_TORRES STRAITS ISLANDS._
We remained for nearly four months anchored at or in the neighbourhood
of Thursday Island. During this period our boats were employed in
making a survey of the Prince of Wales Channel, which is now the
route almost invariably used by steamers and sailing ships in passing
through Torres Straits. There is a small settlement at Thursday Island
consisting of about dozen houses, wooden built, which are occupied
by white families and their coloured domestics. There is a police
magistrate, whose jurisdiction, as an official of the Queensland
government, extends over all the islands in Torres Straits; an officer
of customs, through whose hands passes all the trade of the Straits; a
staff of white policemen to enforce the Queensland law; a prison for
the incarceration of the refractory pearl shellers; a store for the
supply of tinned provisions and all the miscellaneous requirements of
the pearl shell trade; and, finally, there are two public-houses which
do a flourishing business and supply ample material for the official
ministration of the police. The entire population, white and coloured,
does not exceed a hundred.
Thursday Island owes its importance to being the shipping port for
the produce of all the pearl shell fisheries in Torres Straits. It
is visited monthly by steamers of the "British India" and "Eastern
and Australian" Steamship Companies, and also by a small coasting
steamer, the _Corea_, belonging to an Australian firm. The latter
plies regularly and constantly between Thursday Island and Sydney,
and does most of the business in connection with the fisheries,
conveying the shell to Sydney, and returning with a cargo of tinned
provisions, slops, and other stores for the use of the pearl shellers.
The inhabitants of Thursday Island, and those belonging to the various
pearl shell stations scattered through the group of islands, are
dependent for support upon extraneous supplies of provisions. Cattle
will not thrive on the islands, owing to the poisonous nature of the
grass, and as yet all attempts at growing fruit and vegetables have in
most cases proved unsuccessful.
The native inhabitants of the Torres Straits Islands are a small
tribe of Papuan origin, who lead a wandering life, and show little
inclination to hold intercourse with either white or coloured
colonists. They have the frizzled hair, the aquiline hooked nose, and
the wide curved lips of the Papuans; and among their implements are the
long "hour-glass" drum, headed with lizard skin, the tortoise-shell
mask worn at corroborees, and the pearl shell ornaments dangling from
the neck; but their intercourse with the North Australian aborigines
is shown by their having acquired the practice of using the "throwing
sticks" for their spears. Their food being almost solely of marine
origin, their camps are only found on the shores of the islands. At
certain seasons in the year they catch the turtle and dugong, and
apparently in great numbers, if one can judge by the quantity of bones
of these animals seen by us in the midden-heaps. Fish they obtain in
abundance by means of the hook and line, and the shore molluscs also
supply them with food; so that it is not to be wondered at that we
generally found them to be in a well-nourished condition, and not
at all anxious to barter their fish for such a commodity as ship's
biscuit. Their boats are long dug-out canoes, fitted with double
outriggers, and very rudely constructed. Whether under sail or paddle,
they manœuvred very badly, and were on the whole very poor specimens
of naval architecture, even for a tribe of savages.
In 1879 the population of the shelling stations amounted to 720, while
that of the settlement at Thursday Island was only 80. In 1880 the
shelling population amounted to 815, showing an increase of nearly a
hundred on that of the previous year. As far as I could ascertain,
any change that has taken place during the last two years has been
indicative of the increasing prosperity of the pearl shell industry.
Indeed I was informed by a resident gentleman connected with the
fisheries, that the shareholders in one of the stations had that year
received a dividend of seventy per cent. on the capital invested. I
made the acquaintance of several of the managers (or "bosses" as they
are commonly called) of the pearl shell establishments, and through
their civility had opportunities of visiting many stations within a
range of twenty-five miles from our anchorage at Thursday Island.
They are all constructed more or less on the same general model;
consisting usually of one white-washed house,--the residence of the
white manager,--a store-house, and a couple of sheds for the stowage of
boat appliances and pearl shell, and a few large grass built huts in
which the labourers employed at the depôt are housed. These men, who
are spoken of under the comprehensive term of "Kanakas," are for the
most part Malays: the remainder being a motley collection of Manila
men, Fijians, natives of New Hebrides, and brown-skinned Polynesians
from various Pacific Islands. There is usually but one white man to
each station, viz., the manager. The shelling boats--called "apparatus
boats"--are entirely under the control of Kanakas. They are each of
between five and eight tons burden, are rigged with standing lugsails,
and are provided with the most approved air pump diving apparatus. The
crew of one of these boats usually consists of five men, one of whom
is the diver; another steers, and the remaining three look after the
air pump and signal rope. The time selected for diving operations is
usually when there is a "weather tide"; the vessel is then hove-to
under easy canvas, so that she may drift slowly to windward, while the
diver, following her movements, gropes about the bottom in search of
pearl shell. The work is carried on at depths varying between five
and sixteen fathoms, and in order to provide against accidents from
inequalities in the bottom, as well as to allow the diver greater
freedom in his movements, the length of the pipes connecting his dress
with the air pump is usually twice the mean depth of the water in which
he is working. The signal rope is of a similar length, so that it may
be used for hauling up the shell-bag which the diver fills from time to
time, without his having to release the end attached to his body, or
to make use of a second line. The bag is therefore attached about the
middle of the line.
When diving apparatus was first used in Torres Straits, white divers
were exclusively employed, and at the same time the Kanakas continued
to work as "swimming divers" in the tedious old-fashioned way. As soon,
however, as the Kanakas were tried in the diving dresses, it was found
that they were far superior to any professional white divers, for not
only could they remain much longer under water, but they were also
able to move about on the bottom more independently, and to dispense
altogether with the weighted rope ladder which the white divers used
to look upon as essential. Since the introduction of boats fitted with
diving apparatus, the pearl shell trade of Torres Straits has become
highly remunerative, and the export of shells has increased enormously.
The shells obtained are classified into two qualities: firstly, young
shells, known to the trade as "chicken shell," which are the most
valuable, and average about 2,000 to the ton; and secondly, adult
shells, about 700 of which weigh one ton. It is calculated that the
annual take of a single boat is about seven tons, of which five tons
cover the outlay, and two tons may be reckoned as clear profit. The
value per ton has a wide range, varying according to the state of the
home market, and may be estimated at from £100 to £300. The number
of boats employed last year was 100. In the year 1878, shells to the
weight of 449 tons, and valued at £53,021, were exported; and during
the same year pearls to the value of £230. Most of the pearls taken
are of poor quality, and are so few as to be comparatively valueless;
although a fairly good one, without a flaw, and about the size of a
pea, is said to be worth £5. Coarse ones of extraordinary size are
sometimes obtained. A proprietor and manager (Captain Tucker), who was
considered exceptionally fortunate in obtaining pearls, once showed me
the proceeds of nine tons of shell which he had just brought in from
the fishing-ground. The pearls were of all sorts and sizes; one was as
big as a large hazel nut, others were like millet seeds. Altogether
they were just sufficient to fill a common matchbox, in which indeed he
carried them. Official statistics regarding the take of pearls are only
to a small extent reliable, as many--probably most--never reach the
hands of the proprietors, but are retained as perquisites by the Kanaka
divers, who dispose of them secretly.
Most of the shell is sent to Sydney by the steamship _Corea_, where it
is purchased by merchants, who send it to Europe for manufacture. Since
the establishment of the Queensland Royal Mail-steamers, which traverse
Torres Straits, some of the shell has been by them conveyed direct to
England, where it is consigned to the manufacturers, to the greater
profit of the pearl shellers. Most of the shelling establishments in
Torres Straits are the property of companies consisting of two or
more capitalists, who for the most part reside in Sydney, and it is
indeed a rather odd anomaly that a lucrative industry subject to the
jurisdiction of the Queensland government should be worked by capital
from New South Wales.
Much of my time was occupied in giving medical aid to the people of
Thursday Island, and to the _employés_ of the pearl-shell stations.
My spare time, as opportunities offered, I spent in exploring the
group of islands within reach, viz., Horn Island, Prince of Wales
Island, Hammond Island, Fitzroy Island, Goode Island, Thursday Island,
Possession Island, West Island, and Booby Island. In geological
formation they are all much alike, a quartzite or quartz porphyry being
the prevailing form of rock. The land is covered with rank grass, and
is for the most part lightly timbered with gum-trees. On the latter
a parasitic plant, resembling mistletoe, is commonly met with. Water
is scarce, and during a great part of the year some of the islands
are practically without any. In searching for water-holes or for
damp spots, where water has at some period of the year been present,
_Pandanus_ trees are in many instances considered to be a safe guide.
The rule, however, seems to be that where moisture habitually collects,
_Pandanus_ trees will be found growing, and not the converse. Attached
to rocky surfaces, and to the bark of trees in shady places, the eye is
frequently arrested by the sight of most beautiful orchids, principally
of the genus _Dendrobium_. These orchids are objects of much concern
to the more enterprising colonists, as there is an oft-repeated story
that some years ago a white-flowered _Dendrobium_ was found on Goode
Island, and on being sent to England was sold for £200. Consequently
everyone collecting orchids is supposed to be in quest of the famous
white species.
Lizards are abundant, especially a large _Monitor_, which, when
disturbed, astonishes one by the noise which it makes in scampering
over the stones and dead twigs to its burrow, or if this be not at
hand, to seek the protection of some friendly tree, up which it climbs
with extraordinary facility. They are easily shot. When first I saw
their burrows, I considered them to be the work of some burrowing
marsupial, and accordingly set a cage-trap opposite the entrance of
one. On returning next day, I found, to my surprise, a large _Monitor_
coiled up inside the trap, whose dimensions were so small in proportion
to the size of the reptile, that the wonder was how he ever managed
to stow himself inside. We encountered few snakes, and from inquiries
were led to believe that few, if any, poisonous ones existed. However,
they are said not to show themselves much during the dry season, which
among these islands is supposed to be their time for hybernating.
One day, when exploring in company with Haswell, we found portions of
the carapace and pincer-claw of a land-crab (most likely a species of
_Geograpsus_), an animal not previously recorded from the islands.
On examining the beds of dry mountain gullies, and digging into
sand-choked crevices between spurs of rock, where a certain amount of
moisture existed, I subsequently obtained several live specimens. No
doubt, during the wet season they might be more easily obtained.
Thursday Island possesses six species of land-shells. They are _Helix
kreffti_, _H. delessertiana_, _H. spaldingi_, _H. buxtoni_, _Bulimus
beddomei_, and _Helicina reticulata_. During our stay the island was
fired, in order to remove the "spear-grass," which is so destructive to
cattle. The fire spread over the whole island, and continued to rage
for several days, consuming not only all the grass, but also a great
quantity of scrub, and laying bare a vast extent of arid stony surface.
It was now an easy matter to collect land-shells, for they lay dead in
prodigious numbers on the bare summits of the hills as well as in the
hollows, gullies, and other more likely places.
This fire was a great blow to my hopes of collecting plants, almost all
the herbaceous ones and many of the creepers having been consumed or
shrivelled up by the heat of the conflagration. After much trouble I
succeeded in obtaining five species of ferns, which I fancy is not far
short of the entire number. Among these were the _Nephrolepis acuta_,
_Pulæa nitida_, _Polypodium quercifolium_, _Lindsaya ensifolia_, and
the common Australian form, _Lygodium scandens_.
The avifauna of the different islands is, as might be expected, of
a similar character to, and differs very little, if at all, from
that of the adjoining part of the mainland of Australia. The list
of birds includes species of the genera _Campephaga_, _Ptilotis_,
_Pachycephala_, _Myzomela_, _Nectarinia_, _Dicæum_, _Trichoglossus_,
_Artamus_, _Mimeta_, _Halcyon_, _Nycticorax_, _Plictolophus_,
_Chalcophaps_, _Erythrauchena_, _Geopelia_, _Ptilinopus_, _Myiagra_,
_Sauloprocta_, _Sphecotheres_, _Chibia_, _Centropus_, _Graucalus_,
_Grallina_, _Donacola_, _Tropidorhynchus_, _Climacteris_, _Megapodius_,
_Œdicnemus_, _Ægialitis_, _Merops_, _Dacelo_, _Bruchigavia_,
_Sterna_, _Pelicanus_, _Hæmatopus_, and others. At Booby Island, a
small rocky islet in mid-channel, affording no cover beyond a few
bushes growing in a cleft in the rocks, we found no less than twelve
species of land-birds. These were the _Ptilinopus superbus_, _P.
swainsoni_, _Myiagra plumbea_, _Nectarinia australis_, _Megapodius
tumulus_, _Porphyrio melanotus_, _Halcyon sanctus_, _Nycticorax
caledonicus_, a _Zosterops_, a yellow-breasted flycatcher, a landrail,
and a quail. From the discrepancies between the different records of
the birds found on this island, there is reason to believe that it is
mainly used as a temporary resting-place for birds of passage. The
"mound bird" (_Megapodius tumulus_) is probably, however, a regular
inhabitant.
In examining the cliffs of this island, in quest of sea-birds' nests,
I noticed, considerably above the reach of the highest tide, some
smooth basin-shaped cavities in the rock containing rounded water-worn
stones, such as one sees in the rock pools between tide marks. This
circumstance would point to an upheaval of the island during recent
geological times.
We sailed from Torres Straits on October 1st, and proceeded under steam
towards Port Darwin, in North-West Australia, sounding and dredging on
our way, and eventually coming to an anchor in Port Darwin on October
20th. The settlement of Palmerston, off which we lay, is the seat of
government for the northern territory of the colony of South Australia,
whose capital, Adelaide, is about 1,800 miles away on the south coast,
and is separated from Port Darwin by an enormous patch of uncivilized
country extending for about 1,500 miles in a north and south direction.
The foundation of a settlement at Port Darwin, which took place about
ten years ago (1872), was practically due to the completion of the
submarine cable and land telegraph lines, which have each got terminal
stations at Port Darwin, where the "through" messages are transferred.
Its subsequent progress, such as it has been, was encouraged and
fostered by the trade in provisions and gold induced by the workers at
the northern territory gold-fields. There are now two submarine cables
connecting Port Darwin with Singapore, _viâ_ Java, and thence with
Europe. The first was laid in 1872, and was found most difficult to
maintain on account of the ravages made in it by a boring mollusc, a
species of _Teredo_, which in an amazingly short space of time pierced
the galvanized iron-wire sheathing of the cable, and destroyed the
insulation of the copper core. The repairs of this cable necessitated
an outlay of £20,000 per annum, a circumstance contrasting strangely
with the condition of a similar cable in the China and India seas,
which is not attacked by the _Teredo_. Recently a duplicate cable has
been laid, in the construction of which a tape of muntz metal was
wound round in a spiral fashion between the insulating material and
the twisted wire sheathing. By this provision the new cable has been
rendered proof against the boring effects of the _Teredo_, and has
hitherto worked successfully without the slightest hitch.
The land telegraph line stretches directly from Port Darwin to
Adelaide, a distance of about 1,800 miles, and thus serves to connect
all the principal towns of Australia with the station of the Cable
Company at Port Darwin. It was at one time thought that there would
have been much difficulty in inducing the aborigines to abstain from
meddling with the overland wire, but experience has not justified this
impression. It appears that the black fellows hold it sacred, looking
on it as a sort of boundary mark to separate the white man's territory
from theirs.
Palmerston contains a police magistrate, who is the chief executive
authority in the northern territory; a lands department, with its staff
of surveyors; a police inspector, with a detachment of white troopers;
a government doctor; the two telegraph stations, with their separate
staffs of telegraphists; and, of necessity, a jail.
Our acquaintances on shore spoke in sanguine terms of the prospects
of the settlement, and the future greatness which is in store for the
northern territory; but to us strangers the appearance of Port Darwin
and the surrounding country was by no means indicative of progress, or
suggestive of a superabundance of the elements of greatness. Indeed,
although the settlement has been in existence since 1872, yet the white
population of the whole northern territory does not exceed two hundred;
and if it were not for the Chinamen, who have been attracted thither
by the "gold-rush," and whose numbers--including those at Port Darwin,
Southport, and the gold-fields--amount to 6,000, there would be almost
no manual labour available for the white colonists.
The auriferous quartz reefs, which here constitute what are called
the "gold-fields," are situated on the side of a range of hills
beginning at a distance of about one hundred miles from Port Darwin,
in a southerly direction. The usual route thither is by steamboat for
twenty-five miles to Southport, a small settlement at the southern
extremity of one of the arms of the inlet, and thence by cart track
for eighty miles. Unfortunately, during the wet season this track
is almost impassable. The gold is obtained from the ore by crushing
and amalgamating with mercury in the usual way. In this country the
crushing or stamping machines are known as "batteries," and I believe
in the northern territory they are worked entirely by steam power. The
average yield of gold from the reefs ranges from one and a quarter
to one and a half ounces per ton of crushed material, although rock
has been met with containing no less than twenty ounces per ton. The
latter, however, is altogether exceptional. There are in the same
localities alluvial diggings worked in a small way by Chinamen, but the
yield of gold is insignificant compared with that from the reefs. I
find it stated in the returns furnished by the customs officer at Port
Darwin that during the year ending 31st of March, 1881, the northern
territory exported 10,107-1/2 ounces, valued at £36,227.
I was told that at the time of our visit there were only two genuine
squatters in the whole northern territory. From their stations is drawn
the beef supply for the people living at Port Darwin, Southport, and
the gold-fields, and it would seem that the supply was quite equal to
the demand. Most of the land in the territory is now held on lease
by speculators, who pay to the South Australian Government an annual
rental of sixpence per square mile, which gives them, under certain
conditions, a right of pre-emption, and these speculators now hold on
to the land with a view to ultimately disposing of their interest to
_bonâ fide_ settlers at a large profit to themselves. But until the
Colonial Government takes the initiative in affording facilities for
the conveyance of produce from the interior to Port Darwin, there seems
little likelihood of the land being taken up for either agricultural or
pastoral purposes.
The aboriginal inhabitants are numerous in this part of Australia.
Those in the vicinity of Port Darwin are of the tribe of "Larikias."
In company with Dr. Morice, the government medical officer, I visited
two native encampments, which were situated a few hundred yards apart,
and at a distance of about half-a-mile from the settlement. One of
the camps was on an elevated plateau, covered with thin grass and a
sprinkling of scraggy bushes, while the other was at the foot of a
high cliff, and immediately adjoining the beach. We found in camp a
large number of men, women, and children, most of whom were lolling
about on the ground, smoking short wooden pipes, polishing their skins
with red ochre, and producing a rude burlesque of music out of pieces
of hollow reed about four feet long, which they blew like cow-horns.
The stature of the men was much superior to that of the natives we had
seen previously on the east coast; but although strong and active,
they presented a slim lanky appearance, especially as regards their
lower extremities. Their features were regular, and for the most
part pleasing; the hair was long, black, and wavy, sometimes hanging in
ringlets; the nose was aquiline, with broad alæ nasi, and having the
septum perforated for the reception of a white stick like a pipe-stem;
the upper lip, cheek, and chin were furnished with a moderate growth
of hair; the teeth were regular--no incisors removed; trunk and
extremities almost devoid of hair; the skin of the arms, chest, and
abdomen was decorated with cicatrices which stood out from the skin
in bold relief, having the form and consistency of cords. On the arms
these scars were disposed in parallel vertical lines, while on the
chest and abdomen they were in horizontal curves. Dr. Morice informed
me that these ghastly decorations were produced in some way unknown
by means of a sharp cutting instrument, and that no foreign substance
is introduced into the wound. He had been unsuccessful in all his
efforts to ascertain how the peculiar raised and indurated character
of the sore is produced. The women had fewer scar decorations than
the men, but had the same nasal perforation, in which they also wore
sticks. All seemed cheerful, happy, and contented with their lot. Their
huts were of the usual unsubstantial character, but were, however,
an improvement on the "shelter-screens" of the eastern aborigines.
They were constructed of boughs of trees supplemented with stray bits
of iron sheeting, and other scraps of wood and iron gleaned from the
settlement, and they were provided with an arched roof, so that the
whole structure was of the shape of a half cylinder lying on its side.
Many, however, were little more than "shelter screens," to protect them
from the prevailing winds.
[Illustration: ABORIGINES OF NORTH-WEST AUSTRALIA. _To face p. 204._]
Their weapons consisted of spears and clubs. The spears were of
different shapes and sizes, some being provided with two or three long
slender tapering points of hard wood, deeply serrated along one side,
while others were tipped with rudely chipped pieces of sandstone. The
former is used for spearing fish, the latter for fighting purposes. The
"woomerahs," or throwing sticks, which they always use in propelling
their spears, are of two kinds. The most common is about four feet
in length, flat and lathlike, and is peculiar in having the angular
hook, which engages the butt of the spear, projecting in a plane at
right angles to the flat surface of the stick. The other is a light
cylindrical stick tapering from the handle end, and its hook consists
of a conical-shaped piece of wood, which is secured at an oblique angle
to the distal end by means of gum and fibre lashings. The clubs are
about four feet long, are made of a hard heavy wood of a red colour,
and are fashioned with double trenchant edges towards the striking end,
so that a moderate blow from one of these formidable weapons would
effectually cleave open any ordinary skull. The boomerang is not used
in this part of Australia.
Small-pox has made sad ravages among this tribe of natives, and
accounts for the large proportion whom we found to be wholly or
partially blind.
The season of the north-east monsoon had just come to a close, and
with it the drought and intermittent fever which render Port Darwin
an undesirable residence for six months of the year. Calms usually
prevail during the month of November, and in December the N.W. monsoon
is ushered in by copious showers of rain, an event looked forward to
with much satisfaction by the inhabitants of Port Darwin. The annual
rainfall during the last half-a-dozen years has ranged from fifty-six
to seventy-seven inches, nearly all of which is precipitated during
the months of December, January, February, March, and April. Strange
to say, during the rainy season the settlement is healthy and entirely
free from malarial fever. But shortly before our arrival there had been
an epidemic of beriberi--a disease not indigenous to Australia--which
had probably been introduced by the Chinese immigrants.
I devoted one forenoon during low-water springtides to an inspection
of the beach between tide marks, but excepting a few sponges obtained
nothing of particular interest. The beaches in the immediate vicinity
of our anchorage were smothered with a thick coating of slimy mud, and
were consequently not favourable to marine life. With the dredge I was
more successful. About the centre of the harbour, in eleven fathoms,
the bottom is of sand, and here the fauna is abundant. Of Polyzoa I
obtained representatives of several genera, including _Retepora_,
_Eschara_, _Crisia_, _Idmonea_, _Cellepora_, and _Lepralia_; among
Crustaceans the genera _Myra_, _Phlyxia_, _Hiastemis_, and _Lambrus_
afforded many specimens. Many silicious Sponges were also found; among
Shells, _Murex_ and _Ranella_ were the principal genera observed; and
in hauling the dredge over some muddy ground I got a _Virgularia_ about
eight inches long.
The commonest bird about the settlement was a brown kite (_Haliastur_
sp.?), which hovered about the refuse heaps on the look-out for
garbage, or, perched on the leafless branch of some dying tree,
remained huddled up in a lazy and unconcerned attitude, taking no more
notice of passers-by than do the hideous Turkey-buzzards which act
as scavengers in the towns of Central America. Our ship was all day
long surrounded by a flock of these kites, who occupied themselves in
picking up with their talons the morsels of food which from time to
time were, amid other refuse, cast overboard. The thinly-wooded hollows
in the immediate vicinity of the settlement were thronged with numbers
of a black and white Grallina (_Grallina picata_) of about the size of
a magpie, which, on being disturbed, rose from the ground in flocks
to perch on the lower branches of the gum trees, and in company with
them I saw many examples of the Drongo (_Chibia bracteata_). Amidst
the foliage of the low bushes, a large black Shrike was frequently
seen, also a Zosterops, a flycatcher (_Piezorhynchus nitidus_), and
examples of a small finch-like bird (_Donacola castaneothorax_). The
latter were congregated in dense flocks, which shifted frequently from
tree to tree, making a loud whirring noise with the rapid vibrations
of so many tiny wings. When walking through the short grass, numbers
of small ground doves (_Geopelia placida_) would start up from almost
under one's feet, and alight again on the nearest tree, allowing one
to approach them within a few yards. Along the inner or landward edge
of the mangrove fringe I saw perched on the summits of the trees a
large oriole (_Mimeta_), of which I obtained two female specimens in
full plumage; and among some low prickly bushes which grew over the
shell heaps of the inner beach, I had a long, and finally successful,
chase of a goat-sucker, which had been dodging about under the bushes,
without rising on the wing. Large flocks of the New Holland paroquet
(_Trichoglossus novæhollandiæ_) flew about the topmost branches of
the large gum trees, screaming shrilly. I also saw and obtained a
specimen of _T. rubritorquis_, just now a scarce bird, but at other
times of the year said to be tolerably abundant. One day I joined a
party on a shooting excursion to a fresh-water lagoon about twelve
miles from the settlement. We were driven to the ground by Mr. Gott,
the superintendent of the British and Australian telegraph station,
who not only afforded us a pleasant day's shooting, but on this and
other occasions evinced the greatest kindness and hospitality. A
large black and white goose (_Anseranas melanoleuca_) was met with
in immense flocks in the lagoon; and when started from their feeding
ground, these birds, to our surprise, betook themselves to the
neighbouring gum trees, where they perched with an apparent ease which
was astonishing in such great and unwieldy creatures. Although thus so
easily circumstanced for pot-shots, it was no easy matter to bring them
down, as they required very hard shooting to make any impression on
them; so that, notwithstanding a liberal expenditure of ammunition, our
united efforts did not produce at all so large a bag as we had at first
anticipated. The country through which we drove on our way to and from
the lagoon was of an extremely uninteresting nature, being flat and
arid, and thinly wooded with stunted gums.