144 Excursion to National Park. [vor'xxxi 



causing the spray to occasionally break over our boat. On 

 the island, however, this was soon forgotten, and we spent the 

 time at our disposal on the short, sandy beach, or examining 

 the features of the island. During a previous visit no less 

 than 50 species of plants were noted, and we were unable to 

 add to these on this trip. Among the thick growth of bracken 

 on the sheltered (or eastern) side of the island is a fairly large 

 Mutton-bird rookery, which is now being carefully preserved. 

 Here we saw several of the parent birds running quickly 

 through the ferns or in their burrows. 



Continuing our journey, we reached the jetty at the south- 

 west corner of the Inlet about 7 o'clock, and were soon busily 

 occupied removing our baggage to the rest-house close by. 

 While some assisted in preparing our evening meal, others 

 erected one of the tents, and, generally, made everything 

 comfortable for the night. 



On Sunday morning we were early astir, and, while our camp 

 assistant prepared breakfast, we re-packed our belongings for 

 removal to the Darby by pack-horses. One of the first dis- 

 coveries was a Koala perched in a gum-tree in front of the 

 rest-house, close to which a Boobook Owl was observed the 

 previous evening quietly surveying the unusual bustle. Our 

 pack-horses arrived at 8 o'clock, as arranged, and then began 

 the work of loading them with our bulky baggage. It is useless 

 'for an inexperienced person to attempt to load a pack-horse. 

 If he does he will soon find the packs dropping off one after 

 another, or the saddle working round under the horse. We 

 were, however, very fortunate in having an energetic and 

 experienced worker in our secretary, Mr. O'Donoghue. With 

 the help of our camp assistant, Mr. O'Donoghue superintended 

 the packing, while we all assisted as far as possible. Our third 

 horse had just been packed, and the straps tightened up, when 

 he became restless. All attempts to quieten him proved 

 useless, and he finally brought matters to a head by an ex- 

 hibition of buckjumping that, while being creditable to him, 

 was rather disastrous to us. When he had quite finished there 

 was a circle of swags and packages all round him, while the 

 pack-saddle was where the girth ought to have been. It was 

 finally decided that he was not suitable, and we transferred 

 the packs to a spare riding horse. 



From the rest-house at the Vereker landing to the Darby 

 [61 miles) is a well-defined track, winding for the first mile or 

 so through the excellent banksia forest already described in 

 the accounts of previous trips. Birds were numerous, among 

 those seen being the Black and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, 

 King Parrot, Crimson Parrot, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike, 

 Grey Bell-Magpie, Wattle-bird, and Bronzewing Pigeon. The 



