Adele Island, N.W. Australia. 255 



' Penguin/ on the morning of May 2nd, 1891, anchored at 

 about a quarter of a mile from the edge of the surrounding 

 reef, and nearly two miles from the island itself, which, at 

 this distance, presented a very curious appearance — a long 

 strip of bright yellow sand, surmounted by a straight nai'row 

 ribbon of green grass, being all that was visible. I left the 

 ship with the observing party at 7.30 a.m., at which time the 

 tide was rapidly falling, and our progress was soon stopped 

 by the boat grounding on the reef. The water was fortu- 

 nately as smooth as glass, and there was nothing else to do 

 but to get out and wade to the shore, a distance of more 

 than a mile. On the outside, the reef consisted almost 

 entirely of dead coral, remarkably destitute of any living 

 creatures, so far as I could see ; and the superficial growth 

 of small branching corals being very rotten in places, 

 walking over it in about two feet of water was, to say the 

 least, not very pleasant. Fortunately the coral soon ceased, 

 and the bottom became clean firm sand ; but the water 

 gradually deepened as we approached the shore, until in 

 places it was nearly up to our waists. More than once fair- 

 sized sharks, besides several turtles, were noticed in this 

 shallow water, and as I was armed with nothing more for- 

 midable than an insect-net, I was not sorry to get on dry 

 land. To add to our discomfort, a heavy shower of rain 

 passed over us as we were on our way ashore, so that, between 

 fresh water above and salt beneath, we were all pretty 

 thoroughly drenched. The rain-squall, however, was of 

 brief duration, and the sky soon resumed the serene asj)ect 

 usual in this region. 



A walk of some fifty yards up a rather steep beach of fine 

 sand brought me to high water-mark, and to the com- 

 mencement of the dense but low vegetation which covers the 

 little island, no part of which is more than eight feet above 

 the level of the highest tides. This vegetation consists 

 chiefly of a tall coarse grass with globular spiky "' ears '' (if 

 I may use the expression) which is common on most sandy 

 shores in this part of the world, and is here of particularly 

 strong and luxuriant growth, and by no means easy to traverse. 



