THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 133 



A NATURALIST'S NOTES IN NORTH QUEENSLAND. 



By a. H. E. Mattingley. 

 {Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 20th Nov., WOo.) 

 As one approaches North Queensland from the south, on reach- 

 ing the Tropic of Capricorn you pass Lady Elliot Island, the 

 southern extremity of that stupendous structure, the Great 

 Barrier Reef — the greatest piece of animal architecture at present 

 existing, whether constructed by the human or other species. 

 Beside it the Great Wall of China sinks into insignificance. For 

 over 1,300 miles, stretching from Rockhampton to New Guinea, 

 this coral reef buttresses the rollers that sweep in from the wide 

 Pacific towards the Queensland coast. As the reef lies from 20 

 to 130 miles from the mainland, there is a large and almost 

 pellucid lake lying between the reef and the coast-line. It is there 

 that those who suffer from mal-de-mer can take a trip in comfort 

 amidst most enchanting scenery, the boat threading its way 

 through a maze of pine-clad islands that scintillate like gems on 

 the ocean, appearing to rest in mid-air when you are some 

 distance off, owing to the refraction of light which prevails in 

 those latitudes. 



It is a mistake to think that coral reefs themselves afford 

 bewitching scenery as one passes them in a steamer. Lying, as 

 they do, almost level with the surface of the water at low tide, 

 they might be mistaken for ordinary mud-flats ; but land on them 

 and they assume a different aspect — life, palpitating life, is every- 

 where visible, and both the naturalist and the excursionist will 

 find much to interest them. 



Before dealing with some of the sights on this Great Barrier 

 Reef a few remarks on the nature of the reef itself may not be out 

 of place. According to the theory of that greatest of all naturalists, 

 Charles Darwin, which has not been disproved, that coral reefs 

 are built upon the submerged land, we find that the line of the 

 Great Barrier Reef was once the foreshore of North Queensland, 

 and that the land has subsided about 2,000 feet. This we judge 

 from the fact that the coral insects, as they are usually called, 

 cannot live at a lower depth than 200 feet, nor at a higher level 

 than extreme low water, while they must have a winter tempera- 

 ture not lower than 60° F. Now, as the water alongside the 

 reef is 2,000 feet deep, and coral is found on the bottom — a 

 greater depth than it is possible for the creature to exist in — the 

 question arises, how was it formed ? Simply this: the foundation 

 on which the animals commenced their work was once near the 

 surface of the ocean, and has gradually sunk to its present depth, 

 the coral polyps building upwards as the foundation sank. 

 Again, we find in some places the reef is above high water level, 

 and able to sustain vegetation. This is caused by the breakers, 



