branch, which was 143 feet from the ground. The extreme height was 215 feet. They brought down another, that was 12 feet 6 inches, at 3 feet from the ground; 4 feet, at 116 feet up, where the first branch was inserted; at 164 feet from the ground, the line of the trunk branched off, and the highest portions of the head were 216 feet.
18th. I again accompanied J. Milligan on an exploratory excursion. We visited the remains of a bark hut, in which a man who had been a prisoner, and was employed by the Aborigines Committee, to capture the natives, fired upon a party of them as they sat around their fire, with the recklessness that characterizes cowardice. One woman was killed, and others were made prisoners. There is reason to believe that this outrage, for which the man was discharged from his employment, led to increased animosity toward the white population, that resulted in loss of life on both sides. The Aborigines had robbed a hut on Three-brook Plain, two miles from the settlement at the Hampshire Hills, a short time before.—We were annoyed by leeches, when stopping to take our meals: they seem to have the power of perceiving persons at a distance, and may be seen making their way through the grass toward them, two or three yards off; we took about a dozen from our clothes, but more than that number eluded our vigilance, and obtained firm hold before being discovered.
19th. We slept near a brook last night, having previously burnt off the grass, and swept the place to clear it of leeches; early this morning, we proceeded further into the forest, which became extremely thick. On the slope of a hill J. Milligan felled a small tree, to make an opening, to see through, and we climbed about 30 feet, up the trunk of a Musky Aster, which had here become arboreous; but nothing was visible except tree tops spreading over hills and valleys. We became perplexed by missing a river that we expected to have come upon, but having confidence in our map and compass, pursued our way with more comfort than our prisoner attendant, who looked downcast, and said, it would be a bad set, if we did not get out of the bush to-morrow. When greatly fatigued, we heard the sound of a cataract, and determined
