one mile to Gregory’s River, where we formed our seventh camp.  The river is here a quarter of a mile wide, running strong in two channels.  It is uncrossable for horses, and the intervening parts are crowded with fine large weeping tea-trees, large Leichhardt-trees, tall cabbage-palm, pandanus, and other trees.  It is the finest and greenest-looking inland river I have seen in Australia, and the country it runs through consists of rich-soiled plains, just sufficiently wooded for pastoral purposes.  Since we left the depot we have not seen any country on which sheep would not do well, excepting during the wettest and driest seasons.  In country such as this it is a singular fact that sheep do better, on the whole, in a wet season than on ridgy country.  With one exception, where the soil was clayey, the country we have seen on this river is of the very richest description.  At present it is parched up, with the exception of a few patches of young grass near the river.  In many places the old grass is three feet high.  Notwithstanding the parched state of the grass, the horses have done well upon it, indeed they could not look better if they had been corn-fed.

Sunday November 24.  Camp Number 8.

We rested ourselves and the horses.  Mr. Alison made a traverse table of our course and found that we had made 55 miles south and 25 miles west from Post Office Camp, near the junction of the Barkly with the Albert River, and the latitude 18 degrees 45 minutes.  The sun is too vertical for taking it with my sextant and artificial horizon.  We were rather late in making observations of the sun, and we only got one sight of it, which was made by myself.  I brought it to a point within 180 yards of me on the level bank of the river, which altitude made our latitude 18 degrees 57 minutes.  Thermometer showed 90 degrees at 7 a.m. and 103 degrees at noon.  We got a fine potful of cabbage-tree sprouts, which eat like asparagus.

Monday November 25.  Camp Number 8.  Situated on the Gregory River.

From this camp we started at 8 a.m., but had almost immediately to halt for ten minutes to adjust a pack on a riding-saddle.  The other packsaddles were constructed on Gregory’s principle, and required less adjusting.  At 8.45 made one mile and a quarter south by west along the bank of the river.  At 9 made one mile and a half south-west by south.  At 9.16 made half a mile further along the river in the same direction to outlet of creek, which is probably what I have been calling Macadam Creek (or River).  At 9.23 made a quarter of a mile still further along the bank of the river in the same direction, at which place hills were in sight a short distance from our course.  Fisherman and I started for the hills, bearing 231 1/2 degrees, and in two miles we reached the hill, and from the top of it we saw ranges from 67 to 328 degrees; but none of them were remarkable.  The hill we ascended was rocky and barren.  Having taken observations of these hills, Fisherman and I