hat side,
dropped down to another plain, and at six miles intersected a creek with
a deep broad and grassy bed, but no water. A high row of gum trees marked
its course from a point rather from the southward of east to the
north-north-west. Crossing to the opposite side we ascended another sand
hill by a gradual rise, and again descended to another plain, at the
farther extremity of which we could indistinctly see a dark line of
trees. Arriving at these after a ride of six miles, we were stopped by
another creek. Its banks were too steep for the cart, and we consequently
turned northward and traced it downwards for four miles before we found a
convenient spot at which to halt. The ground along the creek side was of
the most distressing nature; rent to pieces by solar heat, and entangled
with polygonum twisted together. We passed several muddy water-holes, and
at length stopped at a small clear deep pond. The colour of the water, a
light green, at once betrayed its quality; but fortunately for us, though
brackish it was still tolerable, much better than the gritty water we had
passed. There was however but little vegetation in its neighbourhood, the
grass being coarse and wiry. Both on this creek and some others we had
passed, we observed that the graves of the natives were made
longitudinally from north to south, and not as they usually are from east
to west.

The evening we stopped at this place was very fine. We had descended into
the bed of the creek, and Mr. Browne and I were reclining on the ground,
looking at the little pond, in which the bank above was clearly
reflected. On a sudden my companion asked me if I had brought a small
hook with me, as he had taken it into his head that there were fish in
the pond. Being unable to supply his wants, he got a pin, and soon had a
rough kind of apparatus prepared, with which he went to the water; and,
having cast in his bait, almost immediately pulled out a white and
glittering fish, and held it up to me in triumph. I must confess that I
was exceedingly astonished, for the first idea that occurred to my mind
was--How could fish get into so isolated a spot? In the water-holes above
us no animals of the kind could have lived. How then were we to account
for their being where we found them, and for the no less singular
phenomenon of brackish waters in the bed of a fresh water creek? These
were exceedingly puzzling questions to me at the time, but, as the reader
will find, were