The Gully Had All The Characters Of Those Of The Boyd; The
Same Sandstone Rock, The Same Abruptness, And The Same Vegetation;
Excepting, Perhaps, A New Grevillea, With Pinnatifid Leaves And
Yellowish-White Woolly Flowers, Which We Found Here.
There was no water,
except in some small holes full of gum leaves, which had rendered it
unfit for use.
After proceeding with great difficulty about three miles,
we found that the gullies opened into a broad flat valley; in which
fields of fat-hen, the Croton shrub, the native Tobacco, Erythrina, fine
specimens of flooded-gum, Tristania, and the Moreton Bay ash, were
growing in great abundance. Farther down, however, the Bricklow scrub
covered the whole valley; the water-course disappeared almost entirely;
and we were completely disappointed in our hopes of finding a fine
country. Small plains opened on both sides of the valley, surrounded by
Bricklow scrub, and with patches of Bricklow scattered over them, in
which the Bottle-tree frequently made its portly appearance. A large
flight of Wonga Wonga pigeons were feeding on the seeds of various
species of Acacia; we shot two of them. No water was to be found in an
extent of fifteen miles. The noisy call of the laughing Jackass (Dacclo
gigantea) made me frequently ride back and examine more minutely those
spots marked by a darker foliage; but the presence of this bird is no
certain indication of water, though he likes the neighbourhood of shady
creeks. I could not help thinking that a considerable creek must come
from the north-west side of Mount Nicholson; and, seeing an isolated
range to the south-west, I rode towards it, sure of finding water near
it, if there was any to be found.
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