630 



NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



keep fires lighted all day for the sake of the horses, to prevent them tearing themselves 

 to pieces. The howling gusts and heavy rain, coming from the Gulf of Carpentaria, 

 were something terrible. I never put in such a miserable time before, and would be 

 sorry to be out there for another wet season. On my return from the Coen, I had 

 two narrow escapes from SPEARS, one grazing my shoulder and another dropping between 

 my legs." 



[A paragraph in the Cooktown Courier mentions the RETURN of 

 LAING AND STEWART on 6th A^ril, 1880, the former " suffering 

 from fever and the fatigue consequent on a very arduous trip." 



Long after Laing's expedition, alluvial GOLD was worked on 

 IRVINE and BEETLE CREEKS. For several years after his return to 

 Cooktown, he continued to be heard of as an energetic prospector, 

 but I am not aware that he published any reports. About 1888 

 he was one of the earliest visitors to the newly discovered tin-field 

 of Mount Windsor. 1 R. L. ].] 



1 Mineral Resources of the Cook District, by James Dick. Port Douglas Printing Co., 

 1910, p. 15. 



