?£''] Searle and Shephard, Visit to Lakes. 01 



assistant, now none too willing, that the leaks would probably 

 stop as the wood swelled with the wet, and, taking a life-buoy 

 that was available, he pushed out from the shore. Two 

 hundred feet of tow-line failed to reach the bottom. Mean- 

 while, despite constant use of a Mason's jar as a bailer, the 

 water in the boat rose ankle-deep, and hurriedly a number of 

 casts with the net were made at different depths and on the 

 surface. The catch consisted entirely of two species of 

 Rotifera, Brachionus ha ken (var. brevispiims) and B. mulleri, 

 regarded as a salt-water form, though known to occur in very 

 slightly brackish water. These were in immense numbers, 

 together with the nauplius of a copepod. As there seemed a 

 strong probability of the boat foundering, it was with difficulty 

 pulled to the shore in a water-logged condition. Subsequently 

 he learned from the Geological Survey Report that the depth 

 of water was over 270 feet where he tried to effect a sounding. 



On the present occasion the short day was ending when we 

 left the lake and commenced to climb up the incline to the 

 crest of the hill, where we had left the car. The necessarv 

 inflation of a cover which had flattened during our absence 

 delayed us. so that darkness overtook us long before we 

 traversed the Stony Rises on the return journey to Colac, and 

 the scenery that was so strangely fantastic when we passed 

 through in daylight became weirdly so as the piles of loose 

 stones caught the glare of the headlights and stood out in 

 relief from the black background of shadow ; they resembled 

 ruined castles, and brought to mind the uncanny pictures of 

 Dore. Rain came on again in heavy showers, and added to 

 the fantasy by blurring the outlines of the rugged scene. 



After a dinner much better than we expected, considering 

 the hour of our arrival, we set to work with our microscopes. 

 The yield of the (inotuk material has already been mentioned : 

 that from Bullen-Merri was found to consist of large numbers 

 of two spe< :ies of rotifers, Brachionus bakeri (var. brevispinus), 

 and another of the same genus, probably B. urceolaris : there 

 was also a copepod of the genus Eurytemora. This copepod 

 was taken on a previous visit also, and, we believe, is the first 

 record of the genus in Australia. 



Rain continued to fall all night, and was still falling in the 

 morning when we set out for a hurried visit to Lake Coranga- 

 mite. Local information promised a good metal road, but 

 facts revealed differently, and so much time went in working 

 through the greasy mud of decomposed basalt that there was 

 only time to hurriedly fill a few bottles and turn reluctantly 

 for home. The end of the lake where our sample dips were 

 taken was swarming with the pretty little Brine Shrimp, 

 Parartemia zietziana, Sayce, and a copepod entirely new to us, 



