Volume II Part 8 (1/2)

Nove the position of several of the surrounding hills; and in the afternoon we obtained observations for rating the chronometers: I found that one by French, which I had worn in oneafter dark

The evening was cloudy, and we had a sharp squall at ht from south-east

November 14

Both boats were ht, and ere it had passed away, the ford above Steep Head was left behind We found that the watering boats had not got over the shallow below, so that we spent the night together; and a merry party we made We talked over all we had seen, and the hills that rose around echoed back for the first tie language was repeated as glibly by the rocks of Australia as if they were those of our own native land So true is it that nature is ever ready to commune familiarly with us, whereas by our very brethren we are looked upon as ene ourselves understood by the of the 15th broke it was discovered that one of thethe night He had been guilty of this offence once before, in order to steal the spirits which had been buried for the use ofparty What however could have induced hi, without any apparent e, and alest Parties were ith, after an arduous search, he was found behind a large sandstone rock on the side of a hill; having revisited the spot where the provisions had been concealed for the use ofpossession of his God the ru, biscuit, and fishi+ng-tackle being a the stores hich he had made off This despicable wretch--for such must everyone consider the man ould steal his shi+pmates' provisions, when each had only his bare allowance--had nothing to say, either in extenuation or explanation of his conduct Most fortunate for him was it that our humane exertions to discover his retreat were successful; he could not long have subsisted by himself, and even had he been so happy as to fall in with, and receive hospitable welcoered out a life of toilsome, cheerless hardshi+p while a cos, and when unfitted for this by old age, he would, according to the custom of the country, have been left to die, unfriended and alone, upon the spot where his last weary efforts failed The delay occasioned by this extraordinary and unlooked-for event, made it late by the time all the boats were fairly on their way down the river The as light frorees, at 9 o'clock

NEW KANGAROO

I pushed on to gain a station at the commencement of the hills on the eastern side of Whirlwind Plains, and also, if possible, to shoot a kangaroo to send to the shi+p: I was so fortunate as to secure two; one of a new species, very small, and of a dark brown colour, with coarse hair, I found in rocky land, which it appears solely to inhabit, as it was also found near the shi+p As, however, like the generality of kangaroos, this species only ht tiood speciland, and subale concinna It is now in the British Museum

(Footnote I had now become quite an adept in this kind of sport My plan was to direct a enerally found, whilst I kept considerably above him and a little in advance, so that all those that were started running up froaroos, passed within shot)

The height we visited was of coarse sandstone formation, and attained an elevation of 150 feet As I was left to examine soht, I had a further opportunity of deter the fertility of Whirlwind Plains

My examination only confirmed my previous conjectures in favour of the capabilities of the soil Froround considered favourable for the growth of cotton, there can be no doubt that on these plains it would thrive much better; but the soil on the Victoria is of too fertile a character to bear any co Peninsula

SILK COTTON-TREE

At Reach Hopeless, and at other points of the i we observed numerous specimens of a kind of silk cotton-tree (Boreat as twenty inches; and it not unfrequently rose to the height of twenty or thirty feet, though generally shorter The pods were of an oval shape, and about two inches and a half in length; each pod was in three divisions and full of a silky cotton, with the seeds not iht home a specimen and presented it to Sir William Hooker, of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kehom I have since had some correspondence on the subject He informs me that the plant is one hitherto undescribed; but that Sir Joseph Banks e

Nove fro Reach we noticed that the strea some observations for latitude under Station Peak in the early part of the night, we proceeded further down the river, delighted to escape frohbourhood

EFFECTS OF DRINKING SALT-WATER

November 18

At day-break I was very much distressed and astonished to see one of the men on a sudden start up under the influence of delirium, and attempt to throw hith of three or four of the creith difficulty restrained him He was one of the best men I had with me; his sudden and serious illness had doubtless been produced by the draughts of saltwater which he had sed during the night He had been accustoe in very liberal potations while ere up the river, and nohen froallon per day, he had most foolishly attempted in the dark to quench his thirst with the salt waters of the advancing tide In the afternoon we rejoined the shi+p, and he was placed under the care of Mr Bynoe; but it was some time before he fully recovered from the effects of his rash experi 105 degrees in the shade, and there was no wind We were cordially greeted by our shi+pmates upon our return, and both Mr

Forsyth and ht's rest in our hae after the hot stones upon which we had generally been co our exploration We had both suffered much inconvenience froans, necessarily exposed and undefended as they had been ere occupied during the observations and in viewing the strange scenes of the last eighteen days The irritation upon the lids produced a copious discharge, which fairly sealed theht; so that, at last, in order to have them ready for immediate use, I found it requisite to sleep with a wet linen cloth covering each eye

We heard with great satisfaction that Lieutenant Emery's search for water had been co in the valley, abreast of which the shi+p was anchored During our absence the baroht being always at noon There had been several sharp squalls fro at north-east, with a feers of rain North-west, or seabreezes, were regular near the changes of the reater duration No meteors were observed since the 16th, but between the 7th and 11th they were very numerous

GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS

Noveical specimens: the sandstone which prevailed everywhere was in a decomposed state, but there was a very decided dip in the strata to the south-east, of about 30 degrees On the east side of Water Valley, I found the same kind of slate, noticed before at Curiosity Peak: but what most interested me was a bituminous substance found near the botto, and 23 feet froround It was apparently of a clayey nature when first brought up, but becanited quickly when put into the flame of a candle The sides of Water Valley were very precipitous, and nearly 300 feet high: a growth of palms marked the spot, and served to indicate our wells We here saw also the same fruit I had noticed on Curiosity Peak

BIRD'S PLAYHOUSE

I found s with their ends stuck into the ground, which was strewed over with shells, and their tops brought together so as to for, 1 1/2 foot wide at either end It was not untilbut some Australian mother's toy to ao and see the bird's playhouse, when I inised the same kind of construction I had seen at the Victoria River: the bird was a a shell alternately froh the archway in its ured in Mr Gould's work as Chla full to-day we noticed that the tides were very strong: particularly the flood-stream, which came in bores, and sometimes swept by the shi+p at the rate of 6 1/2 knots, while the ebb did not exceed 4 1/2: the greatest rise also to-day was 24 feet