16th July.
At 7.5 a.m. recommenced our journey, following down the Roper River east and north-east; about a mile below the camp the limestone rocks formed a bar, over which the river ran with a rapid current ten yards wide and two feet deep; the banks became lower and the surface of the country extremely level. The overflows of the river had formed shallow lagoons, in which the nelumbium or gigantic water-lily was first seen. A ridge of low sandstone hills came close to the left bank, and on the right a vast level plain, covered with high grass and reeds, extending two or three miles back. This plain is evidently inundated during the wet season, though the soil was now dry and full of deep cracks. The river divided into several small shallow channels full of reeds, and each with a small stream of water, the deep green of the vegetation along the course of the running water contrasting strongly with the parched vegetation of the other portions of the plain. Clumps of melaleuca occurred at intervals, and at a distance appeared like low hills. At 2.0 p.m. camped at the end of a low basaltic ridge, which approached the bank of the river from the south. A range of flat-topped hills extended to the north-east from the river, about eight miles distant, to the north-west of the camp; they appeared wooded, and 200 to 300 feet high. Bowman rode down a young emu, which supplied us with a meal of fresh meat.
Latitude by a Coronae Borealis 14 degrees 50 minutes 56 seconds.
17th July.
At 7.0 a.m. steered east-south-east, following the bank of the river for a mile, when, to avoid the high grass and reeds, altered the course to south-east till 8.10; then steering 100 degrees magnetic till 9.25, when we camped on a small waterhole, there being abundance of water. The river appears to turn to the north and enter a range of hills, which trends north and south a few miles to the east of our camp. The country traversed this day is all well grassed and thinly timbered with terminalia, box, and silver-leafed ironbark; trap-rock visible in several places, and the soil was a good red loam. The metallic barometer has a second time suddenly deviated from the aneroid barometer, and the form of the vacuum vessel has visibly altered, the construction being too slight to bear the motion of the pack-horse, though one of the steadiest animals had been selected to carry the instruments, and they are always surrounded with blankets.
Latitude by meridian altitude of the sun 14 degrees 53 minutes 16 seconds.
18th July.
As this was a suitable camp for resting the party, and grass was abundant, I rode to the south-east with Mr. H. Gregory to look for a route towards the head of the Wickham River; our course was along a valley between the trap hills to the west and a sandstone range to the east. About eight miles reached a creek trending north-east; its channel was dry and sandy, but after some search found a small pool of water in a side channel; casuarina and flooded-gum trees grew on the banks of the creek, and there was some good grass on the flats, which were limited by sandstone hills densely wooded with acacia of the same species as that seen on the lower part of Sturt's Creek. After an hour's halt at the pool of water we returned to camp.
SILENT NATIVES.
19th July.