Towards the river, now to the west of our course, peaks, razor-backed hills, and tents, similar to those we had observed when travelling at the west side of the river on the 3rd December (and probably the same), reappeared.  To the east of the mountain, towards which we were travelling, several bluff mountains appeared, which probably bounded the valley of a river flowing to the northward, and disemboguing between the Liverpool and Mount Morris Bay.  For the last five miles of the stage, our route lay through forest land; and we crossed two creeks going to the east, and then came to rocky sandstone hills, with horizontal stratification, at the foot of which we met with a rocky creek, in the bed of which, after following it for a few miles, we found water.  The supply was small; but we enlarged it with the spade, and obtained a sufficient supply for the night.  A thunder-storm formed to the northward, which drew off to the westward; but another to the north-east gave us a fine shower, and added to the contents of our water-hole.  A well-beaten foot-path of the natives went down the creek to the south-east.  My latitude, according to an observation of Castor, was 12 degrees 11 minutes.

We saw the Torres Strait pigeon; a Wallooroo and a red kangaroo (Osphranter Antilopinus, Gould).  The old camps of the natives, which we passed in the forest, were strewed with the shells of goose eggs, which showed what an important article these birds formed in the culinary department of the natives; and, whilst their meat and eggs served them for food, their feathers afforded them a protection against the flies which swarmed round their bodies during the day.

The arborescent Vitex with ternate leaves, which I had first met with at the Flying-Fox Creek of the Roper, was also observed here.

At this time we were all sadly distressed with boils, and with a prickly heat; early lancing of the former saved much pain:  the cuts and sores on the hands festered quickly; but this depended much more on the want of cleanliness than any thing else.  A most dangerous enemy grew up amongst us in the irresistible impatience to come to the end of our journey; and I cannot help considering it a great blessing that we did not meet with natives who knew the settlement of Port Essington at an earlier part of our journey, or I am afraid we should have been exposed to the greatest misery, if not destruction, by an inconsiderate, thoughtless desire of pushing onward.

Dec. 8.—­I went to the westward, to avoid the rocky ground, and if possible to come into the valley of the East Alligator River, if the country should not open and allow me a passage to the northward, which direction I took whenever the nature of the country permitted.  After crossing the heads of several easterly creeks, we came upon a large foot-path of the natives, which I determined to follow.  It was, in all probability, the same which went down the creek on which we had encamped last night: