The nights were usually dewy, in consequence of the moist sea breeze, which blew almost the whole day from east and E. N. E., and set in frequently as early as 9 or 10 o’clock.  The morning, from about 7 o’clock till the sea breeze set in, was exceedingly hot; but, before sunrise, it was most delightful; the myriads of flies which crowded round us during the day, and the mosquitoes which annoyed us after sunset, were then benumbed; and although the sun rose with the full intensity of its heat, it was not so inconvenient in the early morn as to induce us to look for shade.  Not a breath was stirring; and the notes of the laughing jackass and some few small birds, alone showed that there were other beings enjoying the beauty of this august solitude.

Oct. 12.—­We proceeded three or four miles up the creek, and found a crossing at a fishing place of the natives; in an old camping place near this fishery, I saw a long funnel-shaped fish trap, made of the flexible stem of Flagellaria.  Hence we travelled about north-west by west, towards a fine mountain range, which yesterday bore W. N. W. After six miles of undulating scrubby country, and broad-leaved tea-tree forest, we arrived at a creek with a fine pool of water, which, notwithstanding its Nymphaeas, Charas, and Typhas, was slightly brackish and bitter.  Limnaea, and two species of Melania, were found in it; the one species, with a long sharp spire, had been found in a reedy brook, at the upper Burdekin.  Limmen Bight river was not half a mile from our camp; and I now hoped that we should soon be out of the system of salt-water creeks joining it from the southward.

Our lat. was 15 degrees 13 minutes (?) and longitude, according to reckoning, 135 degrees 30 minutes.  We had left the stiff grasses of the coast, and the pasture was fast improving.  John Murphy shot the Torres Straits pigeon (Carpophaga luctuosa, Gould) which we had once before observed; but it was exceedingly shy and rare, and only seen in pairs.

Oct. 13.—­We travelled about sixteen miles to the southward, to lat. 15 degrees 29 minutes 10 seconds, following the river, and heading several salt water creeks, which prolonged our journey very much.  Stony hills and ranges frequently approached the river, and rendered our travelling difficult and fatiguing.  They were composed of baked sandstone, and white and blue indurated clay, the strata of which dipped at a very small angle to the southward, and the strike from east to west.  The flats between the ranges, and along the river and creeks, were openly timbered and well grassed; and, at the head of a salt-water creek, we found deep ponds of constant water covered with Nymphaeas, and surrounded with Typhas and drooping tea-trees.  Towards the end of the stage, where the high rocky hills formed deep declivities into the river, we had to ascend them, and to travel along their summits.  A good sized creek joined the river at their southern slopes, which, though salt below,