h inhabits these
parts. It is about half the size of a full-grown rat, and designated as
Belideus ariel. Its colour and fur greatly resemble the chinchilla, and I
have little doubt that the skin is valuable and might be made an article
of trade. This animal has a membrane between the fore and hind paws,
which aids it to some extent when leaping from bough to bough. It is a
great enemy to the wild bee, devouring them and their nests; the bees the
natives discover by tapping the tree and listening for a buzzing from
within. Those we saw, amounting to nearly a hundred, were about the size
of a fly, of a dusky black colour, and strange to say, were hovering
round an empty tar-barrel. They have been unsuccessfully tried in hives
at Sydney.

Alligators abound, and one of the marines had a very narrow escape from
them. It appears that one of these monsters who had come out of the water
in the night, in search of food, found him sleeping in his hammock, which
he had very injudiciously hung up near the water. The alligator made a
snap at his prize; but startled at this frightful interruption of his
slumbers, the man dexterously extricated himself out of his blanket,
which the unwieldy brute, doubtless enraged at his disappointment,
carried off in triumph. For some time this story was not believed, but
when afterwards the huge reptile, on a similar excursion, was shot, a
portion of the blanket was found in his stomach with the paw of a
favourite spaniel, taken when swimming off the pier head.

Extensive hauls of fish were made on Point Record, amongst which one
species, there called salmon, was most excellent eating.

It is unnecessary for a transient visitor to enlarge upon the birds of
Port Essington, as in Mr. Gould's work we have the result of the labours
of an individual who spent months collecting in the neighbourhood.

The spot selected for our observations was Government House, where nearly
a hundred observations with the sun and stars were made for latitude, the
mean result being 11 degrees 22 minutes 21 seconds South, which strange
to say, was nearly 15 seconds greater than Captain Stanley and Mr. Tyers'
determination: this difference to me was quite unaccountable, as the
instruments used in the Beagle were before and subsequently,
satisfactorily tested at well determined places. The longitude being
affected by the doubtful meridian distance between Sydney and Port
Stephens, we can only give an approximate result; an