IN THE WAKE OF THE “ CHALLENGER . 1 
21 
the rocks of St. Paul, is abundant in the sand-dimes which are 
the ramparts of the island, and preys upon the young and eggs 
of the sea-swallows which swarm here. The same dead turtle 
was, it is believed, actually seen which Jukes describes as being 
in a position as though attempting to scale the rocks. The 
breeding-place of the frigate-bird was found in the middle of 
the island ; but it is not quite certain whether this bird is the 
Fregattcc aquila (Finsch and Hartlaub) or F. minor . The 
tropic bird (Phaeton phcenicums) here breeds in holes on the 
ground, while in the Bermudas its breeding-place is in holes in 
perpendicular cliffs. 
Port Albany, Cape York, was reached on Sept. 1. A 
number of Australian birds, among them Megapodius, were 
found by Mr. Moseley in “Booby Island,” which is now no 
longer used as a post-office, as the steamers touch at Somerset. 
The most interesting among the birds of North Australia is the 
Australian Bird of Paradise ( Ptilomis magnifica ). The land- 
scape, owing to the grey green of the Eucalyptus , is monotonous 
in comparison with the rich green foliage of the Polynesian 
islands. Termites are very abundant ; their mounds being- 
twelve feet high. The queen is not so large as that of the 
West Indian kind, and did not inhabit any particular royal 
boudoir, but was to be found here and there in one of the 
corridors. Of the aborigines only fifteen were alive — “ the rest 
of the members of the stock, who once lived at Cape York, 
have all been quieted (pacificirt) to death.” * 
On Sept. 8 the Challenger left Somerset and arrived at 
Dobbo,| an important trading town in the island of Wamma, 
one of the Aru Islands, on the 16th. From Dobbo the ship 
proceeded to the Ke group, then to the island of Banda, and 
afterwards to Amboina, which was reached on October 4. 
From Amboina the voyage was resumed as far as Ternate, 
theace into the Celebes sea. On the 26th the Challenger pro- 
ceeded into the Sulu sea, and reached Manila, via the u Eastern 
passage,” on Nov. 4. A great prize, in the shape of a speci- 
men of the cephalopod Spirula, was found in the trawl off 
the coast of Banda, in the Moluccas, which had evidently 
passed through the digestive tract of some large fish, probably 
a Macrurus. It is probable that the animal lives in a medium 
depth of from 300 to 400 fathoms. This is the fourth 
specimen which has been obtained. J An Amphioxus was found 
* Vide a letter from Yon Willemoes-Snhm to Professor Siebold (Ibid. Bd. 
xxvi.), dated Yokohama, Japan, May 1875. 
t A picture of this town, as it appears in the trading season, is given in 
Wallace’s u Malay Archipelago,” voi. ii. 
J Von Willemoes-Suhm. Ibid. The history of the other three specimens 
