190 IN AUSTRALIAN WILDS 



flesh, with serious consequences. Undressing for a 

 bath one evening on the Tweed, I felt a slight pain in 

 the right shoulder, and found that a tick was lodged 

 there. It was removed quickly, all save a fragment 

 of the snout ; but the flesh around the spot became in- 

 flamed, and I still bear a circular scar on my shoulder. 

 Dogs and other animals, which become infested by 

 scrub ticks, sometimes die as a result. One method 

 of dislodging a tick is to touch the protruding part of 

 the body with a red-hot needle, when the creature, 

 writhing in pain, loosens its hold. 



Besides scrub ticks, we had to combat thirsty 

 leeches, which, as soon as we remained still in any 

 moist place, advanced in battalions, and crawled over 

 arms and legs, seeking flesh on which to batten. The 

 scrub, of course, harboured millions of ants. Most 

 interesting was a species about half an inch in length, 

 which progressed by jumping. It was laughable to 

 see a number of the insects leaping in all directions. 

 Tiny red ants swarmed on the foliage, and we found 

 nests in clumps of Staghorn Fern, and swollen stems 

 of other plants, which were riddled with galleries. 

 Under a bush we found a pile of broken land shells, 

 which indicated the presence of Noisy Pittas [Pitta 

 strepitans] . Some of the shells were of large size, 

 and handsomely coloured bands of Vandyke brown, 

 pale orange and amber. Pittas feed largely on land 

 molluscs, breaking the shells by dashing them against 

 a stone or log. 



Hours slipped away unheeded, and we penetrated 

 deeper into the scrub, careless of direction till late in 

 the afternoon, when somebody suggested that it was 

 time to seek the road. This was more difficult than 

 we had anticipated, and it was dark ere we emerged 

 from the scrub in the gully. A "short cut" led us 

 into further trouble, and we stumbled through the 

 jungle till a track was discovered. It was rough and 

 steep, and there was no moonlight to reveal the stumps 

 and fallen trees. But we welcomed the darkness, be- 



