WHITE — ^4 Sketch of the Life of Samuel White. 75 



of Australia's greatest ornithologists. I say lightly, but that 

 may be due to my father, for more than likely he made but 

 passing comments to his friend Gould of this accident, which 

 was ever his wont when speaking of his many dangerous ex- 

 periences. 



So far as I know the incident alluded to happened in this 

 way. Having dragged his boat down to the water he put his 

 specimens, guns, and camp equipment on board, and, pushing 

 off, set sail for the eastern side of the Gulf. He seldom spoke 

 of this experience in after life, but those to whom he told the 

 tale say the breeze freshened towards the afternoon, and a 

 sudden squall struck the boat when a considerable distance off 

 the eastern shore, the improvised sail did not clear when he let 

 it go, and the boat capsized, all the heavy articles going to the 

 bottom. Strange to say a small box which contained the two 

 Malurus and three other skins floated close by, and it was 

 secured. The ornithologist stuck to the boat for some time in 

 the hope of righting her. He found this impossible, and the 

 wind and the tide taking the boat, which was awash, further 

 out, he divested himself of all clothing possible, secured the 

 precious little box with the specimens, and taking one of the 

 floor boards from the boat he made for the shore. A fearful 

 battle for life took place, and after swimming and floating for 

 many hours in the water Samuel White had just enough 

 strength left to drag himself on to the dry sand where he lay 

 unconscious for a long time. With the assistance and atten- 

 tion of his man he soon recovered and returned to his home 

 at the Eeedbeds by another route. The new Malurus was for- 

 warded to John Gould in London. The chief object, I believe, 

 of this trip was to discover how far north Eptliianura tricolor 

 and E. aurifrons could be found. An odd bird or two visited 

 the Adelaide Plains in those days — always coming from and 

 returning to the North — and this early ornithologist was 

 anxious to discover their home and how far north and north- 

 west their habitat extended. 



In Part IV. of this series I stated that the Queensland 

 trip took eight months, but from information now to hand I 

 find Samuel White and his brother William were away from 

 home the greater part of two years. 



In April, 1869, Samuel White married, thus securing a 

 loving companion who shared the hardships and pleasures of 

 many an ornithological expedition by land and sea. 



