2o8 Campbell, Camp-OiU on Phillip Island. [isf April 



Red Point, bound for King Island. The steamer passed close 

 enough for the passengers to exchange greetings with the 

 shore party. 



Thursday, the 26th, was a day of interest. His Excellency 

 Sir Thonnas Gibson-Carmichael, the State Governor, had in- 

 timated his intention of visiting the camp and rookeries that 

 day. There came a change in the weather — rain descended, 

 and continued till about 4 o'clock. This detained the vice- 

 regal party. However, about 5 o'clock in the afternoon the 

 Government steamer Lady Loch arrived and cast anchor off 

 Red Point. His Excellency, accompanied by Mr. Victor Hood, 

 Mr. C. N. Hake, and Captain Bolger, landed, and at 7 o'clock 

 were received by the ornithologists and escorted across the 

 island for an evening's observation. A straight cut was made 

 for the pig-face weed rookery, where, the ground being devoid 

 of scrub, the burrows and movements of the birds could be 

 better seen. The incoming birds did not seem so numerous as 

 on the previous evening. Nevertheless, judging by the flights 

 seen and the noises heard everywhere, it was a strange exper- 

 ience for persons who had never been on a Mutton-Bird rookery 

 before. His Excellency evinced the greatest interest in the 

 novelty of the scene, and asked many questions concerning the 

 life-history of these remarkable Petrels. Notwithstanding the 

 light shed from two tubular lamps, the return to the camp 

 in the darkness was somewhat rough, and there were many 

 tumbles in the tussocks ere the inner beach was safely reached. 

 Amid cheers from the ornithologists and other campers as- 

 sembled on the shore, His Excellency, with a basketful of eggs, 

 put off for the Lady Loch, which departed for Melbourne at 

 daylight. 



The remainder of the week was pleasantly spent egging, 

 fishing, photographing, and observing ; while the panoramic 

 scene — marine and landscape combined — from the crown of the 

 Cape was especially admired for grandeur. On a calm day, 

 out to sea, could be observed various flocks of Mutton-Birds 

 floating in dark patches, which alternately rose to view, then 

 fell out of sight, to the motion of the ocean swell. 



Probably the most entertaining and romantic night spent was 

 when all the party camped upon a rookery where the birds were 

 thickest. About 9 o'clock the observers, with blankets, rugs, and 

 ready-made coffee, &c., repair by the light of a young moon to 

 the ever-fascinating back beach. Portions of the route are 

 simply alive with birds, which scatter right and left before the 

 pedestrians — clumsily flapping against tussock or scuttling 

 through bush to get out of the way, while the whole place above 

 and below ground is a babel of bird noises — a perfect pande- 

 monium, unique, and comparable to nothing else on earth. As 

 the moon is setting in the sea, a sheltered nook is selected where 



