grassed; the soil a red loam.  At 2.0 p.m. came on a small river with a dry sandy bed eighty yards wide; following it down to the south found a small pool of water in a hollow in the sand; here we halted till 3.30, and then followed the river south-west, south-east, south-west, west, and south; at 6.10 ascended a hill on the left hand, from which we saw that the river turned west and north-west, breaking through the hills and joining the Gilbert River.  Having ascertained that we were still on a western watercourse, we bivouacked near the river without water.

3rd October.

At daybreak steered north-west, crossing several rocky ridges of hills, and at 2.0 p.m. reached the camp.  Nothing of importance had occurred during our absence; the horses had improved by the two days’ rest.

4th October.

At 7.15 a.m. left the camp, and, following an average east-south-east course for seven hours, reached the pools found on the 2nd, in the upper branch of the Gilbert River, and encamped.  As this route nearly coincided with that on the 2nd, nothing was seen worthy of farther notice.

Latitude by a Cygni 18 degrees 47 minutes 54 seconds.

5th October.

At 6.45 a.m. left the camp and followed up the river in an east-north-east direction for three miles; water was abundant in the gullies owing to a heavy shower some days previous.  Beyond three miles the water ceased and the country was dry and parched.  Low hills of schist trap and granite formed a country near the river, and farther back high ranges bounded the valley; they appeared to be flat-topped and with horizontal strata of sandstone on the summits.  At noon the river had divided into several small branches, and the character of the country did not promise the existence of water within the space of a day’s journey; we returned down the river to the last water we had seen, and camped about three miles north-east of our last camp.  As there was little prospect of finding water again till the range to the east of our present position was crossed, I decided on reconnoitring the country before moving the party farther, and as the weather promised to continue fine, the horse Monkey was shot and skinned preparatory to drying the meat during my absence.

6th October.

At 6.5 a.m. left the camp with Mr. H. Gregory, steering nearly east, crossed the south branch of the river, and reached the base of the higher range at 9.30; here we found a small spring a quarter of a mile south of a remarkable hill formed of a single mass of bare rock completely honeycombed by the action of the atmosphere; ascended the range, which consisted of porphyry with horizontal sandstone on the summit; we continued our east course over rocky hills with dry watercourses trending north; the grass was very thin and dry; and the country was openly wooded with acacia, eucalypti, cypress, etc., none of which attained a large size; at 1.30 p.m. halted to rest the horses, and searching