taken some trouble to obtain, and who gave me now a proof of his strength and fitness for such an undertaking by coming from Emu plains, distant 145 miles, in little more than two days.  For this man I was indebted to Sir John Jamieson.  The above feat I thought deserved to be recorded, and I therefore gave his name to the watercourse on which we had encamped.  The party was now complete, and I was glad to find that Dr. Souter, no longer a new chum, was the best of good fellows with the other men.  He had brought a flute on which he played tolerably well, either after the acquisition of a kangaroo, or when we had good water, or during any very serene evening.

(Footnote.  For an account of Wellington Valley near the Coutombals see Appendix 2.4 to Volume 2.)

CROSS HERVEY’S RANGE.

April 9.

As usual I proceeded some way in advance, marking the line of trees to be followed by the party, and I was fortunate in finding an easier ascent for our wheel carriages to the range before us than I had expected.  On descending the opposite side we entered a fine valley, well watered; and which, had we known the country better, we might have reached on the previous evening.  We next travelled over fine forest land, and by keeping some rocky hills, consisting of trap, on our right, we headed the deep ravines and bold ranges which appeared to branch from them to the northward.  Thus we journeyed along very good ground, the slopes being easy and unimpeded by timber.

FIRST VIEW OF THE INTERIOR.

At one o’clock I ascended a pic and obtained, for the first time since I approached these ranges, an uninterrupted view of the country to the westward of them.  From this point I recognised several other hills observed from the Canobolas, some of which did not appear very distant.  A square-topped eminence bearing west-south-west a great way off I supposed might be Mount Granard; and a few other heights more to the westward crowned what had hitherto appeared to be a flat horizon.  I began to discover however that, although apparently flat, this horizon consisted of low ridges intersected by valleys, and I hoped to find among the former one or two rocky points which might be available to my survey.

PARCHED STATE OF THE INTERIOR COUNTRY.

It was now evident that no rain had fallen in these interior regions since the summer heat had parched the earth.  We had passed today no water except what we saw in the morning, although one green valley which we noticed on our right soon after starting probably contained some.

THE DOGS KILL A KANGAROO.

A fine kangaroo was this day seen before us and immediately killed by the dogs.  Our journey was prolonged for the purpose of arriving at a waterhole but we could not find one.

STEEP DESCENT TO THE WESTWARD.

At four o’clock a view of the country beyond the mountain range opened before us; and, being anxious to gain the valley which lay at its foot, I hastily effected a descent, although the ground was steep and rocky, in hopes of finding water before it grew dark.  Following the valley downwards I succeeded, but not until sunset, in finding, in a crevice of a rock, enough for the men.