^'°K,M^'] /i''M'f(/ Aiistniiasiaii Onn'/I/oloi^is/s' Ciiioii. 169 



of llic rain falls (luriii,t; wiiilci-. In the prcsml srason (l()2()) a 

 rainfall of 12-i inches was rc,L,nstfn'(l at llu' homcslead up to Uic 

 middle of OctolxT. 



The whole of Dirk Hartog Island appears to be of limestone 

 formation, and, where the rock is exposed, fossil shells, closely 

 allied, to species now living in the adjacent seas, are numerous. 

 The surface soil is, as a rule, white sand ; but in places this becomes 

 ferruginous, without, however, showing any appreciable differences 

 in the local vegetation. Of true trees there are none, and the great 

 family of eucalypts is very sparingly represented by occasional 

 small patches of mallee. A species of mulga (Acacia), however, 

 occurs in thickets, and attains a size sufficient for supplying fence- 

 posts, the wood ];)eing very durable, but not remarkable for 

 straightness. These tree-hke bushes are locally known as 

 " wanyu," and grow, as a rule, near or upon limestone outcrops. 

 Other bushes are extremely numerous and of many varieties, 

 and the majority are edible by stock. Herbaceous plants, too, 

 are fairly plentiful, but more in evidence during the winter and 

 early spring. Not a few introduced European plants are present, 

 but the most conspicuous native species include several of the 

 Hihisci, everlastings, Tricheninm, soft spinifex (Triodia), and 

 Spinifex longifolius. Dirk Hartog has been a sheep station for 

 over 40 years, but, as burning-off has not been much resorted to. 

 vegetation on the island probably presents much the same appear- 

 ance as when the early Dutch navigators first viewed it. 



In general appearance the surface growth on Peron Peninsula 

 resembles that on Dirk Hartog, but the soil is much more 

 highly coloured, and in the neighbourhood of Denham red 

 sand prevails ; outcrops of rock, too, are infrequent. Peron, 

 however, has an advantage over Dirk Hartog in possessing salt- 

 water creeks, one of which, known as the " Big Lagoon," runs 

 some distance inland, and on its shores are extensive tracts of 

 mangrove and samphire. 



Dirk Hartog takes its name from the Dutch navigator Irck 

 Hatighs, who arrived there in the ship Eendraght (360 tons) in 

 i()if). Some doubt has recently been cast on the authenticity 

 of his voyage, which has been alluded to as mythical. Be that 

 as it may, a plate, erected (at Cape Inscription) and inscribed 

 with the date, 25th October, 1616, and the name of the ship, 

 Eendraght, of Amsterdam, was found and removed to Batavia 

 by Van Vlaming, captain of the Geelvink, in 1697. Van Vlaming 

 replaced this plate with a new one, on which he copied the inscrip- 

 tion of Irck Hatighs' original plate, and, in addition, the record 

 of his own landing on the island. In the " Encyclopedia of 

 Western Australia" (ed. J. S. Battye) is given a photographic 

 reproduction of the plate removed In' Van Vlaming, which was 

 subsequently re-discovered in H)OZ at the State Museum of 

 Amsterdam, Holland. In 1801, Capt. Haniehn, in the Naturalistc, 

 saw \'laming's plate, which had fallen down. He replaced it and 

 erected a new plate, recording his own landing. The posts which 



