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The Melaleuca gum was very frequent in the stringy-bark forest: the Cypress-pine formed either small thickets or occurred scattered. Sterculia, which at the time was particularly valuable to us, was rare. Red ironstone cropped out every where, and formed large shallow basins, surrounded by tea-tree thickets; like those swamps I have mentioned on several occasions.
At two miles came upon another large creek, having a running stream to the south of west, and coming from the north of east. Timber, melaleuca, palm, and gum, with some of other descriptions. This I have named the Katherine, in honour of the second daughter of James Chambers, Esquire.
It was still sandy and full of the graceful weeping melaleuca in the bed, where traces of alligators were observed. The country traversed throughout the day was good, but the small plains and flats were thought likely to be swampy in wet weather. Another good stage of 26 miles was made, and the party again camped on the river. The general course was due west. 'September' 10.
At five miles we observed a new melaleuca, similar to the one I had remarked when to the north with Joseph, growing on the skirts of the flats, but the shrubs for the most part consisted of hakea and mimosae with geum and many other minor plants. For a time the ridges were smooth on their sides, and a quantity of young green grass was springing up on them.
The country that I have travelled over to-day is of the very finest description, rich black alluvial soil, completely matted with grass, the water most excellent and abundant. The timber, gum and melaleuca, a few of the trees resembling the shea-oak also; a few of the fan palms growing among the springs, very tall, upwards of forty feet; the cabbage palm, and a number of other bushes.
During the whole of these three days we travelled over undulating open land, wooded pretty thickly with stringy-bark, box, and apple-gum, interspersed with occasional sandy flats, producing a broad-leafed Melaleuca, and a pretty species of Grevillea, with pinnatifid, silvery leaves. Neither the Melaleuca nor the Grevillea grew more than twenty feet high.
The cypress-pine, several species of Melaleuca, and a fine Ironbark, with broad lanceolate, but not cordate, glaucous leaves, and very dark bark, formed the forest. An arborescent Acacia, in dense thickets, intercepted our course several times. Bronze-winged pigeons were very numerous, but exceedingly shy.
At 18 miles they struck an ana-branch having some fine lagoons in it, and half-a-mile further on a river 100 yards wide, waterless, and the channels filled up with melaleuca and grevillea; this, though not answering to Leichhardt's description, they supposed to be an ana-branch of the Lynd; its course was north-west.
The country along the Mitchell was an immense uninterrupted flat with a very clayey soil, on which the following plants were frequent: viz. Grevillea, Cerotaphylla, and Mimosoides, a Melaleuca with broad lanceolate leaves, Spathodea and a Balfouria, R. Br.
Starting in a northerly direction, we passed over some rocky ground, but soon entered into a sandy level, covered with scrubby, stringy-bark forest, intermixed with Melaleuca gum. At the distance of four miles I came to a rocky creek going to the westward, which I followed.
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