ii6 Kbrsh AW, A Naturalist in Northern Queensland, [voi.'^'xxxi. 



tide, extensive coral reefs are exposed to view, and it was here 

 that Saville Kent obtained many beautiful d^camples of corals, 

 together with some excellent photographs. Passing the bold 

 headland of Cape Flattery, Lizard Island (where, many years 

 ago, Mrs. Watson was attacked by the blacks, and, after much 

 suffering and privation, perished with 'her child) stood out 

 clearly on our right. Here Captain Cook landed and dis- 

 covered the passage through the Barrier Reef known as Cook's 

 Passage. A Httle further north were seen the Howick Group, 

 situated about 20 miles south of Cape Melville, beyond which 

 the line of the great reef could be seen. Numbers of birds 

 were flying about these islands, chiefly Noddies, Anous stolidus. 

 Lesser-crested Terns, Sterna media, and Brown-winged Terns, 

 Sterna ancestheta, which were repeatedly diving among the 

 shoals of fish. Darkness came on before we reached the 

 Pigeon Island hghthouse, a mile or so off Cape Melville, and, 

 crossing Bathurst Bay, we passed close to the Flinders Group, 

 high rocky islands clothed with tall trees, palms, and shrubs. 

 Crossing Princess Charlotte Bay, our course was directed for 

 the Claremont lightship, stationed among the group of small 

 islands of that name, rather less than 10 miles off the main- 

 land, and about half-way between Cape Melville and Cape 

 Grenville. 



We reached the lightship about i o'clock a.m., and were 

 pleased and also relieved to find our lugger, the Keats, awaiting 

 us, with Mr. Giblett in charge. The stores for the lightship 

 w^ere soon transferred, after which our own more bulky 

 belongings were stored away in the lugger. Bidding good-bye 

 to the captain and pilot and a few friends who had turned out 

 to see us off, we left the Suva at 2 o'clock a.m. and started on 

 our twenty-four hours' sail to Lloyd Island, some 80 miles 

 north, and about midway between Cape Direction and Cape 

 Weymouth. We soon found a great difference between 

 steaming along in a large steamer with a roomy deck cabin and 

 comfortable surroundings and sailing in a 30-ton heche-de-mer 

 lugger. Here we were restricted to a portion of the narrow 

 deck where we slept, ate our meals, and passed our time 

 generally. There was certainly a small cabin below the deck, 

 but we infinitely preferred the scorching sun by day and the 

 hard boards of the deck by night to the smell of stale smoked 

 beche-de-mer, burning mangrove logs, niggers, cockroaches, &c. 

 We stretched ourselves on the hatchway and managed to 

 secure a couple of hours' sleep before the sun became too hot. 

 Our crew consisted of half a dozen blacks, quiet and retiring 

 but very willing fellows, who thoroughly understood the 

 management of the boat. One of these, a rather good-looking 

 boy named " Cocoanut," boiled our billy and prepared our 



