f the Acacia
pendula, and we traversed it in the most elongated direction or to the
south-west. On entering the wood beyond a sudden, extreme pain in my
thigh made me shout before I was aware of the cause. A large insect had
fastened upon me, and on looking back I perceived Souter, The Doctor,
defending himself from several insects of the same kind.* He told me that
I had passed near a tree from which their nest was suspended; and it
appeared that this had been sufficient to provoke the attack of these
saucy insects, who were provided with the largest stings I had ever seen.
The pain I felt was extreme, and the effect so permanent that when I
alighted in the evening from my horse on that leg, not thinking of the
circumstance, I fell to the ground, the muscles having been generally
affected. The wound was marked by a blue circular spot as large as a
sixpence for several months.

(*Footnote. Genus, Vespa; subgenus, Abispa; species, Abispa australiana
(mihi). Head, antennae, and feet yellow; eyes black; the scutellum of
prothorax yellow; the scutum of mesothorax black, with the scutellum
yellow; the scutum of metathorax yellow, with the scutellum black, and
the axillae yellow. The wings yellow, with dusky tips. The first segment
of abdomen has the petiole black. The second segment is black, and the
rest yellow.)

Beyond the wood a magnificent sheet of water lay before us and extended
like a noble river in a north and south direction. Keeping its eastern
bank I traced it southwards until I reached the termination, or rather an
interval, where some rocks occurred in its bed, of the same kind as those
last mentioned. The produce of gradual decomposition lay around the rocks
and seemed to prove that although these masses had been originally
denuded by the current which formed the channel, the current had not
flowed there for a very considerable time. We encamped between the two
lagoons, separated by this interval and these rocks, in latitude 29
degrees 27 minutes 27 seconds South.

February 4.

We continued along the bank of the second lagoon which, turning towards
the east, threatened to stop our progress. At length however we arrived
at the termination of the water, and passing over the soft mud we
proceeded southward to look for the Gwydir, which I knew could not then
be far distant. We rode through groves of casuarinae, and over small
plains and burnt flats. In one of the thickets we saw two small
kangaroos, the first