40 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



the company of their relatives by swimming from island to 

 island. Kumboola was easily reached ; to Timana it is but 

 a mile and a half, and a mile thence to Bedarra. Leaving 

 the most easterly point of Bedarra, they were quickly 

 caught in the swirl of a strong current and spun about 

 until both became dazed and exhausted. As they dis- 

 appeared beneath the water they were changed to stone, 

 and the stone rose in fantastic shape, and from that day 

 Pee-rahm-ah has weathered all the storms of the Pacific and 

 formed a feature in the loveliest scene these isles reveal. 



The largest of the neighbouring isles, Bedarra, has less 

 than a square mile of superficial area; the smallest but 

 4 or 5 acres. The smaller are made up of confused 

 masses of granite, for the most part so overgrown with fig- 

 trees, plumy palms, milkwoods, umbrella-trees, quandongs, 

 eugenias, hibiscus bushes, bananas and lawyer vines, as to 

 be unexplorable without a scrub-knife ; for the soil among 

 the rocks is soft and spongy, the purest of vegetable mould, 

 and encourages luxurious growth. The jungle droops over 

 the grey rocks on the sheltered side. Twisted Moreton 

 Bay ash and wind-crippled scrub spring up among the 

 clefts and crevices on the weather frontage — the south-east 

 — while a narrow strip of sand, the only landing-place, 

 is a general characteristic of the north-west aspect. Birds 

 nest in numbers in peace and security, for the islets are off 

 the general track. Seldom is there any disturbance of the 

 primeval quietude, and in the encompassing sea, if the fish 

 and turtle r- suffer any excitement, rarely is the cause 

 attributable to man. 



The islands immediately to the south-east form the 

 Family Group — triplets, twins and two singles. I like to 

 think approving things of them ; to note individual 

 excellences ; to familiarise myself with their distinguishing 

 traits ; to listen to them in their petulance and anger, and 

 in that sobbing subsidence to even temper ; to their com- 

 placent gurglings and sleepy murmurs. One — and the 

 most infantile of all — not of the Family, has a distinctive 

 note, a copyright tone which none imitates, and which 



