160 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Central Australian Anthropology. — The expedition 

 under the leadership of Professor Baldwin Spencer and Mr. F. J. 

 Gillen duly reached the Macarthur River, Northern Territory, as 

 forecasted in the November Naturalist ; but Prof. Spencer, writing 

 on loth December from Borroloola (i6° S., i36|° E.), a small 

 township about 50 miles from the mouth of the river, states that 

 the expedition has been delayed there, owing to the foundering 

 of the steamer which should have taken them on to Port Darwin 

 as previously arranged, and as the next steamer is not due until 

 some time in February, a long, tedious wait must result unless 

 some steps are taken to send a vessel earlier. The members of 

 the party have all had a touch of malarial fever, and are consequently 

 not in a fit state to stand the approaching wet season in the 

 Northern Territory, and as, in anticipation of the steamer being 

 at Borroloola, they had disposed of their transport equipment 

 before reaching there, they are unable to make the land journey 

 to Port Darwin, some 650 miles, while Normanton, the nearest 

 town of importance in Queensland, is some 350 miles away, over 

 a difficult route. Either journey would be a rather arduous under- 

 taking in the present circumstances. The matter of affording the 

 expedition some relief was brought before the Commonwealth 

 Parliament without result. However, the Premier of Victoria 

 (Hon. A. J. Peacock) placed himself in communication with the 

 Queensland Government, and it has arranged to send a small steamer 

 from Normanton, and bring the party on to that port, from whence 

 there is frequent communication with Eastern Australia. Prof 

 Spencer should therefore reach Melbourne towards the end of 

 February. 



The Geology of Lake Eyre, Central Australia. — 

 Professor Gregory, F.R.S., and a party of his students from the 

 Melbourne University may be congratulated on the successful 

 termination of one of the longest vacation excursions yet made in 

 Australia. The object of the trip was to study the geology of 

 the Lake Eyre basin and make a collection of the fossil remains 

 of extinct animals, &c., which are to be found there. Making 

 Hergott Springs, about 490 miles north of Adelaide and just 

 777 miles by railway from Melbourne, their starting point, they 

 travelled north-easterly to Cooper's Creek, thence northerly to the 

 Diamantina River, and then round the northern shores of Lake 

 Eyre, striking the railway again, after a journey of about 350 

 miles through almost uninhabited country, at Warrina, nearly 200 

 miles north of Hergott Springs. Owing to the dry nature of the 

 country camels had to be employed as means of transport, and 

 notwithstanding the difficulties of the trip a good collection of 

 palseontological as well as zoological and botanical specimens 

 was made, and will form work for future study. 



