“Among the acquisitions,” MacGillivray goes on, “I may mention a new species of Amphioxus, a genus of small fishes exhibiting more anomalies than any other known to Ichthyologists, and the lowest organisation found in the class.  It somewhat resembles the sand-eels of Britain in habits, like them moving with extraordinary rapidity through the sand.  By dint of bribery and ridicule we had at length managed to get our boatmen to work tolerably well, and when we were alike well-roasted by the sun and repeatedly drenched, besides being tired out and hungry, they had become quite submissive, and exchanged their grumbling for merriment.”

The towing net repeatedly produced a rich harvest.  It was constructed by themselves, and consisted of a bag of the bunting used for flags, two feet deep, the mouth being sewn round a wooden hoop fourteen inches in diameter; three pieces of cord, a foot and a half long, were secured to the hoop at equal intervals and had their ends tied together.  This net was towed behind the ship by a stout cord.  The water passed through the meshes of the cloth and left behind in the pocket any small floating animals.

Excursions ashore to the little savage islands or to the mainland were a source of constant interest, and it cannot be doubted that the acquaintance Huxley thus gained with many of the very low savages of Australia and New Guinea prepared his mind for the revolutionary doctrine of descent which he embraced a few years later.  At the present time, there are probably very few parts of earth where there are yet to be found savages unaltered by civilisation.  Some of the low races with which Huxley came in contact are now extinct.  All the survivors have come in contact with white races, and their habits and customs have been altered.  Before long the total extinction of these lower races is to be expected, and there will then be left an enormous gap between the lower animals and the dominant, aggressive, yellow and white races which are spreading over the earth and making the lower races perish before them, as the smaller but more cunning European rat has exterminated the native brown rat of Australia.  In their various excursions upon the Australian mainland they had no trouble of any kind with the natives.  These were at first suspicious of the doings of the white men, and their total ignorance of the use of firearms tempted them to rashness; but a few friendly gifts, and the exercise of tact in negotiating exchanges with them, made all the encounters pass off pleasantly.  On the other hand, in the Louisiade Archipelago where the savages were of a higher type, difficulties constantly occurred.  On one occasion, in a bay on the south side of Joannet Island the party was attacked.