The Flats Between The
Ranges, And Along The River And Creeks, Were Openly Timbered And Well
Grassed; And, At The Head Of A Salt-Water Creek, We Found Deep Ponds Of
Constant Water Covered With Nymphaeas, And Surrounded With Typhas And
Drooping Tea-Trees.
Towards the end of the stage, where the high rocky
hills formed deep declivities into the river, we had to ascend them, and
to travel along their summits.
A good sized creek joined the river at
their southern slopes, which, though salt below, contained some good
pools of fresh water higher up. To the southward of this creek, there
were four very remarkable flat-topped cones of sandstone, which appeared
like a plateau cut into four detached masses. These I called the "Four
Archers," in honour of my excellent hosts Messrs. David, Charles, John,
and Thomas Archer of Moreton Bay. From the eastern one, I enjoyed a fine
view, and distinguished distant ranges broken by a gap to the southward,
and detached long-stretched ridges to the westward.
I went with Charley to examine the river, in order to find a fording
place, in which we succeeded at about four miles south-west from our
camp, in lat. 15 degrees 30 minutes 31 seconds; where a stony bar crossed
the salt water, leaving a small channel in which the tide formed a
shallow stream. The bed of the river became very broad and sandy, covered
with shrubs like those of the Lynd and most of the other rivers we had
passed.
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