September 13 and 14.

Most part of these days we travelled over a country of stiff soil, covered with iron-bark, and divided at intervals by belts of sandy ground, on which grew Banksias, Callitris, and a very pretty Lophostemon, about twenty feet high, with long narrow lanceolate leaves, and a very round bushy top.  By the side of the small streams running through the flat ground, I saw a curious herbaceous plant, with large pitchers at the end of the leaves, like those of the common pitcher-plant (Nepenthes distillatoria).  It was too late in the season to find flowers, but the flower-stems were about eighteen inches high, and the pitchers would hold about a wine-glass full of water.  This interesting and singular plant very much attracted the attention of all our party.

We here fell in with a camp of natives.  Immediately they saw us they ran away from their camp, leaving behind them some half-cooked food, consisting of the meal of some seeds (most likely Moreton Bay chestnuts) which had been moistened, and laid in small irregular pieces on a flat stone with a small fire beneath it.  We took a part of this baked meal, leaving behind some fish-hooks as payment.  In the camp we also found a considerable quantity of Pandanus fruit, which grows very plentifully here.  Although, however, it is sweet and pleasant to the taste, I found that the natives did not eat largely of it, as it possessed very relaxing qualities, and caused violent headache, with swelling beneath the eyes.

Some narrow belts of land we passed here betrayed indications of having been frequently inundated by fresh water.  The ground was very uneven, full of small hillocks which were hidden by long grass, which caused our weak horses to fall very frequently.

September 15.

This day we had better travelling, the soil becoming a strong greyish loam; the forest land open and free from scrub, the trees principally consisting of iron-bark, box, and the leguminous tree, with bi-pinnate leaves, and dark fissured bark I have before alluded to.  We saw here a great many pigeons of various kinds; Mr. Wall shot one pair of Geophaps plumifera, which he preserved; also a pair of small pigeons of a greyish colour, with red round the eyes, which he considered new.  I also saw a large tree and obtained specimens of it, belonging to the natural order Bignoniaceae, with terminal spikes of yellow flowers, and rough cordate leaves; and a Proteaceous plant with long compound racemes of white flowers, and deeply cut leaves, resembling a tree with true pinnate leaves.  The large-seeded Angophora mentioned by me before, also grew in this district.