WHITE — A Sketch of the Life of Samuel White. 151 



Introduced Birds: — 



The sparrow has established itself on the big Althorpe, 

 and also on Wedge Island. The nearest point of land to the 

 Wedge is 14 miles distant. The Messrs. Golley say that gold- 

 finches have several times been seen there, but do not stay. 

 On Wedge Island the sparrows have become so numerous as 

 to be a serious nuisance to the barley crop. The starling has 

 also established itself on Althorpe and Wedge Islands. 



A Sketch of the Life of Samuel White- 

 Ornithologist, Soldier, Sailor, and Explorer. 



By His Son, S. A. White. 



VIII.— THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND SAILOR, 



So at noon, Friday, April 9th, 1880, the anchor was 

 weighed, and Samuel White started upon his last voyage. 



It is now my intention to try and narrate the principal 

 happenings of this voyage, from memory and from notes, also 

 from the few scanty notes of my father now available. 



We drove to Henley Beach about 10 p.m. on the evening 

 of the 8th, and after some delay the yacht's boat took us on 

 board. The decks were so hampered with luggage, gear, 

 stores, &c, that it was impossible to make a start that night. 

 All the next morning was taken up stowing away things and 

 clearing up the decks. About mid-day the "Elsea" started 

 down the Gulf with a very light breeze, which freshened, and 

 later on blew strongly from the S.E. Standing on the one 

 tack we fetched into American Beach, and dropped anchor 

 about midnight in four fathoms of water. A south-easterly 

 breeze blew strongly all next day, so the little ship remained 

 at anchor, and my father took his wife and family ashore in 

 the small boat, and we all enjoyed ourselves after being very 

 seasick the night before. Most of the day was spent search- 

 ing for shells along the beach, and amongst those collected 

 was a fine pair of paper Nautilus. In the evening my father 

 rowed us off to the ship again for another night's roll. We 

 lay about 2\ miles off shore, and a good big swell came into 

 the bay from the eastward. Next day, being Sunday, 11th, 

 and the wind blowing very strongly from the S.E., the "Elsea" 



