Charley And Brown, Who Had Gone To The River, Returned At A Late Hour,
When They Told Us That They
Had seen the tracks of a large animal on the
sands of the river, which they judged to be about
The size of a big dog,
trailing a long tail like a snake. Charley said, that when Brown fired
his gun, a deep noise like the bellowing of a bull was heard; which
frightened both so much that they immediately decamped. This was the
first time that we became aware of the existence of the crocodile in the
waters of the gulf.
June 20. - We travelled about ten miles north-west, and avoided the
gullies by keeping at a distance from the river. Plains covered with high
dry grass alternated with an open forest; in which we observed Spathodea,
Bauhinia, a Balfouria, groves of Cochlospermum gossypium, and several
other trees, which I had seen in the scrubs of Comet River; among which
was the arborescent Cassia with long pods. A Bauhinia, different from the
two species I had previously seen, was covered with red blossoms, which,
where the tree abounded, gave quite a purple hue to the country. The
stringy-bark, the bloodwood, the apple-gum, the box, and the flooded-gum,
grew along the bergue of the river.
We passed some fine lagoons at the latter end of the stage. The banks of
the river were so steep, that the access to its water was difficult; its
stream, deep and apparently slow, occupied about half the bed, which was
perhaps one hundred and eighty, or two hundred yards broad.
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