Thf South Australian Naturalist. 
39 
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS TAKEN BY A NATURE 
LOVER ON A TRIP UP THE RIVER MURRAY. 
September or October is the best time of the year to take 
lis this trip. Starting on the s.s. “Gem,” from Morgan, in beautiful 
weather, after very heavy rain, we passed many landing places, 
then Waikerie, which is thirty-nine miles above Morgan by river, 
and on Sunday at 1 p.m. we reached Berri. Here are the pump- 
0 ing station, and irrigation scheme, as at Mildura, only on a smaller 
1 scale. It has a settlement of over 23,000 acres. After discharg- 
ing the cargo, and taking on more for the other villages, at 8 p.m. 
=) we drew up at Renmark, South Australia’s first and principal Ir- 
0 rigation settlement. As the sun dipped down, the shadows of 
the Eucalypts were beautifull}' reflected in the w'^ater, and the 
f black duck, pelican, and cockatoos — white, pink, and grey — w^ere 
seen in great numbers; and kookaburras were heard laughing in 
the gloaming; also the tvarble of the magpie. The swallows 
seemed to follow the boat ail the way. Being attracted bv 
hundreds of small holes in the cliffs, I was wondering what 
had caused them, and wdiat made use of them, when 
my eye caught sight of a swallow entering one, so they 
must make the holes their homes. Aly attention was also drawr 
to a water-tower, where on the summit of the wmll there were to 
be seen dozens of nests of these birds; it seemed from a distance 
tliey were built of the same color as the tower. They certainly 
had a towmship of their o\\*n up there, quite out of reach of the 
small boy. Passing one of the locks that is in course of construc- 
tion, h was most interesting to see how the work is carried on. 
The men have their families with them, a good scheme, as it keeps 
the parents and children together. 7’he houses are made of gal- 
vanised iron. The children and chickens were in great numbers 
all along the banks of the river. How all those children exist and 
look 5,0 healthy is a mystery; of course, the open air life is their 
salvation. The next turn brings us to some beautiful cliffs 
and mils that look as though they were made of grey stone, and 
umped between red and yellow hills surrounding them. Eossili- 
teroiis remains are found in great quantities in the river cliffs be- 
tween Murray Bridge and Overland Corner. In this section of 
t le river the cliffs are of a marine limestone of Miocene and Eocene 
Between Overland Corner and Loxton a remarkable chanee 
d'nl'’ / T boundary being unfossiliferous sand- 
l™t age highly colored by iron oxide, probably of 
me origin. On Tuesday afternoon we arrived at A'lildura; 
