coast better
than the Monarch, I went on with the schooner to examine the entrance of
the river. Ascending the Victoria to Blunder Bay, found that the locality
was not suited for landing horses, and therefore returned to Treachery
Bay, near which Mr. H.C. Gregory had discovered abundance of grass and
water under Providence Hill of Captain Stokes; commenced landing the
horses on the 18th; but, in consequence of the strong tides and extensive
mangrove flats, great difficulties were encountered, the horses having to
swim more than two miles from the vessel to the shore, and were so
exhausted that three were drowned, one lost in the mud and mangroves, and
one went mad and rushed into the bush and was lost. Having transferred
the stores to the Tom Tough, on the 24th the Monarch sailed for
Singapore. Mr. Wilson was instructed to proceed in the schooner up the
Victoria River, and to establish a camp at the highest convenient
position on the bank of the river, while I proceeded overland with Mr. H.
Gregory, Dr. Mueller, and seven of the men, hoping, by easy journeys of
eight to ten miles per day, to give the horses time to partially recover
the effects of the voyage.

MACADAM RANGE. RUNNING STREAM OF FRESH WATER.

1st October, 1855.

Accompanied by Mr. H. Gregory, I left the camp to search for a
practicable route by which we could cross the MacAdam range; but, after
proceeding about a mile, shot an emu, with which we returned to camp, and
again started at 7.10 a.m., pursuing a south-east course, crossed a stony
ridge, and at 8.0 a.m. came on a creek about twenty yards wide, with good
pools of water and a grassy margin, but the country generally barren and
stony. After several ineffectual attempts, we ascended the hills to the
south-east of the creek, and traversed a very broken country of sandstone
formation till 11.0 a.m., when we reached the head of a creek trending to
the southward; this was followed down till 1.0 p.m. when we halted an
hour, and again proceeded till 4.30 p.m., the country being very poor and
rising into rocky hills on both banks of the creek; we then entered a
wide grassy flat destitute of trees, extending six miles north to south,
and fifteen miles east to west; on the south side there appeared to be a
creek or river, which we supposed to be the Fitzmaurice River. This plain
was bounded on all sides by steep rocky hills of sandstone of barren
aspect. Returned up the creek till 6.0 p.m. and halted for th