Northern District of Queensland. 197 



markable rangebefore mentioned. The steep end bore S. 25° E. 

 It is, therefore, about thirty-five or forty miles distant from 

 the Mackenzie. 



We went forty or fifty miles above this open plain. 

 Beaches of water, many miles in length, and one hundred 

 yards in width, are interrupted by bars of sandstone rock. 

 Such are the only crossing places, and generally the only 

 places where stock could drink ; so steep and difficult are the 

 banks. The river flows in a zig-zag course ; several miles 

 east and north alternately, making a general course of north- 

 east. Flood-channels slightly curving away from the river, 

 or followiug a straight course, cut off on each side those 

 great bends. To follow these channels is the only way to 

 travel on the Mackenzie with any degree of comfort, for 

 close upon the river itself scrubs are frequent, and though 

 the banks, sloping from the edge of the high land, are free 

 from scrub, they are cut with numerous deep, steep-sided 

 gullies by waters that have flowed from the level ground 

 above. % 



All the open country does not consist of plains, but 

 of thinly timbered and well grassed long narrow strips, run- 

 ning parallel to the river. Behind are patches or belts of 

 scrub. Further back the land generally rises, and the slopes 

 are strewn with quartz stones, two or three inches in diameter, 

 and exceedingly water-warn. Further back there are some 

 large tracks of open country, with large blocks of sandstone 

 cropping out. The soil consists of loose sand, thinly grassed, 

 and difficult to travel over. 



I felt much interest in observing in a stratum of sandstone 

 an angular piece of beautiful bright coal embedded — proving 

 that this piece of coal is of greater age than the sandstone, 

 and than the seams of coal which that sandstone now over- 

 lies. 



In the scrubs of the Mackenzie we found two kinds of 

 native fruits : the lemon which is mentioned by Dr. Leich- 

 hardt, and an extremely acid fruit, of a rusty purple color, 

 enclosing a large smooth stone; each stone having two 

 kernels so oily that they burn readily when touched with the 

 flame of a candle. This fruit is about the size of a small 

 apple, and grows on a tree from fifteen to twenty-five feet 

 high, with leaves like the mountain ash. Bauhinia trees, 

 with snowy white and purple blossoms, are everywhere 

 abundant on the river banks, and their fragrance embalms 

 the air. The river swarms with fish, and large muscles are 



