Country between Moreton Bay and Port Essington. 83 
the valleys of the rivers and the sides of the mountains were 
covered with extensive scrubs principally composed of a species 
of acacia, which has received the name of bricklow from the 
squatters, between the Severn and the Condamine. This shrub or 
small tree has a foliage of greyish green colour, and grows so close 
that it is impossible, or only with the greatest difficulty, that a 
man on horseback can make his way through it. Along the hills 
which bounded Palm-tree Creek and the Dawson, at their junc¬ 
tion, this scrub surrounded the Downs (frequently several miles in 
extent), which were rendered extremely pleasing, not only on 
account of the open view which they allowed to the eye, tired of 
the uniform density of the scrub, but also on account of small 
copses of bricklow, fusanus, and Bauhinia, which were pictu¬ 
resquely scattered over them, and which often clustered round 
stately bottle-trees, the shady retreat of numerous kangaroos and 
wallobis. These downs and plains were covered with various 
grasses and herbs; but the vervain, a wiry plant, prevailed to 
such a degree on many of them, that I called those Vervain Plains. 
Whenever the grey dense barrier of the bricklow met our eyes, 
either in travelling across an open forest or following down the 
banks of rivers, it was a disheartening dismal sight; but never 
was the extent of misery so apparent as when we stood on one 
of the steep gullies at the north-west side of Expedition Range, 
and looked over a valley almost boundless to the eye, which was 
filled with one almost uninterrupted sea of scrub. 
This country was, however, not devoid of some redeeming cha¬ 
racteristics, which were hailed with the greater delight, inasmuch 
as they formed a pleasing contrast with the inhospitable character 
of the surrounding scrub. The upper part of the Dawson, Palm- 
tree Creek, with its swampy Lakes, its fine flats, and noble palm- 
trees, part of Robinson’s Creek, the Creek of Ruined Castles, and 
the country south-east of Expedition Range, will be remembered 
by the members of the party as so many places of rest and enjoy¬ 
ment, on which our hopes brightened and our energies revived. 
Though the banks of the Mackenzie, so far as we travelled along 
it, partook of the scrubby character of the country, I have reason 
to believe that the scrub ceased a little lower down, and its large 
g 2 
