412 
SURVEY OF THE 1NTERTROFICAL 
1820 . ever, they contrived to wade through the mud 
Sept. 15. to the shore ; and then explored the bed of the 
river for half a mile beyond where our previous 
examination terminated. 
In this space they passed several pools of 
fresh water which, in some parts, was running 
over a pebbly bottom ; but the supply was so 
trifling as to be not sufficient to alter the taste of 
the sea-water. 
Our gentlemen described the country to be as 
destitute of soil as we had found it lower down ; 
and so rugged as to be scarcely passable. The 
ravine is formed by precipitous rocks of sand- 
stone, rising perpendicularly on both sides to the 
height of two hundred feet, here and there lightly 
sprinkled with a few shrubs, which had lately 
been burnt. 
Some of our party thought they saw both an 
emu and a black swan amongst the bushes on 
the banks of the river. In some parts of the 
north coast we have certainly noticed marks on 
the sand, like the impressions of an emu’s foot, 
but as we have never seen the bird, it is pro- 
bable that we have mistaken them for the traces 
of the ardea anti gone. Black swans we have 
never seen at all within the tropic, and it is 
equally likely that in this instance we may 
have also been deceived by the appearance 
