heads.

WELL AT PORT DARWIN.

The slow progress made in watering, from the soft nature of the soil in
the bottom of the well, lengthened our stay considerably in Port Darwin.
The water oozed through the sides, beginning to do so at a depth of
twenty-five feet. The strata cut through varied considerably, in part
consisting of ironstone mixed with a white kind of marl or pipeclay, for
eight feet, then sandstone of a reddish colour and in a state of
decomposition, with a darker kind of marl, in which were small bits of
mica, for a depth of sixteen feet, the remaining portion of two or three
being a sandy mud, apparently of the consistency of clay and of a light
grey colour. The position of this well is in a small valley at the east
end of the first sandy bay within Point Emery, in the centre of which the
observations were made, placing it in latitude 12 degrees 27 minutes 45
seconds, longitude 1 degree 19 minutes 40 seconds, East of Port
Essington.

On this beach several unsuccessful hauls were made with the seine, though
a few rare and curious fish were taken, which Lieutenant Emery added to
his collection of coloured drawings of Australian fish; some of them will
be found in the appendix to this volume. Mr. Bynoe also obtained
specimens of one or two rare birds; the large red-necked vampire of the
Adelaide River, and the cream-coloured pigeon before alluded to, were
also seen by him, being the farthest south the latter was met with by us.

BRILLIANT METEORS.

Some brilliant meteors were observed during our stay, one in particular