placing it in latitude 12 degrees 27 minutes 45
seconds, longitude 1 degree 19 minutes 40 seconds, East of Port
Essington.

On this beach several unsuccessful hauls were made with the seine, though
a few rare and curious fish were taken, which Lieutenant Emery added to
his collection of coloured drawings of Australian fish; some of them will
be found in the appendix to this volume. Mr. Bynoe also obtained
specimens of one or two rare birds; the large red-necked vampire of the
Adelaide River, and the cream-coloured pigeon before alluded to, were
also seen by him, being the farthest south the latter was met with by us.

BRILLIANT METEORS.

Some brilliant meteors were observed during our stay, one in particular
on the evening of the 20th, in the West-North-West. It fell from the
zenith at an angle of about twenty degrees from a vertical line. The
descent was marked by a long train of light, visible ten seconds, while
others of less brilliancy followed from the same place within an hour.
Again on the 23rd, was the dark vault of heaven illumined about the same
time in a similar manner, as well as on the 28th; the number of meteors
being the same on each day.

We were rather surprised on the 24th, to experience a squall from the
eastward about midnight, a regular occurrence on the North-west coast in
January and February only.

VISITED BY NATIVES.

On the 24th a party of natives made their appearance on Point Emery.
Their voices, shrill like those of all their fellows, were heard before
they were seen. With these it was particularly so, though on all
occasions the speaking, and hallooing of the Aborigines can be heard at a
very considerable distance. They were found, when on shore, to be of the
party we had before seen in Shoal Bay, with the addition of five strange
men. All appeared actuated by the same friendly disposition, a very
strong indication of which was their presenting themselves without
spears.* Like most others on that coast, they had apiece of bamboo,
eighteen inches long, run through the cartilage of the nose. Their
astonishment at the size of the wells was highly amusing; sudden
exclamations of surprise and admiration burst from their lips, while the
varied expressions and play of countenance, showed how strongly their
feelings were at work within.

(*Footnote. Speaking of natives appearing without spears, reminds me to
mention for the information of future explorers, that their arms are
always near a