160 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



feet high, but its long scarlet flowers were pretty among the dark 

 foliage, and its wood was very strong. After having taken photo- 

 graphs we descended again to the top of the before-mentioned 

 rift, and found a natural bridge formed by two blocks of stone 

 having fallen down and jammed in a crevice, which enabled us 

 to get on to the base of the larger summit, and as this was the 

 only means of access we were glad to make use of it. Then by the 

 aid of some small bushes we pulled ourselves up and scrambled 

 through stunted vegetation round the base ; when we looked up, 

 we had a sense of feeling very small, with the large mass of rock 

 overhanging us. As we passed along we found some places 

 very awkward to negotiate ; we had to squeeze through narrow 

 crevices, then again scramble through small holes, or go care- 

 fully, clinging on to the shrubs near the edge. When we had got 

 nearly round to the leaning side we thought our progress barred, 

 but by dint of careful climbing we were enabled to get up a 

 narrow crevice, where some flat pieces of rock had been detached, 

 probably by frost, and the edge they left gave us a sufficient but 

 uncertain foothold. One had to go well ahead of the other, for 

 fear of detaching any portion of the rock, which would probably 

 have been to the detriment of the one following. We now soon 

 reached the highest point we could get to — a small platform of 

 bare rock, with some big blocks of stone lying close to the central 

 rock and overhanging the forest some 300 feet below. From 

 this point we had an extensive view of the adjoining country. An 

 intervening rugged cloud-capped range prevented our seeing Port 

 Douglas, a few miles to the south. We found it quite impossible 

 to ascend any further, and our present height was a little over 

 3,000 feet. We obtained a good view of the top, which consisted 

 of an enormous block of granite, perpendicular on one side and 

 hanging over on the other. On the top was a detached fragment, 

 around the edges of which a little vegetation grew. 



As the day was well advanced, we started on our return, 

 and followed the track the natives had made for us. We had 

 not gone far before we saw and heard a Tooth-billed Bower Bird, 

 Sceno-pceus dentirostris, and shortly after came on its playground. 

 It cannot be called a bower, as the bird merely scratches the 

 dead leaves and rubbish off a piece of ground measuring about 

 3 feet by 2 feet, on which it places a few green leaves, with their 

 upper surface on the ground and their backs exposed to view, 

 which, of course, made them more conspicuous, being of a lighter 

 colour. They were not placed in any regular order any more 

 than being about the same distance apart, namely, about 4 inches, 

 and the number of leaves varied in the different playgrounds from 

 8 and upwards. I examined over a dozen different grounds, and 

 did not find any trace of berries, shells, &c, but simply the green 

 leaves, and they were always fresh, and seemed as if picked daily. 



