The rock is scarcely ever exposed on the banks of the river except at the rapid before alluded to.  Though still mica-slate, it is there of much greater hardness and denser texture than on Pig and Round Islands, and stretches across the stream like a dyke, running nearly north and south with a westerly dip of about 60 degrees.  Elsewhere, along the shores of Coral Haven, this mica-slate is of a leaden hue and glistening lustre, yielding to the nail, with a slight greasy feel, especially in some pieces of a shining ash-grey, acted upon by salt-water.  From hand specimens alone it is difficult to assign a name to this rock, as it partakes more or less of the characters of mica, chlorite, and talc-schists.

PLANTS.

Among the botanical productions Nepenthes destillatoria, the famous pitcher-plant of the East, deserves mention.  It grows abundantly among the tall grass on the skirts of the jungle, and the pitchers invariably contained a small quantity of limpid fluid of a slightly sweetish taste, with small insects floating on its surface.  The finest of the tree-ferns (Hemitelium) grew alone near the watering-place, and was cut down to furnish specimens.  The trunk measured fifteen feet in height, with a diameter at the base of eight inches.

ANIMALS.

No mammalia were procured on South-east Island—­indeed the only one seen was a flying-squirrel which I caught a glimpse of one evening at the river-mouth as it sprung off among the mangroves from the summit of a dead tree—­it appeared to be of the size of an ordinary rat, and was probably a Petaurus.  Wild pigs must be very numerous—­as indicated by fresh marks where they had been wallowing in the beds of the ditch-like rivulets, their footprints everywhere, and well-beaten tracks through the jungle.  But none of the animals themselves, probably from their extreme shyness and partially nocturnal habits, were ever encountered by our shooting parties.  I was afterwards informed by Mr. Inskip that while in the Bramble, in the neighbourhood of Conde Peninsula, a native in a canoe alongside having his attention directed to a very large boar’s tusk which he wore as an ornament, described, by pantomimic gestures, that the animal had cost much trouble in killing it, having repeatedly charged him, and received no less than eight spear wounds before it fell.

Birds were plentiful, but owing to the difficulty of seeing them among the thick foliage, few, comparatively, were shot.  The most interesting specimen procured was one of a very handsome scarlet Lory, closely allied to Lorius domicellus, a bird widely spread over the Indian Archipelago.  It was usually seen in small flocks passing over the tops of the trees, uttering a loud sharp scream at intervals.  Another parakeet, not so big as a sparrow, of a green colour, was sometimes seen in flocks, but we could not succeed in getting one.  The Torres Strait and Nicobar pigeons, also Duperrey’s Megapodius were common enough, as well as many other birds, twelve species of which are also found in Australia—­a most unlooked-for occurrence.