1 92 Cruise of the "Alert." 



pebbly conglomerate the common rock of the islet. In these 

 excavations, almost every available surface of smooth shale was 

 covered 'with drawings, even including the roofs of low crevices 

 where the artist must have worked lying prone on his back, and 

 with his nose almost touching his work. Most of the drawings 

 were executed in red ochre, and had their outlines accentuated 

 by rows of white dots, which seemed to be composed of a sort 

 of pipe-clay. Some, however, were executed in pale yellow on 

 a brick-red ground, and in many instances the objects depicted 

 were banded with rows of white dots crossing each other irre- 

 gularly, and perhaps intended in a rudimentary way to convey 

 the idea of light and shade. The objects delineated (of which 

 I made such sketches as I was able) were sharks, dolphins, 

 dugong, turtle, boomerangs, waddies, shields, woomerahs, pigs, 

 dogs, birds, jelly-fish, etc. There was one well-defined sketch of 

 a medusa, showing the position of the radiating canals and eight 

 marginal tentacles. Trochus shells in great profusion were strewn 

 about the old camping- places, as well as bones of the dugong 

 and turtle, the pursuit of the latter having been probably the 

 main inducement to visit the island. 



A careful hunting of the holes and crevices in the face of the 

 cliff resulted in the acquisition of some portable specimens of 

 native art in the shape of drawings on old pieces of driftwood, 

 on Melo shells, turtle skulls, and tortoise shell. These luckily 

 afforded us good examples of the style of art, and were accord- 

 ingly, and without many conscientious scruples as to the sacred 

 rights of ownership, carried off in triumph and deposited on 

 board. 



After leaving Flinders Island, we continued our voyage north- 

 ward, anchoring each of the three following nights successively 

 at Clairmont Island No. 6, Clairmont Island No. 10, and Bird 

 Island. On each occasion we dredged to a small extent, and 

 collected specimens from the reefs and beaches. On the evening 

 of the 2nd of June we entered the narrow strait which separates 



