Two species of rat occur here—­one is the large bandicoot of India, Mus giganteus, doubtless introduced by some wrecked vessel, the other is the pretty little Mus indicus, found on all the islands of the north-east coast and Torres Strait.  Among the birds, we found numbers of the Megapodius, always a welcome addition to our bill of fare; but our greatest prize was a new and splendid rifle-bird, which Mr. Gould has since described from my specimens and named Ptiloris victoriae, as a mark of respect and gratitude for the patronage bestowed upon his great work on the Birds of Australia, in the forthcoming supplement to which it will be figured along with some other novelties of the Voyage of the Rattlesnake.

Before taking leave of the natural history of the Barnard Group, I must not omit a pretty butterfly inhabiting the densest parts of the brush; it is the Hamadryas zoilus of the Voyage of the Astrolabe, erroneously supposed in that work to be a native of New Zealand.

EXAMINE A NEW RIVER.

One day I crossed over to the mainland in a boat sent for the purpose of examining a small river seen there to open upon a long sandy beach.  We found a depth of four feet on the bar at low-water, so had no difficulty in entering—­at a quarter of a mile from the mouth the water was quite fresh.  We ascended about two miles and a half, when it became necessary to return on account of the shoalness of the stream, the boat* having grounded repeatedly.  A party of about twenty natives made their appearance as soon as we entered the river, and after making ineffectual and repeated attempts to induce us to land, two or three of their number followed us along the bank, while the others made a straight course so as to cut off the windings and meet us at our turning place.  The current here ran one and a half knots, but the quantity of water was trifling and the channel throughout very narrow, at times sweeping under the bank, so as not to allow room for the oars.  At first the river was fringed with mangroves, afterwards with dense brush.  The natives followed us down until we anchored for dinner in one of the reaches, when they all left on hearing the report of my gun while shooting on shore.  They were painted with red and white, two of them being smeared all over with the former colour, mixed up with some greasy substance.  They seemed peaceably disposed, as we saw no arms among them, and they approached close enough to take biscuit from our hands.

(Footnote.  Our first cutter, very serviceable on such occasions from her light draught; with fourteen men, arms, provisions, and stove for cooking, etc. she drew only a foot of water.)

NATIVE VILLAGE.