37 
from More ton Bay to Port Essinyton. 
quently with two or three heads, the leaves like those of Zamia 
spiralis in the neighbourhood of Sydney, the nuts arranged in two 
parallel lines along an intermediate flat fleshy fruit stalk.) The 
foot-path went from cycas grove to cycas grove. Big wells, six 
to eight feet deep, were dug in a sandy soil, which rested on a 
layer of stiff clay. All these wells were, however, dry, though 
the whole country looked fresh and verdant. About five miles 
from this creek we came to a large salt-water river, equally accom¬ 
panied by cycas groves. A fine foot-path brought us to a large 
well under the bank of the river. An alligator was tracked at 
this well, and porpoises were seen playing in the broad salt-water 
of the river. Iwo miles below the spot where we came to the 
river, it entered into a still bigger one coming from the westward. 
The first became narrow, five miles higher up, where the salt¬ 
water ceased and fresh-water pools commenced. I called this 
“ Cycas Creek,” and the more northerly river “ the Robinson,” 
as a slight sign of gratitude towards P. L. Robinson, Esq., for 
his kind support of our expedition. 
The fruit of the cycas forms the principal food of the natives 
during September. They cut it in slices of the size and thickness 
of a shilling, spread these slices on the ground and dry them, 
soak them for several days in water, and after this pack them 
closely up in sheets of tea-tree bark. Here it undergoes a 
process of fermentation, the deleterious properties of the fruit are 
destroyed, and the mealy substance with a musty flavour remains, 
which the black fellows very probably form into cakes, which they 
bake. The fruit of the pandanus forms another apparently very 
much-liked eatable of the natives. We found heaps of them in 
their camps, and soaking in the water contained in large kooli- 
mans made of stringy bark. I am inclined to believe that they 
are able to obtain a fermented liquor, by soaking the seed vessel 
of the pandanus, and by washing the sweet mealy substance out, 
which is contained in the lower part of the seed vessel between 
its fibres. 
Between the Robinson and the Macarthur (latitude 16 deg. 
5 min. 26sec., longitude 136 deg. 10 min.,) named after Messrs. 
James and William Macarthur, in acknowledgment of their kind 
