Gould and Gilbert arrived in Hobart on the ship "Parsee" on 19 September 1838. They were going to collect animal and bird specimens for Gould's books. Both worked in Tasmania for a few months. On 4 February 1839, Gilbert went to the Swan River settlement. He worked there for a year, mainly around Perth, collecting for Gould. Gilbert then sailed for Sydney, and in June 1840 took a ship to Port Essington in the north of Australia. In March 1841 he sailed to Singapore, stopping at Timor on the way. From there he sailed for London and arrived at the end of September. He had collected a very large number of birds for Gould, and made many notes on their habits. 