REPORT ON THE SHORE FISHES. 31 



Southern and Middle Queensland, and the fishes enumerated here were obtained chiefly 

 during an excursion made by Sir W. Thomson.' All the species ol)tained arc known to 

 enter freely brackish and fresh water. 



' [Thtre seemed to iis, from what we heard at Sydney, to be a chance of making valuable additions to the know- 

 ledge of the natural history of South-East Australia, by examining carefully the fauna of some of the rivers. Those in 

 which Geratodus had lately been discovered had the greatest interest for us, for we hoped that, besides getting a good 

 supply of Geratodus in all stages, we might by effective netting and other means find some additional forms of the 

 Dipnoi. 



Accordingly a little party, consisting of Lieutenant (now Commander) Aldrich, who afterwards commanded the 

 sledge which ran westwards from the "Alert's " winter quarters along the coast of Grinnel's Land, ilr Murray, and myself, 

 with Pearcey and a couple of blue-jackets in attendance, was organised to go to Brisbane during the stay of the shij) at 

 Sydney, with the view of pushing on, if time permitted, to the upper reaches of the Mary or the Burnet. 



We got information and introductions from Dr Bennett, Mr HiU, and others. We prepared a stock of trammel nets, 

 lines, and other fishing appliances, a box of dniamite cartridges, fowling pieces, and collecting gear of all kinds, and we 

 arranged to leave Sydney by the " City of Brisbane " on Tuesday the 29th of April 1874 ; the vessel was, however, detained 

 by bad weather till the 4th of May. We arrived at Brisbane on the morning of the Vth. An intimation of our intended 

 trip had preceded us, and we found a kind invitation from the Marquis of Normanljj- to Government House awaiting 

 us at the club, of which we had already been made honorary members. 



We stayed a few days at Brisbane seeing all that was to be seen. The governor's A.D.C. tried to make 

 arrangements to send ns on to Gympie in carriages, but we found it more convenient to go by a coasting steamer to 

 Maryburgh. The departure of the " Lady Bow-en," the regular trading packet, was hurried to give us more time, and 

 on Sunday the 10th we were steaming past a monotonous luidulating coast-line, the low hills crownied with dusky woods 

 of sombre giam-trees, past Fraser Island, one of the districts given up entirely to the natives, many of whom we saw in 

 the distance, with a fine walk and gait, but absolutely unclothed. We were disappointed that none of them swam off 

 to the steamer as they often do. 



We reached Maryburgh on the morning of the 1 1th, and introduced ourselves to Mr Sheridan, the Collector of 

 Customs, to whom we had been referred by Lord Normanby. We found Mr Sheridan a most pleasant companion, and 

 a man of gxeat intelligence and considerable special knowledge of natural science. He most kindly jilaced himself at 

 our disposal during our stay, and he afterwards took the trouble to collect and send home to us a valuable collection of 

 such species as we had not an opportunity of procuring in sulficient quantity during our short visit. 



We went on in the evening in a couple of buggies through the bush of scattered gum-trees, to a little group of 

 wooden shanties called Tiaro, about twenty miles above Maryburgh, on a pretty bend of the river Mary, ■^rith a good 

 long stretch of open river, succeeded by some irregular rapids and deep pools, and overhanging woods farther up. The 

 influence of the tide was slightly felt for a considerable distance beyond Tiaro, and some of the fishes had consequently 

 an estuarine character. 



We got the loan of a boat from a contractor who was deepening the river a little below Tiaro for the Queensland 

 Government, and on the following day we were joined by Mr Sheridan with his boat and servant. We heard on all 

 hands that the Barramunda (the native name for Geratodus) was to be found occasionally in the neighbourhood, and we 

 determined to spend the short time at our disposal in exploring the fauna of the river for a few miles up stream. 



Lieutenant Aldrich and Jlr Murray, with our escort and one or two natives whom we had secured, camped a little 

 way up tlie river, and Mr Sheridan and I, as the seniors of the party, slept at Tiaro, rowing up the river in the morning, 

 and usually reaching the camping-ground in time to supply the materials of stew for luncheon, of cockatoos, wallaby, 

 ducks, &c., which we had shot by the way. For about ten days the river was fished day and night with net and rod, 

 • and fishes of several species were taken in large numbers, Ijut we found no trace of Geratodus or of any allied form. 

 We had taken with us a number of powerful dynamite cartridges, and these were throwm, with a few feet of Bickford's 

 fuse attached, into the deeper pools, and in a minute or so a shock like a blow fi-om a heavy wooden mallet was felt on 

 the bottom of the boat, one could see a slight rise on the surface of the water, and perhaps a hundred fishes of different 

 sorts and sizes rose to the surface and floated on their backs or sides. Those we required were taken into the boat with 

 a landing-net, and the rest recovered from their shock in a few minutes and swam away. The number of individual 

 fishes taken in this way was very large, but it is somewhat singular that Ciralodus never occurred among them. At the 

 end of about ten days three specimens of Geratodus were taken, one by Lieutenant Aldrich with hook and Ixiil, and two 

 others afterwards, one by a native. 



As o\ir leave of absence was nearly exhausted, we now returned to Maryburgh, and after waiting for a few days to 

 catch a return steamer, we rejoined the Challenger at Sydney. 



