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On reaching the valley I have before mentioned we found a small stream, and following this to the northward for about a mile came out upon one of the most romantic and picturesque-looking estuaries I had yet seen: its shores abounded with springs and were bordered by native paths, whilst the drooping foliage of several large sorts of Casuarina, the number of wild swans on its placid bosom, and the natives fishing in the distance, unconscious of our presence, imparted to the whole scene a quiet and a charm which was deeply felt by those who had now for so many days been either tossed about by the winds and waves or had long been wandering over barren and inhospitable shores.
The paths across the plains, which varied in breadth from three to eight miles, were numerous; but they had not been recently trodden. The creek continued to have a thick brush of casuarina and acacia near it, to the westward of which there was a rising open forest track; the timber upon it being chiefly box, cypress, and the acacia longifolia.
Their destination, however, was at length reached. It was an island with a snug little harbour, in which the boat was perfectly concealed. Here they were able to land and erect a tent, hidden from the sea by a grove of casuarina bushes.
Leaving the creek on our left, to run itself out into some lonely flat or dismal swamp, known only to the wretched inhabitants of this desolate region over which there seems to brood an unutterable stillness and a dread repose we struck into sandhill country, rather open, covered with the triodia or spinifex, and timbered with the casuarina or black oak trees.
After travelling seven miles, in a north-west direction, we came on a dense Myal scrub, skirted by a chain of shallow water-holes. The scrub trending towards, and disappearing in, the S. W.: the Loranthus and the Myal in immense bushes; Casuarina frequent. In the forest, Ranunculus inundatus; Eryngium with terete simple leaves, of which the horses are fond; Prasophyllum elatum, sweetly scented.
The country was not, so to say, scrubby, there being only low bushes and scrubs on the sandhills, and casuarina trees of beautiful outline and appearance in the hollows. When the horses got clear of the stones they began to eat everything they could snatch and bite at. At fifteen miles from the gorge we encamped on a patch of dry grass.
"I followed the Casuarina Creek up to its head, and called it 'Big Ant-Hill Creek, in consequence of numerous gigantic strangely-buttressed structures of the white ant, which I had never seen of such a form, and of so large a size."
Ridges and ranges were seen on both sides, at different distances. The Casuarina became more frequent along the banks of the river. It was rather remarkable that the Moreton Bay ash, which is so abundant along the Burdekin, was altogether wanting at the Clarke. Talc-schiste cropped out in one of the deep creeks.
In the evening we visited the Rajah of Burdwan's palace and pleasure-grounds, where I had the first glimpse of oriental gardening: the roads were generally raised, running through rice fields, now dry and hard, and bordered with trees of Jack, Bamboo, Melia, Casuarina, etc.
The trees, with the exception of the flooded-gum, are of stunted habit; and scrub is here developed ad infinitum. I examined the wood of all the arborescent Proteaceae which I met with, and observed in all of them, with the exception of Persoonia, the great development of the medullary rays, as it exists in several species of Casuarina.
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