4 LOED HOWE ISLAND. 



It is some 500 miles this side of Norfolk Island, and is the most southern 

 of the outlying islands on the east coast of Australia (Frontispiece). It is 

 between six and seven miles in length as the crow flies, but much more taking 

 into consideration the great inequalities of the ground ; whilst the average 

 width is only one mile, but more in certain parts. According to Mr. Charles 

 Moore, the (xovernment Botanist, the island contains 3,220 acres, of which 

 2,000 are capable of cultivation.* 



The small group of islets generally comprised under the name of Lord Howe 

 Island consists, in addition to the island proper, of a small islet immediately 

 detached from its southern extremity called Grower Island; a similar one to 

 the north, known as the Sugar-loaf; to the east, separated by somewhat more 

 than half-a-mile of water, another which has received the name of Mutton- 

 bird Island ; whilst on the west side, within the Lagoon is Groat or Eabbit 

 Island. To the north, separated from the main island, about a quarter of a 

 mile, is a cluster of six rocks known as the Admirality Islets ; and still 

 further north two other rocks, one of them called North Island. 



Mr. A. T. Corrie, E.N., in a short paper entitled. " A visit to Lord Howe 

 Island, "t has well remarked that the early history is wrapt in a good deal 

 of mystery. " It was," says Mr. E. S. Hill, " during the passage from Port 

 Jackson to Norfolk Island, that Lord Howe Island was discovered by 

 Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, Commander of His Majesty's tender 

 ' Supply,' on the 17th February, 1788 " t (PL viii). A survey of the 

 Island was made in 1835 by Mr. Surveyor H. F. White, but his report 

 does not seem to have been published. A. reduction of his map is given by 

 Hill, from which it appears that many of the original names, presumably 

 bestowed by him on the more j^rominent features have been since altered 

 (PI. ix). Another report I have not succeeded in gaining access to — by Dr. 

 Foulis, who resided on Lord Howe for three years, about forty years ago — 

 would probably yield much valuable information of the then condition of 

 the island. 



We are in possession of but very few details of the zoology of Lord Howe 

 Island, notwithstanding that several collectors of marked ability, for instance, 

 Macgillivray, Brazier, and Masters have visited it and made collections. 

 Although numerous species have been identified, and some described, the 

 descriptions arc so scattered and little known, as to be of small practical 

 value to the working naturalist. The birds have been catalogued, so far as 

 known to him, by Dr. E. P. Eamsay § whilst an epitome of a few days 

 collecting has been furnished by Mr. Alexander Morton, || who accompanied 

 the late Dr. Wilson's expedition in 1882. 



The scrubby and thickly timbered condition of Lord Howe rendered 

 collecting both tedious and "difficult. Its limited size, and the fact that all 

 branches can be more or less pursued at one and the same time to some 

 extent compensated for this. For all practical purposes however, our 

 investigation resolved itself under three heads — that of the high scrubby 

 hills and intervening gullies ; the lower lying, and sometimes more open 

 and less hilly ground ; and the marine fauna, more especially the relation 

 of the Lagoon and Coral-reef life as compared with that found on other 

 portions of the shores. 



* Sketch of the vegetation of Lord Howe Island— Hill's Lord Howe Island, loc. cif., p. 17. 



+ Proc., K. Geogr. Soc. 1878, xxii, p. 136. 



X Hill's Lord Hoire Idand, loc. cif., p. 8. 



§ Notes on the Zoology of Lord Howe Island. Proc. Linn. Soc. N'.S. Wales, vii, pt. I. 

 p. 86. 



II Report to the Trustees of the Australian Museum. Lord Howe Ishnl, Report on 

 Present State, ct-c, 1882, loc. c!f., p. 12. 



