COASTS OF AUSTRALIA. 
101 
range of hills extending from E.b.S. to S. 27° E. isis. 
In all other directions the eye wandered over a May 6. 
dreary, low, and uninterruptedly flat country; 
which, in most parts, is covered with an arundi- 
naceous grass. 
The mangrove bushes on the banks of the 
river, which was quite salt, were crowded 
with the nests of an egret, # in which the young 
birds were nearly fledged. Hawks, wild ducks, 
pelicans, and pigeons, were also abundant, and 
an immense flight of white cockatoos hovered 
over the mangroves, and quite disturbed the air 
with their hideous screamings. A small black 
water-bird, about the size of a pigeon, with a 
white neck and a black ring round it, was ob- 
served, but not near enough to enable us to as- 
certain its species. On our course up and down 
the river we encountered several very large alli- 
gators, and some were noticed sleeping on the 
mud. This was the first time we had seen these 
animals, excepting that at Goulburn Island, and, 
as they appeared to be very numerous and large, 
it was not thought safe to stop all night up the 
river, which we must have done had we remained 
for the next flood-tide. 
No inhabitants were seen, but the fires, that 
were burning in all directions, proved that they 
could not be far off. 
