18 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



disdained to bite. Amongst those caught were eels 4 ft. long 

 and quite 3 in. in circumference, and Garfish as large as and 

 very like the saltwater variety — excellent eating, save for the 

 many bones, and having mouths armed with sharp teeth. An- 

 other species is known locally as the Jew Fish ; it has a smooth skin, 

 and is armed at each side with sharp spines, while several flabby 

 appendages hang from its lips. It is good eating, though repulsive 

 to look at. There is a Cat Fish here ; also a pretty little fish of 

 light silvery colour, much like the English herring. Some of the 

 many smaller species are beautifully barred and striped with 

 colours — one resembling very much the ' Cowfish ' so common 

 in Westernport Bay, but less in size, and not so robust. 

 The ' Bony Bream ' (one of the Clupeidse) well earns its 

 name — it is so full of bones that it is almost impossible 

 to pick them out. It is certainly not the food a hungry 

 man would choose. Altogether there are some fifteen 

 difierent sorts in the pool. Tortoises are here, and 

 shrimps, and water-beetles great and small. There are many 

 small molluscs, too. on the water weeds which grow so 

 thickly." In the Ross River, of which the stream spoken of is an 

 affluent, crocodiles sometimes appear, concerning which Mr. C. 

 writes: — " There was a great outcry here the other day, when 

 it was reported that an alligator had scared a man nearly into 

 fits over by the Ross. Some of Townsville's crack shots sallied 

 out to deal destruction to this monster of a few feet in length. 

 They report having bombarded him thoroughly, but forgot to 

 bring his body home." On a subsequent occasion my friend 

 had a close view of one. Whilst near the mouth of Armidale 

 Creek he and his wife " saw an immense alligator, which was 

 fully 16 ft. long, and as it swam across the creek several times and 

 in a very leisurely manner we had ample time to note its ugliness. 

 I had my rifle, but the alligator would not remain quiet long 

 enough for me to get a sure shot." Armidale Creek is described 

 as a paradise for collectors. There are big snakes, alligators, 

 kangaroos, wallaroos, wallabies, birds and insects galore, and 

 plentiful material for the botanist too. But the whole district 

 seems rich in " specimens." On the ranges towards Mount 

 Elliot (separated from Townsville by " miles of untrodden fast- 

 nesses ") adiantums were found amongst the grass with fronds 

 quite, five feet high ; and on a mountain between the heads of 

 the Bluewater Creek and Black River (ascended last May) " the 

 heads of splendid specimens of the Hoop Pine, Araucaria Cimning- 

 hami, rose high above the surrounding timber in a spot where the 

 gully became precipitous." As the party mounted upwards, on 

 this trip, ferns and orchids (chiefly Dendrobiuras) became more 

 plentiful, the ferns much battered by the torrent which during 

 the recent rainy season poured down the mountain side. The 

 summit was reached after " a scramble over moss and lichen- 



