at the bright green appearance of strips of land, which look in the distance like swamps.  On approaching some of them, we found that there had been a considerable fall of rain in some places, which had raised a fine crop of grass and portulac [Footnote:  Portulaca oleracea.  L.] wherever the soil was of a sandy and light nature; but the amount of moisture had been insufficient to affect the hard clayey ground which constitutes the main portion of the plain.  The sight of two native companions feeding here, added greatly to the encouraging prospects; they are the only specimens of that bird that I remember to have seen on that side of the Darling.

7th January, 1861.—­We started at half-past four A.M. without water, thinking that we might safely rely on this creek for one day’s journey.  We, however, found the line of timber soon began to look small; at three miles the channel contained only a few pools of surface water.  We continued across the plains on a due north course, frequently crossing small watercourses, which had been filled by the rain, but were fast drying up.  Here and there, as we proceeded, dense lines of timber on our right showed that the creek came from the east of north; at a distance of thirteen miles we turned to the north-north-east towards a fine line of timber.  We found a creek of considerable dimensions, that had only two or three small water-holes, but as there was more than sufficient for us, and very little feed for the beasts anywhere else, we camped.  I should have liked this camp to have been in a more prominent and easily recognizable position, as it happens to be almost exactly on the tropic of Capricorn.  The tremendous gale of wind that we had in the evening and night prevented me from taking a latitude observation, whereas I had some good ones at the last camp and at Camp 87.  My reckoning cannot be far out.  I found, on taking out my instruments, that one of the spare thermometers was broken, and the glass of my aneroid barometer cracked; the latter I believe not otherwise injured.  This was done by the camel having taken it into his head to roll while the pack was on his back.

Tuesday, 8th January, 1861.—­Started at a quarter past five A.M. with a load of water, determined to be independent of all creeks and watercourses.  At a mile and a half, found surface water in a small creek, and at a mile farther, water in two or three places on the open plains.  The country we crossed for the first ten miles consists of fine open plains of firm argillaceous soils, too stiff and hard to be affected by the small quantity of rain that has fallen as yet.  They are subject to inundations from the overflow of a number of small creeks, which intersect them in a direction east-north-east to west-south-west.  Nearly all the creeks are lined with box trees and shrubs in a tolerably healthy state; of the remains of dead trees there is only a fair proportion to the living ones.  After traversing a plain of greater