Proceeding On Our Journey, We Travelled About Nine
Miles W.N.W. Over A Box Flat, With Stiff Soil And Melon-Holes; After A
Few Miles, It Changed Into An Open Silver-Leaved Ironbark Forest, With
Lighter Soil.
About six miles from our last camp, we came upon a fine
creek (with Casuarinas and palm-trees), flowing from the mountains on a
north-easterly course; and, about three miles further, to the W.N.W., we
came to another creek, and numerous palm-trees growing near it.
Following
up the latter, we found a fine water-hole surrounded by reeds, and which
is probably fed by a spring. The forest was well grassed; and a small
Acacia, about fifteen or twenty feet high, with light green bipinnate
leaves (from which exuded an amber-coloured eatable gum), formed groves
and thickets within it. A Capparis, a small stunted tree, was in fruit:
this fruit is about one inch long and three-quarters of an inch broad,
pear-shaped and smooth, with some irregular prominent lines. Capparis
Mitchelii has a downy fruit, and is common in the scrubs. A small
trailing Capparis, also with oblong eatable fruit, was first observed on
a hill near Ruined Castle Creek, in lat. 25 degrees 10 minutes: we met
with it frequently afterwards. We were encamped in the shade of a fine
Erythrina; and the Corypha-palm, Tristania, the flooded-gum, the
silver-leaved Ironbark, Tripetelus, and a species of Croton, grew around
us. A species of Hypochaeris and of Sonchus, were greedily eaten by our
horses; the large Xeranthemum grew on the slopes, among high tufts of
kangaroo grass.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 73 of 524
Words from 19560 to 19833
of 141354
