nd a fine
sandy bed, containing detached pools of water surrounded by Polygonum,
and extremely boggy. My horse stuck in the mud, and it was with great
difficulty that I extricated him.

As our meal bags were empty, and no sign of game appeared, I decided upon
selecting a good open camping place, for the purpose of killing our last
little steer. The country was a fine open grassy forest land, in which
the apple-gum prevailed, and with many swampy grassy lagoons covered with
white, blue, and pink Nymphaeas. The box tree grew in their immediate
neighbourhood.

In the bed of the Van Diemen we saw some well constructed huts of the
natives; they were made of branches arched over in the form of a
bird-cage, and thatched with grass and the bark of the drooping tea-tree.
The place where we encamped had been frequently used by the natives for
the same purpose. Our attention was particularly attracted by a large
heap of chaff, from which the natives appeared to have taken the seeds.
This grass was, however, very different from the panicum, of the seeds of
which the natives of the Gwyder River make a sort of bread; and which
there forms the principal food of the little Betshiregah (Melopsittacus
undulatus, GOULD).

The night was calm, clear, and cold.

The kites became most daring and impudent. Yesterday, I cleaned the fat
gizzard of a bustard to grill it on the embers, and the idea of the fat
dainty bit made my mouth water. But alas! whilst holding it in my hand, a
kite pounced down and carried it off, pursued by a dozen of his comrades,
eager to seize the booty.

We killed our little steer in the afternoon of the 10th, and the next day
we cut the meat into slices, and hung it out on a kangaroo net: the wind
was high, the sun warm, and our meat dried most perfectly. Whilst we were
in the midst of our work, some natives made their appearance. I held out
a branch as a sign of peace, when they ventured up to hold a parley,
though evidently with great suspicion. They were rather small, and the
tall ones were slim and lightly built. They examined Brown's hat, and
expressed a great desire to keep it. In order to make them a present, I
went to the tents to fetch some broken pieces of iron; and whilst I was
away, Brown, wishing to surprise them, mounted his horse, and commenced
trotting, which frightened them so much, that they ran away, and did not
come again. One of them had a singular weapon, neatly made, and
consisting of a long