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garden in the bed of a valley, through which ran a tiny stream ;
and his live stock consisted of a herd of goats and a number of
poultry. We understood that he intended eventually to undertake
regular farming operations, but that he at present merely occupied
the land in order to retain the “ pre-emptive” right until the
Queensland government should be in a position to sell or let it.
It appeared that as yet it was not certain whether the colonial
government had a clear title to the group of islands, or whether—
being on t!ic Great Barrier Reef, and detached from the mainland
by a considerable distance— it was still under the control and
jurisdiction of the imperial government.
We noticed very few birds : among these were a Ptilotis, a flycatcher,
a crow, and a heron ; but we were told that in the less
frequented parts of the island there were brush turkeys, native
pheasants, and black cockatoos.
Among the rocks bordering the shore, a large white-tailed rat
— probably of the genus Ilydroniys— was said to be abundant.
The only other mammal recorded was a large fox-bat, a skeleton
of which was found hanging on a mangrove bush.
We leit our anchorage at the Percy Islands on the morning of
the 2nd of May, and on the forenoon of the 3rd steamed into the
sheltered waters of Port Molle, i.e., into the strait which separates
Long Island from the main shore of Queensland ; and we finally
came to an anchor in a shallow bay on the west side of Long
Island, where we lay at a distance of about half-a-mile from the
shore.
The island presented the appearance of undulating hills, covered
for the most part with a thick growth of tropical forms of vegetation,
but exhibiting a few patches of land devoid of trees, and
bearing a rich crop of long tangled grasses. On landing, we
found that there was no soil, properly so-called, but that the
forest trees, scrub, and grass sprung from a surface layer of shingle,
which on close inspection contrasted strangely with the rich and
verdant flora which it nourished. Small flocks of great white
cockatoos flew around and above the summits of the tallest trees,
and by the incessant screaming which they maintained, gave one
the idea that the avifauna was more abundant than we eventually
found it to be. On the beach we collected shells of the genera
Nerita, Terebra, Siliquaria, and Ostraa, and among the dry hot
stones above high water mark we found in great numbers an
Isopod Crustacean, and as the females were bearing ova, Haswell
took the opportunity to make some researches into the mode of
development of the embryo.
I spent another day accompanying Navigating-LieutcnantPetley,
who was then cruising from poipt to point in one of our whaleboats,
determining on the positions for maintriangulation. In the
course of the day we visited the lighthouse on Dean Island, and
on arriving there found a large concourse of blacks on the hill
above, looking on our intrusion with great consternation. The
lighthouse people told us that the natives, from their different
camps on the island, had observed our approach while we were
yet a long distance off, and hastily concluding that we were a
party of black police coming to disperse {j.e., shoot) them, had
fled with precipitation from all parts of the island, to seek the
protection of the white inhabitants of the lighthouse. It appeared
that some few years previously the natives of Port Molle had
treacherously attacked and murdered the shipwrecked crew of a
schooner, and in requital for this the Queensland Government had
made an example of them by letting loose a party of “ black
police,” who, with their rifles, had made fearful havoc among the
comparatively unarmed natives. The “ black police,” or “ black
troopers,” as they are more commonly called, are a gang of halfreclaimed
aborigines, enrolled and armed as policemen, who are
distributed over various parts of the colony, and are under the
immediate direction of the white police inspectors. Their skill
as bush “ trackers ” is too well known to need description, and
the peculiar ferocity with which they behave towards their own
countrymen is due to the fact that they are drawn from a part
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