A Native Low Shrubby Mulberry Was Found In This Scrub, The Fruit Of Which
Was Good To Eat, But Of Very Small Size.
From the top of the hills I enjoyed a most beautiful view of the valley
of the river, with its large lagoons covered with Nymphaeas and
Damasoniums.
On one of the lagoons, Charley shot a Parra gallinacea, a
bird which Mr. Gilbert had observed only at Port Essington. A well beaten
path of the natives showed that they were numerous in this part of the
country: we saw many of their camping places during the stage; and the
fires of their camps were numerous; we saw a party of them, but they were
too frightened to allow us to approach. Our latitude was 18 degrees 44
minutes 48 seconds. Our course was about N.N.W.
May 4. - We ascended the basaltic ridges, and reaching the table land,
found it perfectly level, openly timbered, well grassed, but occasionally
stony, by which our poor foot-sore bullocks suffered severely. About five
miles north-west by west from our camp, we discovered an extensive valley
with large lagoons and lakes, and a most luxuriant vegetation, bounded by
blue distant ranges, and forming the most picturesque landscape we had
yet met with. A chain of lagoons connected by a reedy brook followed the
outlines of the table land, along the foot of its steep slopes. We
descended by a tolerably gentle slope into the valley, and encamped near
the reedy brook, which must be the same as that on which, lower down, our
last camp was formed.
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