rs have all distinguishing characteristics,
which they seem to possess from their sources to their termination. That
we had just quitted, had a great affection, like its upper tributary, for
brigalow scrubs, and spreading into ana-branches. This last discovered
river seemed quite the reverse of all this. Its channel was very uniform;
the banks being covered with open forests and good grass. The bed was
sandy, but contained water in abundance, so that I hoped it would lead us
to higher regions, by following it upwards, to where other waters might
fall in the direction of the Gulf. This river contained the Harlequin
fish of the Maranin great abundance. Yet we had found none of these in
the river to which this was a tributary, but, on the contrary, two other
sorts. There was much novelty in the trees and plants. One tree in
particular, growing in the bed of the river, had the thin white shining
bark of the tea-tree (mimosa), and drooping leaves shaped like those of
the eucalyptus; a HIBISCUS allied to, if not the same, with II. LINDLEYI,
but not in flower; a CASSIA, perhaps C. CORONILLOIDES in ripe fruit, or
at least closely allied to it, occupied the dry sandy ground with
MONENTELES REDOLENS, a silveryheaded weed; and some Cinchonad allied to
Coffea, with young fruit, the size of small olives. Latitude, 22 deg. 23'
10". Thermometer, at sunrise, 21 deg.; at noon, 59 deg.; at 4 P.M., 64 deg.; at 9,
37 deg.; with wet bulb, 28 deg.. (LXVI.)

4TH AUGUST.--We had still so much westing to make, in order to hit the
head of the Gulf, that I was disposed to follow up the new river in any
direction that did not take us much to the S. The river, however, was
soon found to come from the S.W. and S., so that I was obliged to cross
it. I then travelled W. through open forest three miles, which brought us
to undulating ground. I then turned to the W.N.W., and proceeded over
ground equally open and favourable for the passage of our carts. At
length, a hard ferruginous conglomerate rock, projected from the surface,
and clumps of thick brigalow grew on some of the summits. On one piece of
rising ground, I found a mass of rocks, a few feet higher than the rest,
and from it I perceived a continuation of the slightly elevated
flattopped range, to the southward and westward. A somewhat higher but
similar sort of range appeared in the east, beyond a very broad and level
woody country, through which it was probable that our first-found river
still