The Country Was A Fine Open Grassy Forest Land, In Which The Apple-Gum Prevailed, And With Many Swampy Grassy Lagoons Covered With White, Blue, And Pink Nymphaeas.

The box tree grew in their immediate neighbourhood.

In the bed of the Van Diemen we saw some well constructed huts of the natives; they were made of branches arched over in the form of a bird-cage, and thatched with grass and the bark of the drooping tea-tree. The place where we encamped had been frequently used by the natives for the same purpose. Our attention was particularly attracted by a large heap of chaff, from which the natives appeared to have taken the seeds. This grass was, however, very different from the panicum, of the seeds of which the natives of the Gwyder River make a sort of bread; and which there forms the principal food of the little Betshiregah (Melopsittacus undulatus, GOULD).

The night was calm, clear, and cold.

The kites became most daring and impudent. Yesterday, I cleaned the fat gizzard of a bustard to grill it on the embers, and the idea of the fat dainty bit made my mouth water. But alas! whilst holding it in my hand, a kite pounced down and carried it off, pursued by a dozen of his comrades, eager to seize the booty.

We killed our little steer in the afternoon of the 10th, and the next day we cut the meat into slices, and hung it out on a kangaroo net: the wind was high, the sun warm, and our meat dried most perfectly. Whilst we were in the midst of our work, some natives made their appearance. I held out a branch as a sign of peace, when they ventured up to hold a parley, though evidently with great suspicion. They were rather small, and the tall ones were slim and lightly built. They examined Brown's hat, and expressed a great desire to keep it. In order to make them a present, I went to the tents to fetch some broken pieces of iron; and whilst I was away, Brown, wishing to surprise them, mounted his horse, and commenced trotting, which frightened them so much, that they ran away, and did not come again. One of them had a singular weapon, neatly made, and consisting of a long wooden handle, with a sharp piece of iron fixed in at the end, like a lancet. The iron most probably had been obtained from the Malays who annually visit the gulf for trepang. Some of their spears were barbed.

July 12. - The meat had dried so well, that I started this morning; having completed the operation of drying in rather more than a day. It was, of course, necessary to spread the meat out for several days, to prevent its becoming mildewed. This was done every day after arriving at our camping-place.

Our killing camp was about five miles south-west from the Van Diemen; and we travelled in the same direction about eight miles farther, through a most beautiful country, consisting of an open forest timbered with the box-tree, apple-gum, and white-gum; it was well grassed, and abundantly supplied with water. We crossed a small river with a course west by north; it had a broad sandy bed, numerous pools of water, and steep banks: the latter were covered with Sarcocephalus and drooping tea-trees. I called it the "Gilbert," after my unfortunate companion. Five miles farther, we came to a fine creek, at which we encamped. Its water-holes were surrounded by the Nelumbiums of the Mackenzie, and by a fine yellow Ipomoea, with larger flowers than that described as growing at the Mitchell. We gathered a considerable quantity of Nelumbium seeds, which were very palatable, and, when roasted and pounded, made a most excellent substitute for coffee.

July 13. - Our horses had enjoyed the green feed round the lagoons near our killing camp, so much, that they returned to it during the night, and caused a delay until noon, when we resumed our journey. The first part of the stage was over fine well-watered forest land. We crossed two creeks, with good water-holes, in one of which was a fishing weir. The country to the south of the last creek changed to a succession of plains of various sizes, extending mostly to the westward, and very open undulations scattered over with rather stunted trees of Grevillea mimosoides, G. ceratophylla, Terminalia, Bauhinia, and Balfouria? an apocynaceous tree. And again we passed over box and apple-gum flats, which, by their rich verdure, refreshed the eye tired with the uniform yellow colour of the dry grass, in which the whole country was clothed. We saw the bush fires of the natives every where around us; and many large tracts which had been recently burnt. The sun was getting very low, and my patients were very tired, and yet no water was to be seen. Cumuli, which had been gradually collecting from one o'clock in the afternoon, cast their shadows over the forest, and deceived the eye into the belief that the desired creek was before us. At last, however, to our infinite satisfaction, we entered into a scrub, formed of low stunted irregularly branched tea-trees, where we found a shallow water-course, which gradually enlarged into deep holes, which were dry, with the exception of one which contained just a sufficient supply of muddy water to form a stepping-stone for the next stage. Our latitude was 17 degrees 19 minutes 36 seconds.

July 14. - We travelled about eleven miles S.S.W. to latitude 17 degrees 28 minutes 11 seconds, over an immense box-flat, interrupted only by some plains and by two tea-tree creeks; the tea-trees were stunted and scrubby like those of our last stage. At the second creek we passed an old camping place of the natives, where we observed a hedge of dry branches, and, parallel to it, and probably to the leeward, was a row of fire places.

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