I made frequent use of the tow-net during this cruise, obtaining thereby a great quantity and variety of surface organisms. Among these were representatives of Thalassicolla, Pyrocystis, Phyllosoma, Sagitta, Eurybia, Atlanta, etc. I obtained one specimen of a curious Annelid. It was two inches in width, had two prominent ruby-coloured eyes, and was marked along its snakelike body by a double row of conspicuous black dots.
One day, as were lying almost becalmed, a few hundred miles from the Australian coast, we passed into the midst of a great flock of brown petrels, who were sitting on the water grouped in the form of a chain, and apparently feeding. I had the tow-net out, and after dragging it for about half a mile, brought it in, and found it to contain a mass of yellow-coloured cylindrical and oval bodies belonging to the group Thalassicollidæ. The cylindrical bodies were about one inch in long diameter, by 1⁄8 of an inch in width, and those of an oval shape were about 3⁄16 inch in long diameter. They proved to be mere gelatinous sacks, without any appearance of digestive or locomotory organs. The thin membranous wall was dotted over thickly with dark cells of a spherical or oval shape, each of which contained from three to nine light-coloured nuclei. On examining one of the oval bodies under a magnifying power of forty diameters, the clear transparent nature of the interior of the organism allowed the cells on the distal side to be seen out of focus with misty outlines, while the cells on the proximal wall, which was in focus, came out sharp and clear, and vice versâ.
CHAPTER IX.
THE EAST COAST OF AUSTRALIA.
We remained at Sydney, refitting ship and enjoying the unaccustomed pleasures of civilized society, from the 23rd of January, 1881, until the 16th of April, 1881, but as little of general interest occurred during this period, and as Sydney with its surroundings is a place about which so much has been written by better pens than mine, I think I shall be exercising a judicious discretion by passing over this period in silence, and resuming the narrative from the time when we started on our next surveying cruise.
On leaving Sydney we received a welcome addition to our numbers in the person of Mr. W. A. Haswell, a professional zoologist, residing at Sydney, who expressed a wish to accompany us as far as Torres Straits, in order that he might have opportunities of studying the crustacean fauna of the east coast of Australia. He was consequently enrolled as an honorary member of our mess, and Captain Maclear kindly accommodated him with a sleeping place in his cabin. I am indebted to Mr. Haswell for much valuable information concerning the marine zoology of Australia.
Steaming northwards, along the east coast of Australia, the first place at which we anchored was Port Curtis, in Queensland, where we took up a berth in the outer roads close to the Gatcombe Head lighthouse. The place bore a rather desolate appearance. There was no building in sight except the lighthouse. The beach was lined with a dense fringe of mangrove bushes, behind which rose a straggling forest of gums and grass trees (Xanthorrhœa), and for a long time we saw no living thing excepting several large fish-eagles (Haliæetus leucogaster), and an odd gull that hovered about our stern, picking up the garbage that drifted away from the ship.
On the following morning two of us landed and set to work to explore the mudflats, which, stretching out for a long distance from the beach, were laid bare by the ebb tide. As we ranged along in search of marine curiosities, we encountered a solitary individual attired in the light and airy costume of a pajama sleeping suit, and carrying a Westly-Richards rifle on his shoulder. We soon made his acquaintance, and found that he was in quest of wild goats, the descendants of some domestic animals originally let loose by the keeper of the lighthouse. He was an Englishman named Eastlake, and held the position of "government immigration agent" on board a ninety-ton schooner, the Isabella, which at the time was anchored just outside the lighthouse point, awaiting a favourable wind to enable her to put to sea. She was engaged in the "labour traffic" and was just then about to return to the Solomon Islands with some "time-expired" native labourers. The Queensland government compels every vessel engaged in the "labour traffic" to carry an immigration agent, who is accredited to and salaried by the government. His duty is to see that the natives who are shipped from the islands for transit to Queensland come of their own free will, and under a proper contract, and that during the voyage they are treated well and are furnished with proper accommodation, and are dieted according to a scale laid down by the government. In the afternoon I accompanied Mr. Eastlake on board. The Isabella, a vessel of ninety tons, was allowed to carry eighty-five natives besides her crew of some half-a-dozen hands. She had now on board about a dozen natives of New Hebrides, who had completed their time as contract labourers in Queensland, and were about to be returned to their island home. The skipper of the vessel was an old Welshman, who, in the true spirit of hospitality, did the honours of the ship, and pressed me to partake of such luxuries as the stores in his cuddy afforded.
Among the articles which the New Hebrides men had purchased in Queensland with the proceeds of their labours were a number of old muskets, which they seemed to set great store by. These weapons are probably destined to be brought into action against some future "labour vessel," or "slaver," as they are commonly called by the Australians, which may violate the provision of the "Kidnapping Act" by forcible abduction of natives.