174 Kennedy's expedition. 



these three days we travelled over undulating" open 

 land^ wooded pretty thickly with stringy-bark^ box, 

 and apple-g'um, 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 Gtrvillea 

 g-rew more than twenty feet hig'h. On the flats we 

 found a great number of ant-hills, remarkable for 

 their heig"ht and size ; they were of various forms, 

 chiefly conical, and some of them rose ten feet high. 

 From the appearance of the ant-hills I should take 

 the sub-soil to be a reddish clay. 



Aug. 2Srd. — We camped by the side of a creek 

 running* to the westward, with rather a broad bed, 

 and steep banks of strong clay. There was no 

 water in the creeks except in holes. 



A tribe of natives, from eighteen to tAventy in 

 number, were seen coming down the creek, each 

 carrying a large bundle of spears. Three of our 

 party left the camp and went towards them, carry- 

 ing in their hands green boughs, and making signs 

 to the blacks to lay down their spears and come to 

 us. After makino- siofnals to them for some minutes, 

 three or four of them laid down their spears and 

 approached us. I went back to the camp and 

 fetched a few fish-hooks, and a tin plate marked 

 with Mr. Kennedy's initials ; having presented 

 them with these they went away and appeared 

 quite fi'iendly. Shortly after we had camped, 

 Goddard and Jackey went out for the purpose of 



