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pebbly conglomerate— the common rock of the islet. In these
excavations, almost every available surface of smooth shale was
covered with drawings, even including the roofs of low crevices
where the artist must have worked lying prone on his back, and
with his nose almost touching his work. Most of the drawings
were executed in red ochre, and had their outlines accentuated
by rows of white dots, which seemed to be composed of a sort
of pipe-clay. Some, however, were executed in pale yellow on
a brick-red ground, and in many instances the objects depicted
were banded with rows of white dots crossing each other irregularly,
and perhaps intended in a rudimentary way to convey
the idea of light and shade. The objects delineated (of which
I made such sketches as I was able) were sharks, dolphins,
dugong, turtle, boomerangs, waddies, shields, woomerahs, pigs,
dogs, birds, jelly-fish, etc. There was one well-defined sketch of
a medusa, showing the position of the radiating canals and eight
marginal tentacles. Trochus shells in great profusion were strewn
about the old camping olaces, as well as bones of the dugong
and turtle, the pursuit of the latter having been probably the
main inducement to visit the island.
A careful hunting of the holes and crevices i-n the face of the
cliff resulted in the acquisition of some portable specimens of
native art in the shape of drawings on old pieces of driftwood,
on Melo shells, turtle skulls, and tortoise shell. These luckily
afforded us good examples of the style of art, and were accordingly,
and without many conscientious scruples as to the sacred
rights of ownership, carried off in triumph and deposited on
board.
After leaving Flinders Island, we continued our voyage northward,
anchoring each of the three following nights successively
at Clairmont Island No. 6, Clairmont Island No. 10, and Bird
Island. On each occasion we dredged to a small extent, and
collected specimens from the reefs and beaches. On the evening
of the 2nd of June we entered the narrow strait which separates
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