HATICUAL.N'JSiUt/’. 
from Moreton Bay to Port Essington. 21 
along it, the 4th—9th December, 1844, the grass was all burnt, 
and the country looked bleak, with some few exceptions of old 
burnings, which were covered with luxuriant grass. The creek 
has very little water. 
I turned round a range at the left of Zamia Creek. Its two 
most conspicuous mountains we had seen a long time ago. The 
one, a sharp peak, covered with scrub, I called “ Aldis’s Peak.” 
The other, dome-shaped, I called “ Mount Nicholson.” They 
are excellent land-marks, and must be seen for a great distance 
from the north-east. Their latitude is about 24 deg. 52 min. 
30 sec. The range to which they belong I called the “ Expe¬ 
dition Range.” 
Travelling along its east side, I crossed several creeks, the 
largest of which I called “ Expedition Creek.” Palm-trees were 
again frequent. Another creek, which, from the abundance of 
erytlirina trees, 1 called “ Ervtlirina Creek,” was amply supplied 
with fine reedy water-holes. The country is openly timbered and 
well grassed ; but I fear that all these creeks get very dry as they 
leave the mountains. 
I crossed the range. The passage is very difficult. The stock 
of the range is basaltic. The spurs and subordinate ranges are 
sandstone. The basaltic part is openly timbered, arborescent 
zamias very frequent. The sandstone spurs are covered with scrub 
and underwood, peculiar to this description of country. From 
the north-west side of this range a view opens over a large valley, 
bounded to the west and north-west by distant ranges, which I 
called “ the Christmas Ranges.” It is almost entirely filled with 
scrub, the extent of which was well calculated to try a man’s 
courage. Some few plains were visible, and isolated hills rose in 
different directions out of this sea of scrub. The water-courses, 
very different from those of the other side of the range, were dry 
near the range, but contained fine water-holes within the scrub. 
[Latitude 24 deg. 45 min. to lat. 24 deg. 26 min.] I followed a 
water-course through the scrub in a north-north-east direction, 
and came to open box flats and openly-timbered basaltic ridges, 
which, however, soon changed again with scrub. The creek led 
me to a small river, lined with fine casuarinas and flooded gum. 
