THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



41 



From the summit of Mt. Gower, one looks across the Erskine Valley to the precipitous 

 faces of Mt. Lidgbird, and then over the lower lying parts of the island. Nearly 3,000 feet 

 below is the broad lagoon with its surf-capped reefs facing the west, while away to the north 

 is the little/ group of islets known as the Admiralties. 



Photo — A. R. McCuIloeh. 



has been aptly described as covered 

 with a "Moss Forest." Mosses, lichens, 

 and climbing' ferns of many kinds cover 

 the trunks of almost all the trees, while 

 the ground is completely hidden under 

 a thick growth of siDhagnum, except 

 where it has been cleared by wild pigs. 

 Looking downward over the sloping 

 table-land from a central peak, one 

 sees a forest of tree-ferns covering- 

 many acres, their feathery tops domin- 

 ating all the other vegetation. The 

 whole conjures up a mental picture of a 

 forest of the coal ages, ferns, mosses, 

 and palms, everywhere dripping with 

 moisture direct from the clouds which 

 commonly cover them. 



From a tree-top, 2840 feet above the 

 sea, one peers over a cliff to see the 

 surf breaking upon Gower Islet, the 

 southernmost portion of the island. 

 The lower portion of this cliff, known as 

 the Big Slope, supports an abundance 

 of palms from which seed is collected 

 in favourable weather, but its greater 

 portion is inaccessible. Out in the 

 ocean, eighteen miles to the southward, 

 and brilliantly illuminated in the morn- 

 ing sun, is a rocky cathedral-like spire 

 known as Ball's Pyramid — a pinnacle 

 risins: eighteen hundred feet into the 



sky, yet l)ut sixty oliains long at its base. 

 Its upper slopes remain terra incog- 

 nita, none iDut a few surveyors having 

 ever landed upon the rocks around its 

 ba.se. It is of mysterious origin, its 

 past history being difficult of compre- 

 hension, while mystery veils its present, 

 none knowing what may live upon the 

 higher levels of its wind-swept fast- 

 nesses. We saw it again later after 

 leaving the island, its jagged profile be- 

 ing clearly silhouetted witliin the circle 

 of a rising moon, and the sight left us 

 pondering upon its obscurity. 



MAGPIES. 



While among the mountains we were 

 cliarmed with the antics of a number of 

 magpies {Strepera crissalio), which dis- 

 covered us to be objects of great inte- 

 rest. First one and then another espied 

 us clambering laboriously n\) the steep 

 faces while they flew swiftly over the 

 forest. Turning sharply on their course 

 with Avonderful volplanes and dives, 

 they settled in trees close by, anil, after 

 eyeing us intently with tlieir heads 

 cocked to one side, soon called up two 

 or three more from tlie neighbourhood. 

 "We were often surrcunded by small 

 parties of them, all absurdly curious 



