CHAPTER IV.
SWARMS OF COCKATOOS--ALLOWANCE OF FLOUR FURTHER REDUCED--NATIVE FAMILY--THE MACKENZIE--COAL--NATIVES SPEAKING A DIFFERENT IDIOM--MOUNT STEWART--BROWN AND MYSELF MISS THE WAY BACK TO THE CAMP--FIND OUR PARTY AGAIN, ON THE FOURTH DAY--NEUMAN'S CREEK--ROPER'S PEAK--CALVERT'S PEAK--GILBERT'S DOME--GREAT WANT OF WATER.
Jan.

1, 1845 .-- After a ride of about four miles down the creek, we came to a deep hole of good water, that had been filled by the late thunder-storms, the traces of which, however, had disappeared every where else.

I found a red Passion flower, with three-lobed leaves, the lobes rounded: it was twining round the trunk of a gum tree, and rooted in a light sandy alluvial soil.

A new species of Bauhinia, with large white blossoms, growing in small groves, or scattered in the scrub, particularly near the creeks, was conspicuous for its elegance, and was the greatest ornament of this part of the country.

It is a tree about twenty-five feet high, with long drooping branches; the foliage is of a rich green colour, and affords a fine shade.