Jan. 8.—­I moved my camp about eight miles to the northward, and halted at a fine water-hole in a scrub creek joining Comet Creek.  A pretty little diver was amusing himself on the water.  The country is very rich in game.  Kangaroos and wallabies are very frequent; several brush turkeys were seen, and the partridge and bronze-winged pigeons are very plentiful.  Our latitude was 23 degrees 51 minutes.

Jan. 9.—­In travelling down to the water-hole, where we had met the Blackfellow and his family, we kept a little too much to the westward, in hope of finding a more open country; instead, however, of an improvement, we encountered sandy hills covered with a dense low scrub and cypress-pine.  The latter almost invariably grows on the slight sandstone elevations in a scrubby country.  After surmounting many difficulties, we came upon a broad scrub creek, in the dry bed of which we travelled down to Comet Creek, which we followed, and at last reached our intended camping place.  Our cattle and luggage had suffered severely, and we devoted the next day to sundry repairs.  The weather was very hot:  the night clear.  Our latitude was 23 degrees 41 minutes 14 seconds.

Jan. 10.—­To prevent unnecessary loss of time by my reconnoitring excursions, and to render them less fatiguing to myself, I arranged that both the blacks should go with me, in order that I might send one back from the first favourable camping place, to bring the party on, whilst I continued to explore the country with the other.  Under this arrangement, therefore, I went forward, and, following the creek, it was found to sweep to the eastward, round a high plain of rich black soil, and covered with luxuriant vegetation.  This plain is basaltic, but, in the valley of the creek, sandstone crops out below it.  The slopes from the plain to the creek are steep, and torn by deep gullies, which made travelling very fatiguing.  As the creek again turned to the west and north-west, the water-holes increased both in size and number, although the flats within the valley were limited and intersected by watercourses.  I sent Charley back when we were about seven miles N.W. by N. from our camp, and proceeded with Brown down the creek, which, at about four miles farther, to my inexpressible delight, joined a river coming from the west and north-west, and flowing to the east and north-east.  It was not, however, running, but formed a chain of small lakes, from two to three and even eight miles in length, and frequently from fifty to one hundred yards broad, offering to our view the finest succession of large sheets of water we had seen since leaving the Brisbane.  Its course continued through a very deep and winding valley, bounded by high but generally level land.  The gullies going down to the river were generally covered with a belt of thick scrub, as was also the high land nearest to it; but, farther off, the country appeared to be more open, plains alternating with open forest