420 



MOLLUSCA FROM THE HOPE ISLANDS, NORTH 

 QUEENSLAND. 



By C. Hedley, F.L.S. 



(Plates xxxvi.-xliv.) 



A few years ago, I was fortunate in securing the assistance of 

 a party of friends to investigate the south end of the Queenslaud 

 coral-reef-system. The results(These Proceedings, 1906, p. 453, etc.) 

 were so gratifying, that I was encouraged to continue the study 

 from another point of observation. Accordingly a part}^ consist- 

 ing of Mr. J. Gabriel, of Melbourne, Mr. T. Griffith Taylor, of 

 the Sydney University, and Mr. A. R. McCulloch, of the Aus- 

 tralian Museum, joined me in August, 1906, to examine the reefs 

 about the Sixteenth Parallel. 



At Cooktown we engaged the schooner " Lotus," under Capt. 

 McCausland. We first visited the entrance of the Bloomfield 

 River in Weary Bay, and thence sailed across to the Hope 

 Islands. It was my intention to search the outer edge of the 

 Barrier, but rough weather rendered this impossible, and we 

 sought shelter in the lagoon of Cairns Reef, near the Hope 

 Islands. By the courtesy of Mr. W. Howchin, I am permitted 

 to explain the local geography by the following sketch-map, from 

 the Report of the Australasian Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, Vol.xi. 



Aided by low spring-tides, we profitably employed our time 

 dredging and shore-collecting. The mode of atoll-formation was- 



