Jan. 16.—­On returning, we found our party encamped about four miles lower down the river than where I had left them.  I then removed them to a more convenient spot about two miles still lower down (lat. 23 degrees 21 minutes 30 seconds).  Just at the moment we were preparing to shoot the bullock, we heard the cooee of a native, and in a short time two men were seen approaching and apparently desirous of having a parley.  Accordingly, I went up to them; the elder, a well made man, had his left front tooth out, whilst the younger had all his teeth perfect; he was of a muscular and powerful figure, but, like the generality of Australian aborigines, had rather slender bones; he had a splendid pair of moustachios, but his beard was thin.  They spoke a language entirely different from that of the natives of Darling Downs, but “yarrai” still meant water.  Charley, who conversed with them for some time, told me that they had informed him, as well as he could understand, that the Mackenzie flowed to the north-east.  Brown found an empty seed-vessel of the Nelumbium, in their camp.  At sunset we killed our bullock, and during the 17th and 18th occupied ourselves in cutting up the meat, drying it in the sun, frying the fat, preparing the hide, and greasing our harness.  Charley, in riding after the horses, came to some fine lagoons, which were surrounded by a deep green belt of Nelumbiums.  This plant grows, with a simple tap root, in the deep soft mud, bearing one large peltate leaf on a leaf stalk, about eight feet high, and from twelve to eighteen inches in diameter, the flower-stalk being of the same length or even longer, crowned with a pink flower resembling that of a Nymphaea, but much larger:  its seed-vessel is a large cone, with perpendicular holes in its cellular tissue, containing seeds, about three quarters of an inch in length.  We found the following shells in the river, viz.; two species of Melania, a Paludina, the lanceolate Limnaea, a cone-shaped Physa (?), a Cyclas with longitudinal ribs, and the Unio before described.  Murphy shot an Ostioglossum, a Malacopterygious fish, about three feet long, with very large scales, each scale having a pink spot.  We afterwards found this fish in the waters flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria; both on its eastern and western sides:  and, according to the natives of Port Essington, to whom I showed the dried specimen, it is also found in the permanent water-holes of the Cobourg peninsula.

Jan. 18.—­Leaving my party to complete the process of drying and packing the charqui, I started with my two black companions to examine the country to the north-west.  After passing the gullies in the immediate neighbourhood of the river, we came to sandstone ridges covered with an almost impenetrable scrub; chiefly composed of stiff and prickly shrubs, many of them dead, with dry branches filling the intervals.  As no grass grew on the poor soil, the bush-fires—­those scavengers of the forest—­are unable to