572 NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



never seen them since till we camped here ; they do not even follow 

 our track. There is a small party camped near us here, but we 

 apprehend no danger from them, and we leave to-morrow morning. 



We EXPECT TO REACH SOMERSET in about a month, finding out 

 by the way whether the RICHARDSON RANGE is an exception to the 

 sandstone which we fear will prove to be the rule north of this. 



On the way back it is my intention to prospect the REMAINING 

 POSSIBLY AURIFEROUS COUNTRY, viz., that from the south end of 

 Temple Bay to the south end of Lloyd Bay, which we were unable 

 to reach on account of the rains. I shall also spend some time on 

 the Peach River in its lowest reaches, where the washdirt must 

 all have been carried. Naturally, more time would have been spent 

 there on our way north if we had known how poor the country to 

 the north was to prove. By the time we return we hope that the 

 question of the value of the Cape York Peninsula as a possible 

 mining country will be settled once for all. 



The party is in good health, with the exception of Mr. Mac- 

 donald, who has suffered occasionally from attacks of biliousness 

 and fever. 



ROBERT L. JACK. 

 TEMPLE BAY, 



i6th February, 1880 



