NONDESCRIPT TREE AND FRUIT.
Among the trees growing along the margin of this lagoon were several which were new to me; particularly one which bore clusters of a fruit resembling a small russet apple and about an inch in diameter. The skin was rough, the pulp of a rich crimson colour not unlike that of the prickly-pear, and it had an agreeable acid flavour. This pulp covered a large rough stone containing several seeds, and it was evidently eaten by the natives as great numbers of the bare stones lay about. The foliage of the tree very much resembled the white cedar of the colonists, and milk exuded from the stalk or leaves when broken.
NONDESCRIPT FRUIT FROM SNODGRASS LAGOON.
Natural size of the fruit.
A great variety of ducks and other waterfowl covered this fine piece of water. We made the latitude of the camp 29 degrees 49 minutes South, the longitude 149 degrees 28 minutes East.
January 15.
The country to the northward seemed so low and the course of the Gwydir, amid so many lagoons, so doubtful that I considered it advisable to ride in that direction before we ventured to advance with our carts. I therefore set out this morning accompanied by Mr. White in the direction already mentioned, of 20 degrees west of north--so that, in returning, the cone of Mount Riddell might guide us to the camp without any necessity for continuing the use of the compass, which occasions much delay. In such cases a hill, a star, or the unerring skill of a native, is very convenient as obviating the necessity for repeatedly observing the compass, in returning through pathless woods towards any point which might easily be missed without such precautions.
PLAINS OF RICH SOIL, BEAUTIFULLY WOODED.
We found in the course of a ride of twenty miles from the camp a much better country for travelling over than that in the immediate vicinity of the lagoon. We crossed, at eleven miles, a line of ponds in a deep channel whereof the bank seemed the highest ground; and beyond them was a rich plain with a few clumps of trees; where the grass also was remarkably good. At twenty miles, the length of our ride, we fell in with a second chain of ponds, beyond which we saw another plain. We were delighted with the prospect of so favourable a country for extending our journey, and not less so with the apparent turn of the Gwydir, as indicated by its non-appearance in our ride thus far. It was obvious that the more this river turned northward the greater would be the probability that it might lead to a channel unconnected with that of the Darling--and terminate in some still greater water, or open out a field of useful discovery.