Very Small Specimens Of The Seaforthia
Palm Were Here Observed For The First Time; And The Large Scarlet Fruit
Of Eugenia Was Found.
During the night, we heard the first grumbling of thunder since many
months.
Nov. 14. - We travelled about twelve miles north by west. After crossing
the river, we followed a rocky creek to its head, and passed over ten
miles of level sandy country of stringy-bark forest, with Melalcuca gum
and Banksia, interrupted only by a small Pandanus creek. At the end of
the stage, we came to rocky creeks, one of which headed in a drooping
tea-tree swamp, with rich vegetation, but without water. The creek, which
we followed down for two miles, there changed its character, and
meandered through sandy, well-grassed flats, and contained some good
water-holes, on which we encamped. John told me that he had found the
ripe fruit of Exocarpus cupressiformis; which I doubted very much, as I
had not seen the slightest trace of it since we left the Dawson, although
Exocarpus latifolia was very frequent all over the sandy table-land. But
we gathered and ate a great quantity of gibong (the ripe fruit of
Persoonia falcata), and some small yellow figs of the glossy-leaved
fig-tree. I observed a Eucalyptus of rather stunted growth, with broad,
almost oval leaves, and long, narrow seed-vessels.
During the night, thunder clouds and lightning were seen in every
direction; and the whole atmosphere appeared to be in a state of
fermentation.
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