MISSIONARY EXPLORATIONS 691 



have a long course, as the Ward River runs parallel to, and only 

 7 miles east of, the coast-line. 



Having arrived at these conclusions, I wrote to the Surveyor- 

 General's Office asking if the coast-line between Pera Head and the 

 mouth of Ina Creek (12 55' to 13 12' S. lat.) had been exhaustively 

 examined for inlets or water-courses, with the result that I was 

 supplied with a SKETCH-MAP forwarded by the REV. A. RICHTER, 

 of the Aurukun Mission Station, in 1913. The latest issue of 

 the 4-mile Sheet 2oD (1908) showed nothing between Pera Head 

 and Ina Creek except the mouth of a small unnamed water-course 

 in 12 59' S., and this water-course was shown on Mr. Richter's 

 sketch-map and named Norman Creek. 



I wrote to Mr. Richter (ist November, 1918) asking if he had 

 any further information on this part of the coast. The reply 

 (5th February, 1919) came from MR. NICHOLAS HEY, who informed 

 me that Mr. Richter had left the mission in 1913 : Mr. Richter's 

 map was compiled from information supplied by Mr. Hey, and was 

 correct except in two particulars : (i) that the water-course in 

 12 59' cannot be called a creek, but is only a runnel of fresh water 

 during the wet season ; (2) between this runnel and Ina Creek, 

 the only creek is one which enters the Gulf in 13 4' S., to which 

 it is proposed to apply the name of NORMAN CREEK. He adds 

 that pigweed is abundant in the neighbourhood and is known to 

 and eaten by the natives. 



This information finally settles the question of the position of 

 the " Perots " COEN RIVER. It has long ago been proved that the 

 " Coen," now the " South Coen " River of the goldfield, is a tribu- 

 tary or branch of the Archer River. Flinders's identification of the 

 " Perots " Coen with the inlet now known as the Pennef ather River 

 is even further astray. 



The runnel of fresh water in 12 59' S. referred to by Mr. Hey 

 must be the " Perots " WATERING-PLACE of 9th May, 1623. It is 

 thus further described by Mr. Embley in a letter to me dated loth 

 August, 1916 : " The waterplaets is at Pera Head. These head- 

 lands are about 80 feet high in this locality and consist of soft reddish 

 and whitish sandstone. The red is most conspicuous as being 

 uppermost and gives rise to the expression ' low reddish cliffs ' 

 (see Admiralty Chart, corrected to 1896, and 4- mile map, 1908). 

 After the wet season (April and May), small soakages of fresh water 

 may be noticed oozing out from the base, and it is this which must 

 have given rise to the waterplaets." 



In addition to the Coen River, Mr. Richter's map, as corrected 

 by Mr. Hey, shows the fresh-water heads of the HEY RIVER, the 

 WARD RIVER and its tributaries, tributaries of Mr. Embley's 

 KOKIALAH CREEK (itself a tributary of the Watson River) and the 

 numerous salt-water channels at the mouth of the ARCHER. 



