Page:The Emu volume 21.djvu/413

 camp outfit from a small dinghy is most difficult in a sea that sweeps up and down the slippery rocks from three to ten feet perpendicularly. Only one island, Sandy Hook, has a "beach," in all other cases one lands on the rocks. The only way in which the whole Archipelago could be examined satisfactorily is by means of a ten to twenty-ton yawl with an auxiliary engine, and with six months' time to pick suitable weather conditions. Every island of any size has its story of wreck and disaster, and the beach at Esperance has the remains of several broken craft towed in from the rocks of the islands. The trawler Penguin was wrecked on Middle Island, and during our visit two men were down there breaking her up. They were practically marooned on the island for some weeks, five attempts to get a boat down to bring them back to Esperance having been frustrated by contrary winds.

The question naturally arises, "Would it be worth while to fit out such an expedition as outlined?" The answer is, in my opinion, Yes, provided that all branches of natural science are represented on the expedition. Corbett, Wilson, Hood, Howe, and Termination Islands, off Esperance, and in the danger zone, would all be worth looking at. Further east, and lying between Mondrain and Middle Islands, there are Beaumont, Manicum, Glennie, Coombe, and a dozen or more small islands, all with possibilities. The Eastern Group, however, and the South East Isles, the position of which is marked "approximate" on the chart, I consider the most likely to contain new records or rare species. Christmas Is., the largest of the Eastern Group, is described by Mr. Stow, of Esperance, as being densely wooded, lofty, and having permanent fresh water.

Although I saw no Albatrosses while cruising amongst the islands, numbers of at least three species were seen crossing the Bight, and they were especially numerous at a point directly south of the Archipelago. It has always appeared possible to me that a colony of the Black-browed Albatross may be found on one of the islands in the Bight, and also that such Petrels as the Soft-plumaged, White-headed, and Great-winged, together with the little Fregettas (Storm-Petrels) breed in this locality. It would only be by exhaustive search of every accessible islet that the soundness of my theory could be proved or otherwise, but specimens of all the birds mentioned have been seen and taken in south-western Australian waters or washed up on the shores. That none was seen in the vicinity by me is not remark- able. I did not see a single White-faced Storm-Petrel, except one or two when on the Katoomba, and yet there were literally thousands breeding on the islands of the Archipelago. The ex- planation doubtless is that most of these Petrels are nocturnal in their habits.

The expedition was at least successful in bringing back to Sydney, for the Australian Museum, a fine collection of