WHITE — A Sketch of the Life of Samuel White. 211 



on the previous day, and only 90 miles were made. At noon 

 Flinders Group was passed, and just then there arose a dense 

 cloud of mist or smoke, and Samuel White remark- 

 ing upon it in his notes, says:— "The officers thought 

 it was dust and that they smelt dust, but it appeared 

 to me like smoke; however, they, fearing a 'buster,' 

 lowered the topsails and stood by for a general tane 

 in. Soon an unmistakable smell of smoke and pieces of ashes 

 dispelled the delusion, when up went the topsails again. To^ 

 wards mid-day, the wind freshened, and we are in hopes ot 

 reaching No. 1 Clermond Island to-night where I intend stay- 

 ing to visit the great Egret's rookeries. The wind has been 

 a good deal easterly which has caused us to jibe several times. 

 At 2 p.m. to-day I reckon we are about 15 miles from No. 1 

 Island/' Just before sunset the island was reached, and the 

 yacht brought up in eight fathoms over sand and mud, about 

 'the fifth of a mile from the shore. A boat was swung out, 

 and Samuel White was pulled ashore, landing on a sand bank 

 on the N.W. corner of the island. Between this and the high 

 land lay a broad flat the whole length of the island, covered at 

 high water, and on which grew mangrove trees in large and 

 thick masses, their roots intertwining into great impenetrable 

 barriers. The mangrove tree when growing tsingly presents 

 the appearance of growing, or standing on numerous legs like 

 a gigantic spider, but when growing in thick belts, the trees 

 appear to be standing on a,- vast bed of brushwood to which 

 are attached thousands of oysters and other shell-fish, and 

 underneath crawl a variety of crustaceae over mud that would 

 in places sink a man to the middle in black stinking ooze. 

 While overhead in the tall mangroves (some up to 40 feet in 

 height) large rockeries of Ibis Spoon-bill Cranes and Egrets, 

 with their families in all stages were seen, producing a deafen- 

 ing clatter, and babel of voices which varied fromi the harsh 

 croak of the adult bird to the faint squeak of the featherless 

 "squab." Their rough nests composed of sticks were stuck 

 about carelessly in every direction, and the repulsive looking 

 slimy excreta which covered every leaf and \branch could be 

 smelt a mile away to leeward. It was noticed that each 

 species had its own rookery separate from the others, with 

 here and there a colony of flying foxes which kept up an inces- 

 sant chattering and squeaking — a noise something between 

 the chattering of a monkey and the harsh squeak of an opos- 

 sum. They hung in hundreds to the branches by their hind 

 claws, with their heads downwards, and snapped at each 



