Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/67

 well defined outline against the illuminated sky Around us, and down the steep slopes of the range we were upon, the dazzling whiteness of the branches, and upper parts of the trunks of the huge black-butt trees, and the grassy slopes bathed in mellow moonlight, formed a strong contrast to the pitchy darkness of the glen and the mountains opposite. The weather being beautifully serene, and there being no musquitos, ticks, or other noxious insects on the mountains, I enjoyed an unbroken invigorating sleep until daylight.

March 13th.—This morning we descended from the range, and watered our horses in the Odalberree river. We saw a number of fish in the waters of this clear pebbly stream, being of that kind vulgarly called in the colony, "fresh-water herrings." We next crossed the range bounding the Nambucca, some miles lower down than we had done before, and after crossing one of the Nambucca streams, we stopped for the night on a high range. Our supply of provisions was almost expended, as I did not calculate on having so many blacks in my train; we had only a small quantity of flour and a piece of cheese left, so I had taken the opportunity, before we left the range, on which we had passed the preceding night, to shoot a number of parrots, which had alighted in swarms on the black-butt trees. This evening we broiled them on the embers, and I now intimated to the Nambucca blacks that they must leave us next morning, as I could not