Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 1.djvu/322

 260 SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL ham landed, and collect a variety of interesting plants. The open banks of' the river were co- ; and, in the midst of the usual asmbla of rop', the  , Linn. was observed of remarkable growth, being in many parts from fifty to sixty feet high, three feet in dmeter at the base, and of a straight tapering Fish was plentiful, and, on the muddy banks, as the water fell, we saw myriads of small am-' phibious fishes skipping about: .they are probably. of the same kind as those seen by Captain Cook at Thirsty Sound, and by Captain 'Flinders, at Keppel Bay , on the east coast. Captain Cook describes the species he saw to be a small fish, about the size of a minnow, furnished with two very strong breast fins, by the assistance 'of which it leaped away upon being approached, as nimbly as a frog. The fish I have just noticed appeared to be of ave. ry similar description, ex- cepting that it did not seem to avoid the water, as that of Thirsty Sound; for Captain Cook says, in a subsequent paragraph, that it preferr.ed the water to land; for it frequently leaped out of the sea, and pursued its way upon dry ground, and chose rather to leap from stone to stone

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