5o6 NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



The bed of the river was gravelly on top, with a fine gritty sand 

 below, to which we could find no bottom. Anywhere in the 

 fine sand we could get numerous, but fine, specks of gold in every 

 dish. I regretted exceedingly that time would not permit of 

 prospecting this river thoroughly, as I surmised that PAYABLE GOLD 

 MIGHT BE FOUND in places where it was possible to bottom. 



We ran the river up for a quarter of a mile, and found rapids 

 running over granite bars. The granite had small granules of 

 quartz, small orthoclase felspar crystals, and tin-white mica, and 

 hornblende. Among the bars we got a little RUBY TIN, but no gold. 



We followed up the right bank of the river for 2 miles east- 

 north-east through desert country grasstree, quinine tree, teatree, 

 and spinifex grass (the latter recently burnt). At the end of the 

 2 miles we came on pretty country, with bloodwood, Moreton Bay 

 ash, and oaten-grass. On the left bank some low granite hills came 

 down to the river. In a mile and a half through country of this 

 description we crossed a deep sandy tributary [afterwards named 

 CHRISTMAS CREEK. R. L. J.] falling into the right bank, and 

 continued our course up the river. After 2 miles more across 

 gullies and ridges (the grass still smoking, and bush fires ahead of 

 us, up the valley) we tried the river again, although we could get 

 no bottom. We found much black sand, but no gold. The river 

 here has a magnificent fringe of scrub and palms. 



We then retraced our steps for 3f miles and camped in the 

 good country on the right bank of the (Peach) river. (CAMP 39. 

 Latitude 13 39" 7". Trees marked: broad arrow, J. 16/9/79, 

 and " Peach R.") 



We obtained fine " colours " of GOLD here below granite bars 

 in the river. 



After we had camped, I recrossed the river and ascended the 

 low granite hills on the left bank. I found a wide north-and-south 

 REEF on the top, underlying to the west at 45 degrees. This reef 

 is seamed with longitudinal veins of brownstone. On crushing 

 and washing some of this stuff we obtained a little very fine GOLD 

 DUST. 



September 16. Leaving the Peach River, we struck north-west, 

 and in 5 miles crossed a large, deep, dry, sandy creek between 

 high cement walls, on a granite bottom, falling south-west [after- 

 wards named BEETLE CREEK. R. L. J.]. We prospected the creek, 

 but got no gold. In 3 miles further we came to a deep dry creek 

 of the third magnitude. In half a mile to the north-west this 

 creek falls into a creek of the second magnitude, with a thin stream 

 of water in a sandy bed, coming from the east. I named this 

 IRVINE CREEK [after Mr. Duncan R. Irvine, a former colleague on 

 the Geological Survey of Scotland, now deceased. R. L. J.]. 



In 2 miles more, up a gradual slope to the north-west, we 

 reached a blunt conical hill of granite, about 500 feet above its base, 



