IlOim EXPEDITION — NARRATIVE. 63 



At the Police Camp wo mot Mr. Daer, tlio officer in cliarge. Mr. E. C. Cowlc, 

 wlio was associated with liini :in<\ has now succeeded Mr. Daer as officer in 

 charge, and wlio we liopcd would join the Expedition for a time, was away, 

 having gone over to a place called P^rldunda, some dist;ince to the south, in order 

 to meet us, as it had been at first arranged that we should travel by that route. 

 To Mr. Daer we wei'e much indebted for his kindly reception of us and for his 

 gonei'osity in placing horses at our disposal in ordci' to allow some of us to m;dce fi 

 flying visit to Ayers Rock and Mount Olga, apnrt fr'oni the main ca,niel team, 

 wiiieh travelled too slowly to allow of such a detour ; and it is witli (loop regret 

 that the meniliers of the party who experienced the kindness of Mr. Daer lKi,ve 

 since heard of his death. 



We made our camp at tiie entrance to the valley and at the base of :i 

 picturesque rugged Ijlulf of red sandstone. Spelling for a day, wo had the chance 

 of a little quiet work for the hrst time amongst the ranges, anrl each f)f us set out 

 in quest of what he most desired. Messrs. Tate and Watt were out geologising, 

 the former also in search of plants ; Di', .Stirling was Inisy with the Ijlacks ; 

 Koartland was in search of birds, and amongst the scrub in the gorge behind the 

 camp he secured for the Hi-st time a new honey-eater iyPtilotis keartlandi), which 

 was afterwards met with in other parts amongst Mulga and RIallee scruli ; 

 Pritchard, one of the two prospectoi's who had joined us at flenbury and who, 

 together with his partner llussell, was always ready to help us in any possil)le way 

 in our work, went out with myself to dig along the creek banks. I was anxious 

 to learn something with I'egard to the earthworm fauna, of the centre of the 

 continent, and this was the first spot in which it was at all likely that any such 

 animals could exist. They had previously been searched for, but always unsuc- 

 cessfully. We began to dig in a patch of damp black eai'th where reeds were 

 growing thickly. First of all a few specimens of the frogs Liinnodynaslcs onia/iis 

 and Hyin rubella were found, and then a good many snails {T/icrsitcs adcockiaiia) 

 were turned out of tiie ground. After a short time we came upon a small 

 earthworm — the only kind mot with during tlie whole Expedition, tiiough they 

 were carefully seaiched for. 



It is a species of Acanthodrilus (//. ercmiiis) peculiar to this part, and belongs 

 to a genus of earthworms which is rare in Austialia, where it h.is only boon found 

 in Queensland and in oiu^ locality in North-west Australia,, l)ut which is chaivic- 

 tei'istic of Nesv Zealand and is a,l.so found '\i\ New C.aledoni.a, Kergnelen, South 

 America and the Ca,pe of (lood Hope. 



