88 A NEW CUCUMBER. [CH. IV. 



From west, I at length bent our course north-west, and 

 finally northward, thus arriving on the banks of the Gwydir, 

 after a journey of fifteen miles. But here, the river was so 

 much altered in its character, that we could never have been 

 induced by mere appearance, to believe this stream was the 

 same river, which we came upon, about a degree further to 

 the eastward. The banks were low and water-worn, the 

 southern or left bank being in general the steepest, its height 

 about 14 feet, the breadth vv^as insignificant, not more than 

 12 or 14 feet; the current slow but constant; and the water 

 of a M'hitish colour. I at first supposed, it might be only a 

 branch of the river, we had seen alcove, until I ascertained, 

 by sending JMr. White to examine it upwards, and a man 

 on horseback downwards, that it preserved the same atte- 

 nuated character in both directions. The course appeared 

 to be very tortuous, and it flowed through a soft absorbent 

 soil, in which no rock of any kind could be seen. In the 

 rich soil near the water, we found a species of cucumber of 

 about the size of a plum, the flower being of a purple colour. 

 In taste it resembled a cucumber, but that it was also very 

 bitter. Mr. White and I peppered it, and washed the slices 

 with vinegar, and then chewed it, but neither of us had the 

 courage to swallow it. The character of the spiders was 

 very strange ; and it seemed as if we had arrived in a new 

 world of entomology. They resembled an enamelled deco- 

 ration, the body consisting of a hard shelly coat of dark blue 

 colour, symmetrically spotted with white, and it was nearly 

 circular, being armed with six sharp projecting points.* The 

 latitude of this camp was 29° 28' W S. 



The general course of the Gwydir, ajjpeared to be nearly 

 westward, between the first and last points thus ascertained 

 by us ; and this direction being also in continuation of the 

 river seen so much further to the eastward by Mr. Cunning- 

 ham, wo could entertain no doubt as to the identity. Tlie 



* An undescribed species of Caneriform Mpeira, belonging to the subgenus 

 Gasteracantha of M. Ilahn. 



