Some old trunks, bent with age, showed black against the verdant grass which covered the ground.

Crowds of brilliant cockatoos screamed among the branches, moving prisms, hopping from one bough to another.
The settlers instead of going directly to the north bank of the lake, made a circuit round the edge of the plateau, so as to join the mouth of the creek on its left bank.

It was a detour of more than a mile and a half.

Walking was easy, for the trees widely spread, left a considerable space between them.

The fertile zone evidently stopped at this point, and vegetation would be less vigorous in the part between the course of the Creek and the Mercy.
Cyrus Harding and his companions walked over this new ground with great care.