Indian and Pacific Oceans, extending, as 

 Dr. Giinther, of the British Museum, says, 

 from the coast of Madagascar to the 

 Isthmus of Panama. They pass their whole 

 life in the water (with the exception, per- 

 haps, of Platurus), and soon die when 

 brought on shore. They have very capa- 

 cious lungs, extending backwards to the 

 anus, and consequently all their ribs are 

 employed in performing the respiratory 

 functions. By retaining a portion of the 

 air in these extensive lungs they are 

 enabled to float on the surface of the 

 water without the slightest effort. Cantor 

 says that when the snake is out of the 

 water and blinded l)y the light it freely 

 makes use of its tongue as a feeler. The 

 food of the sea-snakes consists entirely of 

 small fish, among them sj^ecies with very 

 strong spines [Apogon siluroids). As all 

 these animals are killed by the poison of 

 the snake before they are swallowed, and as 

 their muscles are perfectly relaxed their 

 armature is harmless to the snake, which 

 connnences to swallow its prey from the 

 head and depresses the spines as deglutition 

 proceeds. There cannot be, says Dr. 

 Gunther, the slightest doubt that the 

 sea snakes belong to the most poisonous 

 species of the whole order. Russell and 

 Cantor, in the transactions of the 

 Zoological Society, ii., }>. 303, have 

 ascertained it l>y direct observation. 

 Tortoises, other snakes, and fish died 

 from their bite in less than an hour, 

 and a man succuml)ed after four hours. 

 Accidents are rarely caused by them, 

 because they are extremely shy, and swim 

 away on the least alarm ; Imt when sur- 

 prised in the submarine cavities forming 

 their natural retreats, they attempt to 

 bite every o])ject near them, even turning 

 round to wound their own bodies. I hope 

 Mr. Coombe will l)e able to present the 

 specimen to the Tasmanian Museum ; if so 

 means will be afforded me to give a more 

 detailed description of the specimen. 



" NOTP]S ON A VISIT TO WEST AUS- 

 TRALIA." By Alex. Morton. 



The Secretary then gave an account 

 of his recent visit to Western Australia, 

 notably in the Upper Murchison dis- 

 trict, 600 miles from Perth. The paper 

 was illustrated with numerous lantern 

 slides prepared by Mr. Beattie from photo- 

 graphs taken by Mr. Morton whilst on 

 his tour, the lantern being manipulated 

 by Mr. Nat Oldham. In describing 

 his journey to Western Australia, Mr. 

 Morton remarked that it was stated by 



some writers that the harbour of Albany 

 was one of the finest on the Australasian 

 coasts ; but he Avas of opinion that the 

 harbour of Hobart was in more ways than 

 one far ahead of that of Albany. If he 

 were asked to place the harbours of certain 

 centres of Australasia in order of accommo- 

 dation, from a shipping point of view, 

 he would do so as follows : — Hobart, 

 Sydney, Albany, Auckland, Wellington. 

 Having given a description of Perth he 

 took his audience straight away into 

 the strange, far-ofi" inland districts of the 

 great western colony, with its varied scenes of 

 luxuriant vegetation, and arid, monotonous 

 plains, deserts, scrub, rock, and sheep and 

 cattle stations. Only a comparatively few 

 years ago it was a terra incognita. His 

 description of the natives was of an inter- 

 esting and vivid character. Some of them, 

 he said, were very finely grown men. 

 The features of many of them were 

 of a Jewish type. Professor Baldwin 

 Spencer had noticed the same thing in the 

 central parts of the Australian continent. 

 He described their corroborees. There 

 Avas no limit to the wives a man 

 might have, and a child might be 

 married to a man old enough to be 

 hpr grandfather. The weird funeral and 

 burial customs were described, also the 

 medicine men or wizards, the native 

 camps, cannibals, and so on. He said they 

 were marvellously dexterous and clever 

 trackers. The ground was an open 

 book to them. A native would know 

 the different tracks of every horse on 

 a station, and could follow them. They 

 were well fed and treated on the 

 stations as a general thing. They fared 

 very ditterently in their native camps and 

 in the deserts. It was when they got to 

 the mining districts that they became 

 demoralised. The natives show an 

 absence of malice after punishment. 

 Cannibalism was not at all uncommon 

 among them. He produced a number 

 of native weapons, etc., and explained 

 them. Some of the natives had learned 

 to speak English very fluently, and made 

 very good servants. The numerous slides 

 served to illustrate all these points exceed- 

 ingly well. Also several of the mining 

 townships and mines, a good impression 

 being vividly conveyed of the hard, rough 

 life endured in these places, whilst the 

 mortality among young men from typhoid 

 was great. The scarcity of water and the 

 droughts give rise to endless troubles, 

 deprivations, and suffering. Still, with it 

 all, the indomitable Britisher overcomes 

 obstacles and flourishes in every district. 



