Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/330

302 an insect which occurs in amazing numbers, and gave me a great deal of uneasiness and constant trouble to preserve my collection from their repeated attacks." (I may remark that I saw no trace whatever of this beetle on East Wallaby Island, though I was specially on the look-out for Coleoptera.)

Soon afterwards I found the Egernia quite commonly in a rather restricted space, but always under stones, and never seen in the open. I brought off six or seven of the largest in a bag, most of which were subsequently consigned to the spirit-tank as specimens; but I kept two alive for several months afterwards, feeding them when they would eat, which was but seldom, on small pieces of raw beef. As the afternoon was now well advanced, I went down to the landing-place, where I found the whaler almost filled with game, a large number of Wallabies having been shot, chiefly for the benefit of the ship's company, but without any apparent diminution of their numbers when we landed on a subsequent occasion.

We were still detained at our anchorage on the 18th by the wind, which had sprung up again very strongly from the old quarter, accompanied with exceedingly brilliant sheet lightning after sunset; and no boat landed on the island that day. Contrary to our expectations, fishing from the ship met with very little success, only two or three "Snapper" and several Blow-fish, Tetraodon lævis, being caught; the latter were a nuisance, as, besides being quite useless, if not actually dangerous, as food, their powerful front teeth at once severed almost any hook that was put overboard. Sharks were, if anything, more numerous than at Dirk Hartog Island, and several were caught and despatched by the sailors during the day; the stomach of one about eight feet long (which appeared to be the widely distributed Galeocerdo arcticus) contained, besides the carcases of two or three Wallabies which had been thrown overboard, more than a bushel of the remains of a large species of Sea-crawfish (Palinurus sp.), among which were some nearly perfect specimens.

On the 19th the southerly wind continued very strong all the morning, but the day was otherwise fine, and in the afternoon I was able to land again for two or three hours. A few fresh species of beetles rewarded my search, as well as several more fine specimens of Stokes's Lizard, which as before I could find