MORCLL\—A Trip to Norih-Wcst Aasiraiia. 1U3 



A Trip to Morth-West Australia. 



—By A. M. .Aloi-au, 31.15., B.Ch.— 



My wife and I k'l'l FreinaulU' on tlir nioi-niny oT -June oi'd, 

 10:21, on the s.s. .Mindei-oo. bound lor Doiby, in Uu' East Kini- 

 berley Distrit-t. The weatliei- was rougli and vainy, and 

 scarcely any birds were seen the tirst day out, but next morning 

 a few Mutton Birds, probably the Heshy-footed, were skimming 

 the waves about the ship, and in the distance numbers of a 

 small G]-ey-and-\\'hi1e Petrel, which, however, kept too far from 

 the ship to be identitied. On June 5th we landed at Carnar- 

 von, 487 miles north of Perth. The town is three miles from 

 the mile-long jetry, so we spent the time in looking for birds 

 in the sandhills. Very few were seen; a Silver-eye {Zosterops 

 gouldi), the Singing Honey-eater, and a Sericornis seemed to 

 be the only inhabitants. The extensive sand .and mud tlats were 

 also almost untenanted; a few Sea Curlews and Silver Gulls 

 only were seen. On June r»th the tirst flying fish were seen, 

 and on that day also we rounded the N.W. Cape, with the 

 wreck of the cattle steamer Mildnra standing up as though 

 at anchor. The Dampier archipelago begins at this cape, and 

 although many interesting looking islands were passed, the 

 only birds seen were a few Crested Tern in winter plumage. 

 Onslow was reached at night, so we saw nothing of the town 

 or country. On June 7th Point Sampson was reached. Here 

 a few Pelicans were seen on an island near the jetty. We 

 spent an hour or two walking about the rocky foreshore, again 

 nearly destitute of birds, the only (mes seen Iteing a })air of 

 Sooty Oyster-catchers and a fine pair of White-headed Ospreys, 

 which had their nest on a rocky pinnacle near the sea. The 

 rocks here are covered with beautiful oysters, but a» we had 

 nothing to get them off the rocks with we had to be content 

 with looking at them. Point Sampson is also famous for a 

 small, conical mollusc, with a tor<]uoise blue o])erculuni, much 

 in demand for necklaces, etc. 



The next place of call was Point Hedland, -G2 miles dis- 

 tant. This is a tidal port, and we had to wait some time for 

 water enough to cross the bar. We had twelve hours here, 

 and spent the time in a walk round the town and along the 

 seashore. I'liJotis soiiora was very common here, feeding on the 

 bird flower, a leguminous jdant. with a greenish flower shaped 

 like a bird with half-raised wings. Under the stones on tln^ 

 shore wer<' numbers of hermit crabs of a species new to me, and 

 in the sea there was a solifarv turtle, the oulv one seen on the 



