Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/76

50 The Captain had a fine collection of orchids, which he was taking home, and I had collected what specimens of plants and seeds I could for Baron von Mueller, so we have compared notes. But I am densely ignorant on the subject, and have been even more careless than I thought I had been, and on overlooking them on the ship was ashamed. [The old Baron was greatly pleased with them and me, found amongst them an unknown plant, wrote me for full particulars as to where exactly I had found it, and so on—but alas! I could not say, and so it was useless! He must have been enraged at my stupidity.]

The Great Barrier Reef, which stretches along the coast for 1250 miles, is a wonderland in itself; and how much more marvellous it is when one remembers it is a coral reef and the work of little insects! It has an area of something like 80,000 square miles. Parts of it are within a few miles of the mainland coast, whilst other reefs lie as distant as 150 miles. From Torres Straits to Lady Elliot Island it is 1250 miles long. The islands, islets, rocks, and reefs form a sort of country of themselves; the navigation is most intricate, and to those who are mere passers-by it is impossible to grasp anything but a confused idea of it all. One may fix the large islands, such as Hinchinbrooke, in the memory, but the countless others, beautiful as they are, become confusing, so that I shall not attempt to say much about them. Hinchinbrooke is 28 miles long by about 12 miles broad, is mountainous and altogether interesting. The vegetation and the birds of these islands must be fascinating for the naturalist. They are haunts of the beautiful little sunbird (Cinnyris frenata), which has an affection—as, indeed, have most birds—for the gorgeous nectar-laden blossoms of the umkella tree, the flame tree,