ies they
doubtless possess.

We pursued our way up the Mackay River in hopes of finding some
termination to the thick scrub on the opposite bank, so that we might
return to our boat without having to thread its intricate mazes again;
and in this we were successful, finding a break in the jungle an hour
before sunset, which at once admitted us to the plain, through the
centre of which ran the Macalister, and in due course we reached our
camp, where, after having a glorious "bogey" (the Australian term for
bathing) in the river, and overhauling each other well, to see that no
ticks were adhering to our skins, we had supper, and turned in, having
done little good, except finding a road to the Mackay less tedious than
the one we had taken in the morning. The ticks that I mentioned just
now, are little insects no bigger than a pin's head when they first
fasten on to you, but soon become swollen with blood until larger than
a pea. They do no harm to a man besides the unpleasant feeling they
occasion, but they almost invariably kill a dog. Nearly all our dogs
fell victims sooner or later to either the alligator or the tick.

HOW WE EXPLORED THE MACKAY RIVER.

We now determined to carry with us enough tea, sugar, and flour to last
for a week, and to work up towards the unknown country at the head of
the Mackay, leaving the boat in its present position, under the charge
of two men. We intended to push towards the range whence both the
Macalister and the Mackay rivers drew their supply; and as the former
stream in its windings over the open plain approached within a mile of
its large neighbour, we resolved to move the boat a little further up
before starting on our new expedition. By occasionally lightening her,
and dragging her over the shallows, this was accomplished in a couple
of hours, and we finally halted at a bend in the river where the bank
was high enough to shield the boat from all observation, whilst the
scrub bordering the Mackay, standing at less than a quarter of a mile
distant, the men left behind could easily see if any considerable body
of blacks moved between the two streams, and could take the bearings of
all smoke arising from fires in the direction of the coast, so that we
might visit them hereafter, if deemed necessary. The fact of two
rivers, each containing a constant supply of water, being found in such
close proximity to each other, caused much remark, for none of us had
ever observed a simila