Snakes appear to be numerous--two out of three which I examined were poisonous--the other was the diamond snake of New South Wales.

A very fine land shell, Helix bipartita, was found in colonies at the roots of the trees and bushes.

A large and handsome cowrie, Cypraea mauritiana, generally distributed among the islands of the Pacific, was here found for the first time in Australia.
EAGLE ISLAND.
August 1st.
I crossed over to Eagle Island with Mr.Brown, and spent a day and night there.

This place was so named by Cook, who states in explanation of the name--"We found here the nest of some other bird, we know not what, of a most enormous size.

It was built with sticks upon the ground, and was no less than 26 feet in circumference, and two feet eight inches high."* An American professor** conjectures the above nest to have possibly been that of the Dinornis, the gigantic New Zealand bird, known only by its fossil remains.