A drizzling rain fell early in the morning but about midday the weather cleared up.  We had not proceeded far before I was stopped by the Bogan, the course of which I found at length to come more from the south.  I had been fortunate in the line which I had pursued as the supposed direction of this river, above the part previously surveyed.  This was on the bearing of 139 1/2 degrees, and chosen after considering the position of hills and other circumstances relative, and I now found that this line nearly cut through our three last camps on the river.  We were at length to turn southward, and this still appeared to be the main channel, judging by the breadth of the bed and the long deep ponds of water.  Indeed we had no longer any apprehensions about finding water while travelling along the main channel; and this day we crossed over ground well covered with grass.

MEET THE NATIVES WHO FIRST ACCOMPANIED US.

During our progress along this unsurveyed part of the Bogan we had several times heard the natives and called to them, but they could not be induced to come near us.  Today however I saw smoke at a distance, and hastened towards it with Burnett who succeeded (although the rest of the tribe fled) in intercepting one individual between him and me who proved to be our old friend Bultje, the very intelligent native who had formerly been our guide.  The rest of the tribe soon returned, and gathering around us they all seemed much amused with our relation (and representations) of the conduct of the Myall blackfellows on the Darling.  They could not afford any explanation of those ceremonies which appeared to be as strange to them as they had been to us.  The only observation of Bultje, on learning that some of them had been shot, was “Stupid whitefellows! why did you not bring away the gins?” We eagerly enquired whether he knew anything of one whitefellow of ours who had been lost, but he appeared surprised to hear it.

ARRIVE AT A CATTLE STATION.

He told us however that we were near a cattle station where two white men had been recently established, having come from the colony along our track over the mountains.  I hastened towards the dwelling of these white men, and the symmetrical appearance of their stockyard fence, when it first caught my eye, so long accustomed to the wavy lines of simple nature, looked quite charming as a work of art.  Our hearts warmed at the very sight of the smoking chimney; and on riding up to the hut I need not say with what pleasure I recognised two men of our own race.  On seeing my pedestrian companions however, armed, feathered, and in rags; these white men were growing whiter, until I briefly told them who we were, and that we really were not bushrangers.  They said a bushranger on horseback had been seen in that country only a few days before by the natives, at whom he had fired a pistol when they had nearly caught him at a waterhole.  I was glad to ascertain the fact, even in this shape, that my courier Baldock, whom they of course meant, had got safely so far with my despatches.