One of the most interesting features in the botany of Cape York, is the occurrence of a palm, not hitherto mentioned as Australian.  It is the Caryota urens (found also in India and the Indian archipelago) one of the noblest of the family, combining the foliage of the tree-fern with a trunk a foot in diameter, and sixty in height.  It is found in the dense brushes along with three other palms, Seaforthia, Corypha, and Calamus.  Another very striking tree, not found elsewhere by us, is the fine Wormia alata, abundant on the margin of the brushes, where it is very conspicuous from its large yellow blossoms, handsome dark-green foliage, and ragged, papery bark of a red colour.

One day I explored some caves in the sandstone cliffs at Port Albany in quest of bats, and was fortunate enough to get quite a new Rhinolophus or horseshoe bat.  In one of the caves, which only admitted of entry on the hands and knees, these bats were so numerous, and in such large clusters, that I secured no less than eleven at one time, by using both hands.  Small kangaroos appeared to be plentiful enough, but we were not so fortunate as to shoot one.  The natives one day brought down to us a live opossum, quite tame, and very gentle; this turned out to be new, and has since been described by Mr. Gould under the name of Pseudocheirus nudicaudatus.

In the brushes the sportsman may find the megapodius, brush-turkey, and white pigeon, and in the forest flocks of white cockatoos, and various parrots and parakeets, besides thrushes, orioles, leatherheads, etc., but I shall not now enter upon the ornithology of the district.  A very large lizard (Monitor gouldii) is common at Cape York—­it climbs trees with great agility, and is very swift, scampering over the dead leaves in the scrubs, with nearly as much noise as a kangaroo.  Snakes, although apparently not very plentiful, yet require to be carefully looked for in order to be avoided; one day I killed single individuals of two kinds—­one a slender, very active green whip-snake, four feet in length—­the other, the brown snake of New South Wales, where its bite is considered fatal.  Fish are plentiful at Cape York; they may be caught with the hook and line from the rocks, or at a little distance off, and the sandy beach of Evans Bay is well-adapted for hauling the seine upon.  A curious freshwater fish (Megalops setipinnis) is found in the lagoon here, and even in the wells dug by the Fly, there were some full-grown individuals; it much resembles the herring, in shape, colour and size.  The shells may be very briefly dismissed.  The principal landshell is a very large variety of Helix bipartita, here attaining its greatest size.  The most striking shell of the sandflats is a handsome olive (O. ispidula) remarkable for its extraordinary variations in colour, size, and even form.

ABUNDANCE OF FRESH WATER.