any of those related of American cow-boys.
Whisky by the glass and the bottle ! There are seasoned
stock-riders and miners among us who would think scorn
of sitting down to a less quantity than a pailful, and there
is an authenticated instance of a party of five miners who
had a thirty-six gallon barrel of whisky sent up to camp
to them, and on its arrival never left it until they had
drank every drop. Strange to say, they survived the
hoggish feast, which is a good illustration of the extreme
toughness of the Australian miner.

268 A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND

Our newly-found chums directed us to a well where
there was plenty of water, but when we arrived there we
found some swagsmen (tramps) had carried away the
bucket, and we had to draw the water and fill the trough
with our billys, which was slow work.

The swagsmen are often a great nuisance in all parts
of Australia. They now (unless really honest men in
search of work) keep on the outskirts of the settlements ;
and if they take offence at the refusal of a squatter or
stockman to give them food and lodging, they never fail
to commit some outrage to show their displeasure. They
fire the outhouses, break down the fences, open the stock-
yard gates, and commit a dozen other acts of mischief.
Of course if they are caught the punishment is sharp, and
even for the minor charge of vagrancy they seldom get
off with less than six months' hard labour ; but it is very
difficult to bring home the graver charges of incendiarism
and wanton destruction to them. It is one thing to be
convinced that you know the offender, quite another to
prove in a court of justice that he is an offender.

This petty annoyance of carrying away the bucket
from a well is very common among swagsmen. In the
case just mentioned, we found the broken bucket ten
miles away. The fellow had evidently carried water to
his next camping-place, and having used it, had wantonly
smashed the bucket.

In this plain there are no rivers, and water cannot be
found at a less depth than fourteen to eighteen feet ; but
in summer, when violent rain-storms occur, there is plenty
of surface water. Then the herbage is very luxuriant,
and there is a moderate quantity of grass all the year
round.

The object of the expedition being thought to be
now accomplished, the party proposed to return home
immediately. Accordingly, on the 27th the majority of
them started on the return journey, but I and the
gentleman who had been my particular chum or friend,
and whose tastes were similar to my own, agreed to
examine the country more closely than could be done in

BUNYA-PINE 269

a hasty ride across it. We retained with us one of the
white servants, and two of the blackfellows, and after a
day's rest at our last camping-place, restarted still in a
northerly direction.

On the 29th my companion and myself rode in a
leisurely way some sixteen miles in a valley between two
lines of cliff-like hills from six hundred to seven hundred
feet high, the flat tops of which were covered with tall
trees, many of them bunya-pines with cones thirty inches
in diameter. In the valley, among other fruits we found
the native-cherry, celebrated all over the world for its
curious berry, bearing the stone outside instead of sur-
rounded, as usual, with the pulp.

Half-way through this valley we crossed a gully full of
mud-holes, which bore signs of being a deep river in the
wet season. At present there was only an inch of water
in some of the holes ; but by digging in the mud we
obtained a plentiful supply. The banks of the gully were
ninety feet high, and the wash-line showed that the water
had at some time risen almost to the top. Probably after
heavy storms this river is a rapid torrent, flowing from
what appeared on a distant view to be a mountainous
range fifty or sixty miles to the westward of our position.

For the first time during our journey we saw a party
of natives, sixy in number, with women and children.
They stood and watched us pass, but did not attempt to
approach nor to follow us. Later in the day we saw
twelve men, perhaps a detachment of the same tribe,
watching us as we passed a native sepulchral grove in
which about a dozen dead bodies were placed in the trees.
The Australian natives, like all other men, are very jealous
of interference with their dead; and we noticed that as
soon as we had passed this grove, the twelve men turned
and went back towards the south.

The following day we crossed another river-bed, in
which there was more water than in the one described
above. This was evidently a branch of Mitchell's River —
perhaps the Lynd River. Its banks, which were steep,
and the country on each side, were well clothed with

270 A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND

timber-trees — iron-bark and other gums, and a variety of
curious and peculiar shrubs and trees which are not found
in the southern parts of the colony. Here there was an
immense variety of flowers, many of them remarkable for
strangeness of form and beauty of colour, but not one
possessing a pleasant scent, though one or two had an
exceedingly objectionable odour.

For the next day or two we were passing through a
fertile country with woods and park-like scenery, and
here and there the partly dry bed of a stream. On these
beds we were dependent for a supply of water ; for though
few of them contained much more than mud in various
stages of dryness, we could generally obtain good water
by deepening the holes a few feet. Occasionally bushes
and trees were seen growing in the beds of those streams —
a sure sign that they were only occasionally filled with
running water.

While travelling through this country we saw small
parties of the natives nearly every day, each consisting
of about twenty men, and as many women and girls, with
five or six children. Native fire-places were seen all over
the plain, so that this must be an unusually well-peopled
district ; yet game is not as abundant as it is in the
north-west. Vegetable productions are perhaps more
numerous. The bunya-pine is much relied on by the
blacks for a nourishing article of food ; insomuch that the
tree is protected by the Colonial Government on their
behalf; and the warren, or native yam, is very abundant.
The blacks cultivate this vegetable ; and we passed some
warren-grounds which were quite eight acres in extent.
The palatableness of the warren-roots is a matter of taste ;
but without question they are a very sustaining and valuable
food for the natives, and on occasion the whites are very
glad to eat them.

On the 3rd June we had reached a large river, which
we thought must be the main stream of the Mitchell. It
was about forty yards wide at this time, but there was
evidence that it was a much larger stream in the wet
season. It was now easily fordable everywhere, as there

THE AUSTRALIAN DRAGON 271

were many dry banks in mid-stream, and the water only
averaged two feet deep. The fish seemed to be suffering
from the heat, as they were crowded into the deep holes.
We caught a few dozens of them, consisting of bream,
cat-fish, and the five-spotted fish described in the chapter
on the North- West region.

On the 3rd of June I saw for the first time that
curious creature the Australian dragon, or frilled lizard
{Chlamydosaunis Kingi), a remarkably specialised creature,
insomuch that it habitually waddles about on its hind legs,
and never runs on all fours like other lizards. It is a
large lizard, often growing to a length of nearly a yard,
not more than a third of which is allotted to the tail. It
is of sluggish habits, and lives among the scanty scrub in
barren, sandy spots. It does not appear to dwell in holes,
or to resort to them for protection ; and its only means of
defence appears to consist in its huge frill, which is dilatable,
and when extended completely conceals the animal from
an enemy advancing in front. It also tries intimidation as
a means of defence ; and I have proved that this is
successful in protecting it from the attack of snakes,
which are probably its chief enemies. When an enemy
approaches it, it still retains the upright position, and
lashing furiously with its tail, grins in an appalling
manner, exposing all its teeth ; yet when seized it never
makes the slightest attempt to bite, and may be handled
with impunity. Its food consists of insects of all kinds,
and also other lizards ; but, like many other reptiles, it
goes long intervals of time between its meals. In captivity
one meal in six weeks' time is sufficient to keep it in health,
and it probably does not feed more frequently when at
large. It is not an abundant reptile.

Other lizards are very plentiful in species and numbers
throughout this district, the most abundant being two
species of the Ablepharus genus, both of very small size
and active habits ; and the monitor ( Varanus sa/vator),
which is more abundant here than in Western Australia,
and also, I think, more aquatic in its habits ; though it is,
in all parts of the continent where it is found, more often

272 A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND

met with on land than in the water. I have found specimens
at a very great distance from water or moist ground.

I cannot attempt to describe the mammals and birds
of this district, there is such a multitude of species. Nearly
all the species found in New South Wales, and most of
those of Western Australia, are more or less common here.
Cockatoos and parrots swarm, the common lemon-
crested {Cacatua galerita), the slender-billed (Lichmetis
nasica), and the red-breasted {Cacatua roseicapilla) being
among the most abundant in the Mitchell's River district.
Here also we shot several of the remarkably coloured,
blood-stained cockatoo {Cacatua sanguined). The black
cockatoo of this district {Microglossus aterrimus) is a
different species to the birds of this colour found on other
parts of the continent, and is by far the largest bird of
the parrot genus found in Australia, Its formidable, sharp-
pointed beak measures more than three inches along the
curve, and it is dangerous to pick up a slightly wounded
bird, as the wound it inflicts is a deep and clean cut as
that of a knife.

This cockatoo, which is not so deep a black in colour
as some others of the genus, having a greyish tinge on a
great part of the plumage, is much larger than the scarlet
macaw. It is a comparatively scarce bird, and never
collects in large flocks like other cockatoos, about a
dozen being the greatest number I have ever seen together ;
more often the groups contain five or six birds only,
while pairs, and single birds are frequently met with. It
is a solitude-loving, forest-haunting species, only rarely
visiting the open plains, and always exceedingly shy of
the approach of man.

The remarkable length, strength, and fineness of point
of the beak, have attracted the attention and conjectures
of naturalists ever since the bird has been known, and Dr
Wallace has given an elaborate description of its special
use in enabling the cockatoo to extract the kernel of the
canary-nut. This description is ingenious, but will not
hold good for the Australian bird, in which country, so
far as I have been able to discover, the canary-nut

GREAT BLACK COCKATOO 273

{Canarium commune) is unknown. In another point
also, I must differ from Dr Wallace. He says that the
bird is easily killed. Really it will carry as much shot
as a swan. In Australia its food consists of leaves, buds,
blossoms, and all the fruits and nuts of the northern
region, including the kernels of the bunya-pine cone ;
and I have seen them searching the rough wrinkles of
the bark of trees in search of the larva, etc., of various
beetles, and other insects. The slender-billed cockatoo
has the same habit, and as its beak is very long, and
terminates in a sharp point, like that of the large black
cockatoo, it seems likely that the beak has acquired its
peculiar shape in both cases from the particular habits of
the bird.

The great black cockatoo breeds, like all others of the
genus, in the hollows of trees, always in the seclusion of
a forest or large wood, and always at a considerable height
from the ground. The eggs, which are two in number,
are of the typical parrot shape, and quite as large as those
of a hen. I have never found the young birds. In May
and June most of the parrots and cockatoos in the
Mitchell's River district were just beginning to breed.
Many nests had eggs in them ; but all these were freshly
laid. I use the word nests advisedly, for while Australian
parrots are not strictly nest-makers, most of them make
some slight preparation in the nesting-hole. In the case
of the great black cockatoo, there is a quantity of the dust
of decayed wood spread at the bottom of the hollow,
which is usually six or seven inches deep, the bird having
scraped it down from the sides of the hole in which the
eggs are laid, and this to some extent is plastered together
with the excrement of the young or old cockatoos, who
appear to use the same hole year after year.

The slender-billed cockatoo often places a layer of dry
leaves in the breeding place, and in other cases (I am not
sure of the species), I have found a little grass under the
eggs of a cockatoo.

I must notice one more highly characteristic bird of
the north Australian fauna — that is the cassowary. Though

S

274 A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND

cassowaries are found on several islands of the Indian seas,
and also in New Guinea, not a great distance from the
spot where my study of the bird was made, yet the
cassowary of each district or island is said to be specifi-
cally distinct, and is certainly at least a well-marked
variety.

The Australian cassowary {Casuarius australis) has
a very limited habitat, not being found south of the tropic
of Capricorn, except as an accidental wanderer, and but
rarely, at the present day, wandering south of the twentieth
parallel. To me it is a very puzzling bird, and it is
difficult to perceive any use of the extraordinary horny
crest, which, with its remarkable skin colouration about
the throat and neck, are its two most prominent character-
istics. How this horny crest and this bright colouring were
acquired it is impossible to conjecture, and it is certain
that no definite conclusion could be arrived at unless we
had particulars of a long line of the bird's ancestors — a
knowledge, it may be taken for granted, which will not
now ever be acquired by the evolutionist.

I am not sure that the cassowary is not the largest
bird on the Australian continent. It stands higher than
the emu, is stronger on the leg, and often quite as bulky
at least, as that bird. But it is shorter bodied than the
emu, and habitually stands more upright. It is also a
swifter runner than the emu, and a far more intelligent
bird. Cassowaries are not often found as pets among the
colonials, probably owing to their scarcity and limited
range ; but where they are they invariably show a
marked attachment to their masters, and, indeed, to all
that treat them kindly. Sometimes a tame cassowary
will follow its master about like a dog.

In a wild state they are never gregarious. Solitary
cassowaries are frequently met with, especially when the
breeding season is well over. During the breeding season
the birds are mostly met with in pairs. They are not
nearly so prolific as the emus. Three or four eggs is the
number laid. They are placed together in a slight
hollow of the ground, generally well hid in thick scrub,

HABITS OF CASSOWARY 275

and are of a very dark green colour. It is only by the
darkness of colour that I have usually been able to
distinguish cassowary from emu eggs, the latter often
being light green in tint. As with the emu, it is the
cock bird which incubates the eggs and generally looks
after the hatched young ; but both parents remain with
the brood until the young are fully grown or nearly so.
Thus, when the breeding season is well over, five or six
cassowaries may be seen together, and this is the greatest
number I have ever seen in a flock.

The cassowary is a shy and wary bird, and it is but
rarely that the natives succeed in killing or capturing the
fully grown ones. The young, however, are sometimes
caught by being driven into pitfalls from which they
cannot leap like their parents ; and some of the young are
killed by dingoes, though these animals run great risk of
attack from the old birds.

Contrary to the general assertion of popular works
on natural history, the Australian cassowary is not a
forest-haunting bird. It prefers scrub-covered country, and
its range of vision is very great, and its power of scent
not less acute. It is almost omnivorous in its diet, though
fruit and vegetable substances seem to form the bulk of
its food. It will, however, pounce upon any stray rat or
lizard that comes in its way ; and I have seen one seize
a water tortoise, and, with one well-directed blow against a
stone, smash the shell and then swallow the unfortunate
animal as a thrush will a snail. The emu has been seen
to do the same thing ; in fact, both species eat a quantity
of animal matter, just as both eat berries and scratch the
ground like hens in search of roots and minute substances,
the nature of which I could not ascertain, but which are
probably the larvae of insects, eggs of worms, flies,
locusts, etc.

The cassowary has the habit off rolling in dust and
sand, like a hen, and when doing so it often turns com-
pletely on its back, kicking the air violently with its feet.
Cassowaries are in all respects more lively birds than
emus ; they often playfully chase each other, and have a

276 A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND

habit of running round in a circular direction, apparently
simply for amusement.

About the southernmost limit of their range cassowaries
and emus inhabit the same districts ; but they never
actually intermingle ; and, advancing northward, the casso-
wary will be found to rapidly supplant the emu, which is
not found, except as a straggler, in the extreme north of
the continent.

Unless prompt measures are taken for its protection,
the cassowary will soon be an extinct bird on the Australian
continent. The extraordinary crest, or helmet, is a
curiosity much sought for by some persons ; and the bird
is greatly harassed by stock-riders, shepherds, and other
people of similar classes, who shoot them at long range with
rifles ; and, as no discretion regarding season or condition
is observed and the bird is far from prolific, its numbers
have already been greatly reduced.

Beyond the Mitchell River no striking change in the
scenery of the country was observed, and of necessity we
were compelled to turn homeward, the route being taken
on a line which ran much nearer to the sea-coast than the
one we had been following.

At the farthest point we reached the country was well
stocked with game, consisting of several species of the
kangaroo tribe and birds without number, including
bustards. Apparently there is but one species of bustard
{Eupodotis australis) in Australia ; but the birds of this
kind inhabiting the north are a much deeper brown in
colour than those found in the south. The two kinds seem
to be what some writers term " local varieties " ; and it
can scarcely be denied that locality has some effect in
moderating species. The subject seems to need further
study. It is not certain that the Australian bustard is a
distinct species. It at least greatly resembles the
Eupodotis edwardsi of India and other parts of Asia.

During the latter part of our journey home we had to
subsist almost entirely on the flesh of wallaby and birds
and a few fish which we caught in the billabongs and
water-holes. It may be worth noting that as the waters

INSTINCT OF FISH 277

of the rivers dry up or evaporate, the fish either collect in
the deep holes or retire to the lower reaches of the river,
where they have sufficient water for their needs. They
must be possessed of unerring instinct, if not positive
knowledge, for those holes to which they retire have water
in them all the year round. A few fish, however, perish ;
for in most of the holes a few are found imprisoned —
individuals which appear to have delayed their retreat too
long — but the numbers which so perish are so small as
scarcely to be worth notice. For instance, in a pretty big
hole I have seen five or six bream imprisoned, which may
have had the good fortune to exist in the muddy slush (it
could scarcely be called water) until a fall of rain gave
them a fresh supply of their native element. On the other
hand, in holes which had a good depth of water, and were
probably permanently wet, the fish are sometimes crowded
together in great numbers. If the natives find such collec-
tions they capture the whole in their hand-nets.

The natives did not appear to be so numerous along
the coast (at a distance inland of twenty or thirty miles)
as they are further inland ; but we met a few small tribes
of them, with two of which we held friendly intercourse,
and purchased some warren-roots, and other articles from
them ; for, of course, we did not help ourselves from the
numerous warren grounds we passed. Nothing could
justify a robbery of these poor people, except the last
necessity of the robber.

Nothing of interest occurred on the last days of this
ramble ; and the country can only be described as the
most mountainous I have seen in Australia. Several of
the summits exceed three thousand feet in height, and
one, Bellenden Ker, exceeds five thousand. They are all
typical Australian heights, most of them flat-topped and
cliff-faced ; and on all those is far less forest-growth than
would be found upon similar hills in any other parts of the
world.

The most interesting feature of this region is the lovely
fern-gullies. In ferns surely Australia can champion the
whole earth ! When in these gullies, we were completely

278 A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND

buried, man and horse, in the fern-growth ; and the beauty
and delicacy of many of the fronds is beyond description.

Although Port Denison was our ultimate destination,
we turned into Cardwell on the 14th of June for a good
rest before finishing our journey, and here I must conclude
the chapter.

CHAPTER XX

THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

TAKING up the books of the early navigators we find the
black of the land called indifferently "the native" or "the
aborigine," and his mental and moral qualities are
generally painted in colour a good deal blacker than his
skin. Colloquially, he is known as "a blackfellow" on the
east, and " a blackboy " on the west side of the continent ;
and so much has been written about him, that it may be
thought that I could better utilise the space than by adding
my quota to his description. My object is rather to correct
errors concerning the native Australian than to paint an
original portrait of him ; yet I think there is still some-
thing that is new to be recorded on the subject. The
extent to which writers contradict each other when
writing of the blackfellow is sufficient proof that they have
very little first-hand knowledge of him ; and even eminent
navigators and explorers have too often substituted what
they thought for what they ought to have known.

The Australian black has been, by a majority of writers,
described as the most degraded of savages. He is a
savage, but is not, by many degrees, the most degraded
of savages ; on the contrary, he is remarkably intelligent,
and quite as cleanly and well-behaved as the drunken sots
who may be seen at some of our low drinking-dens,
" shouting," and " lambing down." He has many vices ;
but, in the face of frail humanity, of all races is it just to
dwell on the failings of a poor child of the wild, who has
not had thrust upon him, as the white has, the training and
traditions of a thousand generations of civilisation — not

279

280 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

thrust upon him, at any rate, with the fostering hand of
love, though the attempt to do it with the iron fist of
policy may have been made, with a selfish aim in view —
i.e., to keep in control what is an acknowledged trouble,
and possible danger.

So much I will say ; but I am glad to acknowledge
that on the whole, especially of late years, my countrymen
have treated the blackfellow with kindness and considera-
tion ; and many just rules and regulations have been made
by Colonial Legislators for his protection. There are no
thinking men in Australia, and few men of any class, who
would now tolerate the sight of the last miserable remnant
of native life committed to a small boat ; and, prostrated
with sea-sickness, rowed away to some wretched isle of a
few acres in extent to die out of a broken heart — executed
by slow torture : that is the blunt truth of it. Such was
the fate of the last half-dozen aborigines of Tasmania.
But the age of such stupid, clumsy cruelty has passed away
for ever, and I can boast that my countrymen have never
subjected the blackfellow to such injustice as the American
" Red-men " have suffered. Yet past generations of
Australians have much to answer for. My happiness is to
know that the present generation will endorse all that I
can truthfully say in favour of the doomed native.
For doomed he is by the immutable laws of progress,
which knowledge and science may help on to the coming
and ameliorate to the going, but cannot stop or alter.
The Australian negro, unlike his African brother, is for
some inscrutable purpose of nature barred from the
acceptance of civilisation and its binding rules, and there-
fore not even the hand of love can save him from the
inevitable fate which always overtakes a people unable to
move forwards. Like a stagnant pool which has no
feeder, the native race of Australia must dry up.

It is stated by many writers that there are two distinct
races of aborigines in Australia. It may be so, but I have
never been able to perceive any difference in the blacks
but that which arises out of the accidents of locality and
circumstances. For instance, the blacks of the northern

HIS WORST VICE 281

part of the continent, where the climate is more benignant,
and game and food of all sorts more abundant, are a much
finer set of men than those of the south, where the
necessaries of life are more difficult to obtain. The food
question is really the question of human life ; and this is
proved not only by the quality of the blackfellow, but also
by his numbers, which are, I should think, quite ten-fold
more numerous in the north than in the arid parched
deserts of the south. In the north also the native is a fine
upright and muscular man, in the south he is generally a
puny creature with thin lanky limbs. In the north he is
seldom under five feet four or five inches in height, and is
often five feet ten, or even more ; in the south, men who
have ceased to grow, and are therefore fully developed are
often not more than four feet five or six, and in the
districts about King George's Sound and Swan River,
five feet four inches is a good average height. In general
intelligence the Australian black is entitled to take a high
place. Those accounts which represent him as sunken in
irretrievable sloth and degradation are not to be relied on.
He is, in all parts of the country, acute, intelligent, and,
on the spur of necessity, remarkably energetic and
resourceful. Treachery and ingratitude are rare vices
with him, so rare that I cannot recollect, at this moment,
an instance of betrayal of trust on his part.

He has certainly some very shocking vices. He is
extremely brutal to his women, and though he is some-
times given to jealous emotions, he has no sense of virtue
in regard to those poor creatures, who are always his
slaves. It is not an unusual thing for him to sell his wife
for a little tobacco, or a similar paltry consideration ; and
the unfortunate woman is beaten unmercifully at the
caprice of her lord. She never wilfully gives him cause of
complaint, but any little accident, such as the breaking of
his pipe, or the loss of any of his savage weapons or
implements of the chase, is most surely punished with a
murderous assault, in which it is quite likely the ruffian
husband will break some of her bones. This despiteful
use of woman is one of the worst traits of the Australian

282 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

black's disposition. Other prevalent vices are the crimes
of infanticide, and the murder of the aged, cruelties to
which the blackfellow is sometimes driven by paucity of
food, not, I think, by a murderous disposition. While
the poor old people can toddle after the tribe they are
permitted to do so, and some fragments of food may be
thrown to them, but when, worn out with age and semi-
starvation, they can no longer keep up with the young and
active savages, they are left to their fate. Young children,
too, are left to perish in the desert. Sometimes the
mother's love for her little one induces her to linger behind
to care for the child her husband has ordained to die.
Then fearful is the beating she receives, and in such cases
the savage man may brain the infant with his waddy, but
as a rule blood is not actually shed. The black avoids
witnessing the death of his victims, and sometimes he
evinces no small affection for his offspring. The black
mother is invariably a good parent, and she has a most
pathetic custom of carrying about with her the bones of a
deceased child. These she often puts together with a
rapidity and correctness that would not shame a professor
of anatomy, and when the little skeleton is set up, she will
talk mother's loving nonsense to it by the hour at a
stretch.

In his relationship with the white man, the Australian
black has often done splendid service as friend and
servant. He has been faithful and true in the hour of dire
peril ; and to his local knowledge and ability as a resource-
ful bushman some of our exploring expeditions have been
more beholden than they have acknowledged.

It is very difficult to obtain information concerning the
past history of the aborigines. In my opinion, there is
but one race of them ; the so-called tribes are probably
family parties, more or less individually related to each
other. These parties or tribes consist of from twenty to
eighty persons each, women and children included, the
latter rarely exceeding an eighth of the whole ; and a tribe
has possession of a certain extent of territory, which is
never encroached on by the neighbouring tribes without

NO EVIDENCE OF TWO RACES 283

an immediate quarrel ensuing. Such a thing as an
accidental trespass is never admitted. The consequence
is, that tribes which are far removed from one another have
no intercourse ; and yet language and customs do not
differ so much as might be expected under such circum-
stances. There is a marked difference in this respect
between the natives of the north and those of the east and
south ; and the former use many Malay words, or words
which have a Malay base, and this, I think, is one reason
why they have been supposed by some writers to be of
Malay origin. But there is no universal language in any
part of Australia, and languages often differ most markedly
amongst tribes living in immediate proximity to each
other. The inhabitants of the north have from time
immemorial had much intercourse with Malays and other
Asiatics — hence the importation of foreign words, customs,
and, in some degree I daresay, foreign blood ; but there is
not sufficient evidence to justify the positive assertion, so
often made, that there are two distinct races of aborigines
in Australia.

None of the native blacks, in any region of the
continent, are prolific. Few of the women have more than
three or four children, and of these more than half perish
in infancy. Many are born dead as the outcome of
brutality on the part of men anxious not to be burdened
with a large family. The woman carries one child on her
back ; if she again becomes a mother before this child is
capable of taking care of itself, the father usually insists
on the abandonment of the baby.

In some tribes the young black has to undergo torture
before he is admitted to the privileges of manhood, in
others he has only to distinguish himself by skill in
hunting or bravery in war, in others again skill and daring
in wife-snatching is the test of manhood.

The wife is generally obtained by theft, and often a
great wife-stealer will obtain many women in this way,
some of whom he will sell to men of his tribe : for though
a man to win a name for bravery and cunning must steal
at least one wife, he may purchase others. The wife is

284 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

usually stolen from a tribe to which the robber does not
belong. He rarely steals from a tribe with which his own
is at enmity, and sometimes there is connivance on the
part of the girl's friends. But the modus operandi is
always the same. The robber steals into the territory of
a neighbouring tribe, and, having marked the girl he
wishes for, he awaits an opportunity of surprising her, and
then, springing suddenly on her, with one brutal blow he
knocks her senseless, and throwing the inanimate body
across his shoulder, runs in all haste for his own territory.
But the affair does not end here. The girl's friends make
a complaint, for they always seem to know what has
become of her. This complaint is taken up by the tribe
against which the outrage was committed, and certain
proceedings on the part of the robber's tribe are the results
of a formal complaint. These proceedings are commonly
stated by the old writers on the subject to have been
invariably hostile; but I suspect on very good evidence
that what followed was more of a farce than a serious
business. At any rate, the culprit was required to stand
a trial, which took place on the border ground of the
territory of the two tribes concerned. The headmen
of each tribe, generally about a dozen or twenty in
number, assembled at the appointed place with the
tribal chiefs and the culprit. No other persons were
allowed to be present. All were fully armed, except the
robber, and ornamented with war-paint of red or white
colour, and as a preliminary, there was a great deal of
gasconade and flourishing of weapons, the object of both
sides being to show what very fine warlike fellows they
were.

The actual trial began by the stolen girl's male relatives
placing themselves in front of the robber at the distance
of about thirty yards, each man being armed with three
spears and a wommerah or throwing-stick, the offender
being allowed no weapon except his ellyman, or long,
narrow, parrying-shield. Each of the offended tribesmen
hurled his three spears at the wife-stealer, who, of course,
easily parried them. There is not a native in Australia

WIFE STEALING 285

who fears a spear hurled at his front, so quick of eye are
they all that they can avoid a thrown missile with perfect
ease. This part of the trial was certainly a farce. The
second part may also have been so, though it had a more
formidable appearance. It consisted of a personal duel
with waddies or clubs between the nearest relative of the
girl and her abductor. The latter had to bear the first
blow, and, strange to say, it never seemed to fell him, far
less to have fatal results. Having borne the thwack, he
straightened himself up and prepared in turn to administer
a blow on the hair-matted cobbera or head of his opponent,
who was compelled to stoop to receive the crushing blow.
And so the game went on, knock after knock being
alternately administered until one of the combatants was
floored. The victor was greeted with acclamations, both
parties yelled their exultation at the lively entertainment,
and the day's sport terminated with a grand combined
corroboree, at which the full strength of each tribe
(including the dusky beauties) were present.

How matters terminated if the wife-stealer were killed
or defeated I know not, for I could never learn of a case
in which he was defeated, a sufficient proof, it seems to me,
that the whole proceeding was, like many of the solemn
ceremonies of civilised procedure, a formal farce. I have
written the account of this quaint trial in the past tense,
for wife-stealing and many other old native habits and
customs seem to have died out, or nearly so, within the
past few years. This may be chiefly owing to the fact
that the native blacks are thinning out rapidly, and many
of the tribes have no longer neighbours to rob of their
daughters.

The woman is the absolute property of the man.
According to native law, or rather custom, he may beat,
ill-use, or kill her at his pleasure. She is always his hard-
worked slave, and must submit herself to any man her
husband chooses to lend or sell her to. Her father may give
her, as maid or widow, to whom he pleases. If the father
is dead, her brother, and after him the nearest male relative
becomes her owner, with plenary powers to sell, beat, or

286 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

slay her. An awful fact to state, but not one whit
exaggerated. Of course, colonial law affords her some
protection — in theory. Of late years I believe the natives
are more closely watched, and perhaps, on the whole, the
native woman has not so hard a time of it as she had
formerly ; but I fear it must be stated that her best pro-
tection lies in the fact that she is too valuable a slave to
her husband to be rashly destroyed.

Once married or owned, the greatest part of her time
is taken up in providing for her husband and children if
she has any ; and hard as her lot invariably is, she is
probably better off when married than when single.
Natural affection does sometimes assert itself even among
savages, and though the Australian man is too often a brute,
he does sometimes show a marked affection for his wife
and children. At any rate, the married woman has only
to provide for the wants of her husband and children, while
the young unmarried girl is the slave of all her male
relations, and suffers blows and other ill-usage from every
member of her family, besides having to toil incessantly
for their benefit She it is who digs the warren patch, and
sees to the weeding and watering of the roots ; and she it is
who spends every moment which can be spared from her
other occupations in hunting the snakes from their holes,
and climbing the trees in search of the opossum, and
pursuing other small game for the provision of the family
which claims her as its property.

Regarding the personal appearance of the aboriginal
woman, she is almost invariably described as one of the
ugliest of her sex. That is scarcely the truth, though it
is true that she is not a beauty. She is usually undersized
and shrivelled in flesh from semi-starvation and excess of
toil, and her features are those of a type usually found
amongst the uneducated and down-trodden ; yet they are
not lacking in intelligent expression ; indeed, this expression
is common to all the Australian blacks, in spite of their
misery and degradation. Whatever the woman is told to
do she does instantly, obeying orders with the alacrity of
a well-drilled soldier. She has, in fact, no will of her own.

DAINTY BITS 287

She is extremely susceptible to kindness, and, as is recorded
of the women of most savage people, very apt to entertain
a dog-like affection and fidelity for those white men who
form connections with them ; and in spite of the lack of
personal attractions in the native women, their white
husbands generally become strongly attached to them,
and rarely forsake them. Unions between white men and
native women are by no means rare among such classes
as shepherds, stock-riders, and men of the lower classes
generally, who live much on the back-runs, where white
women are seldom or never seen.

The food of the native black consists of everything
swallowable which he can lay hands on. It has been
asserted that he eats the most revolting objects, such as
slugs, worms, and beetles. Well, I have seen boiled snails
placed for sale in a shop at Bristol, and heard that it was a
common dish in that part of England. It is true that the
black esteems certain large grubs a great dainty, and
habitually eats large numbers of snakes. 1 have not seen
him eat worms or beetles, but I have seen several persons
of no mean station in English society eat cheese which
was alive with maggots, to say nothing of their fondness
for stinking game. Tastes are certainly variable, and the
liking of the Australian black for grubs and snakes is no
sufficient evidence of his being a peculiarly disgusting
feeder. The assertion that he eats his offensive tit-bits
raw is not, I think, correct. My experience is that, with
few exceptions, he cooks his food. Snakes and grubs are
grilled, and so are all kinds of fish and game. Shell-fish
and a few other dainties he prefers to eat raw ; and most
civilised men think an oyster spoiled if cooked. Again I
say that tastes are relative. Hodge, who sits under a
hedge to eat his bread and bacon, is a vulgar creature in
the eyes of some fantastical persons — the great landscape
painter generally esteems him a very picturesque figure.

The bulk of the native blackfellow's food is of a similar
character to that which all hunters esteem and eat with
gusto. He contrives to procure fish and game of
all sorts, and where these abound he is a well-fed and

288 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

well-developed man, strong, lithe, and of great powers of
endurance. I notice some of his most ingenious methods
of capturing the animals on which he loves to feed ; for
the man pursues the larger game and that which is most
difficult to secure, leaving to the woman the task of collect-
ing the smaller fry mentioned above.

Kangaroo and wallaby are captured in several ways,
the two most frequently resorted to being the chase with
dogs and the pitfall. In both the game is driven into a
crowd with the aid of the semi-tame dingo dogs. In the
chase the men surround the troop of frightened kangaroos
and spear them as they attempt to escape. If a herd of
sixty or seventy are driven together, the hunters think
they have had very good luck if they succeed in killing
eight or ten of that number.

The pitfall is a short trench ten and sometimes thirty
or forty yards long and nine or ten feet deep. In section it
is V-shaped, and the kangaroos of whatever size that fall
into the trenches, being unable to obtain a purchase for
their paws, cannot leap out, and are most effectually trapped.
A line of pitfalls is made across the country, and they
are generally placed in echelon, so that those kangaroos
which escape or try to avoid the first pits they come to
have still many chances against them. This pitfall
method is the best way of hunting such game as kangaroos
and wallabies, as the animals over a wide area of country
are driven together and forced to fly, by men and dogs, in
the desired direction. Though, of course, the majority
escape, many animals are sure to be taken ; and it is not
unusual for an emu or two to be thus captured, for the
wedge-shaped pit is admirably adapted for holding fast the
unfortunate creatures that slip into them ; and the skill
evinced by the blackfellows in the construction of these
pits, and in the use of the wommera, or throwing-stick, and
of the boomerang, show conclusively the high order of his
natural intelligence, for all these inventions are mechanical
contrivances of the highest ingenuity. It is vain to argue
that they are chance discoveries — all human inventions
have taken their beginnings in chance. It is only superior

METHODS OF HUNTING 289

intelligences who have taken advantage of chance dis-
coveries, and turned them into lasting benefits to their
fellows.

In the art of fishing the native black is very skilful,
and he uses a great variety of contrivances for the capture
of marine and fluvial creatures. Sea-going canoes have
never, to my knowledge, been in use among the aborigines ;
but in some parts of the country they use rafts, which
enable them to cross straits and reach islands that are at
no great distance from the coast. From those rafts they
occasionally fish ; but the usual method is to stand on
the sea-shore, and with hook and line capture the littoral
species of fish. Formerly the blackfellow made his own
hooks from pieces of bone ; but for a long time past most
of the tribes, except those far in the interior of the
country, have contrived to become possessed of the wire-
hooks of civilised man. But the favourite way of fishing
is by means of nets. In the manufacture of nets the
aborigines are exceedingly skilful, and some of those
made for the capture of wildfowl, etc., are of very great
size ; long enough to go right across a small river, and high
enough, when elevated on poles, to intercept the flying
ducks and other birds which it is the object of the netter
to capture. The nets are put into position at the dusk
of evening, and the birds become entangled in them as
they fly home to roost.

The twine of which the nets are made is neatly spun
by the women from a kind of flax which grows in marshes
and near rivers in nearly all parts of the country ; and I
have seen nets made of rushes and grasses. Although
the poor women have not the advantages of our tools and
methods, the workmanship of their nets is very beautiful,
and superior to ours.

The nets used for the capture of fish are mostly hand-
nets. These are short lengths of net fastened between
two sticks, and the fishers may either enter the water in
numbers and join hands, forming a large circle in which
the fish are enclosed and driven into shallow water, where
they are easily captured, or the men may work singly, in

T

290 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

which case the full activity of the naked black is brought
into play. He chases the fish in the water so quickly and
skilfully that he often fairly runs them down before
clasping them in his clap-net, for clap-net is the proper
designation of his strange implement.

The weapons of the Australian aborigines are more
numerous than those of most savage people ; but he has
never used one most important weapon of the chase and
warfare which has been in use at some period and in some
form (long or cross) amongst almost every tribe and
nation on earth, that is, the bow. For hunting, the
Australian black relies mostly on the spear and the
boomerang, but the latter weapon is not in universal use.
The northern tribes, or at any rate most of them, are
unacquainted with it, a circumstance which shows how
limited is the communication between the tribes of this
people. The spear is generally hurled with the aid of a
throwing-stick called a wommera. This remarkable and
most ingenious contrivance is about a yard long. It is
very narrow at one end, but gradually increases in width
until it is two inches wide, or perhaps wider, at the butt-
end, which is held in the hand. At the narrow end there
is a projection or nut, against which the butt of the spear
is pressed, with the length of the wommera parallel to the
shaft of the spear and close to it. The thrower holds the
wommera at the broad end, with the fingers lightly
clasping the spear. Then, throwing the arm as far back
as he can, he launches the spear forward with much
greater force than he could if he attempted to throw it
without the aid of the wommera. Some authorities say
that the thrower bends the spear against the nut of the
wommera, so as to give the weapon a spring when it is
hurled. I have not observed this myself, and no black-
fellow whom I have consulted knew of such a contrivance
for increasing the force of the flying spear. With the aid of
a wommera the spear can be thrown a distance of about
seventy yards, which is quite twenty yards further than it
can be hurled by hand alone.

The marksmanship of the black in spear-throwing is not

SPEAR-THROWING 291

very notable. As with civilised men, the skill of individuals
among the blacks in all their exercises and crafts differs
considerably. Some men throw the spear with much
greater sureness of aim than others. A good spearman
will hit a mark the size of a man, or a large kangaroo,
about once in four or five throws at a distance of fifty
yards. When hunting each man carries a bundle of about
a dozen spears, which he places on the ground at his feet.
As the game is driven past him, he throws spear after
spear as fast as he can pick them up, and it is hard luck
for him if he does not bring down at least one of the
flying animals, which are compelled to pass him at a
distance, at most, of twenty-five or thirty yards, as the
whole tribe will be standing in a line before the beaters,
who are generally the women and children, with the dogs
and a few men to direct their movements.

In war the spear is used mostly in hand to hand
combats ; if thrown it is at the back of an enemy, or in
surprises. For if they see the spear coming, all the
natives can avoid it with perfect ease, so keen of sight
and agile of body are they.

The wommera is pretty generally used all over the
continent, only a few tribes being unacquainted with its
use. But the now extinct inhabitants of Tasmania never
used it.

The boomerang, as I have already stated, is not by
any means a universally known weapon on the Australian
continent. It is used more frequently in the east and
south than in other parts of the country. The shape of
the weapon is familiar to most people. It is a flat piece
of wood, about thirty inches long, of the shape of the
segment of a circle, with one end straightened to form a
handle. It is thrown at an object on the arc of a circle,
and revolves and gyrates in the air in an extraordinary
way. On striking an object, or the ground, it rebounds to
within a few yards of the feet of the thrower. Hurled
among a flock of birds, it generally knocks down several.
It is not so successful when thrown at objects on
the ground ; but it is a nasty weapon to encounter in

292 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

close fight. In some tribes the boomerang is called a
kiley.

Formerly the natives used stone axes, called " toma-
hawks " by the early explorers ; but this is an American
Red Indian word. The natives, however, have generally
adopted, and for many years past they have been well
supplied with, steel hatchets and choppers, which have
quite supplanted the stone implement.

The waddy is a club about a yard long, and much
heavier at one end than the other. It is used in single
combat, and for a variety of purposes, as the killing of
snakes and larger animals which have been run down or
captured in pitfalls, and, I regret to record, for woman-
beating.

Another very formidable weapon of the blackfellow is
shaped like a one-armed pick-axe. It is very sharp-
pointed, of handy size and weight, and at close quarters
is so good a weapon that, armed with one and an ellyman
or shield, a blackfellow has been known to maintain a
stubborn hand to hand combat with a mounted police
officer, who was unable, though a very experienced
swordsman, to cut him down. Finally the black drove
his liangle through the nose of his opponent's horse, and
leaving it there, made good his escape. This weapon is
generally called a liangle, but I have some doubt if this
is the original native name for it. It has a suspiciously
European sound, which makes one think that, like M toma-
hawk," it may be a word adopted by the Australian
blacks.

The intelligence and ingenuity shown by the native
in the making of several of his weapons, particularly the
boomerang and the wommera, is sufficient to show that
the charge, so often rashly made against him, of being
an utterly forsaken and unimprovable savage cannot be
maintained.

Concerning his personal courage, it may be said to be
of a high order. When Captain Cook attempted to land
on a spot on the coast of New South Wales, two men,
one of whom was a mere youth, fetched a bundle of spears

DETERMINED BRAVERY 29

o

from the bush, and, standing fully exposed on the rocks,
defied the landing of two boats' crews. What praise and
reward would be given to two European soldiers who
showed such determined bravery ! Time after time have
the natives displayed a bravery as firm as that of their two
heroic ancestors; and even after they had become aware
of the deadly nature of firearms, they often showed an
utter fearlessness in attacking police and soldiers. I do
not pose as the apologist of the native of Australia ; but
it is a fact which cannot be contradicted, that the first
settlers of the continent behaved with great brutality to
the native tribes, often shooting them down without the
slightest provocation — in a panic of unreasoning fear, it
would seem. This very naturally led to reprisals, which
unfortunately often fell upon innocent heads, and a
frightful state of revengeful murder was the consequence,
in which the white savage showed that he could be quite
as cruel and unrelenting as the black one. Happily this
state of things has passed away for ever, and there is not
in any other part of the world a large tract of land in
which the aboriginal population gives the usurper so little
trouble as in Australia.

Generally, the blackfellow goes perfectly nude. Cloaks,
however, are occasionally worn by both sexes, those of
the men completely covering the back, while those of the
women come down to the knee, and not infrequently to
the ankle. The women also wear aprons, these and the
cloaks being made of kangaroo and wallaby skins ; but
some individuals show great taste in the making of these
articles of dress ; and I have seen very handsome cloaks
and aprons made of opossum and other small mammal
skins, and sometimes of the feathered skins of emus. Some
are even ornamented with the brightly coloured feathers
of parrots, cockatoos, and small birds. The native does
not, as a rule, wear a waist-cloth ; but I have seen such a
covering used by women, though the females generally
display but little sense of shame, and when at work, or
carrying heavy articles, go as naked as the men.

Head ornaments are sometimes used. Those which

294 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

are most characteristically aboriginal are shark's teeth,
and those of kangaroos and other terrestrial animals.
Bits of coloured coral are also used for this purpose, and
individual instances have come under my notice of a great
variety of natural objects being utilised for hair ornamenta-
tion, such as small, vividly coloured shells, fruit-stones,
and the tips of animals tails and feathers. All these are
firmly glued to the hair with a kind of bitumen, obtained
in some instances, in the inland marshes.

A very curious article is the hunger-belt. I have
never heard of any such contrivance being used among
the savages of other countries ; and its invention is
another proof of the unusual intelligence of the Australian
black. It is usually made of the skin of an animal such as
the wallaby or kangaroo, and is frequently highly orna-
mented. It is tied tightly round the stomach when the
savage has to go on short commons, and the more
hungry he becomes the tighter he braces his belt ; and
this compression of the empty stomach is said to afford him
much relief from the pangs of starvation.

Many of the old fashions and beliefs, however, have
died out. The blackfellow and his wife now ornament
themselves with the tawdry finery of the colonist, which
is always to be had for the asking from the squatter's wife
and daughters. The black is no longer shot on presenting
himself at the lonely station — there is rather a tendency
to make a pet of him ; and instead of putting on his
hunger-belt in times of scarcity, he betakes himself to the
nearest station, where he is always sure of obtaining food.
Indeed, many tribes reside habitually on the outskirts of the
stations, where they live on the entrails and ofTal of the
slaughtered sheep and cattle, and such broken victuals as
the " hands " and the squatter's wife is sure to give them
willingly. In addition to this, their claim to assistance,
and to be considered something better than wild beasts, is
acknowledged in a very different way by modern colonial
governments from that which distinguished, and too often
disgraced, the regimes of the first governors. The black-
fellow is now, to some extent at least, cared for ; and

THE CORROBOREE 295

there are several mission stations at which, if he cares to
submit to the control, he can learn to become a civilised
man. Many excellent people in all the colonies are
anxiously devoting much of their time and means to
redeeming the man of the soil from the state of forlornness
and degradation in which he has lived since apparently
the time of his evolution. These stations, however, have
not met with the success which they deserved. Few of
the natives can tolerate restraint for any great length of
time. Many of them will serve the whites faithfully and
well for a few months, then they must have a jaunt in the
desert, visit the scenes of their old exploits and past joys,
and witness and take part once more in the wild pleasure
of the ever, to the aboriginal mind, delightful representa-
tion of the corroboree.

The corroboree I have already described. It is not a
dance, as the old travellers invariably called it, but a
dramatic representation — a play, and often a very com-
plicated and intelligent play, though it is but rarely that
the white man is qualified to understand it thoroughly.
Here it would take too much space to fully describe one
of the most elaborate corroborees. It must suffice to
state that there is always a plot, which is often worked
out with great details and many interludes, and also with
attempts at " effect " which are quite equal to the " lime-
light" and bluefire of the ordinary European or colonial
theatre. For instance, at a very interesting corroboree I
witnessed, a very pretty effect was made, and the native
spectators much impressed, by the throwing of flights of
boomerangs with some lighted substances attached to the
ends, which burnt brightly as they whirled through the air.

Some of the errors which have arisen concerning the
corroboree are doubtless due to the facts that dancing, or
a quick action resembling it, always forms a considerable
part of the representation, and also to the circumstance
that the corroborees witnessed by white men are specially
organised for their pleasure, and are not genuine repre-
sentations such as the natives give on ceremonial
occasions ; for it is on ceremonial occasions that the

296 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

greatest and most elaborate corroboree plays are given.
On these latter occasions the blackfellow has a dislike to
the presence of the white man, and it is only such whites
as have thoroughly won his confidence that are permitted
to be present at a grand corroboree.

I am not sure whether the corroboree has a religious
signification or not, or whether the native has a religion of
any kind. He has certain superstitions, but they do not
seem to be of a religious nature. He believes in a spirit
known by a great many different names in various parts
of the continent. This spirit, which hides in dark forests
and scrubs, is sometimes represented as being good, some-
times bad, or perhaps there are two distinct spirits, one
evil the other good. There is great difficulty in ascertain-
ing a native's religious beliefs, because he thinks it is evil
and will bring bad luck upon him to discuss the matter
with a white man. To avoid giving offence he often
misleads an inquirer, acknowledging beliefs which are
really no part of his religion, if he has one. All I can
state with certainty on this subject is that he believes that
there is a spirit which has the power to do him great
harm, and must be propitiated by careful conduct and the
avoidance of offence rather than by material gifts. He
believes also in another spirit of the reverse disposition
to this evil being, who also must be served by careful
avoidance of every thought or action which may pain or
grieve it. This, after all, is just the Christian's conception
of the Supreme Being.

In some parts of South Australia it is the custom to
deprive the females of the first joint of the little finger of
the left hand, which is cut off during the period of infancy.
I do not know if this custom, and that of knocking out a
front tooth, which is practised by most of the tribes, is a
religious rite. I have not been able to satisfactorily
ascertain the real significance of these customs.

Everybody has heard of the marvellous facility with
which the Australian black will follow a track. No enemy
can avoid him, no creature escape his searching eye. He
will track a mouse or a small snake for miles, and doubtless,

WONDERS OF TRACK FOLLOWING 297

after hours of patient toil, capture it. As a test, I have
flung a sixpenny-bit as far as I could into the densest
scrub I could find, into which a white man could not
penetrate without cutting a way, and in which he could
certainly never find so small a coin as that named ; yet a
blackfellow would make straight for the spot where the
sixpence fell, and in a few moments come back with it in
his hand. I have purposely left a shilling on the road,
hiding it under a stone. A blackfellow followed my
mundowa, or track, five miles along the road, instantly
detected that I had moved a stone out of its place, lifted
it, and triumphantly held up the shilling. I could multiply
such instances by the dozen. The blacks never lose any
of their own property. If by chance they drop anything,
no matter how small, they go back the moment they miss
it, and never fail to recover it. The black trackers
attached to the police have rendered great services by
their marvellous powers of tracing criminals, and they
serve as a standing menace and preventive to offenders of
their own race, who know that they will assuredly be
tracked down if they offend against the laws of the
white man.

Of the general habits and customs of the blacks of
Australia I can take but a cursory glance. As I have
said, they often go entirely without clothing, and in no
circumstances wear more than a scanty cloak, and perhaps
a rag round the waist. Often they are content to live in
the open, without dwelling of any kind, in cold weather
erecting a lean-to of hurdles to shelter them from the
wind. Their huts, called gunyas, are very rude attempts
at house-building; in fact, the black does not display a
similar ingenuity in the erection of his dwelling to that
which he shows in the construction of his weapons and
implements. The property of a blackfellow, of which he
thinks as much as any great landed proprietor can do of
his estate, seldom consists of more articles than his gin, or
wife, can carry on her back. These are nets and spare twine,
made by the patient women, a tobacco pipe or two, and a
small supply of tobacco. Probably he treasures up a few

298 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

bits of broken pipe, the remains of former cherished
possessions ; and other useless articles will be a few pieces
of coloured rag and paper. A box of matches is a
valuable possession to him, which he much covets. Lines
and fish-hooks will form part of his equipment ; the hooks
will probably be of factory make. If he has to rely on
himself for a supply of these necessary articles, they will
be neatly, if not beautifully, made out of bone or shell. If
he has a spare hunger-belt, it may be made of fine plaited
twine, which his gin has spun from the fur of an opossum
or native cat. He nearly always has a pouch attached to
the hunger-belt, and perhaps another secured by twine
round the upper part of his right arm. In one of these
pouches he carries his supply of tobacco, which he is
seldom without, for so passionately fond of the weed are
all natives, even the women and children, that they will
travel several hundred miles to beg or barter for a little
from the stock-riders and shepherds. These few articles,
with his weapons, a knife, and perhaps a few pins and
needles obtained from a squatter's wife, generally
represent the entire possessions of an average blackfellow.
He may have, in addition, a few bits of rubbish picked
from the dust-heap of some station, and which, though
utterly useless, he treasures as a miser does his gold. If
his gin has a few bits of left-off finery, or an old gown,
happy woman is she.

Everything the blackfellow possesses is carried in a
net-bag, a handy and light way of packing his goods.
Even the baby is suspended to the mother's back in a net ;
and so well spun is the twine of which these nets are made
that they last for years, and I have proved that the twine
itself is quite twice as strong under a weight test as the
best of ours. It is plaited, not twisted.

In general deportment the blackfellow is rather grave,
but he is not destitute of a sense of humour, can be merry
on occasion, and often laughs heartily. Provoked, he is
vindictive ; but well used he is generally thankful, and
never forgets a kindness. The worst feature of his
disposition is his cruelty to his woman, and the low esteem

GENERAL CUSTOM 299

in which he holds her. But I think this trait is the out-
come of custom rather than of natural ferocity of heart.
A black would be despised by his fellows if he failed
promptly to punish carelessness or laxity on the part of
his wife. Of her morals he has no care. She must not go
aside of her own will ; but at her husband's command she
is compelled to perform the offices of a wife to any man he
chooses to indicate. It is a common practice among the
natives to lend their wives to each other. It is only rarely
that a native has more than one wife ; but the assertion
that none but the chiefs may have more than two at the
same time, is not correct among any tribes that I have
been amongst. The tribes differ much in their habits and
customs, and among some monogamy may be enforced,
but I strongly doubt if it is so.

The chiefs do not seem to have so much power as is
usual among uncivilised peoples. All important acts and
proceedings are settled at meetings of the men of the tribe
— that is, of all who are acknowledged to have entered
fully on the manhood state. The initiation into the
privileges and rights of manhood is performed in secret,
and takes a considerable time. I do not know exactly to
what rites the youth is subjected, but he has to undergo
a considerable amount of torture without complaint or
breakdown. The white man is not allowed to witness the
ceremonies or the trials of the initiation, and the black
will not converse about them, but puts off the inquisitive
inquirer with concocted tales.

The chief has a few privileges, and he regulates and
commands the migrations of the tribe to the various
districts of their hunting grounds. He also commands in
war, but cannot make war or peace without the con-
currence of the tribe ; neither has he control over any man's
right of free action, or over his life or property, nor could
I ever perceive that he is treated with any extraordinary
amount of respect

The dead are disposed of in quite different ways in
various parts of the country. In the north-west and
some other parts of the north, and also in some portions

300 THE NATIVE BLACKFELLOW

of the interior, the corpse is wrapped in cloaks and
enclosed in a bundle of sticks, and placed on a platform
high up in a tree ; and the place where the tree stands is
avoided by the tribe, and jealously guarded from approach
by others. When the corpse begins to decay, it is often
torn open by birds of prey, which feast on it ; and these are
not interfered with, but are permitted to consume the flesh
of the deceased.

Very generally throughout South Australia, including
parts of New South Wales and Western Australia, the
dead are buried in a sitting posture in the middle of a
large round hole, which may be as much as ten or
twelve feet in diameter, though never very deep. The
deceased's weapons, property, and some food, are placed
beside him, and the whole buried under a heap of loose
sand or soil. The grave is never afterwards visited.
Women and children are disposed of with little ceremony.
The special belongings of a gin (or wife) may be placed in
the grave beside her. The bones of very young children
are often cleaned of flesh, and carried about, as I have
already remarked, by the mother, often in her net-bag,
mixed up with the family belongings.

Cannibalism is quite unknown among the Australian
blacks, which is remarkable, considering that in many
parts of the continent there is sometimes such a paucity of
food that the people subsist with difficulty.

CHAPTER XXI

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

It will be remembered that the base from which I started
on my longest ramble in Queensland was Bowen, Port
Denison ; and Bowen was the base from which I started to
examine portions of the Great Barrier Reef.

Bowen, a small town when I was last there, is a semi-
tropical looking place surrounded with hills — a sort of
dead-alive fourth-rate township. The valley under the
hills, in which most of the houses stand, is known col-
loquially as " sleepy hollow," and the name is expressive
of the characteristics of the inhabitants. Everybody in
Bowen speaks with a drawl, and walks as if suffering from
sore feet ; but it is true they have a warm climate to excuse
their habitual lassitude. It is hot at Bowen and all along
the coast to the northward, a beautiful, warm, clear, and
intensely blue sky prevailing almost without a break all
the year round.

A peculiarity of the coast in this neighbourhood, and
for a long distance to the north, is the number of boulders
on the strand, on the hills, and on the grassy slopes which
often run down to the water's edge. These boulders are
clearly water-worn, are often of huge size, and are some-
times piled up in huge masses of fantastic shape. The
shore is sometimes covered with them, and they appear as
shoals far out at sea. Many of great size are found on hill-
tops, and smaller ones are scattered about all over the land
in wild confusion. In some cases they spoil the landscape,
giving it a ruined and untidy appearance ; in others,
especially where the masses are large or piled high up,

301

302 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

they are a decided enrichment of it. Often there are
masses of rock which have the appearance of houses or
castles ; and double-peaked hills are found along this coast,
as they are in most parts of Australia.

Inside the reef the shallowness of the water is indicated
by the great variety of shades — grey, green, pearly, and red
tints — which are reflected from its surface, the deep ultra-
marine outside in the offing appearing nearly black in
contrast. The reef is indicated in various ways. Some-
times we see the long, low, white, sandy beach of a coral
island with a line of dark vegetation and a few tall trees
standing up from the bush below. Here and there are
black, fearful-looking rocks, the rugged outlines of which
tell how easily they could saw, cut, and crush the largest
and stoutest of ships to minute fragments. Everywhere,
or nearly so, the surging froth of breakers warn the navi-
gator that death and destruction are waiting for victims.

Cruising about and over these reefs is desperately
dangerous work even for small craft. How Cook escaped
a fatal accident on this difficult coast is past finding out.
His vessel bore a charmed life ; or there is, indeed, a sweet
little cherub sitting up aloft to guard the noble lives of the
brave and the heroic. But the wondrously beautiful sights
to be seen about the Great Barrier make the risk worth
braving. It is only from a small boat that the most
superb of these sights can be witnessed. One has to be
near the surface of the water to see distinctly the objects
that live and flourish in some of the depths below, and to
note the marvellous display of colour which tints many of
the fish and weeds.

Weeds I call them, but many of the submarine growths
are arboreal in size and appearance — great trees with many
coloured and many shaped leaves and fruits. Others are
of a trailing growth, and of immense length. They often
look weird in their undulatory creeping motion beneath
the waves, especially when some uncouth monster is seen
darting from amidst the umbrageous mystery beneath the
floating leaves, or craftily trying to conceal itself amongst
the interlaced tangle, which is impenetrable to the human

VALUABLE FISHERY 303

eye. Here are large sharks and fish of undistinguishable
species, which, probably magnified by the water or the
manner in which the light plays upon it, appear to be of
enormous size — far larger than anything of the kind we
ever see drawn ashore. Shoals of small fish, many thou-
sands in number, are remarkable for the brilliancy of their
colours, every conceivable tint being reflected strongly
from their bright scales. With most of these fish the
colours go with their lives, and in all it rapidly fades
when they are taken from the water.

These reefs are a valuable nursery of fish. Hundreds
of species here breed in peace; and their harbours of
refuge, in which the destructive " steam trawl " will never
be able to play havoc, are innumerable. The coral is an
insurmountable obstacle to the use of any kind of trawl
or drag-net ; and the growth of marine plants also is so
thick as to prevent ordinary fishing operations. But a
considerable hook and line catch is made by local fisher-
men.

The forms of the coral are various, but nearly all of
them exceedingly beautiful. Large trees of coral are
numerous, and to the branches of some of these I have
seen hundreds of shark's eggs attached. Flaked or
mushroom-like corals are among the commonest shapes ;
and there are thousands of "brain-stones" lying about the
upper parts of the reefs. Generally the coral is as white
as snow, but sometimes it is much discoloured with para-
sitic growths, and much of it is dead, and reduced to a
whitish sand. Fan-like masses of huge size, similar to
those noticed at the Abrolhos on the other side of the
continent, are very plentiful, and, as at that place, occa-
sionally are heaped up into small islands or quays.

Probably in no part of the world can a finer display of
sea-anemones be seen than on some of these reefs. Large
patches of various colours form submarine gardens of the
most magnificent appearance. Few or none of these
Anthozoa seem to be recorded ; and, in spite of great
precaution, I did not succeed in keeping any of them alive
for an appreciable length of time. They died wholesale

304 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

on being taken as far south as Sydney. The colours of
these splendid creatures were mostly pinks, oranges,
purples, and bright crimson, and the varieties were
hundreds in number. Considering that the temperature
of the sea a foot below the surface on the Barrier Reef
does not differ so much as a degree from that of the water
off the coast of New South Wales, it is singular that I
could not keep reef Anthozoa alive at the latter place,
especially as similar species obtained on the coast near
the Harbour Heads, Port Jackson, flourished well in a
small body of water. I suspect that it was the great
atmospherical change of temperature which affected them.

In beauty of form, though not of tint, the reef
anemones are perhaps eclipsed by the glass-sponges,
which abound, especially at some considerable depth, on
the outer face of the Barrier. In delicacy and intricacy of
pattern these sponges excel the finest laces I have seen.
Here I found the largest sea-fans and brain-corals known
to me. All classes of Ccelenterates and sponges are very
numerous on the reef. The sponges are mostly small,
and are found within the Barrier in water which does not
often exceed one hundred feet in depth. Outside the
reef there is as much as six hundred feet of water close
to its face, and in some spots quite two thousand feet.
This was the greatest depth I could sound, as I had no
more line with me ; but the chart shows that even the
latter depth is exceeded in a few places, though the depth
does not increase for a long distance to the eastward — an
unusual circumstance, I think, as the water a few miles, or
at any rate, a few hundred miles outside a coral reef is
usually of abysmal depth. Abysmal depths, however, are
not found in the immediate neighbourhood of Australia ;
and there seems to be evidence that the whole continent
is based on a coral formation of vast extent, which indicates
that it was, at a distant period, at least twice its present
area in extent. If this is really so, the tiny coral-zoophyte
is an even more wonderful land builder than it is univer-
sally known and admitted to be.

On and about the reef nearly every sea-bird and fish

THE DUGONG 305

found on the coasts of Australia finds a home ; and a few
are peculiar to it, of which the dugong (Halicore dugong)
is the first that calls for notice. I say here that the
Australian dugong is peculiar to the Great Barrier Reef.
This may not be strictly correct, since I have heard of
specimens being found on the north and north-west coasts,
which are out of the reef region. But though stray
specimens may have been captured in the named districts,
I am quite sure that the reef is the real home of the
dugong in Australian waters. In no other part of our
territory has the dugong ever been a prevalent animal.
There it formerly dwelt in large numbers, herds of them
being sometimes seen which numbered hundreds.

The dugong, the head excepted, has the shape of a
whale ; and I consider it to be closely allied to the
cetaceans, the greatest difference in habit being that it is
a vegetarian and not an animal feeder. The head, and
especially the muzzle, have a bull-dog like appearance — on
a cursory view, at any rate ; and the neck is better defined
than it is in the whales, yet it is not well developed. The
paddles or flippers are much larger, proportionally, than
those of any whale ; but the animal is a slow, inactive
creature, of gentle disposition, and rather stationary habits.
It seems, unless it has been much disturbed, to haunt one
spot for many years, or to return to it very frequently. It
is known, from harpoon heads which have been found
buried in the flesh of some individuals, and from noted
marks on others that it lives at least sixty years ; and the
probability, deduced from its slow growth and other
circumstances, is that the duration of its life extends to
a much longer period than this. A full-grown specimen
is about eight feet long, and when in condition nearly
seven in circumference. Larger animals than this are
reported to have been captured, but I have not seen
them.

Formerly dugongs were so fearless that they would often
raise their heads above the surface of the sea to stare at
men in a boat; but continual persecution has rendered
them cautious, and the few that now remain on the reef

u

306 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

never show themselves. Once only have I had the
pleasing experience of seeing a dugong raise its head
above the water. This was off the coast abreast of that
remarkable peak, Peter Botte, and at a distance of about
twelve miles from the shore. The animal remained
exposed to view about two minutes, but on the approach
of the boat it quickly dived out of sight.

I have seen dugongs under the water on several
occasions, while I was making investigations in diver's
dress. It is remarkable that all sorts of fish, including
sharks, are afraid of a man in a diver's dress, but dugongs
are not. Frequently I have got so close to them that I
expected to be able to touch them, but they would not
permit this, swimming slowly away when I got close to
them. In all their actions they are slow and deliberate ;
and though, judging from their conformation, one would
expect that they could swim and turn in the water quite
as actively as a whale can do, this does not seem to be the
case. The flippers are powerfully formed, and so is the
tail ; yet the animal changes direction with a remarkably
sluggish motion, and floats along rather than swims. It
is certainly capable of moving faster, but, so far as I could
discover, only does so in short spurts on rare occasions, as
when it is frightened, or when the male is pursuing the
female.

Dugongs do not seem to have any natural enemies.
Sharks do not attack them, and dugongs show no fear
of these ferocious creatures. I have seen thirty or forty
sharks cruising about amidst a small herd of dugongs,
but neither species of animal seemed to notice the other,
or try to avoid each other.

The dugongs feed entirely on marine herbage, which
they gather and masticate beneath the surface of the
water, the jaws working with a peculiar motion, unlike
that of a land animal. They usually feed in companies of
about a dozen each, comprising animals of several ages and
sizes. If it is true that they ever assembled in large herds
of three, four, or five hundred head, that has long ceased
to be the case. I have never seen as many as twenty

GENERAL HABITS OF DUGONG 307

together ; and though it is rare to meet with a solitary
dugong, parties of no more than four or five in number
are frequently met with, while at the present day a herd
of fifteen or sixteen is a large one. The sexes are termed
bulls and cows by the harpooners (mostly old whalers),
and the young are calves, and all ages, sexes, and conditions
have been captured, with the result that the " fishing,"
as it is called, is no longer profitable as a distinct calling,
and the dugong is in danger of extinction in Australian
waters. Fishermen now capture the few they accidentally
meet with, the blubber of dugongs fetching a much higher
price in the market than that of whales.

The dugong is full of blood and tenacious of life, but is
of such a gentle and harmless disposition that it never
makes the slightest resistance to its captors, and only
devotes its energy to a fruitless effort to escape. Owing
to its inactivity, it is captured with great ease ; and its
numbers are now so reduced that it is but seldom seen
even by those whose interest it is to keep a watch for it.

The female dugong seems to never have more than
one young one at a birth. This clings to her breast by
means of its flippers, but depends mostly for support on
those of the mother. She supports it with one flipper,
except, I am told, at such times as she partially rises
out of the water, -when she clasps it with both. She
never abandons her young one ; and when pursued and
obliged to exert herself to escape, she holds the calf with
one flipper, and swims with one and her tail. Even thus
handicapped she contrives to retreat faster than does the
unhampered male.

I believe that dugongs ruminate. They remain
quiescent for hours at a time, floating about eight or nine
feet below the surface of the water, and not more than
two or three from the bottom. Here they just move,
like a water-logged cask, and no more ; and a slight
movement of the throat is perceptible ; but whether this
arises from the exertion of breathing, or from the action
of chewing, I cannot state with certainty. I, however,
strongly believe that it arises from the latter action. 1

308 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

could never approach sufficiently near to the animal to
convert conjecture into certainty. The breathing takes
place very quietly ; and the animal is far more submarine
in habit than cetaceans in general. It can exist, without
rising to the surface to breathe, for an hour — perhaps for a
much longer period. When resting, from time to time a
large bubble of air is emitted from the nostrils and rises
to the surface of the sea. These bubbles often betray the
whereabouts of the animal, for it loves to be in deep,
quiet pools which are enclosed by rocks or coral
formations, and consequently have calm surfaces. About
every half-hour the dugong rises very slowly and quietly
to the surface of the water, and remains with the muzzle
exposed for three or four minutes ; then just as slowly it
sinks to its former position. When attacked or frightened
it will hide amongst the heavy growth of weeds, or retire
under shelving masses of coral, and I have witnessed
them remaining in such positions for fully an hour without
rising to breathe.

As the female dugong always haunts rocks or coral
growths where there is a small cave, or perhaps a number
of them, into which she can retire, I think it is likely that
her young one is brought forth in such a shelter. She is
coy in receiving the attentions of the male ; and there are
several " cows " under the care of each " bull." I do not
know if the herds remain permanently together, but the
pairing season is during the month of February, March,
and April. It may commence a few weeks earlier, and
continue a few weeks later, but it is at its height on the
Australian reef during the named months. There do
not seem to be any contests among the males, as there is
with the seals and some other marine animals.

The dugong has never been seen to land, and never
goes outside the Barrier Reef into deep water. It loves
to lie in four or five fathoms of water, and is seldom found
in depths that exceed ten fathoms. Its principal feeding-
grounds are in four or five fathoms, and it keeps to calm
water. From the little I have seen and heard of it in
rough weather, I believe that it is almost helpless if it

MONSTROUS APPEARANCES BELOW WATER 309

happens to be caught in a surf, and I have heard of one
being killed through being dashed against rocks by a
tidal wave.

Most of these observations on the dugong having
been made beneath the surface of the water, under unusual
circumstances, I think they may be of some interest to
my brother naturalists; and I may further mention that
there is very great risk to the diver who descends on
coral reefs or formations of any kind. Branches or sharp
pieces of coral may cut the dress, or the air-tube or life-
line may become entangled in the growths or around
masses, in which case life must inevitably be lost. The
utmost care and watchfulness is necessary to avoid such
accidents as those mentioned, and the men in the boat
must be thoroughly reliable, as the safety of the diver
depends as much on their circumspection as on his own.

When I first made descents, I was often much alarmed
at sharks and other dangerous marine creatures. I
remember on one occasion a very large white shark
suddenly loomed up near me, and came straight towards
me. Before I could pull the signalling cord, however,
the creature took fright, and suddenly wheeling, dis-
appeared, with a swirl of the water that caused me to
oscillate and swing about most uncomfortably. The
incident gave me such a shock that it was some time
before I again cared to descend. I was assured, however,
that sharks are afraid of a man dressed in the certainly
monstrous-looking costume of a diver, and subsequent
experiences confirmed this assurance, so that by-and-by I
felt no apprehension at the presence of sharks, and I
have sometimes had as many as twenty in close proximity
to me. On catching sight of me, these formidable animals
invariably swam quickly away. Not only sharks, but all
fishes and other marine creatures were afraid of my
odd-looking figure, and always fled as soon as they
perceived me. This, very often, was not until I was close
to them. I clearly perceived, when beneath the waves,
that there was something peculiar about the vision of fishes.
Very few, if any of them, can see objects beneath them,

310 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

and their range of vision, in their own element, seems to
be less than that of a man. I could see them some time,
before they perceived me — at what distance it would not
be safe to say, the difficulty of estimating the distance and
even the size of objects beneath the water is so great,
owing to refraction and apparent enlargement. It was a
singular sight to see a fish, or perhaps a number of them,
swimming calmly towards one, and on suddenly becoming
aware of his presence, dashing down and away like a
flash of light. I noticed that all fish seem to swim
habitually in a slow and deliberate way, and only exert
their powers of great speed and activity when they have
some special object in view, as escape from an enemy,
or pursuit of their prey. I also noticed that when
surprised, and in danger as they thought, the first impulse
of all species, sharks included, was to dive before darting
away. Probably this action is intended to prevent a
pursuer noting the actual line of flight.

The seemingly monstrous creatures which inhabit the
submarine forests and grottoes of the reef are much
calculated to try the nerves of an investigator, until he has
become thoroughly used to the weird sights — sights which
are the more spectre-like, in that they are unaccompanied
by the least sound. The diver hears nothing, except
perhaps the tap of his hammer or crow-bar, and that in
a subdued tone, almost inaudible, so effectually is sound
excluded by the water and his close-fitting head-piece.
He soon perceives, however, that of all the monstrous-
looking creatures that visit the weird depths, the natural
inhabitants consider him the most fearful, for they all
shun him. Even that horrible phantom of the deep, the
octopus, flies the presence of the diver. On one occasion
I saw one of those loathsome-looking creatures slip off a
rock and sink into the black depths of a submarine cavity.
It was out of sight almost before I clearly discerned it ;
but I can say with certainty that its bulk exceeded my
own, with tentacles that I thought were five or six feet in
length — a monstrous, bloated, spider-like creature, the
sight of which made me thrill with horror,

SPIDER-CRABS 311

Referring to spiders reminds me that there are at
least five species of spider-crabs on the reef, the largest of
which, with a body no larger than a cocoa-nut, has legs
which will span a radius of seven feet. This is quite a
distinct species from the large crab mentioned as haunting
the Abrolhos reef. None of the five members of the
Oxyrhyncha family referred to here seem to be figured in
classified lists. One much resembles Macropodia longir-
ostris, but with a shorter beak and more rounded body,
and is, moreover, twice the size of that species. It may
possibly be the larva of some other crustacean ; and the
same may be said of one other species.

It was found to be impossible to obtain a perfect
specimen of the large crab mentioned above. The animal
ensconced itself in the midst of intricately branched masses
of coral, where it could not be reached by the hand; and
if a leg was seized, it at once threw off the whole or part
of the member, while the animal itself quickly sank into
the depths beneath it.

Many hundred species of crustaceans live on and about
the reef, most of which are very small. Crabs of the size
of a sixpence, and of a purplish or violet colour, are very
abundant. Others the size of a penny-piece are a bright
yellow ; and some species are noticeable for eccentricity of
form. The singular enlargement of one claw or nipper,
so frequently seen in the land crabs, is very prevalent
amongst the Barrier Reef crustaceans. There is a species
of shrimp or prawn on the outer face of the reef where the
water is deep which has this peculiarity, and several of
the crabs are noticeable for a like singularity.

Among the lower forms of animal life, nearly every
family of insect and arachnida is imitated in shape by some
species of crustacean ; and on the reef may be found what
may justly be termed ocean spiders, millipedes, scorpions,
and creeping and crawling things innumerable, leaving a
strong impression on the mind that every terrestrial
animal has its counterpart in the ocean, however widely
it differs in some one or more essential part. Evolution
admitted, surely the crabs are highly specialised spiders

312 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

which have taken to a marine life. The limpets and sea-
snails come still closer to terrestrial species of molluscs ;
and many of the lowest forms of ocean life seem to be
derived from distantly related land animals of a similar
class. This is very noticeable in some of the lower forms ;
though I am constrained to remark that there are many
marine creatures which do not seem to have a parallel on
dry land, especially in the higher, or vertebrate, classes.
I cannot, however, enlarge on this curious subject here ;
but much remains to be said in favour of the theory that
marine classes have been evolved from terrestrial classes.

The reef, of course, abounds with molluscs. So
numerous are the species that I cannot attempt to cope
with them within the bounds of a couple of paragraphs.
The pearl oyster (Meleagrina margaritiferd) is found in
large or small numbers in many parts of the reef; but it is
in the north and in Torres Strait that the greatest numbers
are found. Should the supply of shells in those districts
run short, probably a sufficient quantity of them would be
found as far south as the reef extends, to make the
fishery payable.

Gasteropod shells of the Conus family are found on some
parts of the reef, one particularly fine one being of a bluish-
grey colour, with very beautiful violet veinings. Probably
some very rare and fine specimens could be procured here.
Certain it is that I procured several which were hitherto
unknown to our local collection, and were eagerly sought
after by the colonial museums ; and others I saw which
seem to be without representative specimens in European
collections. The spider-shells (Pteroceras) have several
representatives on the reef, the most remarkable being one
similar to the Swan River spider-shell, but double the
size of that variety.

Of the numerous creatures of the lowest forms, number-
ing doubtless tens of thousands of species, which swarm on
all parts of the Barrier to the lowest depth I have
ventured to search, it is obvious I can give but the scantiest
of notice. Apart from the fact that these creatures could
not be adequately described except in technical terms,

FISH ON THE REEF 31

a

which would be monotonous to the ordinary reader, no
good idea of the animals could be given without the
assistance of coloured plates.

The fishes on and about the reef are very numerous.
Some are migratory, others are found at all seasons of
the year, and many use the protection of the weed and
coral forests during the breeding time. The fact that
sharks attach their curious four-cornered, packet-like eggs
to the coral branches has been already noticed ; and it
may now be added that the reef seems to be a favourite
breeding-ground of all the sharks known on the Australian
coasts, including the blue shark [Carcharias glaucus), the
Port Jackson shark {Cestracion philippi), the common white
shark, and two species of the Crossorbinus genus.

Albicores and bonitoes are very common on all parts
of the reef, and perhaps the commonest of all the fishes
frequenting this part of the east coast of the continent is
the barracuda, which, growing to a length of about fifty
inches, may be seen in shoals which rival those of the
herring or mackerel for numbers and denseness.

Amongst the most curious fishes is one known to the
local fishermen as the rasper. This is the common knife-
jaw {Hoplognathus conwayi), a fish which seldom exceeds
a foot in length, and is in shape somewhat tench-like. The
jaws resemble a short beak, are very distinctly marked,
and are knife-edged, with but a few sharp teeth. The fish
has acquired its local name from its habit of rasping the
coral, on the polyp of which it feeds. It also eats young
shell-fish, and is particularly destructive to the young of
the pearl oyster ; yet the fish is not known about Torres
Strait — or at least not well known. It seems to be most
plentiful between latitudes i6° and 200 S., and is found in
shoals of varying sizes. Sometimes about twenty fish
were seen together, and occasionally as many as six
hundred ; but the fish do not keep very close together,
and it is difficult to guess the exact number at a given
spot. I have caught a few with hook and line, using a
very small mussel with broken shell as a bait, but as a rule
they are only captured in nets, They are excellent food,

314 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

There are two or three species of gurnards on the
reef, all of which breed there, and there is also a sucker-
fish, Echoneis reinora apparently, which attaches itself not
only to the skin of sharks, but to that of a great number
of other fish, as the bonito, rock-cod, and ling, and also to
smooth rocks, where they are to be found.

Probably the smallest fish found on the reef is the
remarkable dragon-fish (Pegasiis natans), which is less
than three inches long. When alive, it appears to be
semi-transparent, lightish in colour, and spotted with
minute black dots. The snout is elongated into a spatulate
beak, and the eyes are placed on the top of the head, so
that the creature is constantly looking upwards. It
frequents shallow water, being but seldom found at a
greater depth than six fathoms, and the use of the beak
seems to be to stir up the sandy mud. It then watches
for and captures the minute crustaceans, etc., which it has
forced from their homes. It is very agile in its movements,
and swims with great rapidity, and though very numerous,
they never collect into compact shoals.

Another curious fish on the reef is found on the outer
face only. It has the snout and mouth of a shark, with
the flexible, elongated, but flattened body of an eel, and is
five or six feet long. It appears to be a member of the
NotocanthidcB or thorn-back family.

The common conger- eel {Conger vulgaris) is one of the
most abundant fishes on certain parts of the reef, but there
is nothing remarkable to be recorded of it. They average
five feet in length, but specimens of six or seven feet are
common, and the fishermen talk of occasional monsters of
nine and ten feet. A creature of the same genus (a murcena,
apparently) is much dreaded by the fishers, and with good
cause, I think. One which was dragged aboard our boat,
though less than five feet long, gave more trouble than the
largest conger I have seen captured. It struggled and bit
like a fierce dog, making a noise meanwhile something
like the snarling of an angry cur. Congers also make a
noise while being killed, and some large fish, on being
dragged into the boat, give vent to a sound like a dull,

ENORMOUS GLOBE-FISH 315

short bark ; but whether this sound is articulate, or caused
by the forcible passage of air through the gills, I cannot
positively say. It seems that the animal has some control
over the issue of the sound ; at any rate, so it appeared
to me.

I have seen several flights of flying-fish about the reef,
but these curious fish are not common there. The species
{Exoccetus evolans) is eminently a pelagic one, and is but
seldom seen inshore on any part of the Australian coast.

There are a great number of seemingly coral-feeding
fishes about the reef, most of them of small size, but
occurring often in great numbers. One of these, remark-
able for the abnormal development of its tail and fins, and
still more so for its curiously doubled or aborted medial
line, appears to be Bleeker's plesiops {Plesiops bleekeri).

Globe- or sun-fishes of enormous size are found on the
outer side of the reef. They have been taken exceeding
half a ton in weight, and one which I saw during one of
my submarine rambles could not have been less than
eight feet long, almost as many broad, and probably
weighed more than double the above-named weight.

I cannot exhaust the list of fishes found on and about
the reef. A few of the rarest and most curious have been
briefly described. Amongst others that are more or less
common, I have captured or seen species of goby, dory,
ling, cod, gar-pike, cofTer-fish, and, as I have before
mentioned, there is scarcely a fish known on the Australian
coasts that does not visit the reef at some season of the
year, while the majority of species are permanent residents
there. Even rare pelagic species often come into the
deep water immediately outside the reef, and occasionally
find their way through the opening into the shallow water
fronting the coast, where they usually get bewildered and
fall a prey to the ready fishermen. Whales used at one
time to frequently meet with this fate ; they have been so
persecuted, however, that now they are seldom seen near
the reef.

I cannot omit mention of the turtles, which still
frequent the reef in considerable, but yearly dwindling

316 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

numbers. Formerly they swarmed in parts of the shallow
water between the shore and the reef, and were found in
great numbers through Torres Strait and in the Gulf of
Carpentaria. No discretion, however, was shown in the
numbers caught or the time of capture, with the inevitable
result that there are now but units where formerly there
were hundreds. Moreover, the animals have learned
caution, and the sight or smell of a human being is
sufficient to spread wild alarm through even the herds of
turtle, who lose no time in hastening to safer dwelling-
places. Many of their former most frequented haunts on
the reef have been entirely abandoned, and there are quays
on the reef where twenty or thirty years ago turtle might
be found in tens of thousands where now not a single
animal ever appears. As a few years ago these quays had
not been discovered by the fishermen who resort to the
reef from all parts of the east coast of the continent, and
even from more distant spots, turtlers not infrequently
coming from New Zealand, I shall not more precisely
mention the locality of these last resorts (as they appear
to be) of an animal that requires a long respite to recoup
its numbers.

There are two species of turtle, the green (Chelone
My das) and the hawksbill (C. imbricata), common on the
reef; one, the loggerhead (Thalassochelys caretta),
tolerably common, at certain times at any rate ; and several
species which seem to be very scarce. Of the latter, the
leathery turtle {Dermochelys coriaced) is perhaps the
scarcest. There is another turtle, about which no authority
on the subject seems to know anything, and of which no
example is to be found in the British (or any other
European) Museum, but which is manifestly a connecting
link between the green and the hawksbill species. Indeed,
the turtle referred to partakes so remarkably of the
characteristics of the two named species, that I am inclined
to believe it is a hybrid between them. It grows to a
large size (five hundred pounds at least), and is often
almost as beautifully marked with deep red and yellow as
the hawksbill itself. It is rare on the reef, but not so

TURTLES ON THE REEF 317

much so as to make it very difficult to find. I have
seen eight or nine specimens, and heard of quite as many
more.

The leathery turtle is a very extraordinary creature,
and is, I should think, the largest living turtle. I have
never assisted at the destruction of one of these animals,
but I have seen them so large that I think individuals
must have weighed at least half a ton. Intelligent fisher-
men with whom I sailed, and who I feel confident would
not exaggerate, assured me that one they captured and
took into Port Curtis weighed more than fourteen hundred
pounds.

The food of the leathery turtle, like that of the hawks-
bill, quite differs in character from that of the green turtle.
It consists of fish, and particularly of molluscs and
crustaceans. It can crush up with ease large bivalves,
some of which weigh thirty or forty pounds ; and huge
crabs form no small item of its usual food. It seems, like
the hawksbill, also to be a greedy feeder. I have seen the
hawksbill seize and devour crabs which weighed sixteen
or twenty pounds, and amongst the contents of the
stomach of a leathery turtle which were showed to me,
were the remains of a large spider-crab clearly discernible,
mixed with a mass of molluscs, looking like huge cockles ;
and which were probably obtained at a depth of eighty or
ninety fathoms on the outside of the reef.

Of the other kinds of turtle, it is only necessary to
record that I have assisted at the capture of specimens of
the green which weighed over five hundred pounds, and
specimens of hawksbill have been taken in my presence
which exceeded seven hundred pounds in weight. Both
these species are in the habit of sleeping as they float on
the surface of the water ; and though they awake and dash
off before a boat can get near them, they are not at all
disturbed by half a dozen terns alighting on their backs ;
and I have often seen these birds and other sea- fowl
resting on the backs of sleeping turtles.

As most of the Australian fishes are found on the reef,
so are the greater part of Australian sea-birds. The

318 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

commonest species which I have noticed are terns, a gull,
pelicans, and albatrosses. The latter are very frequently
seen hovering over the reef, and seem to find an
abundance of favourite food, judging from the frequency
with which they descend to the surface of the water. The
pelicans breed in great numbers on certain of the quays and
shoals. There is a low sand-bank south of the Black
Rocks, off Weymouth Bay, where these birds breed in
thousands. The bank is so low and so small in extent,
that it seems impossible that it is not swept by the waves
in bad weather ; yet the birds seem to safely rear their
young there and on several similar quays that I know of,
some of which do not seem to rise more than one or two
feet above high-water. I can only conjecture that the un-
erring instinct of the birds guides them better than the
human eyes could do, to the safest breeding places. That
they do not suffer any material losses is satisfactorily
proved by the immense numbers of them that harbour
about most of the rocks and dry places of the reef.
Fortunately for them, pelicans are not wanted by the
human hunter ; they are in use neither as ornaments nor
food ; and until some seeker after a new source of wealth
finds a market for them, they may hope to inhabit
undisturbed the barren sand-banks, which seem to meet
all their humble requirements for a dwelling-place.

CHAPTER XXII

FOSSIL REMAINS ON THE AUSTRALIAN CONTINENT

My remarks on the fossils of Australia cannot exceed a
scanty sketch in extent ; in fact, it is not my intention to
make any general observations on the subject, or attempt
to deduce any final conclusions. I must confine myself to
a partial description of the few remarkable specimens
which I have at odd times found during my rambles,
some of which were of species hitherto unknown, and
several of which are now in the public collections of the
Australian colonies, or in those of private persons who
obtained them from me.

Australia is usually described as the headquarters of
the marsupial class of animals, and justly so ; yet, as I
have already remarked, I think the fact that there are in
the country several mammals of placental type which are
undoubtedly of great antiquity is too frequently lost sight
of. I have not yet seen any satisfactory proof that
the Australian continent was the first home of the
marsupials, far less am I satisfied that the Australian
types of the class were derived from America, or the
American from Australia. It seems to be more likely
that the marsupials of both continents were derived from
some now submerged land of vast area, of which the multi-
tudinous islands of Polynesia are remaining points. Quite
possibly the southern lands (the true Australia) of the
Antarctic regions were at one time joined to our continent ;
and before accepting any theory of the origin of the
marsupialia, I want more light on the geology of
Polynesia, and of the great south land. The latter is as

319

320 FOSSIL REMAINS

yet an unexplored region ; but I am surprised that more
work has not been done in the vast Pacific region. The
information we have of the Polynesian islands, even the
larger ones, is not sufficiently copious to be of much real
use to the evolutionist ; and there is New Guinea, too,
and the large islands of the Indian Ocean. These are
scarcely tapped sources of information, which I expect
by-and-by, when they have been thoroughly searched by
really competent men, will prove to be a rich mine of
intelligence concerning the origin and distribution of the
marsupialia. Islands are peculiarly valuable sources of
information on such subjects as the origin, survival, and
migration of animated groups, as is evidenced by New
Guinea, Celebes, Borneo, Timor, Madagascar, and our
own island-continent of Australia. Nor are even very
small islands wanting in rich information on the same
subjects. I need not go so far afield as the Galapagos
and some of the small islands of Africa to illustrate this
fact. Many of the mere islets which surround the
Australian continent have their peculiar species, as
Depuch, Abrolhos, and Barrow islands, and many others
which do not contain twenty square miles of surface.
Until these islands, large and small, are better known, I
think it would be futile, if not actually presumptuous, to
attempt to show that Australia is, or is not, the natural
home of the order which without doubt at the present
day reigns supreme there. All that I can do, therefore —
all I am justified in attempting to do — is to add my mite
to the information which is slowly accumulating, and
which will in good time, I firmly believe, enable us to
trace the most curious and interesting of modern groups
of mammals to the true basis whence they sprang.

Ancient human remains are very scarce on the
Australian continent. There is no evidence that the
land was ever inhabited by any race much dissimilar in
make and habit to that which now roams its deserts and
which is fast travelling to the bourn whence neither race
nor individual ever returns. Admitting (which, however,
I do not) that there are two races of aborigines on the

SKULLS NORMAL AND ABNORMAL 321

continent, the question arises : " Is the one race the
descendants of invaders ? and if so, is the other race the
true aboriginal people of the land?" There is no direct
evidence bearing on this question.

The northern division of Australian aborigines, which
is much the finest from all points of view, is the one
which is said to be of Malay origin. My belief is that
there is a considerable quantity of Malay blood mixed
with the native blood in all parts of the continent, but no
doubt it predominates in the north. The Malay, however,
is not the original stock in any one part of the land, but
may possibly be derived from the Malay ancestor in all
parts of it. That is my view, but I do not insist upon it
in a spirit of dogmatism.

Of the actual age of man in Australia we have, so far
as I have been able to learn, but superficial deposits to
guide us, and those are few in number, and poor in
quality. I have found skulls in fluvial deposits, generally
when digging wells in the beds of rivers, which seem to
point to a smaller race of men inhabiting the country in
bygone days, but not differing in shape from those of the
present race ; and as to size, that is very elastic among the
aborigines to this hour, and depends entirely on local
circumstances. Often in barren districts, where game is
scarce, we meet with full-grown men who are not bigger
than ordinary fourteen-year-old boys. Size, therefore, in
an abnormal land, is not evidence of variety of race. In
South Australia, however, not far from Castlemaine, and
again in the bed of the river Lodden, I came upon the
remains of men of fine build, approximating to those of
the north at the present time. These consisted of several
skulls from the country west of Castlemaine, and skulls,
bones, and three complete skeletons from the bed of the
Lodden. All these were of normal type, and found in the
north would at once have been taken for the remains of
men of the present race. Nowhere have I found the bones
of men intermingled with those of animals of extinct
species, or in the same deposits, nor have I ever discovered
the slightest trace of a race acquainted with the arts of

X

322 FOSSIL REMAINS

civilised man. What the savage is at the present day he
seems to have been six or seven thousand years since, and
this is about the period at which I should put his exist-
ence in the land. There is no direct evidence to show that
it is older than this ; but there is one puzzling circumstance
which I cannot explain : I have always considered that the
dingo-dog has been introduced by man, but traces of the
dog's existence are much older than those of man. Of
course the dog may have been introduced by casual visitors
before the land was inhabited, though this is scarcely
likely. Again, the dog may have been introduced by other
than human agency. This is unlikely, but still possible.

My chief reason for believing that the dingo was intro-
duced is the fact that the animal appears suddenly in pre-
tertiary times, and yet it stands alone. No possible
ancestors from which it might have sprung have been
discovered in Australia, and there were never any other
animals of the genus on the continent. There was a
species of thylacine ; but though this animal is to some
extent dog-like, it is certainly not in any way related to
the dingo, but is clearly descended from a marsupial. It
is worth noting that thylacine and dingo in New South
Wales are of about the same geological age. The
thylacine has not been found by me in northern or
western deposits, but remains of the dingo are spread all
over the continent.

In the secluded valleys of the Blue Mountains, and on
the plains to the eastward, which, being those nearest my
early home, were first examined by me, the remains of
small marsupials are very abundant, and in this district
I discovered several new species, most of them prior
to the year 1875. Amongst others from this region, I
found two or three species of rat which were not marsu-
pials. As these were of pretertiary age, it is conclusive
proof that the prehistoric mammals of this continent
were not all marsupials.

In the bed of a stream in the Swan River district,
Western Australia, I found part of a skeleton of a rat
which was at least double the size of the modern water-rat

REMARKABLE CONTRAST OF SPECIES 323

{Hydromys chrysogaster) ; that is, the animal when living
could not have been much less than six feet in total
length. This monstrous rat was clearly not a marsupial.
The bones were in so fragile a state that they had to be
handled with great caution to prevent complete destruc-
tion. Found in the damp sand of a dry river-bed, they
had probably been washed up from some much older
deposit.

The remains of animals of the kangaroo genus are the
most abundant in nearly all parts of Australia, and here
the evolutionist can certainly create a complete chain of
evidence in support of his theory. Indeed, I am surprised
that Australia is so much neglected by the speculative
geologist, for not only can a complete series of kangaroos
be established there, but another also, of smaller mar-
supials— those of the opossum genus — might, I think, be
easily put together, to say nothing of many minor bits
of interesting evidence of great use in a general way.

Both kangaroos and opossums were formerly of
gigantic size ; but a few of the latter were smaller than
any existing species, and it is puzzling to find all the
marsupials of the two named classes existing in great
variety of size apparently at the same moment. It would
be more convincing if the evolutionist cquld point to a
successive series of ascending or descending types ; but
that, I am afraid, he could not do in Australia. An
opossum that weighed perhaps forty pounds, and another
that weighed no more than an ounce once undoubtedly lived
side by side in the dense forests of some of the Blue
Mountain and Queensland valleys; while it is probable
that the giant kangaroo weighed more than a ton, and
fed on a plain that swarmed with wallabies that did not
exceed a squirrel in size. There must have been a
surprising state of things on the earth, and in Australia in
particular, before the dawn of the modern age. In the
latter country there was no beast of prey capable of
attacking the larger marsupials, nor, indeed, of affecting
the balance of species in any way ; and how that balance
was maintained it is most puzzling to conceive. That

324 FOSSIL REMAINS

dingoes were formerly (in pliocene times, for instance)
exceedingly abundant is shown by the abundance of their
remains ; but even in this present day a pack of dingoes
is no match for an " old man " only a tenth the size of his
progenitor of the tertiary age. The strength of such an
animal as Macropus titan must have been prodigious, and
if a latter-day " old man " can slash down dingo after dingo
with his powerful sharp-clawed hind leg, it is evident
that the ancestral titan could with ease sweep away
hundreds of them ; but the dingo knows better than to
attack an " old man." No number gives him courage to
attempt so mad and suicidal a task. Even other large
kangaroos are more than a match for the dingo.

Kangaroos and wallabies must therefore have increased
at an enormous rate : and did so increase, as their
numerous remains testify ; and as I could never
discover that the land was formerly richer in vegetation
than it was at the time of its discovery, I am lost in
wonder that it was capable of supporting such vast herds
of animals. The modern colonist is worried about the
quantity of grass the kangaroos consume, and is at vast
expense in erecting fences by the hundred-mile length to
keep them away from his pastures. What would he say
had he hundreds to contend with where he now has but
units ? and each individual of those hundreds ten times
the size of modern kinds, and presumably requiring ten
times the amount of food !

Kangaroos were present in Australia on the North
Darling plains, in many places in the interior of Queens-
land, and in portions of northern South Australia as
early as the beginning of the eocene age. That much I
can assert from actual observation ; but on Fitzroy Downs,
on the upper Dawson River, I found the skeleton of a
kangaroo while boring for a well which seemed to be in
even older strata. It is not always easy, however, to
be sure of the age of Australian strata. The depth
at which the bones lay was thirty-two feet, in ground
which consisted of a kind of limestone, with very thin
superficial deposits.

EXTINCT^GIANT KANGAROOS 325

This kangaroo must have stood about eight feet high ;
it was therefore very much larger, and perhaps double
the weight of the largest existing species. This, of course,
is not a remarkable size compared with other great
extinct kangaroos, but it is worthy of note, as it was
undoubtedly one of the oldest specimens yet discovered
on the continent.

Kangaroos, however, were not the largest animals that
formerly roamed the wide plains of Australia. On the
Darling Downs I found, at a depth of twenty feet and in
superficial deposit, the greatest part of the skeleton,
including all but a few bones of the skull, of a gigantic
animal recognised by the curator of Sydney Museum, as
diprotodon australis. This monstrous creature has been
described by Huxley as " a kangaroo-like animal " ; but it
differs greatly in many respects from the modern group
of kangaroos. It may have been a true marsupial, though
of that I have some doubt ; but the proportions of its
limbs, and its exceedingly massive build generally, show
at once that in habits as well as in form it was a very
different creature to the kangaroo of our day. It certainly
must have had a different way of locomotion to that of
the modern members of the genus, as the limbs were not at
all adapted to hopping, and the animal must have weighed
from fifteen to twenty tons : that is, it was very much larger
than any existing animal.

There are remains of several other giant animals to be
found in all the colonies of our continent, some of which
were far more kangaroo-like than the diprotodon. Com-
plete skeletons of any of these I have not been so
fortunate as to find ; but skulls, or parts of skulls, and odd
bones found in the north-west near the rivers Murchison
and Gascoyne, and in the Port Darwin district, convinced
me that there were formerly, and quite as recently as the
pliocene period, true kangaroos which probably stood nine
or ten feet high, and weighed, approximately, six tons or
more. Anybody who has heard the heavy thumping of
even small species of kangaroos as they hop about during
the stillness of night, will be able to form some notion of

326 FOSSIL REMAINS

the terrific shaking the ground must have sustained while
a herd of these giants were bounding over it.

Other well-known species of Australian extinct
mammals have been found by me as follows : Nototherium
inerme, in all deposits as low down as the eocene, and in
many New South Wales and Victorian districts. But I
have not found traces of this species anywhere in the
northern parts of the continent. Macropus titan, M. Go/iak,
and M. atlas seem to have been almost universally dis-
tributed on the continent, and their remains are found as
low down as the middle eocene. All classes of existing
marsupials were represented in tertiary times, including
the rat-kangaroos, and all classes had then gigantic
representatives. A " native cat " (Dasyurus laviarius) was
a much larger animal than the present bearer of that
misplaced name ; but I found on the Gascoyne the
jaw-bone, with part of the teeth, of an animal of this kind,
which must have been as large as a leopard. It is just
possible that this huge dasyurus may have been a
formidable beast of prey ; but the probable, though con-
jectural, evidence is against that conclusion.

Mice, probably of the genus Sminthopsis, are mostly
found in superficial deposits, though I have found traces
of them as low as the pliocene. They are generally from
a third to a half larger than present species, though one,
from the late pliocene of New South Wales, seems to be
identical with Sminthopsis murina.

In size and general structure, Thylacynus speleus, the
continental extinct thylacine, differed but little from its
surviving Tasmanian relative. It clearly was not a true
marsupial, and it would be most interesting to trace its
ancestor. I have quite failed to do that ; and the remains of
the indicated species have not been found by me in earlier
deposits than the late pliocene.

I believe the above notes carry the age of several
Australian genera of mammals to an earlier age than has
hitherto been assigned to them. I have hope, therefore,
that they will be of some small interest to scientific
naturalists.

AN EXTINCT EMU 327

Of birds I have scarcely found any traces except in
superficial deposits, and the number of extinct genera that
have come under my notice has been exceedingly small.
The lyre-birds and the brush-turkeys are two of the oldest
forms on the continent, but they are followed closely by
the cockatoos and other parrots.

The oldest bird, however, that has been discovered in
Australia, so far as I can learn, is a species of emu, the
droniorius^ which was about twice the size of the existing
emu, though there seem to have been at least three species
of this family, which varied in size. Their remains have
been found as early as the late miocene, but there is some
evidence that one large species at least survived to
historical times. I have found the bones of this bird, in
some cases nearly the entire skeleton, in the same deposits
in which human remains were tolerably abundant ; and
that in Australia is a very late period. There is no trace
of man in Australia earlier than his remains in a vegetable
mould or detritus of a very recent date. Roughly, I
should place six or seven thousand years as the extreme
limit of the period he has inhabited the land.

To show how generally species in the early ages of
the earth's existence exceeded in size their descendants,
I may record that there was a lizard in miocene times
which was fourteen or fifteen feet long and of the girth of
a tolerably large bullock. The remains of this huge
reptile, which was closely allied to the water-monitor
( Varanus salvator), have been found in the Port Darwin
and the Port Denison districts, but little or nothing is as
yet known to European scientists concerning it. In fact,
there is yet much to be learned by the naturalist con-
cerning our great continent ; and I have found so much
ignorance, even among native naturalists, of the past
condition of this noble country, that I am convinced that
a specially organised expedition for the discovery and
classification of Australian geological specimens is much
needed, and would result in the establishing of many
interesting points that every evolutionist must hold of
great importance to his peculiar doctrine.

INDEX

Ablepharus genus, 271

Aborigines, 7 45 . never penetrated
enclosed valleys, 7 ; r0Ugh justice
for on the Darling, 45 ; "station
blacks, 46, 164 ; inability to bear
restraint, 46 ; abject condition, 46 •
vanity versus rags, 47 ; often strongly
attached to white man, 47 ; affecting
anecdote of Jacky-Jacky, 47 ; corro-
borees, 48-49, 295-296 ; the Darling
blacks not a fine race, 49 ; blindness
and disease amongst them, 49; an
instance of awful cruelty, 49 ; cruelty
to women 50, 281 ; a few seen at
head of Australian Bight, 124 ; as
cattle hunters, 160 ; drink blood of
animals, 164 ; fanciful names of
station blacks, 164 ; acute observa-
tion and tracking powers of, 166 •
prowl round camp at night, 168 !
communicate with a party in the
desert, 169-170; description of men,
women and children, 170 ; trading in
eggs of brush-turkey, 179; awkward

ru?fe o2th Part^ of> J34 5 skill
of blind, 188; kindness and care of
colonists for, 189 ; a strange, way-
ward people, 170, 191 ; cliffs covered
with clever drawings of, 1 92- 193 •
capture and eat snakes, 202-203 -no
navigates, 208; chase fish in ' the
water, 208 ; loafers at Port Darwin
but brave and manly in interior, 226 •
dangerous in Port Darwin district!
22« ; fine men in north, 230 ; not so
treacherous as often described, 233 •
singular nose-ornament, 233 ; fires
and smoke signals, 238 ; an extra-
ordinary feast, 239-240; causes of
so-called treachery, 252 ; in Queens-
land dead placed in trees, 269 • mis-
representation of, 279 ; tendency of
Australians to be just to, 270-
doubtful if there are two races, 280-
281 ; average height, 281 ; infanticide,
329

282 ; pathetic custom of mother, 282 •
splendid services to whites, 282 •
languages of tribes differ, 283 • treat-
ment of infants, 283 ; tests of man-
hood, 283 ; wife-stealing and trial of
robber, 283-285 ; old customs dying
°fj fj> ; Property in the woman,
253-2»b ; the woman a slave, 286 •
her personal appearance, 286 ; unions
with whites, 287 ; what he eats, 287 •
intelligent methods of hunting and
capturing game, 288-289 ; and fishing
289-290; beautiful workmanship m
twine and net, 290, 298 ; weapons,
290 ; the wommera, 290 ; boomerang,
292 ; personal bravery of, 292-293 ;
dress and ornament, 293-294 • re-
ligious beliefs, 296 ; ceremonial
mutilation, 296; wonders of track
following, 296-297 ; gunyas, 297 ;
property, 297-298 ; method of carry-
ing articles, 298 ; general disposition,
298 ; general customs, 298 - 299 ;
power of chiefs, 299; disposal of
dead, 299-300
Abrolhos Islands, general description
of, 203 ; soil of some removed, 208 ;
haunt and breeding-place of sea-
birds, 208 ; the most southern point
in the world where coral is found,
208; curious relics at, 207-208 ; how
an island is tenanted with life, 209 ;
painted quail found on 217
Acacias, " beef-tree," " black-wattle,"
and "raspberry-jam," in Champion
Bay district, 211
Accidental and cosmopolitan species

list of, 251
Adelaide, an elegant city, 91 ; terminus
of one of the best railway lines, 91 ;
important mines and quarries in
neighbourhood of, 91-92
Albatross, wandering, seen in Bight,
137 ; and occasionally on all parts of
Australian coast, 137 ; sleeps while

330

INDEX

floating, 137 ; old ideas about the
bird wrong, 137 ; is a marine vulture,
137 ; a greedy bird, 138 ; anecdote
of, 138 ; size and weight, 138

Albany, beautiful town of W. Australia,
148 ; decided English appearance,
148-149

Albicores, abundant in Australian
Bight, 125 ; ravenous fish, 138

Alps, Australian. See Australian Alps

Amadina gouldice, a beautiful weaver-
bird found on the Gascoyne, 218 ;
description of bird and nest, 218

Animals, driven by flood to take refuge
on hills, 237-238, 239

Anseranas melano/eucas, 76

Ant, country covered with ant-hills,
231 ; enormous size and great age
of hills, 231 ; parasites in, 231-232 ;
accidents as a result of their de-
structiveness, 232

Anthistiria australis. See Kangaroo-
grass

Anthozoa, on Great Barrier Reef, 303

Apium prostratum, the M native parsley,"
149; cultivated by colonists, 150;
found on Gascoyne River, 150

Appearance of country, desolate in
Riverine, 20 ; blackness of summer
on the Bogan, 30-31 ; in Victoria,
67-68 ; English-like orchards, hedges,
and landscapes, 74-75 : well watered
and grassed in Victoria, 75-76 ; tame
and uninteresting near Port Augusta,
103 ; about Lake Torrens a series of
marshes, 107-109 ; sand-hills and
mallee-scrub at head of Australian
Bight, 118 ; from top of cliffs in the
Bight, 120 ; about King George's
Sound, 142 ; near Albany, 149 ; in
Swan River district flat, with few
hills, 156; near townships fenced
into meadows, 157 ; a monotonous
plain beyond Swan River, 161 ; a
level horizon in the desert, 182 ;
change in character Swan River
desert, 185 ; about Port Grey, arid
but fertile under cultivation, 194-195 ;
in neighbourhood of Port Darwin,
225 ; near Fitzmaurice River mono-
tonous and poorly wooded, 247 ;
forest and park land in Queensland,
258 ; in interior of Queensland, 265

Ardea flavirostris, 53, 152

Ardea garzetta, 250

A triplex halimus, a species of orach at
King George's Sound, 149

Augusiifolia, splendid clusters of blossom,
265

Austin's Marsh, a sink, 191

Australian Alps, general description, 54 ;

variously named, 67 ; some of the

most delightful scenery in Australia,

67 ; cliff-like outline, 67
Australian Bight, head of. See Head

of Australian Bight
Australian mines. See Mines, Australian

BANDICOOT, a destructive and om-
nivorous animal, 238

Banyan-tree, fine specimens at Port
Darwin, 225 ; is it indigenous, or
imported, 253

Barking-lizard. See Lizard

Barracudas, abundant in Australian
Bight, 125 ; and on Barrier Reef, 313

Bat, see Fruit- bat, Tube-nosed bat, and
Leaf-nosed bat ; Indian Seas species
found near Fitzmaurice River, 244-
245 ; flying about all night, 245

Berniclajubata. See Brent-goose

Bettongia lesueuri. See Rat-kangaroos

Bettongia penicillatay 38. See Rat-
kangaroos

Bight, Great. See Head of Australian
Bight

Big-trees, completely eclipse Welling-
tonias, 86 ; within six miles journey
of Melbourne, 86 ; more than 500
feet high, 86 ; not valued because a
gum-tree, 86 ; girth, 87 ; a 200-feet
plank, 87 ; finest specimens at Fern-
shaw, 87

Billabungs, native name for backwater,
42

Biu-nuts, eaten by natives, 184 ; apt to
cause sickness if eaten uncooked, 184 ;
in Swan River and Champion Bay
districts, 21 1-2 12

Black-backed gull. See Gull

Black- boy, colonial name for Grass-
tree, which see

Black fan-tailed finch, a lateral wag-
tail, 82 ; amusing antics when fly-
catching, 82 ; nests of, 83

Blackfellow. See Aborigine

Black-Snake. See Snake

Blaxland, Lawson, and Wentworth,
first explorers of Blue Mountains, I

Bleekeri p/esicps, 315

Blue Mountains, deep colour of, I;
affection of Australians for, I ; first
explorers, 1,2; difficult passes in, 2 ;
enclosed valleys, 2-4 ; composition of
rocks, 3 ; parrot, 9 ; snow, II ; strong-
hold of lyre-bird, 12 ; eagles, 16

Bob-tailed goanna. See Stump-tailed
lizard, 240

INDEX

331

Bonitos, abundant in Australian Bight,
125 ; on Great Barrier Reef, 313

Boomerang, 289-291

Bottle-tree, curious appearance of, 263 ;
a species of gouty-stem, 263

Bowen, climate, 301 ; lassitude pre-
vailing at, 301

Bower-bird, playhouses of, in the Port
Darwin district, 255 ; nearly a dozen
species of, in Australia, 255 ; few in
the south of the continent, 255 ; play-
houses quite distinct from nests, and
apparently assembly places for amuse-
ment, 255-256 ; description of play-
houses, 256-257 ; antics of birds at
them, 257 ; articles found in them,

257

Brent-goose, Australian, size of a hen,
219 ; goes in small flocks, 219 ;
haunts and habits of, 219 ; found on
cultivated ground, 219 ; modification
of habits with enclosure of land notice-
able in this and other birds, 219

Brush-turkey, size of the megapode,
175; curious mound-nests of, 175;
prefer running to flying, 176 ; sizes
of the mound-nests, 176 ; materials
of nest in the making actually grasped
in claws of bird, 176 ; can throw
grass, etc., to top of mound, 176;
disposition of eggs in mound, 176 ;
full description of nest-mounds and
eggsi 177-180 ; destruction of eggs
by colonists and aborigines, 179
chicks hatched fully developed, 178
180 ; habits of species differ, 177
curious attitude when alarmed, 180
nearly always scratching, 180 ; poor
flyers, 180 ; hen-like habits, 180
food of western species, and of eastern
181 ; calls and notes, 181

Bunya-pine, enormous cones of, 269
protected by colonial government
270 ; cockatoos eat seeds of cone, 273

Burra-Burra, mines and district, 92-93
remarkable copper out-crop, 92-93
originally a back-country sheep-run
92 ; discovery by convict-shepherds
92 ; mines soon exhausted, 93 ; gold-
rush of Cornish miners, 93 ; strange
collective city, 93

Bush. Set Scrub, salt-bush scrub, and
mallee-scrub

Bustard, weight of, 35 ; habits, 35 ;
difficult of approach, 35 ; food, 35 :
nesting, 35 ; protective colouring of
bird and eggs, 35 ; northern variety
darker coloured, 276 ; probably a
variety of Eupodotis edwardsi, 276

Bustard-quail, 217. See Painted quail
Butterflies, list of probably imported
species, 83

Cacatua galertta, 50, 213, 272

Cacatua leadheateri, 90, 213

Cacatua roseicapitla, 50, 214, 272

Cacatua sanguinea, 272

Callopsittacus nova? hollandia?, 50, 214

Calyptorhynchus banksi, 50

Calyptorhynchus xanthonotus, 213

Cants deccanensis. See Dingo

Cants dtngo. See Dingo

Cams rutilans. See Dingo

Capital, necessary to prosperity in

Australia, 140 ; remarks on large and

small farmers, 141
Captive animals, never in a perfect

state of health, 178
Carcharias glaucus, 313
Carnivorous mammals on the Australian

continent small but exceedingly

fierce, 196-197
Carrion crows, rook-like call of, 31 ;

charged with attacking animals and

dying men, 32 ; food of, 32
Cascades, 5 ; few on Mount Kosciusko,

58-59 '■> general characteristics of

Australian, 59 ; depend on winter

rains, 59
Cassowary, distribution in Australia,

274 ; comparison with the emu, 274 ;
a more intelligent bird, 274 ; as
pets show a marked attachment, 274 ;
not gregarious, 274 ; not so prolific
as emu, 274 ; eggs similar to those
of emu, 275 ; young captured in pit-
falls, 275 ; not a forest haunting bird,

275 ; food of, 275 ; habit of rolling
in dust, 275 ; in danger of extermina-
tion, 276

Casuarinas, at King George's Sound,
1 50 ; at Swan River very poor trees,

159
Celenlerates, on Great Barrier Reef, 304

Celery-pine, remarkable tree in Adelaide

district, 96 ; telegraph poles made of

its wood, 96-97
Centipede, large springing, 210;

apparently unknown to science, 2IO
Cestracion phihppiy 313
ChcFtodon, family of fishes abundant in

Australian Bight, 125
Charadius h/lveticus, 21 J
Chelodma oblonga, 209. See Tortoise
Che-lone imbricata, 316
Chelone my das, 316
Cherry, native, 263-269
Chinese, in thousands at Port Darwin,

332

INDEX

224 ; often a domestic, 224 ; labour
of, dear, 226 ; sacrifices everything
for money, 227 ; useless in emer-
gency, 235 ; roguery of two on a
journey, and swift punishment, 235

Chlamydoder nuchalis. See Bower-bird

Chlamydosaurus Kingi. See Frilled-
lizard

Cliffs, precipitous, 3, Ii8, 120, 269;
geological formation, 3 ; character of,
near head of Australian Bight, 115,
118, 120; terrace of, near Dover Point,
123 ; wall-like on summits of desert
hills, Swan River, 163 ; covered with
aboriginal drawings, 1 92- 1 93 ; very
low at Abrolhos Islands, 206 ; hills
crowned with, Port Darwin district,
249 ; 600 feet high in Queensland,
269

Clouds, beautifully coloured, 187

Cockatiel, numerous on Darling, 50 ;
a great favourite with colonists of
Westralia, 214 ; affectionate nature
of, 214

Cockatoos, rose-breasted common on
the Darling, 50 ; flocks numbering
thousands, 50 ; young taken by
aborigines on the Darling, 51 ;
cockatoos quarrelsome, 51 ; food of,
51 ; list of in Swan River and
Champion Bay district, 213 ; on
mangrove thickets, look like masses
of snow, 213; black varieties scarcer
than white, 213 ; immense flocks in
Port Darwin district, 228 ; deafening
noise of their cries, 228 ; blood-
stained, and others in Queensland,
272 ; breeding habits of cockatoos, 273

Cockatoos, black, in Westralia, 213 ;
in Queensland, the largest cockatoo
on continent, 272 ; large and sharp
beak, 272 ; not a deep black in
colour, 272 ; a scarce bird, 272 ; a
solitary, forest haunting species, 272 ;
Dr Wallace controverted, 273 ;
breeding-hole and nest, 273

Colonists, no respect for unpopular
laws, 133 ; good sense may be
successfully appealed to, 133 ; a lone
family of, 193 ; hospitality of, 193 ;
trials and dangers of stock-farmers,
259-260
Conger vulgaris y 314

Conns family, beautiful shell of, 312

Convicts, the bugbear of the land, 141 ;
worked in fear of lash and musket,
141 ; town-hall at Perth erected by,
158 ; had a hand in founding Queens-
land, 258

Coral, beautiful ' sub-marine forest of,
at Abrolhos, 203 ; formation of
Abrolhos, 205 ; huge fan-shaped
masses, 207 ; beautiful forms on
Great Barrier Reef, 303 ; Australian
continent based on coral formation,

304

Corroboree, a dramatic representation,
48-49 ; description of, 295-296

Cotton-teal, green, looks like a minia-
ture goose, 218 ; scarce at Swan
River, a northern species, 219

Crabs, gigantic and brightly coloured
at Abrolhos Islands, 207 ; spider-
crabs and others on Great Barrier
Reef, 311

Creeping-plant, a hindrance to travellers
in Queensland, 265

Crocodiles, not usually found far from
sea, 242 ; 18 feet long, 261 ; dis-
tribution and food of, 261 ; descrip-
tion of toes and teeth, 262 ; of eggs
and incubation, 262 ; mother watches
young, 262

Crocodi/us porosus, 242

Crossorbinus genus, 313

Crustaceans, on Great Barrier Reef,

311
Cuckoo, a mysterious bird, 152 ; heard
but not seen, 152-153 ; seen in back-
country, Swan River district, 181 ;
naturalists mistaken about notes if a
cuckoo, 181

*

Dandelion, found at King George's
Sound, 149 ; and in Swan River and
Champion Bay district, 212 ; doubt-
ful if indigenous or imported, 212

Darling, river, general description, 42-
44 ; uncertain nomenclature, 42 ;
source, 43 ; lacking the picturesque,

43 ; no perceptible current for 300
miles, 43 ; remarkably level valley,

44 ; dangers of navigation, 45 ; the
Darling blackfellows, 45 ; rough
justice for, 45

Dasyurus viverrinus. See Native-cat

Delphinus delp/iis, 154

Dendrophis, genus of snakes, 6

Dermochelys coriacea, 316

"Devil," mountain and spiny. See
Spiny devil

Diamond-snake, in Blue Mountains, 6 ;
large and numerous on Mount
Kosciusko, 56 ; found at great height,
56 ; called carpet-snake by colonists,
202 ; agressive in Queensland, 264

Dingo, squabbling over prey, 185 ;
description of, 197-202 ; seen and

INDEX

333

first mentioned by Dampier, 197 ;
colour of, 197 ; Malay, Indian, and
dingo dogs one species, 197 ; size
and appearance, 197-198 ; number of
pups at a birth, 198 ; will cross with
any dog, 198 ; a sly and quarrelsome
animal, 198 ; has an excellent memory,
198 ; and is revengeful, 198-199 ;
colonists abhor it, 198 ; when cap-
tured simulates death, 198 ; never
thoroughly tamed, 198 ; ridiculous
affection of native master for, 198 ;
cross-breeding a failure, 199 ; a cruel
sheep-worrier, 199 ; rewards offered
for destruction of, 199 ; a clever bird-
catcher, 200 ; hunts for pups till
they are three-parts grown, 200 ;
never barks, 200 ; a lugubrious
howler, 201 ; a great thief, and very
mischievous, 201 ; a silent and active
animal, 201 ; likes to be petted, 201-
202 ; harbour amongst ant-hills, 231 ;
kills a kangaroo, 243-244 ; con-
stantly howling, 244 ; fight amongst
themselves, 244 ; not numerous in
Queensland, 261 ; fossil remains of,
320

Diver, dress of, a terror to sharks, 307 ;
perils of, 307 ; remarkable experiences
of, 307

Dog-fish, numerous and voracious in
King George's Sound, 155

Dolphin, Risso's, seen and captured in
King Georg|'s Sound, 154; schools
of the common species reported in
the Australian Bight

Dories, abundant in Australian Bight,

125
Dotterel, 216
Dove, ground, long-crested species, 249 ;

run like quails, 250 ; very wild, 250 ;

none of the habits of the pigeons, 250
Dover Point, a cliff in Australian Bight

600 feet high, 120
Dragon, Australian. See Frilled-lizard
Dragon-fish, on Barrier Reef, 314
Drainage, natural, 5
Dromcens irroratus. See Emu
Dromceus novce hollandice. See Emu
Drawings, clever native on cliffs, 192-

193

Duck, pass the night in dry river-bed.
Swan River desert, 186 ; heard flying
at night, 187 ; brown whistling, 246 ;
large dark and small light grey, 250

Duck-bill, size and weight, 78 ; de-
scription of burrow, 78 ; brain, 78-
79 ; congregate together, 79, 81 ;
prefers small pools and still waters,

79-80 ; colour and description of
fur, 79 ; spurs not used for attack or
defence, 79-80 ; a strong swims
80 ; curious attitude in floating, 80 ;
capture by aborigines, 80 ; 1
teristics of skeleton very reptilian, 80 ;
lacteal-pits, 80 ; food stowed in check-
pouches, 81 ; distribution of, 81 ; a
lively and playful animal, 81
Dugong, 305, 309 ; the Great Ba;
Reef the home of, 305 ; general
description, 305 ; formerly a fearless
animal, 305 ; actions and habits under
water, 306, 307, 309 ; likely to
be exterminated, 307 ; a harmless
creature, 307 ; habits of cow with
her calf, 307

EAGLES, 16, white-bellied, 16 ; wedge-
tailed, 16 ; carrion feeders, 17 ;
charged with attacking lambs, 17 ;
general habits, 17-18

Echidna aculeata. See Native porcupine

Echotieis reinora, sucker-fish on Barrier
^ Reef, 314

Eels, in river water-holes, 173 ; in
Port Darwin district, 242 ; congers
on Barrier Reef, 314

Egret, white, probably an accidental
visitor to Australia, 250-251

Ellyman, or shield, 292

Emblama picta, a brilliantly coloured
finch found in Swan River and
Champion Bay districts, 21S

Emu, only a tradition about the head
of Spencer's Gulf, 105 ; seen at head
of Australian Bight, 123 ; perhaps
most widely distributed ol Australian
birds, 143 ; description of the two
species, 143 ; an intermediate variety,
143 ; doubtful if there are two species,
143 ; two varieties interbreed, 143 ;
variation in colour of eggs, 143 ;
number in clutch, 143 ; question con-
cerning incubation, 143 ; only par-
tially gregarious, 144 ; division of
care of young, 144 ; driven from all
settled districts, 144 ; nuthod of
travelling, 144 ; speed equal to that
of a horse, 145 ; its kick, 145 ; a
dangerous antagonist, 145 ; solitary
emus, 145; kneeling when resting,

145 ; other attitudes and habits, 145-

146 ; its cries and calls, 146 ; boi>m-
ing of emu a sign of rain, 146 ;
sexual appendage of the female, 1 46 ;
the hen-bird larger than the o
146 ; few now left in the old colon
146 ; distribution of, 146 ; flesh of,

334

INDEX

tough and coarse, 147 ; food of, 147-
148 ; description of one shot on
Swan River back-run, 175 ; full of
rank fat, 185

Enclosed valleys. See Valleys

English birds and trees in Victoria,
75-76, 77 ; appearance of country,
75-76 ; robins bred in Victoria, 77 ;
sparrows in Adelaide and district, 94 ;
style at Adelaide, 96 ; oaks and other
trees at Albany, 149 ; trees and
animals in Westralia, 157

Epinephele j antra, 83

Erycina aulestes, 83

Estuarine crocodile. See Crocodile

Eucalyptus. See gum-trees and mallee-
scrub

Eucalyptus resinifera, the iron-bark, 263

Eudromias rufirent> is, 216

Eupodotis aus tralis, 35. See Bustard

Everlasting-flowers, plains covered with,

193

Exoca?tus evolans, 313

Exocarpus cupressiformis, the native

cherry, 263
Explorers, Blaxland, Lawson, and

Wentworth, first to penetrate Blue

Mountains, I
Extinct animals, description of remains

of, 327-329

Falcinellus igneus, the glossy ibis, seen
near Champion Bay, 215 ; in Port
Darwin district, 250

Falcunculus leucogaste*', 121

Fauna and flora, much disturbed by
operations of agriculturists, 93-94

Ferns, beautiful and lace-like in Queens-
land, 263 ; lovely fern-gullies, 277

Fernshaw, village of, in giant-gum
forest, 88 ; English- like appearance,
88-89 ; European flowers abundant
at, 89 ; wonders of native flora at,
89 ; lyre-bird in neighbourhood, 89

Ferrets and weasels imported to Aus-
tralia proved a nuisance, 61

Fig-trees, large and abundant at Port
Darwin, 225 ; picturesque specimens
in Queensland, 260 ; often a parasite
on iron-bark, 263

Finches, pheasant-tailed, 82 ; black
fan-tailed, 82-83

Fish, Australian, Murray River cod,
description of, 50 ; bite freely in
Australian Bight, 125 ; species, 125 ;
immense shoals, 126 ; species in
King George's Sound, 1 54-155 ; in
desert water-holes, 173 ; at the
Abrolhos Islands, 203-204 ; in rivers

of Westralia, 209-210 ; in Port
Darwin district, 242 ; collect in water-
holes, 277 ; remarkable instinct, 277 ;
Great Barrier Reef a valuable nursery
of, 308 ; habits under water, 309-310 ;
range of vision apparently limited,
309-310 ; flying-fish on Barrier Reef,

315
Flies, plague of, in Port Darwin district,

251

Forests, general remarks, 2 ; dense at
base of Mount Kosciusko, 54, 56, 57 ;
gum-tree forests, 86-88 ; at King
George's Sound, 150; former forests
of grass-trees at Fremantle, 159 1
mangrove at Abrolhos Islands, 206 ;
in Port Darwin district, 234 ; dense
and luxuriant in Queensland, 258

Fossils, 4 ; no evidence that present
race is not the aboriginal, 320-321 ;
skulls and bones of man, 320-321 ;
of dingo, thylacine, and small
mammals, 322 ; remains of the
diprotodon and giant kangaroos, 325-
326

Frilled-lizard, walks on its hind legs,
271 ; a yard long, 271 ; of sluggish
habit, strange means of defence,
harmlessness, long abstention from
food, etc., 271

Frog, pools swarm with, 185 ; descrip-
tion of "bull" and others, 187;
captured by snake, 188

Fruit-bat, many species between Swan
and Gascoyne Rivers, 220 ; flies in
large troops, 220-221 ; noise of their
screaming a nuisance to tired
travellers, 220 ; greedy and quarrel-
some, 221 ; poisoned and shot by
colonists, 221 ; young carried by
female, 22 2 ; at all times irritable,

235
Fruit, curious, growing on leafless tree,

248

Fungus, or lichen, luminous, 244

GanNET, two shot near Port Grey, 213
Geological formations, 3, 4 ; chalk at
head of Australian Bight, 116 ; white
sand in river bed, 173 ; loam often
found in sandy districts of Australia,
177 ; sandstone and white sand in
river banks and beds, 183 ; sand-
crop, 193 ; ironstone and limestone
formations at Port Grey, 194 ; coral
and limestone at Abrolhos, 206 ;
Abrolhos soil, guano, and disin-
tegrated coral, 208 ; erratic blocks in
Port Darwin district, 24a ; of hills

INDEX

335

in Port Darwin district, 249 ; boulders
at Bowen, 301-302

Geopsittacus occidentalism 5 1

Giant-moth, size, 83 ; colour, 84 ;
larvae harbour in hollow stems of
gum-tree, 84 ; price of moth in
Australia, 84 ; a swift high-flyer, 84 ;
difficult of capture, 84 ; seldom
abroad till afternoon, 85 ; description
of larva, 85 ; eaten by aborigines, 85 ;
distribution, 85 ; a haunter of gum-
trees, 86 ; not gregarious, 86

Globe-fish, weighing half a ton taken
on Barrier Reef, 315

Godwits, European varieties in Swan
River and Champion Bay districts,
216

Goose. See Brent-goose, Pied-goose,
etc

Gouty-stem tree, 242-243 ; monstrous
appearance, 242 ; description of fruit,
242 ; not found so far north as Port
Darwin, 243 ; scattered growth, 243 ;
enormous size, 243 ; destruction of,
by idlers, 243

Govett's Leap, 5

Grampians, part of Alps range, 67

Grampus gris, Risso's dolphin captured
in King George's Sound, 154 ; de-
scription of, 154

Grasshoppers, emigrants from England,

83
Grass-tree, first appears at King
George's Sound, 150; fine specimens
at Fremantle, 159; great age, 1 59 ;
extraordinary method of growth,

159 ; wood of, hard and full of resin,

160 ; in Swan River and Champion
Bay district, 21 1 ; a different species
in Queensland, 263

Great Barrier Reef, general appearance
of, 301-302 ; dangerous navigation,
302 ; weird submarine growths, 302 ;
lurking-place of monsters, 302, 305 ;
valuable nursery for fish, 303 ;
" brain-stones " and coral, 303 ;
magnificent sea-anemones, sponges,
etc., 303-304 ; depths of water on and
about, 304 ; crustaceans, sharks, etc.,
abound on, 311, 313 ; fish, 313,
315 ; turtle found on Barrier Reef,
316

Green Turtle. See Turtle

Ground paroquet, found on dry plains,
51 ; quarrels with other birds, 51 ;
nesting, 51

Grus australiaca, 34. See Native com-
panion

Gull, Lams pacificus^ the only one

found in Australian waters, 135 -
distribution, 136; breeds and la
_^ abundant on Great Bight, 136
Gum-trees, red-gum on Darling, 44 ;
largest trees in the world, 86-87 ;
many varieties, 87 ; strange habit
of shedding bark, 87-88 ; killed by
barking, 88; forests of, at King
George's Sound, 1 50 ; fourteen
species in Swan River and Champion
Bay districts, 211 ; fine specimens in
Queensland, 260
Gymnorhina tibica and G. /euconota, 34.
See Piping-crow

Hcematopus unicolour, 216

Hcntnipodius melinatus. See Painted
quail

Halia'etus leucogaster, 16. See Eagles

Halicore dugong. See Dugong

Hapalotis genus, 186

Hare Wallaby. See Wallaby

Harpyia australis. See Tube-nosed
bat

Hawksbill. See Turtle

Head of the Australian Bight, inset of
long rolling waves, 114-115; heavy
surf at foot of cliffs, 115 ; charac-
teristics of the cliffs, 115, 118 ;
difficulties of landing, 116 ; narrow
strip of beach at foot of cliffs, 119 ;
caverns in cliffs, 119; view inland,
1 20-1 21 ; troublesome thorn bushes,
121 ; view of country affords no relief
to the eye, 121 ; soundings in Bight,
115, 123, 126 ; no variation in back-
country, 123 ; impossible to penetrate
scrub, 124 ; species of fish and
immense shoals, 125-126 ; no fresh
water anywhere on, 126; gulls and
terns found in, 135 ; immense
numbers of sea-birds on east part, 136

Heat, very noticeable at Port Darwin,
225

Himantopius leucocephalus, 216

Honeysuckle, a universal favourite
with colonists, 1 50; a Banksi.t, 21 1 ;
flourishes in Westralia, 211

Hoplognathus conwavi. See Rasper

Horses, hobbling for the night, ill;
terrified at night-storm, 165-166 ;
very poor in quality at Port Darwin,
227 ; fed on dough, 238 ; tormented
by flies, 251

Hume, river, source of Murray, 57 ;
a rushing torrent in deep chasm, 57

Hunger-belt, 294

Hydromys chrysogoster, 323

336

INDEX

Ibis, large brown and black-necked,

seen in Port Darwin district, 250
Ibis strictipennis, 250
Iguana, found at great distance from

water, 190 ; active habits of, 190 ;

large water-monitors found at Swan

River, Champion Bay, and Port

Darwin, 240 ; more abundant in

Queensland, 271
Implacental group, a puzzling one, 66 ;

remarks on apparent paralleled

genera, 66
Imported, butterflies, 83 ; birds, 95 ;

plants, 89, 95-96 ; seeds in wool of

merino sheep, 95
Inland-sea theory, not so wild as often

supposed, 102
Island kings. See Straitsmen
Islands, seals frequented to breed, 135

Jacky-Jacky, affecting anecdote of a

faithful aborigine, 47-48
" Johnny-Raw," the, a scape-goat, 28-29
Jumping-rat. See Rat
Jumping - snake, very remarkable

creature, 187 ; apparently a Seps

lizard, and description of, 187 ; food

of, 188

Kangaroo, 36 ; origin of the word,
36-37 ; the great kangaroo a typical
animal, 36 ; elegance of its build,
36 ; number of species in Riverine,
36 ; sizes and weights, 37 ; size and
weight of red-kangaroo, brush-kan-
garoo, etc., 37 ; strange reproductive
habits of kangaroos, 39 ; only one at
a birth, 39; the "Joey," 39; the
kangaroo-hound, 40 ; the kangaroo
a formidable antagonist, 40 ; kan-
garoo chasing an exciting sport, 40-
41 ; great-grey not found on western
side of continent, 142 ; species in
Port Darwin district, 234 ; native
methods of capturing, 288 ; the pit-
fall, 288 ; enormous size and numbers
of prehistoric species, 324-325

Kangaroo-grass, prevailing herbage in
"rich grassy country," 150 ; in
Queensland, 266

Kiley. See Boomerang

King George's Sound, an important
region historically and naturally, 141 ;
nearly became a French colony, 141 ;
change of fauna at a decided demarca-
tion between two sides of the con-
tinent, 148 ; a typical region, 148 ;

starting-point of western flora, 1 50 ;
fish of, similar to those of the
Australian Bight, 154-155

Kite, carrion feeding, 106 ; breed in
company, 106 ; description of nests
and eggs, 106

Koala, the native bear, 63-64 ; found
on Kosciusko to height of 2000 feet,
63 ; sluggish and harmless, 64 ; eats
leaves only, 64 ; seldom come to
ground, 64 ; sloth-like in habits, 64 ;
do not drink, 64 ; extraordinary
antics when surprised, 64 ; food
stowed in cheek-pouches, 65 ; strong
claws not weapons, 65 ; cruelty of
aborigines to, 65 ; tenacity of life,
65-66 ; young carried on back, 65 ;
seems to be a specialised wombat, 66 ;
not found at King George's Sound,

152
Kosciusko, Mount, height, 54 ; rugged-
ness and difficulty of ascent, 54, 56 ;
dense forests on lower slopes, 57 ;
bare summit lichen covered, and
snow, 57 ; top of mountain a plateau,
57 ; deep precipice, 57 ; splendid
view from summit, 58 ; ferns, grass-
trees, and giant nettles, characteristic
vegetation, 58 ; streams and cascades
scarce on slopes, 58-59

Lagostrophus fasciatus, the banded
wallaby, 1 51

Lake Torrens, an extensive salt marsh,
107 ; its possible future, 107 ; rich
land, 107 ; at present a reed-covered
bed of stinking mud, 107 ; the
whole country near it a succession of
marshes, 108 ; water salt, 108 ;
brackish water obtained by digging,
108 ; Torrens valley at least fifty
miles wide, 108

Land-grabbing mania in Australia, 140

Largochester leporoides, 38, 69. See
Wallaby

Larus pacificus. See Gull

Lawson. See Blaxland

Leadbeater's cockatoo, found in Fern-
shaw forests, 90

Leaf-nosed bat, found in Champion
Bay district, and at Ports Grey and
Darwin, 223

Leathery-turtle, 314. See Turtle

Lichmetis nasica, 213, 272

L ichmetis pertinator, 213

Limenitis Camilla, 83

Limosa melanura, 216

Limosa rufa, 216

Liangle, 292

INDEX

337

Lipoa ocellata. See Brush-turkey
Lizard, "barking," description of, 189 ;
Abrolhos, see spiny-tailed lizard,
stump-tailed lizard, and iguana
Locusts, migratory locusts often swarm,

83

Loggerhead. See Turtle

Lost, dangers of being, 26 ; ignorance
versus instinct, 27-28

Love-bird, Australian, common, but
migratory, on Darling plains, 52 ;
breeding habits similar to those of
ground paroquet, 52

Luminous fungus, 244

Lyre-bird, 7-1 1 ; headquarters in Blue
Mountains, 7 ; three varieties, II ;
a mountain-forest bird, 1 1 ; solitary
habits, II ; prehistoric-like appear-
ance, 12 ; demand for feathers, 12 ;
puzzling bird, 12 ; difficulties of
classification, 12 ; plumage, 13 ;
habits, 13 ; food, 14; a song and
mocking-bird, 14-15 ; breeding habits,
15-16; impatient of captivity, 16;
found high as limit of trees, on M.
Kosciusko, 57

Macropus brachyums, 1 64. See Wallaby
Macropus giganteus, 36. See Kangaroo
Macropus ru/us, 37. See Kangaroo
Macropus theditis, 37. See Wallaby
Macropus ualabatus, 37. See Wallaby
Macropus unguifer, a match for dingo-
dog, 199
Mallee-scrub, a species of eucalyptus,
97 ; description of a mallee " scab,"
97 ; tenacious hold on soil, 97 ;
water obtained from roots, 97 ;
tiresome to travel through, 97 ;
characteristic of desert country, 97 ;
wallaby and " spiny devils " abound
in, 98 ; near Lake Torrens, III;
dense at head of Australian Bight,
116; a sign of good land at head
of Bight, 123 ; none seen westward
of Dover Point, 124
Marshes, cover the back-runs of Swan
River district, 174 ; dangerous quag-
mires at Port Darwin, 228
Meadows, in Westralia of moderate
size, 157 ; large ones at abandoned
station, 167
Meagre, large common kind taken in

Albany Bay, 155
Meconema varium, 83
Megapode. See Brush-turkey
Megapodius tumulus. See Brush-turkey
Melaleucus, splendid scarlet-flower near
Adelaide, 100

Meleagrina margaritifera. See Pearl-
oyster

Meliphagus, with an unusual habit, 215

Melopsittacus undulatus, 51

Menura superba, 1 1 ; a/berti, 1 1

Microglossus aterrimus. See Black
cockatoo

Mines, Australian, Australia eccentric
even in its mines, 92 ; Burra-Burra
copper mines, 92 ; copper and salt in
Lake Torrens district, 1 12

Mintaro slate quarry, renowned
throughout Australia, 92 ; an enor-
mous slate, 92

Mirage, in Riverine district, 24 ; de-
lusions of, in Swan River desert, 163

Moloch horridus. See Spiny devil

Monitor-water. See Iguana

Mosses and lichens, of beautiful colour
on Mount Kosciusko, 57 ; a source
of danger on Flinder's Range, 104 ;
intermingled with beautiful flowers,

105

" Mother Carey's chicken," 136

Moths, giant-moth. See p. 83 et seq.

Mountains. See Blue Mountains and
Australian Alps, peculiar striation
near summits, 3, 102, 108, 123, 149;
no true mountain system in Aus-
tralia, 102 ; Mount Remarkable, see
Remarkable, Mount ; fine view from
Devil's Peak, 104 ; peaks 2000 feet
high in Torrens Range, 108 ; curious
water-holes in, 109-110 ; Mounts
Clarence and Melville, Austra-
lian-like features of Albany, 149 ;
Magnet and Farmer's, 192 ; Mount
Fairfax and Wizard Peak, 194 ;
covered with erratic blocks in Port
Darwin district, 242 ; pyramidal near
Fitzmaurice River, 246 ; covered
with forest and scrub in Queensland,
265 ; very high in Queensland, 277 ;
Bellender Ker 5000 feet, 277

Mouse. See Rats and Mice

Murcena, fierce species on Barrier Reef,

314
Murray River, Hume head-waters of,

57 ; Murray or " Murrey-Mum v."

57-58
Murray River cod, 40 to 60 lbs.

weight, 50 ; gives good sport to the

angler, 50 ; caught by aborigines in

hand-nets, 50
A/us decumanus, 229. Sre Rats
Mus fuscipes, 185. See Rats
Mus rat'us, 229. See Rats
" Mutton-birds." See Petrel
Mycteria aus traits, 52

338

INDEX

Natapus pulchellas. See Cotton-teal

Native bear. See Koala

Native cat, found at base of Mount
Kosciusko, 60 ; scarce on most parts
of Alps, 60 ; a fierce beast of prey,

60 ; a marsupial resembling a pole-
cat in habits, etc., 60 ; usual prey,

61 ; acquired habit, 61 ; a blood and
brain sucker, 61

Native companion, description of, 34 ;
affectionate disposition, 34 ; habits
and food, 34 ; curious parade or
dance, 34

Native names of trees, fruits, etc, 2JI-
212

Native porcupine, plentiful in Victoria
mountains, but not often seen, 70 ;
least developed of all mammals, 70 ;
more intelligent than generally
thought, 71 ; a skilful burrowing
animal, 71 ; food, 72 ; frequently
called " ant-eaters," 72 ; harmless
and defenceless animals, 72 ; can
bury itself in one minute, 72 ; de-
scription of nest, 73 ; egg avian in
character, 73 ; young, 73-74 ; curious
and mysterious spurs of, 74 ; remarks
on brain, 79 ; found on Flinder's
Range, 105 ; disappears at King
George's Sound, 152

Native robin, same range of distribution
as duck-bill, 81 ; brilliantly coloured
plumage, 81 ; lively and familiar as
English robin, 81 ; protected by
popular opinion, 82

Nettles, gigantic in Queensland scrub,
263

New England, range and district,
source of Darling, 42

New Zealand flax, desert covered with,
north of Gascoyne River, 212

Ninox stremma, 245. See Owl

Notocanthida, a curious thorn-back found
outside Barrier Reef, 314

Oceanites oceanicus. See Storm-petrel
Octopus, large one seen on Great

Barrier Reef, 310
Onyckogale unguifera, 70
Opossum. See Phalanger
Ossifraga gigantea. See Petrel
Otaria forsteri, 1 34
Otatia lo^ata, 134
" Other side," a colloquial term in

Australia, 157
Overlanders, the, gentlemen by birth

and education, 172 ; adventurous

lives and enterprise of, 17a

Owl, large, flits about camp, 245 ; preys

on large animals, 245
Oxyrhyncha. See Crab
Oyster. See Pearl-oyster
Oyster-catchers, 216

Pachytylus migratorius , 83

Padamelon wallaby. See Wallaby

Painted quail, found on both mainland
and islands, 217 ; uncertain classifica-
tion, 217; breeding habits and eggs
different from those of the quails, 217

Painted snipe, flock seen near Shark
Bay, 215 ; nest, 215

Palmerston, oriental appearance of, 225

Pamphilea si/vatius, 83

Paroquets. See Ground paroquet ;
Rosella, or Rose Hill, question of
distribution, 214 ; omnivorous, 214 ;
frequents cultivated ground in search
of larvae of locusts, 214

Parrot-shooting, a favourite sport in
Australia, 8

Parrot, tenacious of life, 8 ;
elevation of 2000 feet on

Range, 106 ; seen at head of

found at
Flinder's
Bight,
123 ; impatient of rain but not of
cold, 153 ; thousands crowd the trees
in Queensland, 265

Pearl-oyster, abundant off Great Barrier
Reef, 312

Pegasus natans. See Dragon-fish

Pelican, found on coast of Westralia,
212 ; breed near Exmouth Gulf, 213 ;
seen on Upper Swan River, 213 ;
abundant, and breeds on Barrier
Reef, 318

Perth, remarkably compact place for
an Australian town, 158 ; minute
" public park," 158 ; full of cathedrals
and churches, 158

Petrel, great sooty, breeding at Abrol-
hos Islands, 208

Petrogale concinna, 234

Petrogale xanthopus, 69, 105

Petronia Phoenicia ? See Native robin

Phalanger, this and other species mis-
named opossums by colonists, 62 ;
rat-like habits, 62-63 ; enters houses,
eating and destroying food, etc., 62 ;
offensiveness, 62 ; organised shooting
parties and rewards for destruction
of, 62 ; aborigine an adept at captur-
ing, 63 ; skin valuable, 63

Phasco:arctus cinereus, 63

Pheasant-tailed finch, mouse-like in
movements, 82 ; a pleasant songster,
82

INDEX

339

Phormium tenax. See New Zealand
flax

Physeter macrocephalus, 119

Pied-goose, crow-like appearance, 76 ;
beak and feet abnormal, 76 ; perches
on trees, 76 ; notes raven-like, 76 ;
flock of, defend themselves from
hawks, 76

Pigeon, small brown, near Fitzmaurice
River, 246. See Dove

Pilot-fish, always two with shark, 203-
204 ; depicted by native draughts-
men, 204 ; never goes in shoals, 204 ;
never accompany basking-shark, 204

Piping-crow, white-backed, 32 ; black-
backed, 32 ; harmless and amusing
birds, 34 ; go in small flocks, 32 ;
mocking-birds, 32 ; food, habits, and
nests, 33

Platycoreus eximius, 214

Platypus. See Duck-bill

Plesiops bleekeri, 315

Plovers, various on Westralian coasts,
216 ; grey a common bird in West-
ralia, 217 ; found on some of most
barren plains, 217 ; nests and eggs
of, 217

Podocarpus asplenifolia, 96

Point Dover, a cliff in Australian Bight
600 feet high, 120

Polyommatus phleas, 83

Port Augusta, a thriving but uninterest-
ing place, IOI ; enormous grain store,
101

Potorous tridactylus, 38. See Rat-
kangaroo

Pouched-mouse, two species very abun-
dant on Alps. 60 ; habits vary with
locality, 60 ; omnivorous, 60 ; timid
and nocturnal, 60 ; breeding habits,
60 ; caught in traps like mice, 60

Poverty in Australia, 140 ; capital
necessary to prosperity, 140

Prospecting and squatting, trials and
dangers of, 259-260

Piettones erunice, 155

Pteropus poliocephalus. See Fruit-bat

Pyramtis car,/uiy 83

" Pyrenees," part of Alps range, 67
Python, 202. See Diamond-snake

QUAIL, courageous fight with ground
paroquets, $2 ; found at head of
Australian Bight, 117
Quail, painted. See Painted quail
Queensland, a characteristically Aus-
tralian country, 258 ; position under
Capricorn the cause of great floral

luxuriance, 258 ; dense forests of,
many burnt, 258 ; curious botani
productions of, 263 ; snakes very
abundant, 264 ; mountains very high,
277 ; Bellenden Ker exceeds 5000
feet, 277 ; lovely fern-gullies, 277

RABBIT, 6 ; pest of, 6 ; billions in
Riverine, 30 ; native beasts and birds
of prey do not destroy it, 60, 61 ; about
Spencer's Gulf, 105 ; wire netting to
prevent spread of, a failure, 261 ;
drastic penalties for letting loose, 261

Rain, in Riverine district, 19-20; re-
markable effects of, 25 ; speedily
absorbed, 43 ; in mallee-scrub desert,
99 ; drenching showers in Lake
Torrens district, 1 12 ; effect of a
single shower in desert, 11 7-1 18 ; at
sea off the Australian Bight, 128-129 ;
frequent and heavy at King George's
Sound, 149 ; in Swan River district,
156 ; coast rains do not travel into
the interior, 157 ; violent storm of,
165 ; in central desert a fall of 2
or 3 inches dries up in four or five
hours, 173 ; delightful odour caused
by, 183 ; cold, drizzling in desert,
190 ; at Port Darwin 60 or 70 inches,
226; heavy in desert, Port Darwin
district, 234, 235, 236

Rats and mice, ground in Swan River
desert over-run with, 185-186 ;
brown-footed, 185 ; jumping, jungles
swarm with, 186; Queensland, 186;
at Rat Island, Abrolhos, 206 ; feed on
molluscs, 206 ; not marsupials, 220 ;
ground honey-combed with burrows,
220 ; brown and black agree in Port
Darwin district, and on board ships,
229 ; how country stocked with, 229 ;
Queensland, at Port Darwin, 229

Rasper, the common knife-jaw, 313;
shoals of, on Barrier Reef, 313 ; de-
structive to pearl-oyster, 313

Rat - kangaroos, brush - tailed found
everywhere on east and south coasts,
151 ; do not come forth till dusk, and
all very timid, 151 ; are gregarious,
151 ; and breed but once a y
1 51-152 ; run and walk differently
from kangaroos, 152 ; live in colonics,
186 ; description of, 186

Reeds, miles of country covered with,
in western desert, 192 ; in river-beds
193; 20 feet high at Port Darwin,
228 ; marsh covered with, 250

Relics of explorers, at Tort Darwin, 225

340

INDEX

Remarkable, Mount, a bare rock of
precipitous elevation, 103 ; visible
nearly sixty miles, 103 ; terminable
outpost of Flindei's Range, 103 ;
seared with rugged ravines, 103 ;
height of, 105 ; often enveloped in
clouds and capped with snow, 105

Rhinodon typicus, 120

Rhinolophus megaphyllus. See Leaf-
nosed bat

Rhipidura molaclllotdes, 82

Rhynchus australls, 215

Ringia aus trails. See Grass-tree

Riverine district, 19 ; rainfall, 19-20

Rivers and streams, 3, 58-59 ; current-
less, 20 ; the Darling, general descrip-
tion, 42-44 ; scarce on slopes of Mount
Kosciusko, 58-59; many run into Lake
Eyre, 108-109 ; high banks of desert
stream, 167 ; remarkable holes in beds
of, 174 ; fish in river holes, 173 ; dry
beds of in Swan River desert, 185 ;
have short courses in Port Darwin
district, 228 ; head-waters of Adelaide,
230 ; low-banked and deep in Port
Darwin district, 241-242

Rocks, remarkable masses in Victoria,
68 ; fantastic shapes on Flinder's
Range, 104 ; the Cathedral Rock near
Quorn, inaccessible pinnacles, 104 ;
rocks covered with beautiful mosses,
104 ; " sheep rocks " in Port Darwin
district, 242 ; huge one in Queens-
land, 265

Rock-wallaby. See Wallaby

Rosella, or Rose Hill, parrot. See
Paroquet

Salt, beautifully white on surface of

Lake Torrens, 107 ; dry pans of in

Austin's Marsh, 191
Salt-bush scrub, much still left near

Adelaide, 96 ; in flower near Lake

Torrens, III
Salt lakes, in desert of interior, Swan

River, 162 ; one 2 miles wide, 191
Sand flies, a great nuisance at head of

Australian Bight, 121
Sand-ridges, near Flinder's Range, 1 10-

Iii ; at head of Australian Bight, 12 1 ;

covered with spinifex beyond Swan

River, 16 1 ; covered with thorn

bushes, 193
Scarlet lory, seen frequently at Fern-

shaw, 90
SciiFfia aquila, the common meagre, 155
Scrub, near Adelaide, 96 ; mallee-scrub,

description of, 97-98 ; dense on high

bank of river, 181 ; cane-scrub in

Swan River desert, 182 ; impassable
near Port Darwin, 228 ; gigantic
nettle in Queensland, 263
Seal, fur, formerly abundant in Bass's
Strait, 1 34 ; exterminated by Straits-
men, 134 ; not found on S.-W. coast,

134 ; formerly on all parts of coasts
of Victoria and New South Wales,

135
Seal, hair, formerly found in Bass's
Strait, 134; a western species, 134;
reported in the Bight, 134; still
lingers in King George's Sound,

135 ; formerly on all parts of coasts
of Victoria and New South Wales,

135.
Seps, lizard. See Jumping-snake
Shark, large basking-shark in Australian
Bight, 120 ; numerous and dangerous
in King George's Sound, 155 ; very
large one at Abrolhos, 204 ; accom-
panied by pilot-fish, 203-204; monsters
unknown to science, 205 ; on Great
Barrier Reef, 303 ; eggs of, 303, 312 ;
afraid of man in diver's dress, 309 ;
Barrier Reef favourite breeding-place,

313
Sheep, immense flocks of in Victoria,
75 ; seeds imported in wool of merino,

Shooting, destructive, 6, 33, 135, 147 ;
parrot, 8 ; wallaby, 37, 105 ; emu
wantonly shot, 147 ; ducks for a
living at Albany, 153

Shrike tit. pretty tricks of one at head
of Bight, 121 ; description of, (21-122;
habits of, 122 ; great strength of the
bird, 122 ; has a noisy note, 122 ;
courageous and tame, 122 ; feed on
insects, 122

Snake, see Diamond-snake ; black,
188 ; captures frog, 188 ; poisonous,
192 ; few accidents from, 202 ; native
names for, 202 ; aborigines capture
and eat, 202-203 ; very abundant in
Queensland, 264

Snow, 1 1 ; not uncommon, 1 1 ; on highest
summits of Australian Alps a few
months each year, 59 ; often on
summit of Mount Remarkable, 105

Sparlda?, sea-bream at Abrolhos Islands,
2)3

Sparrow, English, swarms in parts of
Victoria, 75 ; established in Adelaide
and Buna districts, 94

Species of animals very sharply defined,
as regards distribution, on certain
parts of continent, 142 ; absence of
natural barriers to migration of, 148 ;

INDEX

341

extraordinary contrast of in pre-
historic times, 323

Spencer's Gulf, cornfields with poppies
at, 95 ; appearance of country near,
101 ; shores of gulf a reedy mud-
waste, 102 ; Lakes Torrens and Eyre
probably formerly a part of, 112

Sperm whale, school of in Australian
Bight, 119; dull of sight and hear-
ing, 119; sometimes seen and cap-
tured in King George's Sound, 154

Spider-crab. See Crab

Spinifex, an intolerable nuisance near
Lake Torrens, HI ; kangaroos avoid
it, in ; sand hills covered with, in
interior, 161

Spiny devil, spines protective, 98 ;
apparent case of mimicry, 98 ; animal
harmless, 98 ; size and weight, 98 ;
food, 99; called "mountain devil"
in Westralia, 192 ; numerous in
western deserts, 192

Spiny-tailed lizard, curious, of Abrolhos,
205-206; lives amongst coral, 206;
food and habits of, 206

Sterna australis, 135

Stipiturus malacurus, 82

Stork, Mycteria australis, most gre-
garious, 52 ; preys on fish and small
mammals, 52 ; flight and habits, 53 ;
nesting and habits of the white heron,
53

Storm-petrel, plentiful in Great Bight,

136 ; with us during perilous voyage,

137 ; satisfaction of sailors at presence
of, 136-137

Straitsmen, island kings, 134 ; exter-
minated the seals on Bass's Strait,

134

Striated cliffs, 3, 102, 108 ; singular
near Dover Point, 123

Stump-tailed lizard, one of strangest
creatures in Australia, 240 ; sluggish
habits of, 241

Sula pi^catrix, 213

Sun-fish, weighing 400 pounds taken
in King George's Sound, 155

Surinlhopsis murina, pouched-mouse, 60

Swamson's loriquet, 9 ; in suburbs of
Sydney, 9 ; feeds on honey, 9 ;
habits, 9 ; number in flock, 9 ; in
snow-storm, 10 ; breeding, 10 ; a
noisy bird and bad talker, 10 ; dis-
tribution, 11

Swamp-oak, a useful shrub to natives,
212 ; uses to which bark is put, 212

Swan, white swans and black, 33-34 ;
nesting of, 34 ; black swan a shy
bird, 102 ; at King George's Sound,

153; migrate, 153; black swans on
Swan River in 1 890, 158

Swan, cutter-yacht, purchase and out-
fit of, 113; crew, 114; adventurous
voyage, 114, 131 ; difficulties of
navigating, 115, 128-129; could only
sail seven knots per hour, 129

Swan River, lake-like above Perth, 158

Swan River district, prevailing winds,
climate, and rain, 156 ; interior a
plain with a few scattered hills on it,
163 ; mirage in the desert, 163 ;
conical hills with wall-like cliffs, 163 ;
waterless interior, 162-164

Syncecus australis, 118

Tea-tree, in river-bed, 193

Tecoma australis, a large trumpet-
shaped flower, 89 ; climbs gum-trees
to great height, 89

Tern, Australian, 135 ; found all round
Australian coasts, 136 ; asleep on
back of turtle, 137-138, 317 ; breeds
on Barrier Reef, 318

Thalassochelys caret/a, 316

Thee la quereus, 83

Thorn bushes, troublesome at head of
Australian Bight, 121

Torrens, Lake, See Lake Torrens

Tortoise, C. oblonga, and others, fre-
quently found in mud of rivers, 209

Townships on the Darling, 44

Trachysaurus rugosus. See Stump-tailed
lizard

Tra\el, dangers of, a personal adven-
ture, 21-29 ; perils of the Swan, 127;
necessaries for a journey in the bush,
160; troubles occasioned by desert
storm, 165 166 ; conditions of in
Australia now quite altered, 1 71-173 ;
no interest in explorer unless he goes
for gain or a wager, 173; from natives
in Port Darwin district, 230; long
solitary rides, 236 ; flood dangers,
338-339 ; hardships and amenities of
bush life, 247-248

Trees, scattered on Riverine plains, 20 ;
tree-belt, on Darling, 44 ; on Mount
Kosciusko, 54, 56 ; in Victoria, 67-
68 ; English trees, 74, 76 ; larg
trees in the world, 86, see Big trees ;
celery-pine in Adelaide district, 96 ;
very few near head of Australian
Bight, 118 ; English trees quite alter
appearance of country about King
George's Sound, 149 ; scattered about
desert interior of Swan River district,
162 ; on high bank of river, 18 1 ;
belts of in Swan River desert, 182 ;

342

INDEX

Captain Owen Stanley's, Stuart's, and
Beagle 's, 225 ; those which in desert
languish, fine trees at Port Darwin,
226 ; abundant in Port Darwin dis-
trict, 234 ; in Queensland, 263, 269,
270

Trichoglossus novce hollandice, 9. See
Swainson's loriquet

Trichosurus vulpecula, 62

Tube-nosed bat, 222-223 ; seems to be
scarce in Westralia, but is abundant
in Queensland, 222 ; nocturnal in
habit, 222 ; a fruit-eater, 222 ; the
tube's sensitive organs, 222 ; differs
in cry and habits from all other fruit-
bats, 223

Turtle, species found on Barrier Reef,
316 ; unknown species or hybrid, 316;
enormous leathery turtle, 317; differ-
ent foods of the turtle, 317 ; weights
of various turtles, 317

Uroa'elus audax, 16. See Eagles

Valleys, enclosed, 2, 4, 5, 6 ; difficult

of entrance, 5
Vanessa poly chlorus, 83
Varanus salvator. See Iguana
Vegetation, 4 ; on Mount Kosciusko,
54 ; in Fernshaw gum-tree forests,
88 ; in mallee-scrub, 97-98 ; ground
covered with near Lake Torrens, 1 1 1 ;
near head of Australian Bight, 116-
117, 118, 123; about King George's
Sound, 142 ; influence on climate of
King George's Sound, 149 ; at Ab-
rolhos Islands, 207 ; in the Swan
River and Champion Bay district,
211-212 ; scrub and groves of trees
at Port Darwin, 225, 228 ; luxuriant
in Queensland, 265
Vesperugo abramus, 245. See Bats
Victoria, colony, greater variety of
fauna than any other part of same
area, 67; homesteads thickly scattered
over colony, 68 ; general appearance
of country, 67-68; English -like
orchards, hedges, etc, 74-75 ; im-
ported animals and birds, 75 ; well
watered and grassed, 75-76; immense
flocks of sheep, 75 ; the country of
the "wool-kings," 75

Waddy, 292

Wallaby, 6 ; numerous in Riverine, 30 ;
black-tailed wallaby, size, and weight,
37 ; size and weight, padamelon
wallaby, 37 ; size and weight, hare-
wallaby, 37 ; wallaby-shooting good

sport, 37 ; size of mobs or droves,
38 ; all good for food, 38 ; on lower
slopes of Mount Kosciusko 59 ;
favourite lurking-place of rock-
wallaby, 68 ; rock-wallaby in Victoria,
69 ; hare-wallaby a common species
in Victoria, 69 ; description of, 69 ;
throwing away young, 69 ; remark-
able spur-tailed, 69-70 ; apparently
a curious weapon, 70 ; description
and habits in captivity of spur-
tailed, 70 ; good rock-wallaby shoot-
ing in Flinder's Range, 105 ; banded
wallaby, 1 51 ; peculiar habits of, 1 51 ;
hare-wallaby in Swan River district,
163-164 ; short-tailed wallaby, 164

Warren-root, 211 ; grounds, 277

Warryta, a magnificent scarlet flower,
100 ; wantonly destroyed and in
danger of extinction, 100 ; descrip-
tion of, 100

Water, scarcity of, in Riverine, 31 ;
digging for, 31, 99, 108, 109-110,
162, 163, 191 ; billabung, 42 ; scarce
about Mount Kosciusko, 58-59 ;
mallee-scrub a sign of the presence
of, 98 ; salt or brackish at Lake
Torrens, 108 ; better to dig than
search for, 109-110; scarce and
brackish at head of Australian Bight,
117 ; \ery scarce at head of Bight,
121 ; salt and bitter in Swan River
desert, 162 ; want of, in desert of
interior, 165 ; surface pools after
storm, 165-166 ; in some rivers pro-
bably runs underground, 174 ; in
mud-beds, 193 ; remarkable spring
at Abrolhos Islands, 206 ; scarce in
Queensland, 263-264

Waterfalls. See Cascades

Water-lily, stream covered with, in
Port Darwin district, 250

Water-monitor. See Iguana

Water-rat, prehistoric, six feet long,

323

Wattle-trees, beauty and perfection of,
at Fernshaw, 89

Wells, a hundred feet deep, 31 ; in
mallee-scrub, 99 ; artesian, in Ninety-
Mile Desert, 99-100 ; hints for digg-
ing, 109-110; wise to dig for in
times of peril, 109-110; no water in,
at head of Bight, 121 ; to supply
cattle in Swan River desert, 162 ;
aborigines cannot dig deep, 164 ;
native, filled by rain, 166 ; riveted
with bushes to support weight of
cattle, 167 ; at depth of eight feet in
desert, 191 ; very remarkable fresh-

INDEX

343

water, at Abrolhos, 206 ; stock-
farmers in Queensland, 264
Wentworth. See Blaxland
Western Australia, birthday of, 141
Westralia and Westralians, 157
Whale. See Sperm-whale
Whip-snake, a poisonous variety, 192
Whirlwinds, small, on northern plains,

233, 234
Wilson's petrel. See Storm-petrel
Wombat, not found at King George's

Sound, 152

Wommera, throwing-stick, 290-291
Wreakage, curious, at Abrolhos h lands,
207

Xerotnys myoides} Queensland rat. See
Rats

Zamia media, a species of palm, 211.

See Biu-nut
Zebra-fish, abundant in Australian

Bight, 125
Zelotypta stacyi, 83. See Giant-moth

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