Oct. 5.—­We followed the chain of lagoons for about seven miles, in a west by south direction; the country to our right was most beautiful, presenting detached Bricklow groves, with the Myal, and with the Vitex in full bloom, surrounded by lawns of the richest grass and herbage; the partridge pigeon (Geophaps scripta) abounded in the Acacia groves; the note of the Wonga Wonga (Leucosarcia picata, Gould.) was heard; and ducks and two pelicans were seen on the lagoons.  Blackfellows had been here a short time ago:  large unio shells were abundant; the bones of the codfish, and the shield of the fresh-water turtle, showed that they did not want food.  A small orange tree, about 5-8 minutes high, grows either socially or scattered in the open scrub, and a leafless shrub, belonging to the Santalaceae, grows in oblong detached low thickets.  Chenopodiaceous plants are always frequent where the Myal grows.  The latitude of our camp was 26 degrees 56 minutes 11 seconds.

Oct. 6.—­Was fully occupied with mending our packsaddles and straps, broken by the bullocks in throwing off their loads.

Oct. 7.—­In following the chain of lagoons to the westward, we came, after a few miles travelling, to the Condamine, which flows to the north-west:  it has a broad, very irregular bed, and was, at the time, well provided with water—­a sluggish stream, of a yellowish muddy colour, occasionally accompanied by reeds.  We passed several gullies and a creek from the northward, slightly running.

The forest on the right side of the river was tolerably open, though patches of Myal scrub several times exposed us to great inconvenience; the left bank of the Condamine, as much as we could see of it, was a fine well grassed open forest.  Conglomerate and sandstone cropped out in several sections.  Mosquitoes and sandflies were very trouble-some.  I found a species of snail nearly resembling Succinea, in the fissures of the bark of the Myal, on the Box, and in the moist grass.  The muscle-shells are of immense size.  The well-known tracks of Blackfellows are everywhere visible; such as trees recently stripped of their bark, the swellings of the apple-tree cut off to make vessels for carrying water, honey cut out, and fresh steps cut in the trees to climb for opossums.  Our latitude was 26 degrees 49 minutes.  The thermometer was 41 1/2 at sunrise; but in the shade, between 12 and 2 o’clock, it stood at 80 degrees, and the heat was very great, though a gentle breeze and passing clouds mitigated the power of the scorching sun.

Oct. 8.—­During the night, we had a tremendous thunder-storm, with much thunder and lightning from the west.  The river was very winding, so that we did not advance more than 7 or 8 miles W.N.W.; the Bricklow scrub compelled us frequently to travel upon the flood-bed of the river.  Fine grassy forest-land intervened between the Bricklow and Myal scrubs; the latter is always more open than the former, and the