fteen yards, with
low muddy shores covered with mangroves, some of which attained the
unusual dimensions of 60 to 80 feet in height, with a circumference at
the base of 6 to 8 feet.

DESCRIPTION OF COUNTRY.

To this succeeded during our upward progress a low bank of red clay
backed by rising ground and tangled brush, with very large trees at
intervals, and others arching over the stream, their branches nearly
touching the water. Gigantic climbers hung down in long festoons passing
from branch to branch, and the more aged trunks supported clumps of ferns
and parasitical plants. Here and there an areca palm shot up its slender
stem surmounted by a cluster of pale-green feathery leaves, or the
attention was arrested for a moment by a magnificent pandanus--its trunk
raised high above the ground by the enormous supporting root-like
shoots--or some graceful tree-fern with dark widely-spreading foliage
exceeding in delicacy the finest lace.

Meanwhile the creek had slightly narrowed, the dead trees in the water
became more frequent and troublesome, and the thickets on the banks
encroached more and more upon the channel so as not to allow room for the
oars to pass, obliging the men to use them as poles. At every turn in the
windings of the stream (still too brackish to be fit to drink) some
beautiful glimpse of jungle scenery presented itself as we passed
upwards--long vistas and stray bursts of sunshine alternating with the
gloomy shadows of the surrounding woods. A deep silence pervaded the
banks of this water never before visited by civilised man. Its monotony
broken only by the occasional brief word of command, the splash of the
oars, or the shrill notes of some passing flights of parrots. The river,
for now it might fairly be called one, retained the same character until
we had gone up about a mile, when further progress was stopped by a ridge
of rocks stretching across from side to side marking the limits of the
tidal influence. Over this the rush of fresh water formed a strong rapid
backed by a deep, sluggish, winding stream, draining a large basin-like
valley bounded behind by the central ridge of the island, the principal
hills of which attain an elevation of from 992 to 1,421 feet, and one,
Mount Rattlesnake, is 2,689 feet in height. At times the body of water
discharged here must be immense, judging from the quantity of driftwood
and other detritus lodged in the trees twelve feet above the present
level of the str