186 THE VICTORIAIf NATURALIST. 



Woollamai, and after collecting a few specimens of the i-ed granite 

 of wliich it is composed, -which in some places is almost giant 

 granite on account of the size of its constituent crystals, ire 

 returned homewards, and all we noticed of interest on the way back 

 to the Point was the angle of rest of the grains of dry sand in the 

 sanddunes, and which we found, by means of my pocket clinometer, 

 to be as usually represented, exactly 8U°. An incident of which I 

 have too vivid and painful a remembrance to require the aid of 

 memorandum or note book, occurred to both of us at exactly the same 

 time in the following night. I remember waking up at about cme a.m., 

 and under a dim consciousness of uneasiness heaving a few deep and 

 heavy sighs. I then noticed that my entomological friend who was 

 occupying a bed at the other end of the room, was also awake, and 

 "sighing like a fui-nace." At last, after we had sighed on in 

 silence for a few moments, he said to me, " Don't you feel well?" 

 " No," I replied; " I don't feel well at all; how do you feel ?" " Oh, 

 I am very ill;" and " So am I." I draw a veil over the next few 

 hours, suffice it to say that we were both attacked with very severe 

 sickness, and otlier such alarming symptoms, that my friend would 

 have it that some ill-disposed person had put some poison in our 

 supper overnight, but, however, it dawned upon us both bc-fore the 

 morning light that it was all owing to the Phillip Island water, and 

 we only regretted we hadn't brought a sample of it home with us to 

 have it analysed. We learnt too, next day, that symptoms such as 

 these often attack people who drink too freely of the spring water on 

 the coast of the island, and we only wished we had known that a 

 day earlier. As it is, I chronicle this little piece of information for 

 the sake of other tourists, and warn them if tliey ever go to Phillip 

 Island and see a spxing of clear, limpid, crystal water, flowing 

 temptingly out ot the rock in the neighbourhood of Cape Woollamai, 

 Beware! and if they incline to drink it. Don't! for beautiful as it 

 may appear, such beauty is dcceitrul, and nice as it may taste, the 

 after consequences are not pleasant. 



I should have mentioned that on one of the days oP our stay at 

 Griffith's Point, I think the second, we devoted a great part of our 

 time to searching after marine objects only, and in doing so ue 

 found a most helpful ally in the local fisherman. This man who was 

 decidedly an "original" and amused us all day with his quaint 

 remarks, took a real interest in natural history, and in looking after 

 curios as he called them. He took us in his boat for a trifle to a 

 couple of low rocky islets, about half a mile away from Griftith's Point, 

 but on the opposite side of the water, just off the east end of Phillip 

 Island. These two rocks cover and uncover with the tide, and being 

 low tide at that time, we managed by turning over the stones and 

 groping with bare arm in the crevices and under the ledges of the 

 rock, to get an excellent haul of Sponges, Hydroid Polypes, 



