THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 159 



curious habit. Here, too, sundews are plentiful {^Drosera pygmea 

 and D. awiadafa), and the fern Schizoea bifida., and the orchid 

 Calochdus Robertsoni were secured. In small, open patches 

 the ground is covered with the little Viola hederacea and the small 

 purple flower of Magus punidio, and frequent amongst these is 

 the orchid Caladenia car7iea. 



Unfortunately, the season was too early for the great majority 

 of insects. Turning over old rotten logs, the curious yellow 

 planarian worm, so commonly met with in Gippsland, with often 

 two dark bands of colour, one down each side, is not infrequent. 

 Here, as elsewhere on the island, the great green frog keeps up 

 an incessant croaking in the water. On land is found a smaller 

 and darker coloured variety, and in shady parts, as on rocky sides 

 covered with ferns, or under the peeling bark of a gum-tree, a 

 climbing frog is met- with. 



Lizards are abundant — the large blue-tongued Cydodus gigatdea 

 and smaller ones {Hinidia ?) scudding about in all directions in 

 the warm parts. Of birds, amongst others, the forty-spotted 

 diamond bird, various honey-eaters, and the nest and eggs of die 

 painted quail were secured. Of mammals, the wallaby and brush 

 kangaroo and the opossums are to be found, but, taking it 

 altogether, there is really a lack of animal life. This is very 

 noticeable in regard to insects. In Gippsland, for example, it 

 would be impossible at this time of year to turn back the bark 

 of a gum-tree or split open a decaying or fallen log without 

 seeing an immense number o' insects, etc., of various kinds. Here 

 scarcely even a cockroach puts in its appearance, and not a trace 

 of a centipede or coleopteran is to be seen. Very occasionally 

 we came across a scorpion, but even these were rare, and usually 

 found during the night in the tent. 



Near Currie a small wood of gum trees is entered, then the 

 track leads through a valley cleared of trees, and with a rich 

 growth of trefoil, and then, mounting a ridge, the little harbour 

 is seen dotted with rocks and alive with sea birds. On its southern 

 side is the lighthouse, and here, as at Wickham, all members of 

 the expedition were hospitably entertained. 



Currie Harbour is fit only to shelter small craft, as its entrance 

 is very rocky. Its shores are covered in part with kelp, and in 

 part with dense growth of water-cress (imported). The light- 

 house is more modern than that at Wickham. The chamber 

 containing the light itself is su]>ported on four iron pillars, with a 

 tube containing the spiral stair-case in the middle. The light is 

 150 feet above the surface of the sea, and flashes five times in 

 the minute, thus being distinguishable from the Otway light, which 

 flashes once each minute. It is seen from Fitzmaurice Bluff on 

 the south to New Year Islands on the north when the Wickham 

 light is taken up. The Currie light-house was built soon after 

 the loss of the British Admit al^ and it is satisfactory to find that, 



