tHK VICTORIAN NATtjRALISt. 107 



of the channel, at four in the afternoon, after a pleasant trip through 

 the Palm Islands. Here some aborigines pulled alongside the 

 steamer, and offered some fish in exchange for spirits, but got 

 bread and meat instead. We had to wait some hours at Lucinda 

 while cargo was being discharged, so I took a walk along the 

 beach in the hope of getting a few shells, but, finding nothing 

 but the most minute kinds, gave up the search. Tlie coast land 

 was very sandy, and the vegetation almost all strange to me. 

 Getting away about 9 p.m., little could be seen of the beauties 

 of the channel, though it was bright starlight. Hinchinbrooke 

 Island is composed of high rugged peaks, up to 3,600 ft., covered 

 with heavy scrub all over, and has a bad reputation for snakes. 

 Close by, in the valley of the Herbert River, is the collecting 

 ground par excellence of the naturalist, where Lumholtz, author 

 of " Among Cannibals," spent some years and found the Tree- 

 climbing Kangaroo. Members of this club have also collected 

 around Cardwell {Victorian Naturalist, ii., p. 109) some years ago. 

 Passing the Barnard Islands, which have also been described in 

 Victorian Naturalist, viii., p. 148, about 5 a.m., I was awakened to 

 see the picturesque entrance to Mourilyan Harbour, but heights 

 and distances are so deceptive in the semi-darkness that we lost 

 much of its beauty and grandeur. Coasting along, we called at 

 Geraldton, at the mouth of the Johnston River, another 

 naturalist's paradise, and the wettest district in Australia, the 

 rainfall averaging 120 in. per annum, showing what high 

 mountains close to the sea coast will produce ; for here we were 

 in sight of the lofty peaks of Bartle Frere (5,438 ft.) and 

 Bellenden Kerr(5,i58 ft.), sloping right down almost to the water's 

 edge, and recalling Mr. Sayers' paper on the ascent of the latter, 

 read before the Club some years ago ( Victorian Naturalist, 

 iv., p. 37). Our route was here comparatively close to the coast, 

 and aftbrded splendid views of wooded hills, with here and there 

 a precipitous rock with the rising sun shining on its surface. A 

 whale was almost touched by the steamer just before we reached 

 Cape Grafton, at the southern end of Trinity Bay. Shortly we 

 entered the picturesque harbour of Cairns, surrounded on almost 

 all sides with high ranges. Far up on the side of one could be 

 seen the cuttings of the Mareeba railway, and I hope for time 

 on my return to take the usual trip up to Kuranda and see the 

 celebrated Barron Falls. 



The afternoon was available for a ramble round Cairns. After 

 looking at the principal streets, two of which contain some 

 immense native trees, evidently left when clearing the site for the 

 town, I crossed the railway and took a walk across some scrubby 

 land, but found it everywhere dry and sandy. The vacant allot- 

 ments were overrun with a periwinkle, Vinca rosea, quite as great 

 a pest as the Lantana at Brisbane. I made a close acquaintance 



