THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



as so many abutments, will approach the horizontal. From the 

 quarry across the creek the same prismatic structure continues in 

 a north-eastern direction, the creek having cut its course across 

 the line of this formation, so that, in its bed and up the eastern 

 bank, the present tops of the columns form a pavement of 

 geometric design, observable for a distance of 120 feet by 30 feet, 

 showing 4, 5, 6, and 7-sided figures, the most common being the 

 pentagonal and hexagonal. Some of the horizontal joints show 

 an approach to the cup-and-ball socket structure of jointing, the 

 concavities being distinct. Wherever this prismatic structure 

 occurs the basalt is very dense, the joints small, and the columns 

 fitting closely together. Here we lingered among the ruins of 

 this temple of nature with delight equal to what one might feel 

 when among those of art. To say that we worshipped is unneces- 

 sary, since we each, after the fashion of all visitors to ancient 

 structures, brought away with us relics to illustrate our visit and 

 perpetuate its memory. 



VISIT TO SOUTH BARNARD ISLAND. 

 By H. Barnard. 

 Communicated by D. Le Souef. 

 I was landed on the South Barnard Island from the s.s. Palmer 

 at 12 o'clock at night, and carrying my luggage well above high 

 water mark, found a sailing boat docked on some logs for repairs, 

 so I laid down under it and slept till morning. A little after day- 

 light I saw a man come out of one of the huts, of which 

 there were several, and then introduced myself to him. He 

 turned out to be the head of the fishing station, and he invited 

 me to stay as long as I pleased, but told me that all his boats 

 were at the Barrier Reef, 30 miles away, and that one of them 

 came in every day with the slugs or beche-de-mer, and went out 

 again at once ; he also pointed out that there were two sandbanks 

 about 25 miles out on the way to the reef, on one of which Terns 

 were breeding in hundreds, and if I liked I could go out in one 

 of the boats and the men would land me on the banks for an 

 hour or two. As one of the boats came in the same evening 

 and left at 12 o'clock the same night, I went in her ; this was 

 Saturday night, but, owing to there being very little wind, we did 

 not get to the reef till Monday morning. Going out we passed 

 within sight of the sandbank, but not near enough to see the 

 birds. Out here it was beautiful. The coral, which was within a 

 few feet of the surface, was of every shape and colour imaginable, 

 and we passed over miles of it. There were four fishing boats 

 anchored where we went, and the method pursued is to have a 

 piece of wire tied on to a long pole. The slugs are taken at low 

 water out of rowing boats. When fishing is ended for the day 

 the slugs are thrown into the hold of one of the larger boats, and 

 then taken to the island, where a lot of gins split them down the 



