2 
he was going as Botanist to Cape Sidmouth, | 
and regretted that our government had not j 
sent Mr. Hill. I may here remark that I 
suggested the same before I left Brisbane, and 
believe that his (Mr. Hill’s) services would 
have been of greater -practical value than 
mine, as it turned out ; the great object which 
I had laid out for myself (the delineation of 
the corona and chromosphere in their true 
colors) being defeated by adverse circum- 
stances. After a pleasant chat I left, and 
proceeded to the Museum, where I was 
heartily welcomed by Mr. Krefft the Curator, 
whom I had corresponded with for years but 
had never seen personally. He insisted upon 
my remaining with him while in Sydney, and 
did everything in his power to make my visit 
agreeable. I spent many pleasant hours in his 
society, and he was most kind and attentive, 
affording me useful information on various 
subjects connected with natural history. Mr. 
Krefft’s attention has been much directed to 
the study of Australian snakes, the most valu- 
able and reliable information concerning them 
is to be derived from a work published by him 
a few years ago. The fossil remains of the 
extinct fauna of Australia occupy much of 
his study and attention. There are a fine 
series of fossil bones in the museum, and 
though broken and battered are not less valued. 
A large proportion of them were procured by 
himself from the Wellington Caves in New 
South Wales, and many have been received 
from Queensland, some of the larger speci- 
mens in particular ; Mr. Krefft amused me 
much as he described the way in which he was i 
enabled to discover the analogy between recent 
species and fossil ; and in many cases he has 
the pieces of each arranged side by side, so as 
to completely demonstrate the truthfullness 
of his identifications. 
The valuable library of the Institution was 
also used by me I hope to good purpose. I 
there had an opportunity afforded me of ex- 
amining works heretofore only known to me 
by report, and many a pleasant hour I spent 
turning over the pages of such authors as 
Gould, Grey, Temmink, and others on Orni- 
thology ; and Dury, Hewitson, Westwood, 
JSepp, &c., &c., on Entomology. Amidst such 
a mass of information, I only regret that much 
too cursory an examination was all I was able 
to give to these works, and I L »j Lged for the 
time when we should have a similar library 
and a similar museum established among us in | 
Brisbane. Mr. M asters the assistant curator j 
was also very kind and attentive to me. He 
took me through all the rooms and shewed me 
the various collections, which were beautifully I 
arranged and classified. This gentleman has 
done more to make the Entomologist acquaint- 
ed with the insects, especially the Coleoptera 
of Australia, than any man living, and has of 
course an extensive acquaintance with them. 
He is often sent by the trustees of the Museum 
on long trips to different localities, where he 
frequently spends months at a time, always 
returning with a large accession of novelties. 
By Messrs. Krefft and Masters I was presented 
with various works and papers of which they 
were the authors, viz : — The Mammals of 
Australia and other smaller works, by Gerard 
Krefft ; and catalogues of Insects by George 
Masters. The 2^ days I was in Sydney, were, 
for the most part spent in the Museum. At 
about 5 o’clock p.m. of Monday, November 
27, the expedition took its departure from 
Sydney Harbour in the Queensland steamer, 
Governor Blackall. I would here remark that 
few persons are aware of the loss they sustain 
in neglecting to call at the Museum in Sydney, 
any one going from Brisbane or any other part 
of QueenslandT'will do well to pay that noble 
institution a good long visit, and I will pro- 
mise them a great treat. Mr. Krefft is very 
affable and shews visitors every attention, 
being a patient listener to any enquiry which 
is made, and very painstaking in explaining 
everything 
The weather was fine when we started, and 
nothing of importance occupied our attention 
until we arrived at Percy Island, No. 2, about 
3 in the afternoon of December 1. We an- 
chored here for the first time and all went 
ashore, each bent on some object of interest, 
some to botanise, some to collect shells, some 
for anything that would turn up ; my own 
particular intention being to collect all the new 
insects I could meet with. It will be remem- 
bered by some that a melancholy interest 
attaches to this island, as the locality where 
Mr. Strange was murdered by the blacks about 
18 years ago, when in pursuit of specimens of 
natural history. He was a zealous and efficient 
collector and did much to render Australian 
natural history known to the world. I 
find his name occurring in the British 
Museum Catalogues as the discoverer of many 
species of insects, and he is frequently referred 
to by Mr, Gould as the naturalist from whom 
he received a number of the rare birds figured 
in his splendid work on the birds of Australia. 
The shore of this island was a sandy beach, 
and a little difficulty was experienced in land- 
ing on account of the rollers ; the boats seem- 
ing to have a great desire to get broadside, on 
to the waves which, had they done so, would 
certainly have resulted in a capsize, but by 
dint of poling with an oar on each side of the 
boat all landed without other accident than 
here and there a wetting. There being no 
signs of natives, and many of the party being 
armed with guns which would shoot either 
birds or men (though only intended for the 
former), no repugnance was felt by any one to 
going any where, and different parties dispersed 
themselves in various directions. The island 
was hilly and well clothed with vegetation. 
The botanists made their way into the thickest 
i part of the bush and were rewarded by the 
discovery of a variety of interesting speci- 
I mens. My attention was first directed to a 
