634 NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



as " Sinclair Creek," some 8 miles north-west of where Mr. Embley 

 saw the last of the river (at its nearest to the Gulf) towards the end 

 of 1885. 



Again, I believe that what the Jardine Brothers called " Sinclair 

 Creek" is about 12 miles north-east of what is called" Sinclair 

 Creek " on the 4-mile map. 



The historical importance of the location of the Brothers' 

 route would justify a survey of the Kendall River, de facto, from 

 where Mr. Embley left off down to the sea, by whatever channel 

 or channels. A survey from the coast up could not be recommended. 

 It would be very unsatisfactory when dealing with a coastal plain 

 which is a delta common to numerous anastomosing river mouths. 

 R. L. J.] 



" From the falls on the Kendall River, we travelled north-easterly across a Desert 

 Sandstone tableland timbered with bloodwood and teatree and poorly grassed. [SEE 

 MAPS D AND C.] It is from this tableland, or belt of country, that the Kendall gets its 

 generous supply of water, as all the little creeks in the locality were running strongly, 

 whilst the river channel to the eastward of the tableland is very dry. The beds of these 

 running or ' spring ' creeks consist of a whitish or grey sandstone, and I have noticed 

 in other parts of the Peninsula that this particular kind of sandstone is generally associated 

 with, or is the mother rock of, the so-called ' desert ' country, and is full of creeks 

 having a permanent flow of very clear water. 



"After travelling about 14 or 15 miles to the north-east, we reached the eastern 

 escarpment of the tableland a precipitous fall of about 250 feet, the loose masses 

 of sandstone making the descent very difficult. The well-grassed valley (of a stream 

 which is a tributary of the Coen) into which we descended was very welcome on 

 account of the condition of our horses. It was sparsely timbered with box, gum and 

 mimosa, and the soil was a rich dark brown. 



" This class of country extends from the point we had now reached to a few miles 

 north of the Batavia River, or from lat. 14 to lat. 12 20' (about no miles), with its 

 greatest width of about 50 miles in lat. 13, and tapering down towards its northern 

 and southern ends. The area contains patches of inferior country, principally sandy 

 forest on pebbly conglomerate and ridges of sandstone. The country has a thick 

 growth of grass, but the usually prolonged wet season, followed by heavy dews, 

 causes rankness. The practice of graziers is to burn the grass early in June, and as 

 the dews generally last until early in August, a second growth (or ' burnt feed,' as 

 it is called) is assured. This is good feed for stock until the thunder-storms set in 

 very often in October. 



" We continued our north-easterly course, over good country, and about 10 miles 

 from the escarpment struck a recent dray track, which we subsequently learned was 

 made by MASSY BROTHERS, of LALLA ROOKH, who were then forming an out-station 

 which they named ROKEBY, situated a few miles westward of where we cut the track. 

 This out-station is now known as ' OLD ROKEBY,' the brothers having formed ANOTHER 

 ROKEBY STATION (now their head station) on the SOUTH COEN RIVER, about 10 miles 

 further north. 



" We were now within a few days' march of good living, and as it was observed that 

 the dray had returned to the east, we followed its track practically up the COEN 

 RIVER to the then deserted Coen diggings, about 9 miles south-east of which we 

 reached LALLA ROOKH STATION. 



" Clarke went on to Cooktown, and afterwards to New Guinea. He died in New 

 Zealand. 



"The Archer, Batavia and Mitchell Rivers, with their tributaries, engaged my 



