138 Kennedy's expedition. 



June 10th, — Mr. Kennedy returned to the camp 

 this evemng'j he still found the swamps were 

 impassable^ the water and mud lying- on them in 

 many parts from three to four feet deep ; there were 

 patches of dry land here and there covered with 

 g'ood but coarse g'rass. 



We saw here larg-e flocks of black and white 

 ducks^ making- a whistling- noise similar to some 

 I have seen near Port Macquarie. Mr. Wall shot 

 three of them^ and they proved very g-ood to eat^ but 

 they were not new^ being' Dendrocugna Eytoni. 



June lltli. — We started early this morning- and 

 proceeded along- the beach for three or four miles^ 

 when we came to another river^ similar in its 

 character to the one we crossed on the 8th^ with low 

 sandy banks^ and dry bushy land on each side. 

 We unloaded and hobbled our horses, and prepared 

 our punt as before. 



Near to this spot we came upon a native encamp- 

 ment, consisting' of eig'hteen or twenty huts of an 

 oval form, about seven feet long-, and four feet 

 hig-h ; and at the southern end of the camp, was one 

 larg-e hut eighteen feet long-, seven feet wide, and 

 fourteen feet hig'h. All of them were neatly and 

 strongly built with small sapling's, stuck in the 

 g-round, arched over, and tied together at the top 

 with small shoots of the climbing- palm Avhich I 

 have already described. They were covered with 

 the bark of the larofe Melaleucas which p-row in the 

 swamps, fastened to the sapling's with palm shoots. 

 A small opening- is left at one end, fi-om the ground 



