192 Notes on the 



and pass over four or five well watered creeks that fall into 

 it. Here, we first observed a branching pandanus ; and first 

 came upon " devil devil" flats. There is an old, and a more 

 recent, description of this singular surface ; the former being 

 furthest from the sea. It is evidently produced by some 

 kind of worm which builds flat-topped hillocks upon the ori- 

 ginal surface. An experienced horse can generally step from 

 one to another ; but what annoys both horse and rider, is the 

 circumstance that the old variety is generally covered with 

 rich strong grass, rendering the uneven surface invisible. 



Crossing a range of porphyry, and a fine running creek fur- 

 ther north, winding between lofty hills of porphyry, and over 

 some fine undulating grassy country, we passed over several 

 tidal rivers on bars of rock. At the distance of about ten 

 miles from Sea View Hill, hills and ranges of porphyry ap- 

 proach the coast. For three or four miles the country is 

 very hilly and perfectly -worthless. Grass trees and zamia 

 trees are numerous; the latter bearing a fruit which seems to 

 be much eaten by the blacks. A hill, remarkable for having 

 its western side almost vertical, and which is distant from 

 Prospect Hill about twenty miles, bearing N. 7° "W., I 

 named Mount Upright. 



About eight miles N.N.W. from the latter hill, we passed 

 an isolated hill of granite, naming it Druid's Mount. The 

 country is here well grassed and watered ; and six miles fur- 

 ther, having crossed a fine large running creek, we passed 

 the angle where the coast range approaches nearest to the 

 coast. There is in this neighbourhood some fine well watered 

 cattle country, but there is a good deal of "devil devil" land, 

 which, although considered excellent for cattle, must be con- 

 sidered as inferior to a sound level country. 



From the hill at this angle, the coast range trends greatly 

 to the N.W., gradually leaving the coast. Four miles beyond 

 we came to a fine large shady creek. We found here ripe 

 figs (Oct. 10th) on fine large shady trees, with polished 

 leaves. In this variety of fig, the second we had noticed, 

 Australia fully sustains her claims to singularity. The figs, 

 which are about the size of a loquat, are yellow when ripe, 

 and possess a fragrant smell and agreeable taste, and grow 

 in bunches like grapes ; strange to say, not attached to the 

 leafy branches, but to any portion of the naked branch or 

 the naked trunk, even to the root. But what is even more 

 strange, every ripe fig is inhabited by small clear black flies, 

 like winged ants, but with long tails, consisting of a single 



