pecially up the
Herberton River, where one of the most magnificent waterfalls in
Australia is to be seen.

[Illustration: Navigators]

We had service at eleven, but I was only able to listen to the hymns
from my cabin. At afternoon service at half-past four I heard every
word just as plainly from my bed on deck as I could have done had I
been below in the saloon. This has been one of the most perfect days
at sea I can remember, and I was carried up early on deck to admire
the beautiful coast, with the Macalister Range in the background. At
noon to-day we were in lat. 16 deg. 37' S., long. 145 deg. 47' E., stealing
quietly along under balloon canvas. At one o'clock we passed the
entrance to Port Douglas, another young and rising place. Early in the
afternoon we were abreast of the lighthouse on the Low Islands, which
returned our signals with creditable promptitude, and after sighting
Cape Kimberly we found ourselves abreast of the Daintree River, where,
I am told, there is some beautiful scenery. A little later Cape
Tribulation was passed, where Captain Cook ran his vessel ashore to
discover the amount of damage sustained after she had been aground on
a coral reef. They are now trying to recover her guns, which are so
overgrown by coral that it is likely to prove a difficult job. Divers
have been down and have absolutely seen the guns; but if they try to
dislodge them with dynamite the result may be the same as at
Springsure with the large opal--that they will be blown to pieces. It
is interesting to once more read Captain Cook's voyages on the scene
of some of his most important discoveries, and to think that many of
these peaks, bays, mountains, and inlets were named by him after some
more or less memorable incident. Cape Tribulation lies exactly under
the Peter Botte, a large and peculiarly shaped mountain. The whole
coast here is very like that of Cuba, especially the shape of its
mountains and the indentations of its coasts. The sunset was
magnificent, and made the mountains look quite volcanic as they rose
in the sky against the lurid light, producing red, yellow, and grey
tints such as one sees at Vesuvius, Etna, or Stromboli.

This afternoon, as we were looking over the side, Tom and I observed a
quantity of a brownish substance floating on the surface of the water.
We thought it might be either the outpouring of a neighbouring
volcano, or the spawn of some fish, sponge, coral, or algae. We drew up
several b