62 POUT MOLLE 



depth of six feet^ but the water had disappeared. 

 Port Molle^ besides being* a well sheltered harbour 

 from all prevailing- winds^ has a much more pleasing- 

 aspect than almost any place I have seen on the 

 north-east coast of Australia. To ourselves the 

 chano-e was ao-reeable ; instead of the monotonous 

 g'um-trees and mang*roves of Port Curtis and the 

 scantily wooded stony hills of the Percy Isles^ we 

 had here many varieties of woodland veg-etation^ 

 including- some larg-e patches of dense brush or 

 jung'le^ in which one mig'ht observe every shade of 

 green from the sombre hue of the pine^ to the pale 

 green of the cabbage-palm. 



Some rare birds were procured in the brushes^ — 

 two of them appear here to attain their southern 

 limits of distribution upon the north-east coast of 

 Australia ; they are the Australian sun-bird 

 (Cinnyris Australis), reminding one of the hum- 

 ming' birds from its rich metallic colouring^ and the 

 Megapodius Tumulus^ a rasorial bird^ the size of a 

 fowl; which constructs great mounds of earthy leaves^ 

 sticks^ stones^ and coral^ in which the eggs are 

 deposited at a depth of several feet from the surface^ 

 and left there to be hatched by the heat of the 

 fermenting mass of vegetable matter. In addition 

 to these_, our sportsmen were successful in procuring* 

 numbers of the pheasant-tailed pigeon^ and the 

 brush-turkey (^Talegalla Lathami), the latter much 

 esteemed; from the goodness of its flesh. Many 

 plants and insects as well as several land-shells^ new 



