Page:Nests and eggs of Australian birds 1901.djvu/20

 naturalist, writes: "He was one of the finest young fellows it has been my good fortune to meet. Of course, as you are aware, you cannot make social distinctions where all share the common dangers and vicissitudes of bush life, but I can most feelingly say I was treated by him more as a brother than a servant."

A list, with remarks on the Bowyer-Bower collection, by Dr. E. P. Ramsay, is recorded in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, New South Wales (2nd series), vols. i. and ii. (1886-7).

Possibly no Australian field naturalist spent more time and money in the pursuit of ornithology than did Mr. Samuel White, of the Reedbeds, near Adelaide, South Australia. Yet it is remarkable that Mr. White's name, although he kept very complete diaries, was never famous for research, except as to a few notes with which he supplied Gould.

His first lengthened trip, occupying seven or eight months, was undertaken in the early sixties. Mr. White had signed an agreement to accompany the Burke and Wills Expedition to cross the Continent, but, owing to the quantity of luggage he would need for collecting purposes, a disagreement arose, and Mr, White decided to set out on an expedition himself. So taking a single companion, he started in a spring dray with two horses and made north to Lake Hope, and beyond towards the Gulf of Carpentaria country. Great privations were endured. The horses perished from the want of water, as nearly did their drivers. Consequently almost all specimens were abandoned in the interior. The egg of the Spotted (Jardine) Harrier, described by Gould as having been collected at Lake Hope, was one of the few remaining relics of the disastrous journey.

The next trip of adventure was a general collecting tour in Queensland, 1867, when Mr. White was accompanied by a younger brother, William. They landed at Cleveland Bay (now Townsville), journeying inland towards the Flinders, steering their course with the aid of a map and compass, the former being worse than blank. Here, too, they nearly succumbed to thirst, and had given up all hope, when they heard the call of a Satin Bower Bird, and knew water must be near. Samuel, just able to crawl on his hands and knees, succeeded in finding the precious element, filled the billy, and so revived life. The explorers were then able to make Port Denison for fresh supplies, and proceeding down the coastal region, passed over the Dividing Range (McPherson's) at Mount Lindsay, being the first white men to climb to the topmost pinnacle of the Mount.