115 
nest made from fibrous? roots, lined with more delicate material, and 
decorated on the outside with little tufts of green moss. The egg is 
described by Mr. De Yis as a " pale yellowish grey, profusely freckled 
and blotched with pale brown." The habits of this extraordinary bower 
bird will be described in a future chapter on the " Birds of Wooroo- 
nooran." 
About 2 o'clock on the 8th we were on the top of the mountain 
overlooking Swallow and Derham's plantation, at a height of 3,640 
feet. No view in any direction, the whole mountain being wrapped in 
dense white clouds. Our course that day had been along a range whose 
crest curved to different points. On arrival at the top the blackboys 
w^ere completely puzzled, not having the faintest idea where they were, 
or the direction of north or south. Being asked where Cairns was 
situated, they all pointed towards Herberton. Harold's knowledge of 
locality enabled him to make a much better guess. Carried no com- 
pass on this or any other trip, except the one on which were fixed the 
exact relative positions of the Bellenden-Ker peaks and Bartle-Frere. 
Great was the astonishment of the boys when we started to descend 
one of the spurs to the eastward, and they were told the plantation 
was in that direction. They knew " master " too well at this time to 
credit him with a mistake. Sincere was their expression of joy 
when, after descending about a 1,000 feet, we heard the steam whistle 
of the mill faintly far below; for this had been a terribly severe 
trip, and the three of them were tired and leg-weary. The des- 
cending spur was steep and rough for the first 1,500 feet, then we 
left the dense scrub for beautiful glades of Gasuarina torulosa (Forest 
Oak), with soft green grass growing beneath. This continued for 
1,000 feet, and ended in a belt of scrub from which we emerged into 
dense rank dead blady grass that sent up flames to the tree tops. When 
about 300 yards in advance, I heard voices in a gorge below, and hailed 
the strangers, not knowing if they were blacks or some of Swallow's 
kanakas out shooting. The replies indicated that the owners of the 
voices were in an advanced stage of excitement over being saluted by 
mysterious visitors descending on them from the dark unknown 
mountain overhead. Passing through a belt of thick scrub, I 
came suddenly on a small cutting, and two wild-eyed Chinamen 
brandishing long-handled shovels, ready to sell their lives as dearly 
as possible. They were up there cutting a race to give additional 
water supply to the mill. After leaving the plantation, where we 
were hospitably received, we walked on twelve miles the same night 
to our camp on the Mulgrave. We had travelled from sunrise to 
10 o'clock at night. 
No. VI. 
The following is an account of the last and severest ascent of the 
Bellenden-Ker Range, and forms the final descriptive chapter of the 
expedition. That ascent was undertaken with a threefold object — to 
fix the exact position of all the peaks, to ascertain the nature of the 
vegetation, and to settle, beyond the possibility of dispute, the question 
of whether Sayer and Davidson or anybody else had ever been on any 
part of the northern summit — no one ever claiming to have stood on 
the centre or southern peaks. On Monday, the 12th of August, I 
