794 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 11M 



account of the heat, the drought that prevailed, 

 lack of water, and similar causes. 



Captain White's hooklet of 200 pages is a 

 day-to-day record of the entire history of this 

 expedition, with a detailed account of its 

 achievements for science. He took many valu- 

 able photographs of natives, animals, botanical 

 specimens and localities, and not a few of 

 these have been reproduced to illustrate the 

 little volume, while a map of the route trav- 

 ersed is inserted opposite the preface. Many 

 of the mammals, birds and other forms of life 

 are described in great detail, and in the most 

 lucid and interesting manner. A great part 

 of this must necessarily be omitted from the 

 brief notice I am now writing, and the space 

 allowed me given over only to a reference to 

 the more important discoveries and results 

 achieved by the party. Among the first suc- 

 cesses scored was the rediscovery of John 

 Gould's long-lost bird, Aphelocephala pecto- 

 ralis, formerly Xerophila pectoralis, a single 

 specimen having been taken in 1871 and lost 

 shortly thereafter. Several specimens were 

 obtained by Captain White and his most effi- 

 cient collector, Mr. J. P. Rogers. On one page 

 he writes, about six or seven days after the 

 start : 



A little after noon we reached one of Mr. Bread- 

 en's wells near Murdaruma, on the Woldridge 

 Creek, 'where the camels were watered and we had 

 some lunch. One of those tragedies which are so 

 often enacted in the far-back country came under 

 our notice. A bait had been laid for wild dogs, 

 and a fine dingo had been successfully poisoned; 

 but, unfortunately, a party of wedge-tailed eagles 

 had attacked the carcass of the dog, the result 

 being that some of these fine birds lay dead 

 around, the great wings stretched out (they are 

 the largest eagles in the world) over the ground 

 in their last agonies, others were sitting round, 

 unable to escape, due to the paralyzing effect of 

 the poison (p. 16). 



All the scientific members of the expedition 

 became much excited as it approached the Mus- 

 grave range, for scarcely anything was known 

 of the flora and fauna there, and footprints of 

 the " wild men " had already been discovered 

 by the camel drivers. Almost at once a new 

 plant was collected, and it has since been 



named by Mr. Black Foxanthes whitei. The 

 weather was cold, and the water-bags froze 

 hard during the night. There is a fine descrip- 

 tion given of Glen Ferdinand, and of some of 

 the remarkable birds found in the surrounding 

 region. Among these may be mentioned the 

 rare blue-vented parrot (Neopsephoatus 

 burhii), the crested pigeons (Ocyphaps 

 lophotes), the white-fronted honey-eaters 

 {Ramsay ornis albifrons), and the curious little 

 buff-throated grass-wren {Diaphorillas i. pur- 

 nelli), a most extraordinary species both in 

 coloration and in habits. 



Some of the species of ants met with are 

 described in detail by Captain White, and 

 the description of their nests and their ways 

 makes a most interesting chapter, not to say 

 a very remarkable one. 



Some of the boulders and rocks and walls of 

 the great caverns had strange pictographs 

 upon them, drawn there by some unknown 

 natives; there were other evidences of the 

 latter's existence. 



In due time the expedition returned to the 

 Everard ranges ; the main one was entered and 

 the signs of the existence of natives became 

 more abundant. Footprints were fresh, and 

 every one felt that these strange people would 

 soon be met with in their own little-known 

 land. Soon they were heard giving signal calls, 

 which a native with the expedition answered 

 as best he could, for he was not of their tribe. 

 Finally a dozen or so of them put in an ap- 

 pearance. Captain White says : 



They were all armed with two or three spearB 

 of the single-barb variety, which they called 

 ' ' ooruta, ' ' a yam stick, ' ' wanar, ' ' and they also 

 carried a long-shaped wooden bowl, "mera, " 

 which is used for carrying food, for scooping out 

 the sandy soil when hunting for food, and for 

 many other uses. They did not wear covering of 

 any kind. A single or double strand of hair string 

 encircled their waists, and their chests were cov- 

 ered with red ochre, with a circle of white down 

 from the wedge-tailed eagle, extending from one 

 armpit down to the lower part of the chest and up 

 to the other armpit; the down is stuck to the skin 

 by means of human blood. They were mostly 

 young men, and their hair was bound into a chig- 

 non shape, which stood out, in some cases, over a 



