198 A NATURALIST IN CANNIBAL LAND 



I do not know whether the tragedy of the Hekla 

 had affected my nerves in any way, but I really in- 

 tended to abandon the South Seas for a while at this 

 time. From Samarai I crossed to Queensland, bid- 

 ding farewell to the wild life of the South Seas. I 

 had done that before, half seriously, but on this occa- 

 sion I genuinely thought that I meant to settle down 

 in Queensland. I accepted an invitation to go to 

 the Barnards' Station, where I was received with very 

 much kindness and amused myself for some months 

 shooting kangaroos. 



