Volume II Part 14 (2/2)
The loftiest, which is called Flag Hill, is, as I have er-shaped point running out froave the naht there They were so voracious that they even allowed the Hill is a rock formed of sand and comminuted shells; while the flat which stretches to the south-west from its foot is of limestone formation In it we found a kind of cavern, about 15 feet deep, with a sloping entrance, in which was soh the roof had formed a number of stalactites
A reef, which dries in patches at loater, connects the east and west Wallaby Islands On the south-west point of the latter are soh; and on that side also is a dense scrub, in which the mutton birds burrow, so that it for
SLAUGHTER POINT NEW SPECIES OF WALLABY
The northern end is a level, stony flat, terht feet high; with patches of bushes large enough to serve as fuel here and there, all full of a new species of wallaby, which, being plentiful on both the large islands, suggested their naood idea of the numbers in which these animals were found, when I state that on one day, within four hours, I shot 36, and that between three guns we killed 76, averaging in weight about seven pounds each; which gave rise to the nahter Point for the eastern extreme of the island
As there is no record of the Dutch having visited the northern group, it is impossible to say whether wallaby were then found on it or not How they could have got there is amasses likely to have carried them from the main The species has been described from a specimen we obtained, as Halmaturus houtmannii; it is distinct from Halmaturus derbyanis, found on most of the islands on the southern parts of the continent
We shall now fulfil our pro before hi observations on the Marsupiata, which the number of wallaby killed at Hout I , that all the inforain froaroo were born on the nipple, which my own experience appears to corroborate
MR BYNOE'S OBSERVATIONS ON THE MARSUPIATA
”My first exaaroo tribe, to any extent, occurred at the Abrolhos; there I had an extensive field for ascertaining the exact state of the uteri of the wallaby of those islands I opened between two and three hundred, and never found even the rudi adhering to the nipple froht ounces and upwards
On examination, the only substance found in the hen the aniroas a cheese-like substance of a straw colour: I likewise found a similar substance in the pouch around the nipples, and in many instances where the nipples were much retracted, it completely covered them, but it was of a darker hue than that in the uterus, and of a saponaceous or greasy feel; the aperture of the pouch so ers; wombs with their cornua re, and in many instances retracted
”Animals with these appearances, I concluded, had never borne young
Examinations frequently took place immediately after they were shot In those that had recently discarded their young from the pouch, one nipple and frequently tere found thened, and very often one more than the other I have seen theth, and with pouches so large, that you could with ease thrust your hand into theed and apparently very vascular, as well as thickened; but in no one instance at the Abrolhos could I detect a gravid uterus; but I have seen the young adhering to the nipples less than half an inch in length, and in a perfectly helpless state It is generally supposed that the uterus in the adult animal is not supplied with much arterial blood, merely sufficient to nourish that viscus If such be the case, can it have the power of retaining the germ in the wo, I could not detect, by cicatrice or line of abrasion on any part of the abdomen, that they ever possessed umbilical vessels, or had been in any way nourished by a placenta? Let us take into consideration the small size of the aniht power of motion, and its firm attachment to the nipple The more it is in the embryonic state the firmer is its attachment to the mother; to separate it fro parts of the opening of the mouth, after separation, bleed profusely, and the ani and circular, the ani, soon dies On each side of the opening is a line showing the extent of the reater maturity it can make no noise until thenote; it has no power to stand until very large, and the hair is about to shoot out from the skin An animal in so helpless a situation could not possibly, with all the aids and contrivances of the mother, attach itself to the nipple and produce adhesion of the oral aperture, when even at a later period it has noThe retention in the uterus must be of short duration I have been led to these conclusions fro doe, inhabiting the grass flats, of ers into the pouch, I found that theforcibly into that cavity I questioned the sea shot, whether he had taken the young out, and received a negative answer Finding the h pressed for time) to exalands--the cornua as well as the other parts of the uterus were hly injected with blood On opening the cavity I found it throughout thickly coated with slimy or mucal secretion (the only uterus found by me in this state) I now extended my examination in front of the wo so discovered a selatinous mass, about twice the size of a pea On a closer inspection, it appeared to be retained in a thin transparent tube I watched the substance narrowly and could distinctly perceive the rudiments of an animal The feet were not developed, but pulsation and motion were not only observed by”look at the little anih I feel convinced that they did not knohat I was searching for There was not time to examine further into its state I carefully removed the uterus, the apparent embryo and the mammae, and put it in a wide-e of the seaman as to carry a portion of the ani, but on crossing a Deep watercourse he had the misfortune to break the bottle, which he neverday The contents soon dried up and became an uniformcould be elatinous parts had adhered so fir, that I was compelled to abandon it My object was to ascertain if there was a coreater state of develop the period of gestation; and I was fancying I had arrived at some conclusion, but all my hopes were destroyed by one fatal smash!+ So many theories have been formed on that point--that to advance this as a fact, would be treading too firelatinous land, and whether the pulsation s; I tookat it, felt landular substance Its peculiar configuration and want of solidity proved it indeed not to be gland; its er, was so much that of an eation, pronounced it a kangaroo
”Might not the tube I discovered convey the aniht become attached to the nipple in an inverted state? At any rate it was not in the body of the uterus Had the mass been saved I should have taken oneto alter its structure, and left the matter for the judicious decision of some of the professors of comparative anatomy at home”
It may here be remarked that the birds met with on Hout in shape and colour a small quail,
were known and common on the mainland The aquatic species were also familiar to us; but the habit of one kind, of a sooty-black colour, generally called noddies, was quite new--that of building their nests, which are constructed of seaweed and contain only one egg, in trees
There were notsnappers; of those that were rare Lieutenant Emery made faithful sketches
(Footnote Haemapodicus scintilans, Gould)
Half a hter Point we found two caverns siot three tons of excellent water
APPEARANCE OF THE REEFS
The reefs surrounding this group appeared very much broken; and even at Easter Group we had found theests the idea, which appears to be borne out by all , that the reefs are compact in proportion to the exposed position of the islands; the shelter afforded by Pelsart Group, in fact, did not require the reefs to be so united round the other islands to the north
Frohest part of East Wallaby Island we discovered a patch of land bearing North-West 1/2 North eleven miles The outer reef extended in that direction froh it could only be traced by detached patches of breakers To the south-east of its co Reef The observations wereWest by South half a rees 27 rees 1 rees 10 minutes westerly The temperature of Houtman's Abrolhos is rendered equable by the fact that they lie at the li the rees
Our protracted stay enabled us to get a tolerable series of tidal observations, which present soh-water at the full and change was six o'clock when the tide rose 30 inches It appeared that during the night there was a short flood of six hours with a rise of seven inches, and an ebb of two hours with a fall of only five inches; but that during the day the flow and ebb were nearly equal, the forht hours and five25 and 26 inches respectively
TIDAL OBSERVATIONS
A difference was also noticed between the day and night tides at Rat Island, where the tie of the moon was ten o'clock, and the rise varied from 8 to 32 inches, from the result of twenty-five observations; by which I found, moreover, that the tides ebbed five hours and a half in the night, and six hours and a half during the day, and the water fell 9 inches with the night, and 18 with the day ebb The difference between the length of the night and the day floods was an hour; the duration of the for six hours, whilst that of the latter was seven; whilst the difference in the rise was 7 inches, the greatest general height, which was during the night tides, being 20 inches
We were detained in Recruit Harbour until May 21st, deter the position of the number of small islands and detached reefs to the south-east of Wallaby Islands; but at length, after cos on the north-east and north side and ascertaining the extent of the reef to the north-west, we proceeded to the isolated patch of land beforeHill, and which, from its relative position to the remainder of Houte was found in 12 fathoms, three quarters of a mile from a bay on the north-east side, and half ato the northward The island was about a e of hills, with a flat in the centre, covered with coarse grass, where a great le wallaby
RECORD HILL