CHAPTER IX. 



THE EAST COAST OF AUSTRALIA. 



WE remained at Sydney, refitting ship and enjoying the unac- 

 customed pleasures of civilized society, from the 23rd of 

 January, 1881, until the i6th of April, 1881, but as little of 

 general interest occurred during this period, and as Sydney with 

 its surroundings is a place about which so much has been written 

 by better pens than mine, I think I shall be exercising a judicious 

 discretion by passing over this period in silence, and resuming the 

 narrative from the time when we started on our next surveying 

 cruise. 



On leaving Sydney we received a welcome addition to our 

 numbers in the person of Mr. W. A. Haswell, a professional 

 zoologist, residing at Sydney, who expressed a wish to accompany 

 us as far as Torres Straits, in order that he might have opportuni- 

 ties of studying the crustacean fauna of the east coast of Australia. 

 He was consequently enrolled as an honorary member of our 

 mess, and Captain Maclear kindly accommodated him with a 

 sleeping place in his cabin. I am indebted to Mr. Haswell for 

 much valuable information concerning the marine zoology of 

 Australia. 



Steaming northwards, along the east coast of Australia, the first 

 place at which we anchored was Port Curtis, in Queensland, where 

 we took up a berth in the outer roads close to the Gatcombe Head 

 lighthouse. The place bore a rather desolate appearance. There 



