AURORA AUSTRALIS.
and brought to a temperature of 212° Fahr. for an hour or more.
Naturally more attention was now bestowed upon the denizens of the river, and indeed their abundance and variety surprised us. Minute organisms belonging to the rotifers and tardigrada abounded, whilst larger species occasionally came into view. We spent many an hour peering into the waters in search of new finds, and were abundantly rewarded by queer sights. For several days our progress continued thus without serious event. The jungle, however, became alarmingly denser so that it was now almost arched overhead and presented a gloomy outlook. Unaccountable noises and glimpses of strange forms came to us through the weak light, but fortunately nearer acquaintance had so far been avoided.
Matters did not improve, so that we were soon hastening along beneath a complete covering of dense matted vegetation so effective in blotting out the daylight that, but for the fact that here was the home of phosphorescent fungi, we should have been in utter darkness. This greenish-white luminescent forest seemed weird in the extreme after the red light to which we had become so much accustomed.
Presently our meditations were disturbed by a
