viii NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



In 1837 Gould also commenced to publish his " Birds of Australia," 

 a second paa-t of which bears the date 1833; but he soon foimd that lie 

 had not sufficient material to carry on the work as he wished to do. He 

 therefore boldly conceived the notion of going to Australia with his wife, 

 for the sole piu-pose of procuring the specimens necessary for the com- 

 pletion of his gigantic enterprise. The work was therefore stopped after 

 the appearance of Part II. The two cancelled parts of " Birds of 

 AustraUa " are amongst the rarest of his works. 



Gould, accompanied by Mrs. Gould and their eldest son, left England 

 for Australia in May, 183S, and returned August, 1840. He fii-st lauded 

 in Tasmania, then proceeded to South Australia, and returned to 

 Tasmania. He lastly visited New South Wales. Tlience he retm-ned 

 home via Cape Horn, thereby completing a circuit of the Southern Seas, 

 which greatly helped him in doing his important work amongst the 

 Petrels, a family to wliich he paid especial attention. 



The number of species of Australian avifauna was raised from 300 to 

 600 by the adventm-ous journey of Gould and his able assistants — a 

 gigantic undertaking in those early days. The trip cost him £2,000 

 out of the £7,000 he is said to have accumulated by his former publica- 

 tions before leaving for Australia. On his return home, Gould at once 

 recommenced liis immoi'tal work on the " Birds of Australia," the fii'st 

 part of which appeared m 1840, and in 1848 tlie seven volumes, with 600 

 plates, was completed. It is obvious that the hterary finish of the 

 letterpress was due to his able secretary, Mr. E. C. Prince. Gould 

 always deplored the loss of three valuable lives that occurred over the 

 production of the " Birds of Australia," namely, John Gilbert, killed 

 by the natives in the Gulf of Carpentaria district ; Johnson Drummond, 

 also killed by a native while seeldng specimens in Western Australia ; 

 and a fine young man, one of Gould's attendants assigned to him by 

 Sir John FrankHn, Governor of Tasmania, who was accidentally killed 

 by the explosion of a gun he was removing from a boat, when lanchng 

 on one of the islands in Bass Strait. 



In 1851, the first part of the " Supplement to the Birds of Australia " 

 was published, and this was finished in 1869. Between these dates, or 

 in 186,5, the exceedingly helpful " Handbook," in two volumes, appeared. 



While in Australia, Mrs. Gould resided for some time with Sir John 

 and Lady Franklin ; and at Government House, Hobaj-t, the youjigcst 

 son, Charles, was bom, who, strange to say, afterwards became Govern- 

 ment Geologist for a time in his native colony. 



