THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 1S7 



we did many of the plain coloured, and of these we brought down 

 two ; the former although only a variety is much rarer than the 

 latter. These reptiles are protected by the ^.S.W. Government, 

 their especial claim to this indulgence being that they are reputed to 

 be the natural foes of rabbits, and anything that will assist in eradi- 

 cating this pest, is, it is needless to say, appreciated by all squatters 

 or farmers. Whether they possess this virtue, and if so, to any 

 extent, is at least open to question, but what we can certainly assert 

 is, that tliey have a most capacious swallow, one that we secured, 

 and wliicii measured 5ft. lin, having in its stomach nearly the whole 

 of the leg of a sheep, the bones of which we brought down and are 

 now here for inspection. At first we felt positive from the size of 

 the iguana's stomtich it must contain a rabbit, and we were therefore 

 disposed to conimend the foresight of the New South Wales 

 Government, Imf, great was our surprise and the Messrs. Sloanes' 

 ■disappointment, when the actual contents were exposed to view. 



We may here note one circumstance tiiat struck us as much 

 as anything, and that was the entire absence of snakes; not a 

 single one did we see whilst at Mulwala, and we understand 

 from the Messrs. Sloane that they are not often met with on the run. 

 But the absence of thesf unpleasant and undesirable creatures was 

 far more than compensated for by the number and variety of birds, 

 especially parrots and the rose-breasted cockatoos, the flatter being 

 seen in hundreds. Crows also ^vere everywhere, and their hoarse 

 •croak was the first sound that invariably greeted our ears on 

 awakening in the morning, and any sheep unfortunate enough to fall 

 lame, or meet with an accident, would soon suffer tlie dreadful fate 

 they are subject to from these horrible and remorseless birds, who 

 first pick out its eyes and then leave it to die in agony. 



Bet'uj-e arrival at the drafting yards, tiie buggy left us, and we 

 commenced to reconnoitre the neighbourhood. The country from 

 the home station to this place is very level, and lightly timbered, but 

 Said to be very suitable for sheep, which although in such numbers, 

 seemed to be looking both healthy and vigorous. We had been 

 collecting but a few hours, during which time we had found several 

 interesting plants, which were at once placed into the folio for 

 herbarium purposes, when a cooee remind us of dinner, so we accord- 

 ingly adjourned to the shade of a neighbouring gum-tree, and spread 

 out our stores, when we found to our dismay that the flies had 

 forestalled us, and to use a bush phrase, the meat was literally 

 alive. This however troubled us but little considering our newly 

 acquired "Murray appetites", so we made up for the loss by 

 ravenously devouring children's favourite morsel, bread and sugar. 

 Dinner finished, we drove out towards the Murray pine scrubs, which 

 were soon reached, and interested us greatly, never having previously 

 collected in this sort of country. A halt was here made, and a 



