under us in wading across. It is so
deep that it is not fordable except at the bars between the waterholes,
where it runs rapid. Its bed is full of large trees, among which I
observed gum, Leichhardt, tea, and cabbage-palm-trees. Along the edge of
the water it has a fringe of pandanus. Among the trees in the second bed
by the river there is coarse grass and other herbs. If we had seen the
country under more favourable circumstances, a short time after rain had
fallen instead of now, when the grass is dry and withered, I should have
called it most beautiful country; for, with the exception of a few barren
ranges the soil is very rich and clothed with the best of grasses. The
trees upon it are chiefly bauhinia, and stunted box and gumtrees, without
ironbark.

Wednesday November 27. Camp Number 10, situated on the banks of the
Gregory River.

Ginger, the old black horse, was missing until eleven o'clock, when the
troopers reported that they had found him in the river drowned, and
floating down with the stream. I had the horses brought down on the
previous evening to the only watering-place which was safe, but as they
were watered a few hours before they did not all of them drink so soon
again. From camp we crossed a bad gully and from it made a fair start at
11.52, having made at that place half a mile south-west by south. The
river is at this place closely confined on both sides by stony ranges; a
few drops of rain fell on us in that pass. At 12.40 p.m. made two miles
west to a small dry watercourse from the north, which is full of pandanus
at its mouth. The ranges on the left bank had on them dykes like
artificial ones, which run at different places across the hills. At 1
p.m. we made three-quarters of a mile in the same direction south to
another dry small creek from the north. At 1.14 we made half a mile west
by south to rapids with a fall of at least three feet, where the river
was still closely confined on both sides. At 1.45 made a mile south-west
to a small basaltic hill, opposite what appeared the junction of a larger
river from the west-south-west. As the crossing-place was bad in this
river the troopers and I crossed to look at the large watercourse; it was
running and so full of pandanus that we could not see it well. It might
be only another channel of the Gregory River. It has the broadest bed but
has not so much running water in it. The basaltic hill rose too close to
the river to let us pass so we had to g