us from its immense size and peculiar appearance.  It proved to be a tree of the natural order Capparides, and was thought to be a capparis; the gouty habit of the stem, which was soft and spongy, gave it an appearance of disease:  but as all the specimens, from the youngest plant to the full-grown tree, possessed the same deformed appearance, it was evidently the peculiarity of its habit.  The stem of the largest of these trees measured twenty-nine feet in girth whilst its height did not exceed twenty-five feet.  “It was at this time in the earliest stages of foliation, the extremities of the naked branches appearing green; and one bud that was opened exhibited the character of Folium quinatum."* One of these trees has been introduced in the view of the encampment at Careening Bay.  It bore some resemblance to the adansonia figured in the account of Captain Tuckey’s expedition to the Congo.

(Footnote.  Cunningham manuscripts.)

The only quadruped that was seen upon this excursion was a small opossum which appeared to be the same animal that the colonists at Port Jackson call the native cat:  its colour was light red with small white spots.

The principal object of my investigation was to find an opening in the bottom of the bay communicating with a large sheet of water that we had seen from the hills to the southward; but as we were not successful in finding any it was supposed that its communication with the sea must be to the westward of Cape Brewster.  Mr. Hunter and Mr. Cunningham had previously made an excursion in that direction to the summit of a hill, named by the latter gentleman after Thomas Andrew Knight, Esquire, the President of the Horticultural Society.  From this elevation they had a good view of the water which appeared to be either a strait or an inlet of considerable size; it was subsequently called Rothsay Water.  The country between it and our encampment was very rocky and rugged; but although almost destitute of soil it was sprinkled with some dwarf timber of various descriptions; and, had it not been for the late fires, there would have been a good share of grass.

The fires were still burning; and while we were employed upon the vessel the little grass that had before escaped the flames was consumed before our eyes, which greatly increased the oppressive heat we were experiencing.  The thermometer during the day, exposed to a current of air and shaded from the sun, generally indicated a temperature of between 94 and 98 degrees; and on one occasion although it was exposed to a fresh sea-breeze the mercury stood at 101 degrees at noon:  at night however we were usually relieved by its falling to 75 degrees; and at two o’clock in the morning it generally stood at 73 degrees.  The maximum and minimum temperature during fourteen days was 101 degrees and 72 1/2 degrees.  The daily range of the thermometer was as much as 20 degrees, while the mercury on board did not rise or fall more than 3 or