105 
were caught. Three of them seen by me bore a resemblance to the 
large kind which inhabits the forests of Port Jackson; and the cas- 
sowary showed nothing distinguishable at a distance from the same 
animal at that place; both were shy, as were the ducks, swans, and 
all the birds.” 
“Near Point Possession were found two nests of extraordinary 
magnitude. They were built upon the ground, from which they rose 
about two feet, and were of vast circumference and great interior 
capacity, the branches of trees and other matter, of which each nest 
was composed, being enough to fill a small cart. If the magnitude 
of the constructor be proportionate to the size of the nest, Terra 
Australis must be inhabited by a species of bird little inferior to 
the condor of the Andes. 
“Amongst the reptiles was a variety of lizards; one of which 
of the larger size 1 was met with by Dampier on the west coast, and 
is described by him. The animal is certainly of a singular form; 
but it is scarcely necessary to say, that the merit of Dampier’s des- 
cription does not consist in being strictly accurate. 
“The fish caught with hook and line were principally small 
mullet, and an excellent kind of schnapper, nearly the same as that 
called wollamai by the natives of Port Jackson; but these were 
larger, weighing sometimes as much as twenty pounds.” 
At Lucky Bay (near Esperance) “upon a rock on the side of 
the hill 1 found a large nest, very similar to those seen in King 
George’s Sound. There were in it several masses resembling those 
which contain the hair and bones of mice, and are disgorged by the 
owls in England after the flesh is digested. These masses were 
larger, and consisted of the hair of seals and of land animals, of 
the scaly feathers of penguins, and the bones of birds and small 
quadrupeds. Possibly the constructor of the nest might be an enor- 
mous owl ; and, if so, the cause of the bird being never seen, whilst 
the nests were not scarce, would be from its not going out until dark; 
but from the very open and exposed situations in which the nests 
were found, 1 should rather judge it to be of the eagle kind, and that 
its powers are such as to render it heedless of any attempts from 
the natives upon its young. ’ ’ 
“Geese and ducks were found here, and, not being very shy, 
some of them were killed by the shore parties. The goose" was 
also found upon the islands; and is the same bird as I found fre- 
quenting 1 Furneaux Islands in Bass Strait, and resembling the 
bernacle goose. 
“Some fish were caught alongside the ship, but our success was 
much impeded by three monstrous sharks, in whose presence no other 
fish dared to appear. After some attempts we succeeded in taking 
one of them; but to get it on board required as much preparation as 
Trachysaurus rugosus, Gray. (Stump- tailed Lizard). 
Cereopsis novaehollandiae, Latham. (Cape Barren Goose.) 
