These plains, which had some patches of open forest land, were, at the request of my companion, Mr.Calvert, named "Albinia Downs." To the north-west, the mountain with the hummock lay close before us, throwing out subordinate spurs to the westward.

In riding to the most northerly end of it, I fell in with a small water-course, which led me to a large creek coming from the south-west and west-south-west, with fine Casuarinas fringing its banks and forming a dark tortuous line amongst the light green foliage of the trees on the neighbouring flats.

About six miles lower down, it was joined by the scrub creek on which we were encamped.
The sandy bed of the creek was entirely dry, and we must have encamped without water after a long and fatiguing ride, had not a heavy thunder-shower supplied us; we caught the rain in our pannikins as it dropt from our extended blankets.
The thunder-storm had passed, and the sun had set, when Brown, my blackfellow, suddenly threw back the blanket under which we sat, and pointed out to me a fine comet in a small clear spot of the western sky.
I afterwards learned that this comet had been observed as early as the 1st December; but our constant travelling in level forest land had prevented us from seeing it before.

The creek received the appropriate name of "Comet Creek." Dec.

29 .-- Following the creek down, we found water in chains of ponds, and watercourses coming from a belt of scrub occupying the ground between the creek and the mountains.