Naturalist Penetrates
p. 50 · Read in the full issue
Burial Caves In New
Hebrides
Mrs. Fenton Woodburn, A Vic
torian anthropologist and naturalist, arrived in Sydney by the Morinda on No vember 25, bringing specimens of fossils and skulls, which she collected during a visit to the New Hebrides.
She described the group as a paradise for naturalists, saying that fossils of all kinds abounded. Eager to secure some native skulls, she was lowered 800 ft. down a cliff, and then penetrated into the burial caves. She expected some difficulties in securing the natives’ help in this venture, but was surprised to find them ready to assist in every way. They, however, re fused to handle the skulls or to carry them. .
Other specimens she secured included 10 varieties of ants, a species of shrimp, which shed its claws when anyone touched them, and four extraordinary beetles from the island of Erromanga.