Cruise of the "Alert" 



The skipper of the vessel was an old Welshman, who, in the true 

 spirit of hospitality, did the honours of the ship, and pressed me 

 to partake of such luxuries as the stores in his cuddy afforded. 



Among the articles which the New Hebrides men had pur- 

 chased in Queensland with the proceeds of their labours were 

 a number of old muskets, which they seemed to set great store 

 by. These weapons are probably destined to be brought into 

 action against some future " labour vessel," or " slaver," as they 

 are commonly called by the Australians, which may violate the 

 provision of the " Kidnapping Act " by forcible abduction of 

 natives. 



We worked the dredge from the ship as she swung round her 

 anchor in seven fathoms of water, and also dragged it from a boat 

 in shallower water inshore. Conspicuous by their abundance 

 amongst the contents of the dredge, and by their curious habit 

 of making a loud snapping noise with the large pincer-claw, were 

 the shrimps of the genus Alpheus. When placed in water in a 

 glass jar, the sound produced exactly resembles the snap which is 

 heard when a tumbler is cracked from unequal expansion by hot 

 water. We also obtained a good many whitish fleshy Gorgonice, 

 and among Polyzoa the genera Crisia and Eschara afforded a good 

 many specimens. A moderate-sized brownish Asterophyton was 

 generally found entangled in the swabs, but in most cases some 

 of its brittle limbs had parted company with the disc, so that we 

 got scarcely a single perfect specimen. A good many crabs were 

 found on the foreshore ; among others were species of the genera 

 Ozius, Gelasimus, and Thalassina ; the latter a lobster-like cru- 

 stacean which burrows deeply in the mud about the mangrove 

 bushes, and throws up around the aperture of its burrow a conical 

 pile of mud. 



On April 23rd we got under way, and steamed for five miles 

 further up the bay, anchoring immediately off the settlement of 

 " Gladstone." Nothing could exceed the hospitality shown to us 

 by the inhabitants of this quiet little Utopia. Our stay of five 



