were numerous on the banks, as we entered the plain, and during the day
were to be seen in numbers under the bushes near the water's edge. I
added one to our stock of fresh provisions, which with alligator steaks
and ducks, gave us a good supply to share with the other boats. We named
this part of the river Long Reach, from its carrying us nine miles in a
direct course, with a general width of a quarter of a mile, and a depth
of two and three fathoms. The banks were well defined, in many places
being a low line of cliffs six feet high, presenting to our view several
feet of brown soil, resting on a compact clay. This is the general
character of this extensive plain; and from the small size of the trees,
chiefly white gums, that are thinly scattered over it, we may infer that
it is land of recent formation. Two miles from the end of Long Reach, we
passed a sandy head, where the tide rises from three to ten feet.

(*Footnote. Figured by Mr. Gould, as Tadorna radjah.)

The river now took a south by west direction, for nearly two miles, a
little narrower, but three fathoms deep throughout. Towards the latter
part the banks were fringed with mangroves of a small and singularly even
growth, resembling a clipped garden shrubbery. Our course again changed
to south-east, entering the low range of hills bounding the south-eastern
side of Whirlwind Plains. It was long after dark when we reached so far.
We had passed the watering boats some distance further down on their way
to the ship. Our sudden meeting in the dark on the lonely river, had a
singular and romantic effect. Being anxious to join the gig, we pushed
on, and at midnight were surprised by a loud call from Captain Wickham,
who lay beneath the shadow of a high bank. It was a strange sound, this
English hail, to hear echoed in these wild hills, where only the shrill
cry of the savage had been borne on the blast before!