154 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



In the creek were large logs of cedar and other timber awaiting 

 transhipment. They were fastened together with chains, and 

 long strands of lawyer cane were fixed on to the chains and 

 fastened on to the bank, to prevent their being shifted by the 

 incoming and outgoing tide. A good deal of cedar comes from 

 the scrub in this district. They are cut during the dry season 

 and brought to the sea-coast by bullock teams, when they are 

 towed up to the sawmills on the Bloomfield River ; but, of 

 course, it can only be done in fine weather, and with a fair 

 breeze. When a log is very green, and barely floats, a large log 

 of lighter weight has to be fastened to it, which acts as a float. 

 In the evening we watched the Torres Straits Pigeons, Carpo- 

 phaga spilorrhoa, flying out to the islands on the Barrier Reef 

 to roost, the islands being about 20 miles away. Hermit crabs 

 were numerous in all kinds of shells, of various sizes, which they 

 had usurped — I think the crab generally makes use of empty 

 dead shells that they find on the beach ; but good shells were 

 very scarce, much more so than I expected, and it was quite the 

 exception to find a good one ; on the islands of the Barrier Reef 

 they were more plentiful. We again fished at sundown, but with 

 little success. There are supposed to be crocodiles in these 

 streams, in the deep water overshaded with mangrove and other 

 trees, but we saw no traces of them ; sharks, however, came in 

 with the tide, probably following the shoals of fish, mullet being 

 the most plentiful. Early next morning we apportioned each 

 one his load, and after breakfast started off in single file. Our 

 guide and another had to lightly clear the way for those 

 following. The track for the first mile led through open country 

 and patches of scrub, and occasionally along the rocky bed of 

 some creek, but after a time we entered thick scrub, which 

 continued all the rest of the way to Peter Botte. 



A halt was made for lunch alongside a mountain stream, and 

 we soon had a fire lighted, and were all glad of a spell, as the 

 road was very rough, and the steep mountains we had to climb 

 were very exhausting. After a time another start was made, and 

 we reached our first camping ground during the afternoon. The 

 natives made our humpy of Fan Palm leaves — first a framework 

 was formed of light saplings bent over and fastened togetner, and 

 then the large leaves of the palm laid on ; these made a rain- 

 proof dwelling, and all those of the natives in this district were 

 made in the same way, but covered with whatever they could 

 get nearest at hand, either the leaves of the Fan Palm, Lawyer 

 Palms, grass, or bark. The size depended on the number of 

 inmates ; but the natives here make their dwellings considerably 

 larger than those at Cardwell. For myself, previous experience 

 has taught me that the most comfortable thing to sleep in when 

 camping out is a hammock, as one is then comparatively free 



