fresh green feed on each side, the grass having been burned shortly
before, and now growing up again.

October 20.

We passed over a piece of stiff ground about two miles in extent, which
appeared to have been the scene of a devastating hurricane. It was
covered with fallen timber, which rendered it very difficult to cross.
The wind must have swept from the south-west to the north-east, and from
the appearance of the saplings which were growing from the stumps of some
of the trees which had been broken, this terrific storm appeared to have
taken place about two years ago. Not a tree had been left standing in the
part where we crossed, nor could we tell how far the devastation had
extended to the south-west; but the ground to the north and east being
swampy, and covered only with small Melaleucas and Banksias, the wind had
not taken much effect. Many of the trees in the middle of the fallen
timber measured two feet in diameter. Some were torn up by the roots, and
the trunks of others were snapped off at various heights from the ground.
The latitude of our camp here was 13 degrees 35 minutes South.

October 21.

We killed another of our horses to-day, as he was too weak to stand.

October 22.

We got our meat well dried to-day, and having smoked it a little, packed
it as before. Our stock of flour was now reduced to two hundred pounds
weight, and many of the men growing very weak, we were obliged to
increase our weekly ration a little. Three of the party, Douglas, Taylor,
and Costigan, were suffering from diarrhoea, in consequence of having
eaten too freely of the pandanus fruit. Their spirits began to fail them,
and they frequently complained despairingly to Mr. Kennedy that they
should never be able to reach Cape York. Although our horses were so very
weak, these men were obliged to ride, being quite unable to walk far at a
time. The country before us was very mountainous, but between the hills
we found plenty of grass and water: to the south the whole country
appeared to be on fire.

October 23 to 25.

We travelled during these days over a rocky mountainous country,
interspersed with deep gullies and creeks, fringed with belts of scrub.
In these scrubs I saw the white-apple and the crimson scitamineous plant
seen near Rockingham Bay; scattered over the country were a few cedar
trees and Moreton Bay chestnuts, and some very fine timber trees
belonging to the natural order Myrtaceae, upwards of sixty feet high