The General Course Of The River
Was About South-West, And Is Joined By Several Scrub Creeks; Its Bed Is
Broad And Shallow, With Numerous Channels, Separated By Bergues; And The
River Itself Is Split Into Several Anabranches.
The scrub is generally an
open Vitex; a fine drooping tea-tree lines the banks of the river;
Casuarina disappears; the flooded-gum is frequent, but of smaller size.
The Mackenzie-bean and several other papilionaceous plants, with some new
grasses, grow in it.
The most interesting plant, however, is a species of
Datura, from one to two feet high, which genus has not previously been
observed in Australia. I also found species of Heliotropium of a most
fragrant odour.
Sandstone cropped out in several places, and red quartz pebbles were very
abundant in some parts of the river; the sands of its bed are so
triturated that no one would ever surmise the existence of granitic
rocks, at sixteen or twenty miles higher up. The whole country was flat;
no hill was visible, but, towards the end of our day's journey, we
crossed a few slight undulations.
During the night of the 14th, southerly winds were followed by a gale
from the eastward, with scud and drizzling rain. The morning of the 15th
was cloudy with a little rain; wind southerly. Early in the night, a
strong east-wind with drizzling long rain set in, but cleared up at
midnight. The morning of the 16th was cloudy, with a southerly wind.
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