We encamped about two miles from the foot of a mountain bearing about N.E. from us; I called it Mount McConnel, after Fred. McConnel, Esq., who had most kindly contributed to my expedition.  The Suttor winds round its western base, and, at four or five miles beyond it, in a northerly direction, and in latitude 20 degrees 37 minutes 13 seconds joins a river, the bed of which, at the junction, is fully a mile broad.  Narrow and uninterrupted belts of small trees were growing within the bed of the latter, and separated broad masses of sand, through which a stream ten yards broad and from two to three feet deep, was meandering; but which at times swells into large sheets of water, occasionally occupying the whole width of the river.  Charley reported that he had seen some black swans, and large flights of ducks and pelicans.  This was the most northern point at which the black swan was observed on our expedition.

CHAPTER VII

The Burdekin—­transition from the depository to the primitive rocks—­Thacker’s range—­wild figs—­geological remarks—­the Clarke—­the Perry.

As this place afforded every convenience for killing and curing another bullock, we remained here for that purpose from the 29th March to the 2nd of April.  The weather was favourable for our operations, and I took two sets of lunar observations, the first of which gave me longitude 146 degrees 1 minutes, and the second, 145 degrees 58 minutes.  The mornings were generally either cloudless, or with small cumuli, which increased as the day advanced, but disappeared at sunset; the wind was, as far as I could judge, northerly, north-easterly, and easterly.

April 2.—­The Suttor was reported by Charley to be joined by so many gullies and small creeks, running into it from the high lands, which would render travelling along its banks extremely difficult, that I passed to the east side of Mount McConnel, and reached by that route the junction of the Suttor with the newly discovered river, which I called the Burdekin, in acknowledgment of the liberal assistance which I received from Mrs. Burdekin of Sidney, in the outfit of my expedition.  The course of this river is to the east by south; and I thought that it would most probably enter the sea in the neighbourhood of Cape Upstart.  Flood marks, from fifteen to eighteen feet above the banks, showed that an immense body of water occasionally sweeps down its wide channel.

I did not ascend Mount McConnel, but it seemed to be composed of a species of domite.  On the subordinate hills I observed sienite.  The bed of the river furnished quite a collection of primitive rocks:  there were pebbles of quartz, white, red, and grey; of granite; of sienite; of felspathic porphyry, hornblende, and quartz-porphyry; and of slate-rock.

The morning was cloudless.  In the afternoon, heavy cumuli, which dissolved towards sunset; a strong wind from the north and north by east.