Chapter XXXIII: Appendix (2)

The zoological character of the region is most marked in Australia, which is rich in peculiar animal forms. As an island-continent extending from 39° to 11° S. lat., and which consequently is several times as large as the islands of the other regions added together, the country naturally has very various climates. In the southern part there is a climate like that of the countries along the Mediterranean; in the northern there is a regular season of rain; while the centre is more hot and more arid than any other part of the earth. Still, strange to say, the climatic differences are not attended by corresponding variations of the fauna, which is strikingly uniform throughout the country. Many important species are found everywhere in the continent. Generally speaking, Australia is a hot and dry country, and its flora and fauna have been developed in harmony with its physico-geographical conditions. This explains, for instance, why the tropical North Australia has not so luxurious and varied vegetations as the adjacent New Guinea, with its more humid climate. Many of the Australian mammals can subsist without water for a long time. Gould is even of opinion that the large kingfishers, whose food consists mainly of lizards and insects, never drink.

The fauna of Australia has many special forms, and occupies a peculiar, isolated position. This is most apparent among the mammals, which give to the Australian fauna its most marked feature. Imagine a continent about the size of Europe with no other mammals than marsupials, a few bats, rats, and mice. There are no apes, no beasts of prey, no hoofed animals. None of those groups are found from which our domestic animals have been developed. The only exception is the dingo, the Australian dog, but although fossil specimens have been found, it is generally supposed that the dingo was introduced by man; it does not differ much from the wild dogs of other lands. The fact that Australia at present has so many large land animals, which at one time were represented by kindred forms in Europe, shows that the country in some way or other has been united with Asia, just as Great Britain must at some time have been connected with the European continent. But the present remarkable isolation of the Australian mammals from the land fauna of the rest of the world is, as Wallace remarks, the best evidence that Australia and Asia were not united throughout the tertiary period, and it is a most characteristic fact that the only mammals which Australia has in common with the rest of the world are the flying-bats and such small mammals as could most easily be carried on floating logs, roots, and similar objects to foreign coasts. Marsupials are also found in America; but, with this exception, they now exist only in Australia and in the adjacent islands New Guinea and Tasmania, which is evidence that the latter islands were at one time united with Australia.

The marsupials are so called from their having a pouch (_marsupium_) for carrying the immature young. The young are born without much development, and they are at once transferred to the pouch, where they continue to grow until they are able to take care of themselves. The pouch is supported by the marsupial bones, which are equally developed in both sexes. There are also many other peculiarities in the structure of these animals, distinguishing them from the higher mammals, _e.g._ their teeth being quite different from those of other animals.

The large kangaroo bears a young “no larger than the little finger of a human baby, and not unlike it in form.” This helpless, naked, blind, and deaf being the mother puts in an almost inexplicable manner into the pouch with her mouth, and places it on one of the long, slender, milk-giving strings found in the pouch. Here the young remains hanging for weeks, and grows very rapidly. The mother possesses a peculiar muscle with which it is able to press milk into the mouth of the helpless little one, and the larynx of the young has a peculiar structure, so that it can breathe while it sucks, and consequently is not choked. Gradually it assumes the form of its parents, and when big enough it begins to make excursions from the pouch, which continues to enlarge with the growth of the young. These excursions become longer as the young grows larger, and thus this pouch serves both as a second womb and as a nest and home. All marsupials are propagated in this manner, but the number of young may vary from one to fourteen.

The brain of the marsupial is small and has but few convolutions, indicative of small mental development. They are the most stupid of all mammals, and indifferent in regard to all things save the wants of their stomachs. Brehm calls attention to the fact that no marsupial mother plays with her young or makes any effort to teach them.

The marsupials may differ widely in appearance, structure, and habits; they may be as large as a stag and as small as a mouse. Some move on the hind-feet alone, others on all fours; some live on the ground, others in trees, others again are able to fly. Most of them feed on grass, but some of them live on fruits, roots, and leaves; others again on meat and insects; while there are also marsupials that eat honey.

Ever since Captain Cook’s sailors in 1770 came and told him that they had seen the very devil hopping away on his hind legs in the form of an animal, the kangaroo has been inseparably associated with our ideas of Australia, the land of the kangaroo. The kangaroo (_Macropus_) is also the largest and most remarkable of all marsupials, and is represented by many species throughout Australia. The largest one is reddish (_Macropus rufus_) and is found in the interior. Of the smaller kinds we may mention the wallabies, kangaroo-rats, which are about the size of a rabbit, and the pademelon, which is easily recognised by the fact that when it runs it lets one arm drop as if it were broken. During recent years kangaroos have greatly increased in number, one of the causes being the systematic extermination of the dingoes and the decrease of the number of natives. Thus kangaroos, like their smaller relatives the wallabies and the kangaroo-rats, have become noxious animals that destroy the pastures, and the colonists are making great efforts to exterminate them. In Queensland the Government pays a premium for every such animal killed, and in this way the number of marsupials was reduced in the years 1880–1885 by six millions.

The tree-kangaroos (_Dendrolagus_), living in the dense scrubs of Northern Queensland, are very remarkable and very different from the other members of the family.

The phalangers (_Phalangeridæ_) are a large family found everywhere in Australia. They inhabit the trees, and like most of the marsupials, seek their food at night. They are usually called opossums, but are very different from the genuine opossum of America. Just as the latter are the most perfect and most intelligent of all marsupials, so the Australian opossums are the most perfectly organised of all Australian marsupials. They are, so to speak, the apes of the marsupials, in that they feed on fruit, but are able to live on insects and birds’ eggs; have a prehensile tail and a movable thumb, which almost converts their feet into hands.

Closely related to the latter are the flying-squirrels (_Petaurus_) which are strikingly like those in India. The smallest one of this family, the beautiful _Acrobates pygmæus_, is a perfect wonder of elegance and graceful movement. Though not larger than a little mouse, still it flies through the air as skilfully as the larger species. It frequently becomes the prey of domestic cats.

A transition between the kangaroos and the phalangers is found in the marsupial bear (_Phascolarctus_), while the rodents are represented by the large, plump wombat (_Phascolomys_).

The family _Dasyuridæ_ are carnivorous. The colonist usually names them after animals of the old world, “marsupial cat,” “marsupial tiger,” “marsupial wolf,” etc. All these marsupial beasts of prey are very rapacious, and one or two of them are quite equal to the martens and weasels in this respect. The marsupial wolf (_Thylacinus_) and the marsupial devil (_Sarcophilus_) in Tasmania are the most ferocious and most powerful of all the Australian animals, and do great damage among the sheep. The former is, however, wellnigh exterminated. Native cats (_Dasyurus geoffroyi_) are numerous everywhere, and are hated by the colonists, because they attack the poultry. Near Mount Elephant, in Victoria, five hundred of them were killed in one night by two poisoned sheep carcasses. There had long been a drought, so that the animals had congregated in the only place where water was to be found.

We now come to the _Monotremata_, the lowest group of all mammals. They have the marsupial bones, but no pouch, and they are destitute of teeth. Of this remarkable family there are only two genera, the duck-billed platypus and the spiny ant-eater.

The duck-billed platypus (_Ornithorhynchus anatinus_) is easily recognised by its horny jaws, which have a striking resemblance to the bill of a duck. The animal is about fifteen inches long, and the body, which is covered with close brown hair, is broad, flat, and somewhat like that of a reptile. The feet are short and the toes are webbed. During the daytime the ornithorhynchus sleeps in deep burrows dug in the banks of rivers. It is common in the southern and eastern part of Australia, and is also found in Tasmania.

The spiny ant-eater (_Echidna_) resembles our porcupine in appearance and size, has quills like it, and can roll itself into a ball. The toes are not webbed, but the animal is a very good swimmer. It feeds on ants and insects, and, like other ant-eaters, has a long, slender tongue, which has a secretion of a sticky substance. It is a most powerful animal, and can disappear so rapidly in loose earth or sand that it seems to sink into the ground. Its flesh is very fat, and is considered a great delicacy by the blacks. On Herbert river, where the ant-eater is called gombian, the natives hunt it with the help of tamed dingoes.

These mammals, the two most remarkable ones on the globe, reveal a wonderful relationship to the lower vertebrates, reptiles and birds. Thus we find that the front extremities are fastened to the breast-bone by a highly developed coracoid and an epicoracoid, as in the case of lizards. This does not occur in any other mammal. Their skulls, like those of birds, have no visible sutures whatever.

The most remarkable fact, however, is that these animals do not bear living young, but lay eggs. The latter contain a large yolk, and when hatched the young are suckled by the mother.

The stages of development of the eggs are different from those of all other mammals, and resemble to a great extent those of reptiles and birds. As the eggs are _meroblastic_,[25] these animals seem to be even more closely related to birds and reptiles than to the mammals.

Footnote 25:

Where only a small part of the yolk goes to form the fœtus, while the
greater part is used to nourish it, as is the case with birds, the egg
is called _meroblastic_. With mammals, all the yolk is used to form
the fœtus (_holoblastic eggs_).

The eggs lying in the ovaries are ⅛ of an inch in diameter, possibly even more, and they certainly are the largest eggs produced by mammals. In a human being and in the higher mammals the egg averages ¹⁄₁₂₅ of an inch in diameter.

The young seem to require a long time to arrive at maturity. They are hatched small, blind, and naked, and their mouths have not at first the form of a beak, but are thick, round, soft, and well adapted to receive the milk, which is strained through the lacteal glands, for there are no nipples. As these animals have no pouch (the ant-eater has a rudimentary one in the form of a crease in the skin while it nurses its young), the young remain in the nest, where the mother suckles them.

Though the ornithology of Australia is not so isolated in its character as the mammals are, still its birds are very remarkable, and have almost as many points of interest. We here find eagles, hawks, thrushes, swallows, fly-catchers, sea-gulls, ducks, etc., though of other species than those to which we are accustomed; but we are astonished that vultures and woodpeckers, which exist in all other parts of the world, are wholly wanting.

The honey-eaters (_Meliphagidæ_), so well adapted to the circumstances of the country, are very remarkable. As the trees and bushes of Australia have a great wealth of flowers, but are wanting in juicy fruits, many of its birds find their food in the flowers, inhabiting the trees and bushes, particularly gum-trees and banksias, and rarely coming down on the ground to seek food. These characteristic birds, of which there are no less than 200 species, remind us by their mode of life of the American humming-birds; still they are very different from the latter. The largest are of the size of a small dove, but much more slender. They are strong lively birds, which with their powerful feet cling fast to the branches, almost like titmice, while they suck the flowers, and their tongue ends in a brush, so that they can easily lick up the honey and the honey-eating insects. Even some of the parrots, the so-called brush-tongued (_Trichoglossidæ_), live on honey and pollen, and are peculiar to Australia.

The strange habits of many of the Australian birds have already been described, _e.g._ the play-houses built by the æsthetic bower-birds, and the three species which do not themselves hatch their eggs, like the reptiles, but leave the hatching to be done by artificial heat. The latter belong to the family of _Megapodidæ_, a group which receives its name from the fact that their feet and claws are very large and powerful, and consequently well adapted to building the large mounds in which the eggs are laid.

WILD GEESE FROM NORTH QUEENSLAND (_Anseranas melanoleuca_). Photograph
from nature.
]

It is a strange fact that the kingfishers found everywhere in the world, and the equally cosmopolitan pigeons, should be so numerous in Australia. Among the former are the wonderful laughing jackasses (_Dacelo_) whose voice is unlike that of any other bird. In Australia the pigeons attain the highest development both as to wealth of species and brilliancy of plumage. Some of them even have a crest on the top of the head, a very rare ornament for this family. The extraordinary development of these defenceless birds indicates that they have but few enemies in Australia. Wallace gives as the reason for their great numbers the total absence of apes, cats, weasels, and other animals that live in trees and that eat the eggs and the young of birds, while the very green colour of these birds conceals them from birds of prey, their only foes. On the plains in the interior of Queensland countless numbers of pigeons are seen, but of modest-coloured plumage, to protect them in this open country.

Many of the Australian birds are distinguished for their brilliant plumage, and in this respect they easily rank with the humming-birds of America and with the trogons and parrots of India. Thus we have the elegant little wrens whose leading colours are azure blue and scarlet-red; the yellow and velvety black regent-bird (_Sericulus melinus_); and the metallic glittering rifle-bird (_Ptilorhis victoriæ_); and finally, the finches, that have a combination of colours the like of which is to be found only in butterflies. Among the many parrots, which include such strange forms as the white and the black cockatoos, there are some which are unique in the beauty of their colours. So remarkable a decoration as the tail of the lyre-bird (_Menura_) is found nowhere else in the world of birds.

The stately emu, which together with the cassowary represents the ostrich family in Australia, is still numerous in the open country. The cassowary, on the other hand, which is found only in the north-eastern tropical part, is rare, and will doubtless soon become extinct as civilisation gradually advances and clears the scrubs.

Ducks, geese, and other swimming birds are numerous, and afford excellent sport, but as they are much sought by sportsmen, the colonies have passed laws to protect them during a certain season of the year. Among the geese which have only half-webbed toes, the most common is the “black and white” (_Anseranas melanoleuca_). These beautiful birds gather in large flocks, but as civilisation advances they are gradually decreasing in number. At present they are numerous only in Northern Queensland, where the flocks are so large and dense that the natives can easily kill them with their spears. They were of great value to Leichhardt on his overland expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

It is a remarkable fact that some species of Australian birds without any apparent reason suddenly leave the district where they have had their habitat for years, and settle somewhere else, to disappear again after a few years. Gould gives several examples of this. A squatter whom I knew told me that the pelicans several years ago quite unexpectedly made their appearance on Darling river in New South Wales, 400 miles from the coast. Neither the whites nor the blacks had ever seen them there before. They settled down near a lake called Dry Lagoon and bred there. Meanwhile the lagoon dried up as usual, and the pelicans were obliged to bring fish for their young from a lake two miles away. As soon as the young became large enough they were transferred to the latter lake, the whole colony requiring three weeks for the journey. As a rule the pelicans build their nests on islands near the coast.

Australia has no less than 700 species of birds; of these probably 600 are found in Queensland alone, and this must be said to be a great wealth of species. Europe, which is somewhat larger and has been incomparably much more thoroughly explored, has only about 500 species.

Reptiles, amphibious animals, and fishes are well represented in Australia, and among them are some of great interest.

Lizards are found everywhere, but it is a strange fact that, as in the case of plants, some species are found in West Australia that are peculiar to this district and have never been observed outside of it. That characteristic forms are not wanting is shown by the frilled-lizard (_Chlamydosaurus kingii_) represented at the beginning of this chapter. Around its neck it has a large, loose skin which it is able to raise into a Queen Elizabeth ruff. Unlike all other lizards, this animal assumes in sitting the same posture as a kangaroo, and when startled it makes, like them, long jumps five to six feet high before it begins to run.

Although _Viperidæ_ and _Crotalidæ_, which elsewhere are the most venomous families of snakes, are not found in Australia, still scarcely any other part of the globe has so many venomous serpents in comparison with the number of those that are harmless. Here, as elsewhere, the number of snakes increase with the heat of the climate, so that Tasmania has only three species, while Queensland can show fifty, and among the latter several large harmless pythons, which the natives are fond of eating. Water-snakes abound along the coasts of tropical Australia, and are all venomous.

Amphibious animals with tails (salamanders) are not found. On the other hand, frogs are plentiful. They have a remarkable faculty for accommodating themselves to all the dry climatic conditions of the country. In South Australia a drought once lasted for twenty-six months. The country was transformed into a desert, and life was not to be seen. Sheep and cattle had perished, and so had the marsupials. Suddenly rain poured down. The long drought was at an end; and six hours after the storm had begun the rain was welcomed by the powerful voices of the frogs. Flies afterward came in great numbers, and then bats appeared in countless swarms. On my travels in Western Queensland I heard the people on Diamantina river speak of a species of large frog which after rain buried themselves about six inches down in the ground, and remained there during the dry season. These frogs contain much water, a fact known to the natives, who dig them up in the dry season and quench their thirst by squeezing the water out of them. The white population also sometimes resort to these frogs for water. They know the little mounds, which resemble mole-hills, under which the frogs lie hid, and dig them out. According to report, such a frog contains about a wine-glassful of “clear, sweet water.”

The colonists of Australia have a fondness for giving familiar names to Australian animals. Thus they have called a large fish found in some of the rivers of Central Queensland burnett salmon. This fish, which the natives call barramunda, is, however, no salmon, for both salmon and carp are entirely wanting in Australia. But its size and its fat and delicate-tasting flesh reminded the people of the salmon, and it had long been eagerly sought as food both by whites and blacks, when in 1870 the scientific world became acquainted with it, and discovered in it a remarkable survival of the prehistoric past. Fossil teeth of this fish, now known as _Ceratodus forsteri_, had long ago been found in the Trias and Jura formations in Europe, India, and America, but the animal was of course thought to be extinct, like the _Iguanodon_ or _Dinotherium_. Like the _Protopterus_ from Africa and the _Lepidosiren_ from the Amazon river, it belongs to the very ancient and remarkable lung-fish (_Dipnoi_), which, as the name indicates, has both gills and lungs. _Ceratodus forsteri_ has only one lung, and can breathe with it alone, or with the gills alone, or with both at the same time, and therefore it leaves the water in the night and goes ashore, where it eats grass and leaves, while in the daytime it may be seen sunning itself on logs lying out of the water. This “living fossil,” which attains a length of six feet, thus forms a remarkable connecting link between fishes and reptiles.

While Australia is poor in regard to butterflies, it has many beautiful beetles, _e.g._ the family _Buprestidæ_. The lower animal life is peculiar, but still comparatively little known.

* * * * *

Professor G. O. Sars, of Christiania, has made some exceedingly interesting experiments, whereby he has succeeded in hatching artificially and domesticating in his aquarium various Australian fresh-water _Entomostraca_. The materials for these experiments consisted of small quantities of mud taken from the bottom of lakes and small fresh-water ponds near Rockhampton. After being thoroughly dried, I forwarded this mud to Christiania. The specimens sent looked on their arrival like small masses of rock, and were so hard that they could scarcely be broken with a hammer. Nevertheless they contained living germs in the form of eggs, which had been deposited by entomostraca living in the waters in question. In most cases these eggs proved to be encased in peculiar capsules, which frequently bore a startling resemblance to bean-pods, and in some of the specimens they were found in great numbers. By softening the mud and by a suitable preparation in aquaria, Professor Sars succeeded not only in producing perfectly developed individuals, but also in getting them to propagate in the aquaria, and thus it became possible to make very exhaustive investigations in regard to a portion of Australia’s fauna hitherto almost entirely unknown. One of the most striking forms hatched in this manner is the little _Daphnia_ called _D. lumholtzii_.

EGG OF _Daphnia lumholtzii_.
]

_Daphnia lumholtzii._
]

In addition to this, nine others have been described by Professor Sars in two treatises: “On some Australian Cladocera raised from dried mud,” _Christiania Videnskabs-selskabs Forhandlinger_, 1885; and “Additional Notes on Australian Cladocera,” _Christiania Videnskabs-selskabs Forhandlinger_, 1888. On the same subject he has recently published a treatise: “On _Cyclestheria hislopi_ (Baird), a new generic type of bivalve Phyllopoda, _Christiania Videnskabs-selskabs Forhandlinger_, 1887,” in which he has described a most interesting animal form, which the author hatched in the same manner, and observed through several generations. This animal has been noted heretofore in specimens from India and Ceylon, but very imperfectly, and hence mistakes have been made in regard to its systematic position, and no knowledge was obtained as to its interesting habits and life. It belongs to the so-called shell-covered phyllopoda, of which only a limited number of species have hitherto been known. One of its chief characteristics is the fact that it is enclosed in a transparent double shell, which has a deceptive likeness to a clam-shell. The anatomical examination of the animal has demonstrated that it cannot be classified with any of the known genera, but forms the type for a new one, to which the name cyclestheria has been affixed. In regard to propagation and development, this form differs widely from all the phyllopoda heretofore known. Contrary to the general rule, the eggs are developed within the shell of the mother animal, and this development is direct, not through any metamorphosis, as is the case with the other known _Phyllopoda_. In his treatise Professor Sars has given the whole history of the development of this animal, which abounds in interesting facts.

_Cyclestheria hislopi._
]

SHELL OF A _Cyclestheria hislopi_.
]

Finally, I may add that the results obtained by these hatchings are already so important that they supply materials for many future treatises, and that many lower fresh-water animals, not only entomostraca, but also forms belonging to totally different departments of zoology, _e.g._ _Bryozoæ_, have in this way been thoroughly examined and studied in a living condition.

C. Lumholtz’ travels.

MAP
of
AUSTRALIA

_Charles Scribner’s sons, Broadway, New York._
]

MAP
to illustrate
CARL LUMHOLTZ’ TRAVELS
in
QUEENSLAND.
]

INDEX

Aborigines, two types of, 129;
characteristic feature, 130;
sight of, 143;
appearance, 181;
aquiline noses, 130;
results of civilisation, 182, 348;
class divisions, 199;
description, 260, 270;
estimate of white man, 292;
doomed, 348.

_Acacia, fragrans_, 2;
_bidwillii_ 25;
_salicina_, 25;
_harpophylla_, 33;
_excelsa_, 49;
_pendula_ (myall), 49, 76.

_Acrobates pygmæa_, 380.

_Acrocephalus australis_, 21.

Adelaide, city of, 5.

_Ælurædus maculosus_, 96.

_Æpyornis maximus_, fossil egg of, 6.

_Alcyone azurea_, 150.

_Alpinia cærulea_, 296.

_Amphibia_, 384.

_Andropogon contortus_ (spear-grass), 23.

_Anseranas melanoleuca_, 383.

Ants, white, 19;
nests, 27;
black, 118.

_Araucaria, bidwillii_ (bunya-bunya), 21, 372;
_cunninghamii_, 372.

Arrowroot, 74.

_Artamus sordidus_ (wood-swallow), 28.

Artesian wells, 40.

Asters, Queensland, 51.

A strange household, 81.

_Astrebla elymoides_, 37.

_Astur radiatus_, 329.

Australian whites, 29, 315 _passim_;
scenery, 209, 315.

Bailey, F. M. (on mosses), 374.

Ballarat, 8.

“Balnglan,” a dingo, 180, 223, 226, 241;
death of, 267.

Bandicoot (_Paramelidæ_), 27, 73, 92.

Baobab, 374.

Barcoo, river, 39;
rot, 58.

Basaltic table-land, Leichhardt’s, 104.

Basket, 193–195 _passim_.

_Batatas edulis_, 78.

Bats, 19.

_Bauhinia hookerii_, 25.

Bear, native (_Phascolarctus cinereus_), 9.

Bee, European, 29;
Australian, 142.

Beef, 36.

Beliander, 58.

Bellenden Kerr Hills, 102.

Bendi, weapon, 332–334.

Bird of paradise, 302.

Blacks of Herbert river, 72;
civilised, 76;
appearance of, 77;
festival, 84;
agility, 89, 96;
keen sight, 95;
money valueless, 106;
only cult, 136;
absence of clothing, 169;
of medicines, 183;
depredations, 221;
cruelty (women), 222;
greatest delicacy, 271;
myths unknown, 282;
cannibalism, 287;
lazy, 290.

Blankets, 264.

Bledensbourne, 53.

_Bolboceras rhinoceros_, 329.

Boomerang, 49;
origin of, 52;
Indian, S.E., 52;
Assyrian and Egyptian use of, 51.

Boongary, 102;
home of, 152;
food of, 157;
taken, 226.

Bora ceremonies, 136.

Borboby, a meeting for duels, 119, 127.

Borrogo, a small marsupial, 207.

Bottle-tree, 33, 35.

Boundary-rider, 57.

Bower-birds, 28, 139.

Box-tree (_Eucalyptus_), 25.

Boyma (Bhaiamé), a supreme Being, 283.

Bread-fruit tree, 79.

Brigalow-scrub, 33, 37, 52.

Brisbane, 16.

Brow-band, 121, 331.

Brown, Robert, botanist, 369.

Bunjup, an evil spirit, 202.

_Buprestidæ_ (beetles), 329, 385.

Burial customs, 275.

Burnett salmon (barramunda), 385.

Bush costume, 19;
men, 58–60.

Butcher-bird, 94.

Butterflies, 151, 385.

Cabbage, 79.

_Cacatua roseicapilla_, 35.

Cajeput oil, 24.

_Calamus australis_, 89, 103.

_Calladium_, 21.

_Callistemon lanceolatum_, 26.

Calliungal, town, 30.

_Callornis metallica_, 96.

Camping out, 32.

Camps, Herbert river hills, 148;
cave, 153;
hills in rain, 168 _seq._;
with unpleasant bedfellow, 185 _seq._;
no supper, 209–211.

Cannibalism, 101, 134, 176, 254, 273;
in Burma, 274.

Canning meat, Rockhampton, 16.

Canoona Diggings, oldest gold mine, 323.

_Capparis nobilis_, 25.

Cardamom-tree, 96.

Cardwell, town, 66, 250, 263.

Carpentaria, Gulf of, natives of, 273.

Carrots, 79.

_Casuarina_, 33 _passim_.

_Casuarius australis_ (cassowary), 99.

Cat, native, 27;
bird, 96.

Cattle, alarmed, 84;
farmers, 35.

Cedar, red (_Cedrela_), 67.

_Centropus_, 94.

_Ceratodus forsteri_, 385.

_Ceyx pusilla_, 97.

Charters Towers, gold beds, 65.

Child-birth, 134.

Children, black, 192.

Chinaman, a native, 147;
wife, 163;
treachery, 167;
greediness, 173;
rascality, 185;
reappearance, 231.

Chinese hated, 36.

Chivalry, 170.

_Chlamydodera maculata_, 28.

_Chlamydosaurus kingii_, 376, 384.

Christmas in the bush, 207.

_Cicada aurora_, 222.

_Cicada_, evil spirit, 202;
humming, 217.

_Cinchona_, 74.

Clay pipes, 107.

Cleveland Bay, 65.

Climate, tropical, 19;
cold nights, 56;
Christmas hot, 57.

Cloncurry, copper, 44.

Club (_nolla-nolla_), 72 _seq._

Coal, 74, 366.

Cockatoo, 27;
red-breasted, 35;
numerous, 57.

Cocoa-nut, 21;
palm, 79.

Cod, black-fish, 27.

Coffee, 73.

Coleoptera, 153;
larvæ, 154.

_Colocasia macrorhiza_, 153.

Comet river, 33.

Conquat, loquat, guava, 79.

Coomooboolaroo, 204, 325.

Cordilleras, Australian, 102.

Cormorants, 22.

Costume, 106, 120, 129, 215.

_Cracticus nigrogularis_, 94.

Cranes, gray and blue, 22.

Crawfish, 151.

Crime, only, 126.

Curr, E. M., “_The Australian Race_,” 307 _passim_.

Customs, aboriginal, ornamental scars, 135;
making fire, 141;
breaking sticks, 141;
pomade and glue, 142;
honey water, 144;
rights of property, 147;
eating eggs, 149;
marriage, 164;
burial, 277;
cremation, 279.

_Cycas media_, 164.

_Cyclestheria hislopi_, 387.

_Cygnus atratus_, 1, 22.

_Dacelo gigas_, 26.

_Dactylopsila trivirgata_, 220.

Dalrymple Creek, 248;
Gap, 261.

Damper, 32.

Dancing, 236 seq.

_Daphnia lumholtzii_, 386.

Darling Downs, 21;
floods, 61.

_Dasyurus_, 27;
_maculatus_, 174;
_Dasyuridæ_, 80.

Date-palms, Queensland, 21.

Dawson river, 45.

Dee river, 30.

_Dendrolagus lumholtzii_, 102;
caught, 226, 235;
mode of hunting, 231.

Devil, 114;
description of, 202.

Dialects. _Vide_ Language.

Diamantina river, native work, heat on, 44–55.

_Dicæum hirundinaceum_, 253.

_Diemenia_, 299.

_Digitalis purpurea_, 14.

Dingo, 38;
use of, 99, 165, 175, 178, 179.

_Dinornis_, 377.

_Dipnoi_, 385.

_Diprotodon_, 368.

_Dipsas fusca_, 62.

Dirge, 204.

DISCOVERERS and EXPLORERS, 355–359.

Diseases and epidemics, 181.

Doctor, native, 183.

Dog and snake, 64.

Doves, 96.

Dress, mourning, 204.

Drought, 37.

Drugs, 108.

_Duboisia hopwoodii_, 49.

Dugong, 315 _seq._;
meat, 319;
oil, 320;
habitat, 321.

Dungeness, 66.

Education of children, 193.

Eels, Queensland, 23.

_Elanus axillaris_ (kite), 220.

Elderslie, 44, 53.

Elephant sugar-cane, 63.

Elm-tree, 14.

Emus, inquisitive, 30.

Erysipelas, 181.

_Erythrina vespertilio_ (cork), 141.

_Eucalyptus, amygdalina_, 9;
_tereticornis_, _brachypoda_, 24;
_terminalis_, _polyanthemos_, _robusta_. _Vide_ Flora.

_Eudynamis flindersii_ (cuckoo), 28.

_Eurynassa australis_, 93, 154.

Evaporation in bush, 42.

Expedition Range, 33.

_Falco subniger_, 57.

Familiarity breeds contempt, 111.

Fauna—fossil;
Wallace’s line;
marsupials; monotremata—why most noteworthy, 376–388 _passim_;
birds, 382–384;
reptiles, 384;
amphibia, 384;
fish, barramunda, 385;
butterflies, 385;
beetles, 385.
_Entomostraca_, Professor Sars on, 385–388.

Feast, 85.

Ferns, tree-, 103.

Fever, 57.

_Ficus, elastica_, 14;
_platypoda_, _cunninghamii_, 25.

Fig, European, 21;
black, 141;
rarest, 208.

Finch-Hatton, Mr., “_Advance Australia_,” 278.

Fire, producing, 141.

Fitzroy river, 16;
mountains, 16.

Fleas at Elderslie, 45.

Flora—peculiar, evergreen, flowering;
census of _Eucalyptus_, _Proteaceæ_, _Acaciæ_, _Banksia_,
cone-bearers, and allies; grass-trees, baobab, ferns, mosses,
369–375 _passim_.

Food, 21;
eating children, 134;
beetles and larvæ, 154 _passim_;
_pediculi_, 117, 223;
fleas, 179;
grasshoppers, 187;
eel (high), 203;
mode of cooking, 296;
care of, 297.

Frogs, 19.

Gar-fish, 23.

Geese, Queensland, 22.

Gentleman, black, 84.

GEOLOGY—mountain and river systems, primitive rock, coal-bearing
strata, fossils, “desert sandstone,” volcanoes, gold, 366–368.

Georgina river, 128;
romance of, 213.

Gidya-scrub, 37.

Gold, _passim_;
annual production, 9;
region, 253;
mount, 324.

Gould, 23, 171.

Gracemere, residence in, 17, 20, 21;
flora and fauna, 24;
landscape, 26;
return to, 61;
snake story, 61.

_Grallina picata_, 94.

_Granadilla_, and fruit, 79.

Grauan, jungle-hen, 149.

Great Dividing Range, 34, 102 _passim_.

Greenshank, 56.

Grogoragally, son of the Supreme, 283.

Guana, 79.

Gum-tree. Vide _Eucalyptus_.

Hair, cutter, 108;
quality, quantity of, 131.

Handicraft, 331.

Harpoon, 317.

Hawks in Queensland, 62.

Heaven and hell, 283.

_Helix cunninghamii_, 27.

_Hemibelideus_, a new sub-genus, 196.

Herbert river, _passim_;
nets, 94.

Herbert Vale, 65–74;
quarters, 76;
abandoned for cattle station, 78;
keeper and Kanaka at, 80;
bill of fare, 81;
cook, 80 _seq._;
farewell, 302.

Hinchinbrook Island, 67.

HISTORICAL OUTLINE—before discovery, DISCOVERERS and EXPLORERS,
colonisation, 353–365.

Holloway’s pills, 280.

Home life among natives, 191.

Honey, 194, 195 _passim_.

_Hoplocephalus_, 62.

Hornets, 38.

Horse-racing, 7.

Houses, North Queensland, 79.

Humour, native, 239, 291.

Husband, duties of, 161.

_Hyla cærulea_, 18.

_Hypsiprymnodon moschatus_, rare, 114.

Idolatry non-existent, 129.

Iguana, 53.

Imitative faculty, 291.

Infant colour, 132.

_Inoceramus maximus_, 367.

_Irichosurus vulpecula_, 11, 19, 221, 232.

Irish shepherd, a type, 40.

Isis Downs station, 57;
liquor-dealer, 60, 61.

_Itaka_, ornamental tufts, 238.

Jabiru (yabiru), 96.

Jacaranda, Brazil, 21.

Jackass, laughing, a kingfisher, 26, 382.

Jacky, native attendant, 77, 92;
his full dress, 120;
at contest, 125;
story-teller, 256;
inciting to murder, 290.

Jimmy, a native, a murderer, 245–251, 254;
portrait of, 255;
scene of crime, 261.

Jungle-hens, 96;
mound-builders, 97.

Kadjera, poisonous palm, 164.

Kāmin, climbing instrument, 89.

Kanaka, 64;
the, 80, 124, 178, 270, 284, 290, 363.

Kangaroo Island, 2.

Kangaroo, larger, 29;
hunt, 33;
hard to kill, 180;
tree-kangaroo, see _Dendrolagus lumholtzii_;
rat, 11, 27, 29;
size, 327;
nature and nutrition of young, 379;
strength and boldness, 327, 328.

Kassik, a pack-horse, 74, 138, 289;
bucking, 291; falls, 301.

Kélanmi, native girl, story of, 233 _seq._

Kidneys, eating the human, 272.

Kingfisher, 97;
racket-tail, 97;
blue and red, 150;
all over the world, 382.

Kings appointed by squatters, 336 _seq._

Kissing unknown, 213.

Kite, 43;
noticeable, 57.

Koraddan, a fruit, 165

Korroboree, 41, 237.

Kusso and kamala, Abyssinian cure for tape-worm, 153.

Kvingan, evil spirit, 201, 205.

Ladies, white, 8;
in the bush, 322 _seq._

Lagoons, Valley of, 243;
origin of name, 253.

_Lagorchestes conspicillatus_ (rat), 29.

Landscape, Australian, breathes melancholy, 209.

Languages, all closely allied, 304;
comparative words for _eye_, 305;
numerals, 306, 309;
personal pronouns, 306;
common peculiarities, 306;
grammar, 307;
origin, 307;
comparative syntax, 307;
brevity of expression, 308;
suffix _go_, 308;
proper names, 309;
named from _negatives_, _one_ from affirmative, Langue d’_oc_ et
_oyl_, 310;
comparative table, 311;
words from Herbert river, 312, 313.

Larvæ, edible, in acacia, 153, 154 _passim_.

_Lathrodectus scelio_ (spider), 39.

Lava, 253.

Leaves as toy-boomerangs, 52.

Lemons, antidote to tick-bites, 266.

_Leucopathia acquisita_, 99.

Liberality of Gongola, 180;
of hunter, 198.

_Livistonia_, 103, 150.

Lizard, 27, 384.

Loquat, 79.

Lotus-bird, 22.

Love among natives, 213.

Lung-fish (_Ceratodus forsteri_), 385.

Mackay river, 63.

M‘Leay’s Museum, Sydney, 14.

_Macropus, dorsalis_, 29;
_giganteus_, 29.

Magpie, Australian, 33.

Mango, 21.

Mangola-Maggi, a native, 258, 287.

Mangoran, a study, 112;
danger from, 288 _seq._

Marriage ceremonies, 212, 213.

_Marsilea_ (nardu), 41.

Marsupials, destructive to grass, 29;
smallest, 43.

Mat as clothing, 169.

Matrimony in Queensland, 60.

_Megaloprepia magnifica_, 214.

_Megapodius tumulus_, 149. _Vide_ Fauna.

_Melaleuca leucadendron_, 24.

Melbourne, 5;
climate, 8;
Queen of the South, 12.

Melodies, native, 41, 156–158.

Message sticks, 303, 304.

Miasma, 261.

Migration of souls, 279, 282.

Mika-operation, 47.

Miklucho-Maclay, Baron, 47.

Milk, rarely used in bush, 36, 57;
a luxury, 88.

Minnie Downs, 31, 35;
farewell to, 61.

Mitchell-grass, 37.

Mólle-Mólle, a native tragedy, 246.

Mongan, a mammal, 172, 215.

Monsoons, 102.

Moogeegally, half human, half divine, 283.

Morbora, a native, 286.

“More pork,” 32.

_Morelia variegata_, 294.

Moreton Bay, 16.

Mosquito-nets, 56.

Mosses, note on, 374, 375.

Mound-builder, 97.

Mount Morgan, gold, 324.

Mountains, Blue, 15;
Coast; 101, 102, 116, 140;
Great Dividing Range, 34, 102;
Cordilleras, 102;
Sea-View Range, 121, 180;
annoyance from leeches, 265.

Mourning, signs of, 203.

Mueller, Baron F. von, 9. _Vide_ Flora.

Mullagan, black giant, 129.

Mullet, fresh-water, 23.

Mummy, 278.

Murder, punishment of, 45.

Murrumbidgee, 129.

Mūrŭp (_revenant_), 279.

Music, vocal and instrumental, 156, 236.

Musical instruments, 157.

Myall, savage blacks, or _Acacia pendula_, 49, 76.

_Mycteria australis_, 96.

_Mygnimia australasiæ_ (hornet), 38.

Myths, South Australia, 282.

Nardu, 41.

Natives (Diamantina river), 44;
slaughter of, 53;
study of, 80;
mark of distinction, 84;
traits, 100;
cannibals, 101;
instinct for locality, 108;
terror of firearms, 108;
insensibility to cold, 111, 114;
contest, 119;
idea of number, 129;
two types of, 129;
voices of, 135;
comprehension of pictures, 154;
disposition of, 158;
occupations of, 177;
burial customs, 277;
keenness of sight, 295;
snake cooking, 296.

Natives, in original condition, 104;
food, 106;
terror of darkness and devil, 114;
acute sense of smell, 114;
agility, 115;
morning toilet, 116;
height, 129;
dread of rain, 140;
as woodcutters, 148;
friendliness, 180.

Nelly, the cook, 80, 178;
hunting, 222;
change in, 269;
bloodthirsty, 290.

_Nelumbium speciosum_, 25.

_Nephrurus asper_, 329.

Ngalloa, rare animal, 220.

Nilgora, typical savage, 223, 241, 242.

Nocuous grasses, 23, 43.

Nogoa river, 34.

Nolla-nolla, club, 72, 122.

Norseman cold in Australia, 30.

Norwegian scheme, 8.

_Nuphar luteum_, 14.

Opals, 44.

Opium, abuse of, 338.

Opossum, 11, 91;
caught, 221;
thread, 332.

Orange-groves, Parramatta river, 15;
trees, Queensland, 21;
moth, 28;
orchards, 79.

Ornaments, personal, of natives, 135–137, 238.

_Ornithorhynchus_, killed, 214;
swimming, 253.

_Orthonyx spaldingii_, 155.

_Orthoptera_, 73, 151.

_Otĕro_, and other relationships, 199;
ingratitude of Yanki’s, 209.

Palm, lawyer, home of, 152, 172;
fan, 103, 150;
banana, 103.

_Pandanus_, 95.

Pantomime, primitive, 239.

_Papillæ mammæ_ cut off, 135.

_Papyrus_, Egyptian, 21.

Parasites and epiphytes, 25.

_Parra gallinacea_, 22.

Parramatta river, 15.

Parrot, affection of, 34;
scarce, 94.

Pasturage, 37.

Peak Downs, 29, 45.

Peculiar smell of natives, 135.

_Pediculi_, 117.

_Pelargonium_, Queensland, 21.

Pelicans, Queensland, 22.

Perch, Queensland, 23.

_Petauroides, volans_, 91, 181;
_breviceps_, 208.

Phalanger, flying, 90.

_Phascolarctus cinereus_, 9.

_Phascologale minutissima_, 43, 44, 294.

_Phragmites communis_, 23.

_Phrictis crassipes_, 38.

Pickle-bottle, a native, 112;
obstinacy of, 138.

Pigeon, Diamantina river, 43;
Torres Strait, 96;
rare, North Queensland, 208;
king, 214.

Pike, gar-fish, 23.

_Pimelea hæmatostachya_, 29.

Pine-apple, Queensland, 21.

Pipes, 113;
holders for, 130.

_Pitta strepitans_, 27.

_Pituri_, 49.

_Platycercus pulcherrimus_, 34;
nest of, 327.

_Platypus_, 30.

Pleuro-pneumonia, 88.

_Plotus_, 22.

_Podargus cuvierii_, 32.

Poisons unknown, 174.

Police, native mounted, 46, 49;
cruelty of, 54;
native sergeant of, 251.

Pork, aversion to, 225.

Precarious position of author, 289 _seq._

Preparation of food, 296.

Primitive tribe, a, 191.

Protector of the blacks, 73;
murdered, 262.

_Pseudechis_, black snake, 64.

_Pseudochirus, archeri_, 152, 173, 266;
_herbertensis_, 173, 213;
_lemuroides_, 196.

_Ptiloris victoriæ_, 171.

_Ptychosperma cunninghamii_, 171.

Punishment, 126.

Python, Australian, 294.

Quandang-tree, 70.

Queensland, proportion of men to women, 59;
dialect of white children, 8;
East, 16;
precious metals, 44;
native mounted police, 46;
climate, 19, 57;
Central, 21;
sugar, 64;
natives, 68, 69;
Northern, blacks of, 11;
Western (dew), 33, 35;
farewell to, 61;
Queen’s Hotel, Townsville, 65.

Quinine, 74.

Rain in bush, 169, 312.

Rats, plague of, 43;
method of catching, 73.

Rape of the Sabines, 184.

Religion, 339.

Respect for old women, 200.

Rice, 74.

Rifle-bird, 171.

Ring-barking, 9.

Rivers, Yarra, 9;
Parramatta, 15;
Fitzroy, 16;
Brisbane, 16;
Burnett, 21;
Dee, 30;
Nogoa, 34;
Thompson, 40;
Dawson, 45;
Diamantina, 55;
Mackay, 63;
Boulya, 128;
Murrumbidgee, 129;
Murray, tribes on the, 284;
Herbert River and Vale, 66 _seq._

Rockhampton, 16;
botanical gardens, 17;
flora and fauna, 24;
drunkards in, 57;
return to, 61.

Rock-wallabies, 253.

Sacrifices unknown, 284.

Sandy blight, 57.

Scenery, _passim_; Herbert river, 74, 315.

_Scenopæus dentirostris_ (bower-bird), 139.

Screw-palm, 95.

Scrub, 37, 96, 102, 289;
stillness, 294;
clad mountain-tops, 302.

_Scythrops novæ-hollandiæ_, 97.

_Sequoia wellingtonia_, 9.

Serpent adventure, 299.

Sheep farmers, 35.

Silver, 44.

Skulls, 259;
measurements, 260.

Slaughter day, 85.

Smell of land, 2.

_Sminthopsis virginiæ_, 252, 294.

Snakes, 61, 62, 64;
hunting, as food, cooking, sharing, flesh-flavour, 294 _seq._

Snake-birds, 22.

Snake bites, treatment of, 183, 298.

Soap, natives fond of, 291.

Spear-grass, 23.

Spearmen, 92.

Specimens, packing and conveying of, 300.

Spider paralysed by hornet, 38.

Springsure, Kangaroo hunt near, 33.

Spruce, Australian, 21.

Squatter’s homestead, 59.

Squirrel, flying, 90.

Starling, glossy, 96.

Station, description of a, 36;
korroboree at Westlands, 41.

_Stigmodera_ (beetle), 220.

Stinging-tree, 152.

Stock, Queensland, 21;
whip, 53, 59;
yard, 36.

Sugar, 64;
a necessary, 264;
cane, 75;
plantation, 301.

Suttungo, tobacco, 113.

Swamp-pheasant, 94.

Sweet-potato, 78.

Talegalla, 73, 97;
cootjari, 149;
rare, 208;
numerous, 215;
young, 252.

_Talgoro_, 188, 271.

Tallow, 37.

Tamarind, 21.

Tambo, town, 61.

_Tanysiptera_, 97.

Tattooing unknown, 137.

Thompson, river, 40;
town, 56.

Thor’s hammer and the boomerang, 52.

Throwing-stick, 93.

Ticks, 266.

Tiger, marsupial, 101.

Tin, 44.

Torilla, its host and his family, 315, 322.

Treachery of natives, 44, 167, 289.

Tree-ferns, Victoria, 11;
North Queensland, 151.

Trinity, idea and persons of a, 129, 283.

_Triodia irritans_, 43.

_Tristiana suaveolens_, 25.

Tobacco, 73;
as currency, 75, 80, 106.

Tobola, 99;
unbeaten, 217;
preparation of, 230.

Toollah, opossum, 152.

Topinard, Dr., on the blacks, 129.

Torrens, Lake, 129.

_Totanus glottis_, 56.

Towdala, a bird, 155.

Townsville, 65 _passim_.

Turkey, brush, 73.

_Uromys_, 294.

Veera, a fig, 208.

Venereal and other diseases, 182.

Victoria, working-class influence, 8.

Vine-scrub, 26.

Vines, Queensland, 21.

_Vitiligo_, white spots, 99.

_Vitis climatidea_, 26.

Vondo, a root, 207.

Wader, 96.

Wallaby, 29;
hunting, 91–94;
rock, 209;
feeding, 209.

Wardrobe, author’s, 108.

Water-hen, 27;
iguana, 155;
lilies, blue, 22.

Water, precious in bush, 39;
bad in the interior, 42.

Waverley station, Gracemere, 62.

Weapons, 120, 127, 332 _seq._

Weaver-bird, 70, 96.

Western river, 44.

Westwood, 27;
rats at, 44.

Windex station, hospitality at, 43.

Winter, 293.

Winton, 56, 59.

Witchcraft of strangers, 298.

Wives, native, 163.

Wizards, 279;
producing rain, 282.

Women, seldom seen, 59;
timidity of, 91;
condition of, 100;
old, at contests, 124;
matrimonial changes, 127;
beards, 131;
personal appearance of, 132;
child-birth, 134;
ornamental scars improper, 137;
occupation of, 160;
greatest crime, 162;
patience of, 192;
destined from birth, 221;
infanticide and cannibalism among, 254, 272;
rough nurses, 257.

Wood exported from Queensland, 67.

Wood-swallow, 28.

_Xanthorrhæa_, 373.

_Xylomelum pyriforme_, 369.

Yabby, a new phalanger, 196.

Yamina, a monster, 201.

Yanki, a rare fig, 208;
a man’s name, 209.

Yarra river, 5.

Yarri, tiger, 101, 117, 151, 266.

Yokkai, a native attendant, 214;
word-portrait of, 217, 219, 235, 242, 243, 289;
the only faithful black, 290;
ascends Kassik the pack-horse, 290, 291;
washes for cooking, 291;
rewarded, 300;
farewell to, 302.

Yopolo, 114.

York, Cape, 102.

ZOOLOGISTS, a family of, 323 _seq._

FINIS

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. P. 359, changed “West Australia, founded in 1839” to “West Australia, founded in 1829”. 2. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling. 3. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. 5. Enclosed blackletter font in =equals=. 6. Denoted superscripts by a caret before a single superscript character.