IIOKX EXPEDITION NAKKATIVE. 21 



iqijicriiiost. On one occision, as noted in the zoologieal ri^ports, T came .•icfoss an 

 Ajiiis striii;^lii)L,' viultuitly and on taking it out of the water f(nind no fewer tlian 

 three; water beetles tearing its soft appendages out of which the hiood was oozing. 



In tlie water-holes along the creeks, but not in the clay-pans, the banks are 

 thick with the holes Ijurrcjwed out by the fresh water ci'ab {Telpliiisa transversa') 

 the distriliution of Mhicli s(( fai' as at present recorded is a curious one as it lias 

 only been tli scribed from the central region a,nd the very nortii of (Queensland at 

 Cape York ami Thursday Island. In all probability it is widely dispersed over 

 the interior of (.Queensland and New .South Wales, though the contrast in its 

 suri-oundings at Cape York and Charlotte ^V'aters, for e.Kaniple, is as marked as it 

 can well Ije. 



xVmongst the MoUusca forms belonging to the giMiei'a Bulinus and Bithinia 

 will be found attaciied to any )jit of stick or weed, and the fresh water mussel 

 {Uiiio sliiarii) is sometimes present in abund.uice Iniried in the muddy banks of 

 the crt'eks, though neither it noi' the cral_) a,re found in the proper clay-pans — that 

 is in the shallow depressions not in tht; course of a liver bed. 



In addition to these animals there are often seen little light thrown jelly like 

 masses, which when alive I took to be fresh water Sponges, but which on further 

 examination turn out to be colonies of R(jtifers (Lacinularia sp.) some of the 

 colonies reaching a Ic^ngth of an inch and a half, and in addition to these a 

 branching Polyzoon is often found attached to stones and sticks. 



Sooner or later the clay-pans and water-holes dry up, and to all appearance 

 animal life has completely died out. In the ca.se (jf the Esthcrias, Apus, ilotifeis, 

 and Polyzoa the animals have all perished, but their eggs remain and can be 

 blown aljout from one place to another by the strong winds which often prevail 

 throughout the dry months, and they are ready to develope as soon as ever tlu; 

 water-holes arc again tilled. In the case of the other members of the clay-j)an 

 fauna, it is (juite dilFerent, foi- if you know where t(j look for them y(.)U will be al)le 

 to find them hidden away .safely a'stivating. They have one and all gone down 

 into the mud while it was soft and in this which becomes s(.) hard that you can 

 only break it away l.iit by bit they lie impri.sonei.l until released by the next heavy 

 rains. Pi'obaljly many of them perish if the drought 1)0 of exceptional length. 

 Tlie most interesting animal is the Burrowing oi' Water-holding Frog {C/iin>/c/>fcs 

 platyicplialiis). As the pools begin to dry up it tills itself out with water, which in 

 some; way p.asses through the walls of the alimentary canal lilling up the body 

 cavity and swelling the animal out until it looks like a smajl orange. In this 



