The plains still retained their verdant appearance, although down the country vegetation was much parched. The river had fallen considerably since my previous visit. In the river, besides the quantity of fish there is a small and new species of lobster, which is also procured in large quantities from the muddy ponds on the Yas Plains; they are delicious eating, and taken readily by placing a piece of raw meat on a bent pin: when one is felt at the bait, it is to be dragged gently to the margin of the pond, (which is very muddy, but not deep,) and taken on the back by the hand: a number can thus be caught in a short time. The aborigines call them “Murugonan.” They burrow deep into the mud, and the blacks capture them by thrusting the hand into the holes, and dragging them out, although they often extend to such a depth that the whole length of the arm is inserted before the animal is secured.[77] The ponds in which the lobsters are taken are always full of water, being supplied by springs: one of them was about fifty yards in length by twenty in breadth, but of no great depth at any part. They form a chain along the plains during the dry season of the year; but during heavy rains they unite into a running stream, which empties itself into the Yas river. It is only at the season, when there is merely a chain of ponds or swamps, with but little water, that the lobsters can be caught with facility. In the Murrumbidgee, Yas, Tumat, and other large rivers, there is a different and larger species of lobster which is frequently found in the stomachs of the “river cod.” This kind is called “Mungola” by the aborigines, and they are captured, measuring a foot and a foot and a half in length, and weighing three or four pounds. I examined a small one, captured in the Murrumbidgee at Jugiong; its dimensions were as follow:— Inch. Length of the body 4 Length of the tail 4 Length of the claw 5½ Breadth of the body at the broadest part 2 Breadth of the claw 1⅜ Length of the anterior or external antennæ 7 The colour of the upper surface of the shield was dark green, with reddish tinges on the sides, the rings of the tail studded with short, thick spines, and similar but smaller spines on the sides of the shield: the spines and claws were white: the legs having been pulled off by the blacks, to prevent their escape during the time they were employed in catching others. I could not ascertain their colour. They are found under the large stones in the river, and are taken by the hand when the rivers are low. The natives usually seek for them in the evening, or at night by torchlight, and say it is difficult to get them during the daylight.[78]