On no part of the coast did we find the heat so intense and oppressive as in this river; the thermometer stood at 94 degrees, and the ground was so heated that we were obliged to beat a bush down to stand upon, whilst we were taking the bearings of some of the islets in the offing. Some natives and a dog had very recently been crossing the little creeks that fell into the river, for the impressions of their feet were observed below the high-water mark; the mouths of the creeks were planted with weirs, similar to those in the river at Oyster Harbour. The river appeared to abound in fish, but the only sort that was caught was what the sailors called cat-fish; they were of a nauseous taste. Pelicans and curlews were very numerous, particularly the latter, in consequence of which the inlet was called Curlew River; but the most numerous and annoying of the inhabitants of this part were the flies, from their constantly creeping into the eyes, nostrils, and mouth, particularly during our meals; and it required some little trouble to partake of our repast without also conveying with it several of these troublesome insects. On our return to the cutter, our party very imprudently bathed, which occasioned, to some of them, two or three days' indisposition, and it was fortunate that they did not suffer from a coup de soleil. This indiscretion was, however, never afterwards permitted. During the absence of the boat, Mr. Bedwell landed abreast the anchorage, and walked a mile inland to one of the salt marshes. On his way, he passed several ant-hills of the same description as those seen by us at the Bay of Rest. The coast is here protected from inroads of the sea by a barrier of sand dunes, from ten to twenty feet high, on which were growing a variety of plants, particularly a species of convolvulus, which, from the great size and length of its stem, being an inch in diameter and extending along the beach for more than thirty yards, is very conspicuous. Behind these dunes the country is flat, and in most parts below the level of the sea; so that when the tides rise high enough to pass over the breaks in the dunes, the country is inundated, when, by the intense heat of the sun, the water is very speedily evaporated, and a salt incrustation, to a great extent, is formed upon the plains. At the distance of four or five miles from the beach, a small range of rocky hills, apparently destitute of vegetation, formed a boundary to the view. The shore is lined by a barrier of sharp rocks, covered with species of ostrea and nerita, but although these were the only living testaceous animals that were found, the beach was covered with a multitude of dead and imperfect shells of various species.