2 14 McClymont, Forgotten Feathers. r2nd''\"ril 



New South Wales. Cassowaries, we learn from the " Journal," 

 were seen on the date mentioned above. These were 

 almost certainly Emus, for the country described by the 

 writer is not of the kind affected by the Cassowary, nor has 

 that bird been discovered in the western coastal districts of 

 Australia. 



On the 30th day of January, 1697, latitude 26° 8' S. was 

 observed, which is approximately that of False Entrance. On 

 the 1st of February the pilot of the Geelvink left the ships in 

 one of the Geelvink' s boats in order to ascertain the position of 

 Dirk Hartog's Reede, and the captains of two of the vessels 

 made an excursion inland for the distance of six or seven Dutch 

 miles, from which they returned on the following day, bringing 

 the head of a large bird and the report that they had seen two 

 huge nests built of branches — probably Eagles' aeries ? The 

 pilot returned to the ships on the 3rd of February, and reported 

 that he had passed through the channel now named South 

 Passage, and had followed the coast of Dirk Hartog's Island to 

 its northern extremity. There on an acclivity a tin plate was 

 found lying on the ground, having certain words traced upon it, 

 whereof the purport ran that the ship Eendragt, of Amsterdam, 

 Dirck Hartoog master, had arrived there on the 25th day of 

 October, 1616, and had departed for Bantam on the 27th day of 

 the same month. The pilot brought the dish with him and also 

 brought two turtles which had been caught on the island. The 

 squadron anchored in Dirk Hartog's Reede on the 4th of 

 February, and remained there until the 12th day of that month. 

 The anonymous diarist relates that on the 6th of February many 

 turtle were seen, and also a very large nest at the corner of a 

 large rock, made in the fashion of the nest of a Stork. Our 

 author does not say to which Stork he refers ; but it may be 

 presumed that it is the White Stork {Ciconia alba), which, 

 although it places its nest on a building or in a tree, may have 

 nested, and most probably, like its congener the Black Stork, 

 did formerly nest, on ledges of rock. In Australia the Black- 

 necked Stork builds its nest in large trees growing in or near 

 swamps ;* possibly, like the Black Stork, it also selects rocky 

 nesting-sites, "f 



De Vlaming took leave of the Australian coast at 21" S. lat., 

 and proceeded to Batavia, where he arrived on the 20th of 

 March ; he had failed to accomplish the object for which the 

 expedition had been resolved upon, but had added considerably 

 to the company's acquaintance with the hydrography pertaining 

 to the route which their ships followed between the Cape of 

 Good Hope and Batavia. 



* A. J. Campbell, " Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds," p. 969. 

 t Perhaps the nest of the Osprey. — Eds. 



