They Produced Not Only A Good Beverage With An Agreeable Flavour,
But Ate Well And Appeared To Be Very Nourishing.
They contained a great
quantity of oil.
Brown caught an Agama, of a light yellowish colour, about a foot long.
The nights had been generally cloudy, with the exception of the last,
which was clear with heavy dew. The days were very hot before the setting
in of the sea breeze, which now generally took place at half past eleven.
But the refreshing breeze was little felt in the close stringy-bark
forest, which, with the dust rising under our bullocks' feet, rendered
the heat almost suffocating.
Sept. 21. - Our journey to-day was in a N. 50 degrees W. direction for
about eleven miles, through stringy-bark forest, in which the Melaleuca
and the Cypress pine were either scattered, or formed small patches of
forest. We then crossed a shallow sandy creek surrounded with thickets of
Cypress pine; passed some broad-leaved tea-tree forest, and came to a
fine open country timbered with tea-tree, and, farther on, with box and
white gum. After fifteen miles, our course was intercepted by the largest
salt-water river we had yet seen, and we turned at once to the W.S.W. in
order to head it. Deep hollows surrounded by tea-trees, but quite dry,
extended parallel to the river. We observed several islands in the river;
and it was joined by some deep creeks filled with salt water at their
lower parts, but dry higher up. The whole country was equally open and
well grassed. The leguminous Ironbark, the white-barked tree of the Abel
Tasman, the fig tree, and Sterculia in fruit, grew in the forest; and the
white water-gum in the hollows, the drooping tea-tree at the level of the
freshes, and a species of salt-water Casuarina below it.
I called this river the "Macarthur," in acknowledgment of the liberal
support my expedition received from Messrs. James and William Macarthur
of Cambden.
When we were passing through the stringy-bark forest, about four or five
miles from the camp of the 20th, we heard the calls of some natives
behind us, and I stopped our train to ascertain what they wanted: they
were soon perceived running after us, and, when they were sufficiently
near, I dismounted and advanced slowly to have a parley, and was met by
an old man with three or four young fellows behind him. As soon as he saw
that I intended to make him a present, he prepared one in return; and
when I gave him some rings and buckles, he presented me with some of the
ornaments he wore on his person. As our confidence in each other was thus
established, some of my companions and several others of the natives came
up, and we exchanged presents in a very amicable manner. They were all
well made, good looking men; and one young man, whose body was coloured
red, was even handsome, although his expression was somewhat wild and
excited.
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