May, 194b The Queensland Naturalist 
15 
gradually becoming lower as the land slopes towards the 
marsh. The matchbox bean ( Enfada ) and the supple- 
jack (Flagcllaria ) , well known to Australian botanists, 
climb to the tops of the trees. Epiphytes are common, 
orchids and two genera ol' Ant-Plants, the Prickly Ant- 
Plant ( Mynnecodia ) and the Smooth Ant-Plant ( Hydno - 
phytum) and strangely a species of Elotostemma (E. 
pedunculotuiii), a genus we are accustomed to find in New 
Guinea and Eastern Australia in damp places in the rain- 
forest such as among boulders along creek beds, heads oi 
gullies, etc. It has some value as a spinach substitute. 
When dealing with the foothill forests. Dr. Lam makes 
especial note of the number of myrmeeophilous or ant-in - 
habited plants to be found in the New Guinea flora. The 
ant-plants epiphytic on trees have already been noted. 
Some of the trees have the branches specially modified to 
house ants. One of the commonest in New Guinea is a 
medium sized tree, Endospcrmum formicarium. Ants make 
their way into the thickened internodes where they quickly 
eat out the soft pith, making a house or tunnel for them- 
selves and frequently keeping scale insects therein. 
Trails of the cassowary are seen in the forest and 
occasionally a glimpse is obtained of the huge birds with 
their brilliantly coloured head. The foothill forest carries 
the usual trees of genera common throughout New Guinea 
as Syzygium, Aglaia, Chisocheton, etc., with an under - 
growth of shrubs. Animal life is fairly abundant and 
yielded food for the explorers. In addition to fish, pigeons 
and real turtle soup, they tried cassowary and cus-eus 
( Plialanger maculatus) and even crocodile, which Dr. Lam 
states is not as distasteful as tradition says and strikes a 
happy medium between fish and veal. While in this region 
they met a party of bird-hunters who had done a remark- 
able overland journey from Hollandia to the headwaters 
of the Idenburg River. The party, headed by two Chinese 
and supported by natives, had lived entirely off the land, 
at first from native villages, but later wholly by hunting 
and fishing. Each day organised parties scouted for food 
while others hunted birds-of-paradise and crown-pigeons. 
As so much stress has been laid on living off the coun- 
try, some of the lesser known foods might be listed. These 
included turtles and monitor lizard eggs, young palm 
leaves and young fern fronds, growing tips of Pandanu r, 
