Comet Creek Joins The Mackenzie In A Very Acute Angle; The Direction Of The Latter Being East, And The Course Of The Former, In Its Lower Part, North-West.

Our anglers caught several fine fishes and an eel, in the water-holes of the Mackenzie.

The former belonged to the Siluridae, and had four fleshy appendages on the lower lip, and two on the upper; dorsal fin 1 spine 6 rays, and an adipose fin, pectoral 1 spine 8 rays; ventral 6 rays; anal 17 rays; caudal 17-18 rays; velvety teeth in the upper and lower jaws, and in the palatal bones. Head flat, belly broad; back of a greenish silver-colour; belly silvery white; length of the body 15-20 inches. It made a singular noise when taken out of the water.

We found here Unios of a fine pink and purple colour inside the valves, and a new species of Cyclas with longitudinal ribs. Small black ants, and little flies with wings crossing each other, annoy us very much, the one creeping all over our bodies and biting us severely, and the other falling into our soup and tea, and covering our meat; but the strong night-breeze protects us from the mosquitoes. A pretty lizard (Tiliqua) of small size, with yellowish spots on a brown ground, was caught, and seemed to be plentiful here about. The Acacia, with very long linear drooping leaves, that had been observed at the Dawson, re-appeared both on Comet Creek and the banks of the Mackenzie. Our latitude was 23 degrees 33 minutes 38 seconds.

Jan. 13. - We travelled about nine miles E.N.E. over the high land, and through open forest land, and several plains skirted on both sides by scrub. I observed a new species of Flindersia, a small tree about thirty feet high, with thin foliage and very regular branches, forming a spire. The latitude was 23 degrees 29 minutes.

Jan. 14. - After travelling about three miles in a north-easterly direction along the banks of the river - having, at about a mile from our camp, crossed a good-sized creek on its left bank - the river took a sudden bend to the westward, and a large creek coming from the northward, joined it almost at a right angle to its course. As we proceeded, we came suddenly upon two black women hurrying out of the water, but who, on reaching a distance in which they thought themselves safe, remained gazing at us as we slowly and peaceably passed by. In the bed of the river, which was here broad and sandy, a bean was gathered, bearing racemes of pink blossoms, and spreading its long slender stem over the ground, or twining it round shrubs and trees: its pods were from three to five inches long, and about half an inch broad, containing from four to six seeds, very similar to the horse-bean. This plant was afterwards found growing in the sandy beds, or along the bergs of almost all the broad rivers, and was always a welcome sight; for the seeds, after roasting and pounding them, afforded us a very agreeable substitute for coffee.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 58 of 272
Words from 29642 to 30171 of 141354