144 
Wild Life in Southern Seas. 
of a high sand head—the northern side of the 
entrance to a tidal lagoon—and then turned 
away up from the beach to where a thin, waver¬ 
ing line of smoke ascended from the scrub. 
This was the diggers’ camp, and in a few 
minutes Sandy’s mate came to meet us, carrying 
a couple of fat black ducks which he had just 
shot. The tent was situated on a little grassy 
bluff that overlooked the lagoon, and while Sandy 
and his mate set about to cook our breakfast oi 
grilled garfish and grilled duck, my companion 
and I took their guns and set out along the 
lagoon bank, taking care to walk with discre¬ 
tion, for black snakes were very plentiful. A 
ten minutes’ walk brought us to an open space, 
from where we had a splendid view of a lovely 
scene. The broad, shallow lagoon, with its 
shores lined with she-oaks and clumps of 
flowering, golden wattle growing literally on 
the sandy beaches, stretched inland for many 
miles, while towards the camp we could just see 
the blue Pacific showing against the high white 
wall of glistening sand that separated the lake 
from the sea. The heavy storm of the previous 
evening had brought down a vast volume of 
water, and the lagoon was quite a foot or two 
