March, 1908.] THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 175 



the latter, some of whom had been engaged in roasting a young 

 gin who had been previously stuffed with bananas, immediately 

 decamped. Our friends, being unprepared for the spectacle of 

 such refinement in native cookery, were anxious to ascertain 

 whether the woman had been killed or had died a natural death, 

 but Mr. Gibson was unable to find out this. It is, however, 

 well known to the settlers of these parts that cannibalism was 

 largely practised among the natives, and this may have been a 

 case in point. 



This place is a perfect paradise for the insect collector, and I 

 could devote pages to the insect and other fauna of these 

 charming places. 



A eucalyptus known as the " Blood-wood " is very common 

 about here, and also Pandanus, Eugenias, and many other plants 

 known only to the botanist. The Cocoanut trees had suftered 

 severely, owing to the late destructive hurricane, which levelled 

 to the ground two-thirds of the houses in Cooktown, and made 

 havoc of the once pretty gardens, robbing the place of much of 

 its former beauty. 



I had almost forgotten to mention a lovely climber which I saw 

 growing over a shed at Kuranda. It was a species of Bauhinia, 

 and when in flower, as we saw it, was a sight not soon to be 

 forgotten. It seemed strange to one so accustomed to being 

 among plants that I knew so few of the fine-foliaged plants of 

 this part of North Queensland, but their robust and altered 

 appearance may largely account for this. It would almost 

 appear as though a huge slice of Indo-Malayan jungle had been 

 transferred by Nature to these favoured spots, for outside this 

 belt the country appears to be of quite an Australian type, but I 

 greatly missed the splendid tree-ferns of portions of our own 

 State. Some splendid specimens of Bignonia venusla and other 

 species are to be seen here. I was handicapped in not being 

 able to get about, being at the time hardly able to crawl, and thus 

 missed the opportunity of collecting material for a longer and 

 more interesting paper. 



Having taken leave of my kind old friends, the Olives, who 

 had made our stay as enjoyable as possible, we left Cooktown, 

 with its cool climate, most reluctantly in the s.s. Aramac — the 

 Commander, Captain Thompson, being a gentleman of well- 

 known scientific leaning and attainments, and to whom I am 

 indebted for many past favours — and rejoined the Wyandra at 

 Cairns. Upon my return to Cairns I heard sad accounts of the 

 wholesale destruction of splendid cedar trees in the rich forest of 

 the Atherton district, a state of affairs not unknown in our own 

 State, and one greatly to be deplored. As we came southwards 

 the sea in some parts inside the Barrier Reef, presented a singular 

 appearance, being greatly discoloured by a brown " scum," 

 which, Captain Grahl informed me, had been washed off the reef 



