130 HORN KXPRniTION — NAURATIVK. 



At about twonty-iivo miles tVoiri ouf Inst cainp wo onvo more struck tlu' ovor- 

 land telegraph line and the track whicli runs str'aigiit across Australia from Port 

 Dai'wiu in the north to Adelaiile in tlio south. There is no dilliculty in foljowint;- 

 this and aftei- gniny on for about two miles to the south we camped and in the 

 mornin;;- reached Alice Springs. The Telegraph Station lies in a picturesque spot 

 just to the nortli of the main McDonnell Range. After lialting for a few minutes 

 at the station we went on along the Todd River and through the sin;\ll township 

 of Stuart to the ITeavitree Oap on the south side of which we found the camel 

 train camped. Tn the evening we retraced our steps to the Telegr.ipli Station 

 wdier'o we were made welcome ))y Mr. and Mi'.s. (Tillen and, through the kindness of 

 Sir Charles Todd, we were enabled to communicate by telegraj)h with our friends 

 ill Adelaide, Melbfiurne and Sydney. After a I'est of thi'oe daj's which w(>re 

 utilized in collecting round Alice Springs, the main party travelled southwards 

 following the well beaten track to Oodnadatta, wliich was reached early in August. 



At Alice Springs the expedition practically came to an end, l)ut Mr. Watt 

 and myself stayed behind, the former to pay a (lying visit to the gold and so-c.ilh^d 

 ruby llelds, whilst my own time though fully occupied with work of various Icinds 

 was spent more pleasantly as the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Oillen at the station. j\Ir. 

 (rillen kindly sent blacks out in search of animals which I was especially anxious 

 to secure and to make sketches oi ami colour notes with I'egard to, in their living 

 state, as our travelling had been so hurried that theie liad been little chance of 

 doing this whilst wo were on the march. I was also especially an.\ious to 

 secure if possible some more .specimens of a small new marsupial [P/iasi-o/oi;a/e 

 iiiacdoitiicl/eiisis), and to watch the so-called "l)arking spider" in its natural state. 

 Of the former only a single specimen had been obtained, and this was a male. 

 Fortunately the blacks caught two more whilst I was there, l)oth of them females. 

 They arc very active little ci'caturos the size of a small rat but with a great 

 swollen tail which is strongly incrassated. They live amongst the l)ig blocks (tf 

 rock on the hill side, and so arc very diilicult to secure especially in the dry winter 

 months when tlu^y do not come out. Tlie oiler of a .shirt and a lot of t(jbacco 

 failed to secure more than two, though since we returned I have received several 

 more, thaidis to Mr. Field and Mr. Gillen. 



This curiously fat tail is seen not only in this marsupial but also in 

 P/iasco/o;iah' cristicauda and Suiintliopsis /arnpiiila, and an oxaniination of the tail 

 of eacli of these species shows that the swelling is due to the <leposition of a great 

 amount of fatty material ; in fact wiien the skin is cut through, the l)a,ck ])one is 

 found to be eudjedded in a surrounding swollen mass made up of fat^ and ycdlow 

 elastic tissue. The tail seems to be equally swollen out at all seasons of the year. 



