more peaceful or less likely to do harm; but woe betide the unlucky and unsuspecting wader or bather who becomes entangled in their tentacles, for, by means of the stinging capsules with which they are studded, they are capable of inflicting the most acute pain and inflammation. These tentacles, which may be drawn close up to the pneumatophore, are capable of being let out to a length of thirty feet or more.
After collecting a few of these Physaliæ, I once more resumed my journey, and at last finished this seemingly almost interminable beach, and rested myself for awhile at the foot of the landward slope of the headland ("Long Reef"), which here juts out into the sea. I say "rested"; rather should I say I would have, but for the attacks of a relentless little band of mosquitoes which gave me their undivided attention, and seemed bent upon making as close an acquaintance with me as possible.
I now crossed this neck of land to the next beach (also a great length), and in the distance on the waters of the bay espied what I at first took to be the heads of a great number of the fronds of the large brown seaweed protruding above water (although it struck me as being rather strange that, supposing it to be seaweed, there was no broken water around, it being in the middle of the bay); but, upon drawing closer, I found, to my delight, that it was a large flock—consisting of from eighty to ninety[1]—of Black Swans (Cygnus atratus), which were resting and pluming their feathers upon the then placid waters of the bay. After watching their movements for some time I marched onward, and, upon reaching the southern extremity of the beach, looked back, and found that they had all betaken themselves to the neighbouring "Deewhy" lagoon, which is separated from the ocean—as are most of the lagoons along the coast—by the sand-dunes only. Here it was that I could not help contrasting the headland (Deewhy Head), near which I was standing, with the one (Long Reef) on the other side of the bay. The former is composed solely of the "Hawkesbury Sandstone," and, as a consequence, is high, rugged, and precipitous; while, on the other hand, the latter consists entirely of "Narrabeen Shales," is
- ↑ This was a very large flock, the average consisting of from thirty to forty individuals.
