CHAP, vi.] COMPULSORY MIGRATIONS. 201 



position of the Collared Turtle ; it remains to be proved 

 whether the Wonga-wonga, Mr. Gould's special protegee, 

 will turn out as manageable as he anticipates. 



The migratory habits of the Australian Pigeons are 

 an apparent bar to their domestication ; but, in truth, 

 they have no choice, except to migrate. In the interior 

 deserts, nearly all the birds are compelled to change 

 their ground, as the terrific summer advances ; and no 

 great wonder ! The wonder would be if they did not 

 migrate. Captain Sturt who, during his all but suc- 

 cessful attempt to reach the central point of the con- 

 tinent, found himself locked up, by despair of procuring 

 water, in the desolate and heated region into which he 

 had penetrated, as effectually as if he had wintered at the 

 Pole after a time was deserted by the feathered tribes. 

 Pigeons, Bitterns, Cockatoos, and other birds, all passed 

 away simultaneously in a single day; and well they 

 might. Captain Sturt naturally envied the Cockatoos 

 their power of wing, to explore a way for his party to 

 escape from the horrors amidst which they were pent. 

 Stones that had lain in the sun were with difficulty held 

 in the hand : the men could not always keep their feet 

 within the glowing stirrups : if a match fell to the 

 ground it ignited, and the earth was thoroughly heated 

 to the depth of three or four feet ; writing was a labo- 

 rious task, for the lead had dropped out of their 

 pencils, and the ink dried so rapidly in their pens that 

 there was no time to linger over choice of phrase : their 

 hair ceased to grow, and their nails were as brittle as 

 glass : the atmosphere on some occasions was so rarified, 

 that they felt a difficulty in breathing, and a burning 

 sensation on the crown of the head, as if a hot iron 

 had been there : they were obliged to bury their wax 



