THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 23 



on the mullet began to jump. They feed especially on a filamen- 

 tous alga which grows in the water, and contains numerous crus- 

 taceans, especially a prawn-like form, for the sake of which they 

 eat the alga. The latter is used as bait for them. At night we 

 caught a large mud eel, five feet long, which we eagerly drew 

 into land, thinking it to be a salmon. I tried sugaring the trees, 

 but it was of no use, not even a single ant put in its appearance 

 and thus ended another day of hard work and disappointment. 



In the morning I had my boys up by 4 a.m., and before 6 we 

 were out of camp, and by 9 o'clock had our tent pitched by the 

 side of a backwater on the other side of Gayndah. This con- 

 tained plenty of weed and here I spent some days. We procured 

 a long pole, with three prongs at the end, to pull the weed up 

 with. We used to get a large bucketful at a time, and then go 

 over it piece by piece. This process had to be conducted under 

 a hot sun and the result was that my arms became swollen to 

 about double their natural size — so much, indeed, that I could 

 not sleep with anything like comfort, since the slightest pressure 

 woke me up. The final result was that I did not see the slightest 

 trace of any Ceratodus eggs, though, had they been there, there 

 is no doubt but that we should have found them. I then sent one 

 of my boys down the river for some miles to see if there were any 

 more weeds, but there were none to be seen. Just at this juncture 

 I heard of some blacks but on trying to secure them found that 

 they were anticipating a " muster" on one of the neighbouring 

 stations, and were not to be procured. Seeing no prospect of 

 getting what I wanted, and being none the better for my exposure 

 to the sun, I went into Gayndah. 



Here I may, perhaps, say something as to some conclusions 

 I had come to with regard to the habits of Ceratodus. With 

 the exception of the brief account given by Mr. Caldwell as to 

 the laying of its eggs on weed, and the curious amphibian-like 

 embryos, we know little about the natural history of the animal. 

 As before said, it is confined to two Queensland rivers — the 

 Mary and the Burnett, and my experience is limited to the latter. 

 Firstly, with regard to the animal's name. The Dipnoi have two 

 popular names — " lung fishes " and " mud fishes" — the latter given 

 to them because, in the case of Protopterus, the animal may live 

 for a part of the year in mud. The Ceratodus is not known 

 locally by either of these names ; it is, however, sometimes called 

 the " Barramundi " and sometimes the "Salmon." The first of 

 these is, however, really that of a true osseous fish (Osteoylvssum 

 leichardtii), which lives chiefly in the Dawson and Fitzroy Rivers, 

 further north than the Burnett. The second is'a fanciful name, 

 given on account of the very pink-coloured flesh of the animal. 

 Beyond this there is no resemblance whatever between the real 

 and the so-called Burnett " Salmon." Mr. Saville Kent, in his 



