THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 43 



being nearly all expended, we made preparations for returning, 

 so, after naming the highest peak of the range " Mueller's 

 Peak," and cutting our names, date, and height on a large 

 ElcBocarpus, we started for home. Immediately on our 

 arrival two of the Kanakas went into hospital with fever, 

 while Mr. Davidson and myself suffered intense pain, caused 

 by contraction of the muscles of our legs, through constant wet 

 and over-exertion, and it was nearly a fortnight before we could 

 get about. 



To the zoologist this part of tropical Australia would, I 

 fear, be somewhat disappointing, the comparative absence of 

 mammals being very noticeable. Birds are plentiful enough 

 in the scrub, but on the summit of Mount Bellenden-Ker 

 during my eight and a half days' stay I did not notice a single 

 specimen, with the exception of the black cockatoo. The scrub- 

 hen and scrub-turkey are very common in some localities, 

 especially on the Barron River, and at times the stately casso- 

 wary (sometimes weighing nearly 200 lb.) makes its appearance. 

 Pigeons, too, are very common, and about December and 

 January countless numbers of that very handsome bird, the 

 Torres Straits pigeon, are to be seen. Herons, cranes, egrets, 

 and hawks, also the white-bellied sea-eagle and the jabiru, 

 are to be seen on the various creeks and at the mouth of 

 rivers. Fish are very plentiful, and in these there remains, no 

 doubt, much to be done. In reptilia. North Queensland is 

 strongly represented, pythons, to the length of 18 feet and 

 more, being not uncommon. A specimen that managed to 

 survive three months' travelling on an empty stomach may be 

 seen at the Royal Park. Venomous snakes are as usual but too 

 plentiful, and, scrub being thick, are very dangerous. Lizards 

 of numerous kinds are in numbers, while alligators of a very 

 large size and capacious stomach are always to be dreaded 

 while swimming in rivers. Insects are both numerous and beauti- 

 ful as well as troublesome ; Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and 

 Hymenoptera being well represented. The butterflies — Papilio 

 Ulysses, Ornithoptera, Pronomus, etc., etc. — were to be seen 

 flying, but mostly damaged, possibly owing to the nearly con- 

 tinuous heavy rains. Still in a fine season a good collector 

 who made natural history his sole object could and would be 

 likely to do very well indeed, but for such a collector a robust 

 constitution and a certain amount of enthusiasm is requisite to 

 cope with exposure, fever, natives, etc., etc., and this is necessary 

 in a country which registers nearly 200 inches of rain within the 

 year, and where in one month (January) 28 days' rain was 

 recorded. 



The plants mentioned in these notes were named and 

 described by Baron von Mueller, whose kindness and sympathy 

 stimulated the forlorn hope that reached the summit of that 



