oil, but with little grass, meeting frequently
with salt lagoons, surrounded by various salsolaceous plants. Near the
edge of a saltwater creek we found a native camp, composed of about seven
or eight huts, curiously and neatly built of a conical form; all very
nearly of the same size, about five and a half feet in diameter at the
base, and six and a half feet high. They were made by placing saplings in
the ground in a slanting position, which were tied together at the top
and woven inside like wickerwork, with strips of small bamboo canes. The
whole was then covered with palm leaves, over which was a coating of
tea-tree bark, very neatly fastened by strips of cane. They were
substantially built, and would no doubt keep out the wet effectually.
They seemed to be occupied by the natives only in the rainy season, as,
from their appearance, they had not been inhabited for some time. I
entered one of them through a small arched opening of about twenty inches
or two feet high, and found three or four nets, made with thin strips of
cane, about five feet long, with an opening of about eight inches in
diameter at one end, getting gradually smaller for about four feet, where
there was a small opening into a large round sort of basket. These nets
were laid by the natives in narrow channels to catch fish, as well as in
the tracks of small animals, such as rats and bandicoots, for the purpose
of trapping them. There were also some pieces of glass bottle in the hut,
carefully wrapped in bark and placed in a very neat basket, made in the
shape of a lady's reticule. The glass is used by the natives in marking
themselves: all of them being scarred on the arms and breast, while some
were marked on the cheeks and forehead.

In the camp we thus discovered were small stone ovens, similar to those
we had found in the camp at Rockingham Bay, as well as one with a large
flat stone raised six or eight inches from the ground, and a fireplace of
loose stones beneath. Near to one of the tents was a large stone hollowed
out in the middle, and two or three round pebbles for pounding dried
seeds, etc.

October 7 and 8.

Flat sandy ground, with occasional patches of scrub, composed of bushy
Melaleucas, Hibiscus, Banksia, and several rambling plants, with a few
large palms scattered in places; there was not much grass, except at
intervals.

October 9.

This morning we came to a river, running into Princess Charlotte's Bay,
in latitude 14 degrees