52 ABBIVE AT REDSCAR BAY. 



before one of them had it safely (as it thoug-ht) 

 stowed away in its burrow. 



The g'olden plover was plentiful on the island 

 dui'ing- our visit^ and one afternoon I killed fifteen 

 in about an hour. Two days after the tern's eg'g's 

 had been broken we found a small colony of laying- 

 birds^ and picked up some dozens of eg-g-s j and had 

 we remained a few days long-er^ doubtless a very 

 gTeat number might have been procured. The 

 weed which in the Fly we used to call spinach (a 

 species of Boerha'dvia, apparently B. diffusa^ being- 

 abundant here^ was at my sug-g'estion collected in 

 larg'e quantity for the use of the ship's company as 

 a veg-etable^ but it did not seem to be g-enerally 

 liked. 



Dec. 21st. — Two days ag'o we left Bramble Cay 

 for Cape Possession in New Guinea^ with a fine 

 breeze from the N.W.^ and next morning* at day- 

 lig"ht saw the land about the Cape on the weather- 

 beam. The wind^ however^ died away in the 

 afternoon^ but this morning- a lig-ht north-westerly 

 breeze sprang- up, before which we bore up and 

 were broug-ht in the afternoon to an anchorag-e in 

 11 fathomSj mud, half a mile to leeward of the 

 Pariwara Islands. Meanwhile Lieut. Yule, upon 

 our destination being- chang-ed, was ordered by 

 sig-nal to proceed to Cape Direction and survey the 

 intermediate space between that and Redscar Bay, 

 in order to connect his former continuation of the 



