WILD LIFE.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18220, 3 November 1924, Page 3

WILD LIFE.

EXPEDITION IN NORTH ; AUSTRALIA. ] (TRO.V OCR OWN CORBESrOXDEST.I j SYDNEY. October :».

Lrcrv now and again the expedition 'led iiy Captain Wilkins. the iamous Australian r.innau and explorer, crop- '■ up in the most remote and unexpected ' spots of the Cc ntinent. In its j search for the finest obtainable specimens of Australian native animals on 1 behalf of the British Museum —and a duplicate collection for the Comnion- ; wealth Government, to bo deposited at ,' ( anboir:i —the little band cf experts lias traversed enormous areas, living in tents and aided by bushinen and black ! fellows. The latest news of the party ' is that it has been seor.riiiig the wild ■ and little known country ;;rcund the [ Gulf of Carpentaria, -and- incidentally : has been keeping a look out for any : traces of the women snrvivoi-s of the 'wrecked vessel Douglas Mawseii, who ! are reported to lie held captive by the [ blacks, in those parts.

1 In a letter to a friend in Sydney, ; Captain Wilkins describes Lis endeaI vours to find traces of the women, and lie also gives an interesting description jof the work of the mission to the : aborigines conducted by the Methodist j Church in the Gulf country. He laud- ! Ed at Thursday Island, with the object) i of proceeding overland to Darwin, thus i traversing the Northern Coastline- of I the continent. However, as his tclcI graphed offers to join and assist the official expedition were refused by th-3 Administrator of the Territory," he decided not to go into..the country where the women were supposed to bo until after that expedition would have completed its work. So lie spent some ! time in first visiting the mission stations on the Islands just off the coast. When, later, ho landed on the mainland he noticed many significant smoke signals. At Cunningham. Island a smoke signal was set up by some natives, who put out in r., canoe to meet the party. When questioned, these natives said they had heard. of two ■white women wko were now on the mainland.- One of them and a white girl chilil were now living in the camp of •a, man named Bokara, and the other ■\v;\s held by a, man named Majara. The natives added that the women, had attempted to .signal to a passing boat last year, but their captors had threatened to spear them if they made further effort. At Elcho Island Captain Wilkins and his party met the Hudclersiield, which hud taken 13 days from. Darwin and bad remained another 12 davs at Elcho Island.

Describing ' his visit to the mission stations Captain. "Wrlkins says: Millingiinbi offeree! interesting evidence of the work of'.aboriginal mission stations, and under the ablo supervision of the Rev. Mr "Watson, the natives have profited, in many -ways by the teachings of his staff. But life.on a mission station is not always tranquil, and within the last few weeks some of the worst elements among the natives —who have had intermittent contact with the whites, to the disadvantage of the former —had seriously threatened the peace of the station. A native woman was speared, and several encounters took place, but under the judicious administration of the missionaries the situation was well in hand. Tlie natives receive rations twice a day, and many of Them help with the work of cultivating foodstuffs and sinking wells. Tneir efforts at manual labour are not strenuous, although they are not hampered with too many clothes, and many of them prefer to remain an naturel. The women carry an improvised grass mat, shaped liko a parasol without a handle, and with tliis they coyly protect themselves from tile rays of the sun and from observation. Some good specimens for the Museum collection have been obtained in the north. Captain Wilkins says:—''There are a number of species of marsupials and other mammals found on the Crocodile Islands, and some of their number were added to our collection. Bird life is restricted to few varieties, but it will probably be more plentiful during the wet season. Goullmrn Island is a day's journey farther west. and the mission station has beien established there for tlie last eight years. It is at this place that the improvement brought about by the mission workers i.s noticeable. Apart, from clothing them, keeping them clean, and attending to their spiritual welfare, they have taught the native to take an interest in the production of food, both local and introduced, and the full-nur-tured.' healthy community of Goulburn Island speaks volumes for what might be done in the way of helping the 'blacks' to help themselves. From Goulbnrn Island we hurried on to Darwin, and from here I will journey south to Katherine, and then tramp overland to the mouth of the Goyder liiver. collecting specimens on the way, ami bv the time that journey is ended we hope that the punitive expedition will have successfullv completed its mission in Arnheim Peninsula, and will hsrre paved the way for the collectors of scientific information.' '

Considerable amusement and not a little consteniarip.il, so far as rhe lady passengers were concerned, was caused on one of the Napier municipal trims when, from the pocket of an obvious hayseed, who was 1 eing conveved to the station, ihere emerged a slo'wly ciawltng hedgehog. The curious little animal climbed out on to its owner's knee (says the "Telegraph"), and takinjr a good look round, grunted once or twice to its master, as though asking if everything was all right.' and then- slowly retreated to its hiding place again.