to Prof. E. Forbes. 27 



nus Protea supplies the place of the Banksia of New Holland, in 

 which country the Ericece of Southern Africa are admirably re- 

 presented by the beautiful family of Epacridat. The geology of 

 the mountain has, I dare say, been often described. The junc- 

 tion of the granite with the superincumbent sandstone is exposed 

 in the bed of the rivulet, and the latter rock assumes all the gra- 

 dations between fine-grained quartzose sandstone and a conglo- 

 merate of quartz pebbles of moderate size. The path suddenly 

 opens out upon the summit after leading up a ravine walled in by 

 fine mural cliffs. The summit (3500 feet in height) is nearly 

 flat and almost devoid of vegetation. While overlooking Cape 

 Town and admiring the beautiful regularity of the streets, with 

 my legs dangling over a precipice of 1200 feet, I amused myself 

 with watching the gyrations of a pair of vultures ( V. Kolbii), 

 from which, like the soothsayers of old, I rather prematurely 

 drew a good omen, for I was unsuccessful in my search after the 

 shells. On my way down I found a freshwater crab [Thelphusa 

 perlata ?) [C. 101] in the rivulet at an elevation of 2000 feet. 



We were all heartily tired of Simon's Town long before quit- 

 ting it — for my part I never left a place with so little regret. 

 The weather was too boisterous to be agreeable, the zoology of 

 the place was already well-known, and we were tired of hearing 

 the interminable " Caffre war ff dinned into our ears from morn- 

 ing to night as an excuse for high prices and various kinds of 

 extortion worthy even of Sydney in its halcyon days of con- 

 victism. 



H.M.S. Rattlesnake, at sea, October 12th, 1847. 



My dear Sir, 



Having now entered upon the most important part of the 

 voyage, I am anxious to bring up my correspondence with you, 

 as five months will elapse before I shall again have an opportu- 

 nity of writing. We sailed yesterday from Sydney in company 

 with our tender the ' Bramble ' schooner, and expect to return in 

 the end of February to refit for the second cruise — one of twelve 

 or eighteen months — to the N.E. and N. coasts of New Holland, 

 New Guinea, and the islands in the Arafoura Sea. At present 

 we are going into Moreton Bay, thence to proceed to Port Curtis, 

 on the shores of which the lately-formed and almost as quickly 

 abandoned colony of North Australia was founded by Lieut.- 

 Colonel Barney. 



I last wrote you from Mauritius of date May, per barque 

 ? Rambler/ by which vessel I also sent most of the specimens col- 

 lected up to that time, catalogues of which I now inclose. Du- 

 ring the thirteen days which we spent at Port Louis the time 



