A slender snake, about five feet long, of a greyish brown on the back,
and of a bright yellow on the belly, was seen nimbly climbing a tree. The
head was so much crushed in killing it that I could not examine its
teeth.
Mr. Roper and John Murphy succeeded in shooting eight cockatoos, which
gave us an excellent soup. I found in their stomachs a fruit resembling
grains of rice, which was slightly sweet, and would doubtless afford an
excellent dish, if obtained in sufficient quantity and boiled.
March 10. - We had slight drizzling showers towards sunset; the night very
cloudy till about ten a.m., when it cleared up. The variety of grasses is
very great; the most remarkable and succulent were two species of
Anthistiria, the grass of the Isaacs, and a new one with articulate ears
and rounded glumes. A pink Convolvulus, with showy blossoms, is very
common. Portulaca, with terete leaves, grows sparingly on the mild rich
soil.
Were a superficial observer suddenly transported from one of the reedy
ponds of Europe to this water-hole in Suttor Creek, he would not be able
to detect the change of his locality, except by the presence of
Casuarinas and the white trunks of the majestic flooded-gum.
