THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 167 
In this they were aided by a local fisherman, and certainly 
the carvings were distinctly fine specimens of Aboriginal 
work. ‘The afternoon on the heights above the hotel was 
a very enjoyable one. The party saw an unlimited num- 
ber of ant lion holes on the tracks. The trip to Marly on 
the coast, on Monday, was a delightful experience, and 
some of those who looked on the sand-dunes there by the 
sea saw an illustration of the wind-blown formations which 
are so strong a geographical feature along the coast from 
Sydney. ‘The Aeolian theory of the origin of the Hawkes- 
bury sandstone has no supporters to-day, but it is possible 
that the winds have played a very important part in their 
formation. It was a great pleasure to be joined in our 
Marly expedition by an old friend, Mr. Gurney; the mem- 
bers have pleasant memories of his leadership and help 
on many a bygone excursion, and the welcome he received 
was a warm one. 
Mr. A. A. Hamilton, who provides the botanical re- 
port of the excursion, did yeoman service. He assisted 
each evening in naming and describing the botanical speci- 
mens collected during the day, and these who slept in the 
big attic of the hotel have pleasant recoilections of his des- 
eriptions of many places and of unusual experiences in 
many strange regions of the world. 
To Mx. Wickham we are greatly indebted for the 
organisation of the excursion. He made many good ento- 
mological finds, and assisted the party greatly. His ef- 
forts to keep the lodgers in the attic physically healthy and 
clean by a regular dip in the cold salt sea each morning 
were greatly appreciated—by all the rest of the party. 
Miss Mabel Brewster made some good finds: the life- 
history of Donans, from egg to butterfly. Cotton weed 
(Gon-phocarpus) was plentiful, with swarms of aphides 
on them, which were being devoured by lady-bird larvae. 
She discovered the nest of the wasp, Polistes Tasmaniensis, 
under a rock ledge, almost at sea-level, and various gall 
insects. 
The spikes of the grass trees were in many cases rid- 
dled with borers, and many of these pests had paid at- 
tention to the Casuarinas down on the sea margin. 
There were few butterflies in evidence, but Tisophone 
abeona, the wood-brown butterfly, was seen with rather 
battered wings, probably the last of the season. 
