Dec. 13.—­At day break, an old man, whom Nyuall introduced to us as Commandant, came with his gin, and invited us to his camp, about two miles off.  We went to it with the intention of continuing our journey, and found a great number of women and children collected in very spacious huts or sheds, probably with the intention of seeing us pass.  They had a domestic dog, which seemed very ferocious.  A little farther on, we came to a small creek, with good water-holes, and our guides wished us to stop; but, when I told them that we were desirous of reaching Balanda as soon as possible, and added to my promise of giving them a blanket and a tomahawk, that of a pint pot, Gnarrangan and Cabaret again volunteered, and pursuaded a third, of the name of Malarang, to join them.  For some miles, we followed a beaten foot-path, which skirted the large plain, and then entered the forest, which was composed of rusty-gum, leguminous Ironbark, Cochlospermum gossypium, and a small apocynaceous tree (Balfouria, Br.); we crossed several salt-water creeks which went down to Van Diemen’s Gulf.  The country near these creeks, was more undulating, the soil sandy and mixed with small ironstone pebbles; fine tea-tree flats with excellent grass, on which the buffaloes fed, were frequent.  Along the plain, small clusters of brush protruded into it from the forest, or covered low mounts of sea shells, mixed with a black soil.  Amongst these copses, the tracks of buffaloes were very numerous.

We travelled about ten miles north-west by north, and encamped at a small pool of water in a creek, in which the clayey ironstone cropped out.  Its water was so impregnated with the astringent properties of the gum-trees, that Mr. Phillips boiled and drank it like tea.  Before arriving at this creek, we had a thunder-storm, with heavy rain, from the northward.  After pitching our tents, our guides went out, and returned with a small Iguana (Vergar), and with pods of the rose-coloured Sterculia, which they roasted on the coals.  I succeeded in saving a great part of our meat by smoking it.

Our horses were greatly distressed by large horse-flies, and every now and then the poor brutes would come and stand in the smoke of our fires to rid themselves of their persevering tormentors.  This want of rest during the night contributed very much to their increasing weakness; though most of them were severely galled besides, which was prevented only in two by the most careful attention, and daily washing of their backs.  On this stage we again passed one of those oven-like huts of the natives, thatched with grass, which I have mentioned several times, and which Nyuall’s tribe called “Corambal.”  At the place where we encamped, the ruins of a very large hut were still visible, which indicated that the natives had profited by their long intercourse with the Malays and Europeans, in the construction of their habitations.