I wished to visit it last year, but the loss of Mr. Cunningham, the consequent delay of the party, and the adverse nature of my instructions in regard to my own views, together prevented me.  I then saw that the hills along the line I was now about to follow were favourable for triangulation; but the greater certainty of finding water in a large river like the Lachlan was my chief inducement for now moving towards its banks, as the season was of such unusual drought.  On this day’s journey I took for my guidance the bearing of a line drawn on the map from Buree, as fixed by my former survey, to the mouth of Byrne’s creek, as laid down by Mr. Oxley; and which I supposed to be the same as that which descends from Buree.

Halt on A dry creek.

The line guided me tolerably well to where I encamped that night.  This was on a fine-looking plain, within sight of the wooded banks of the creek; but, on examining the bed of the latter, I could find no water, although I followed it two miles down.  There I arrived at a cattle station named Toogang, where there was water.  It was nothing to the old hands of the Darling to go only two miles for water.  We suffered no inconvenience from this; but it was deplorable to see the bed of what must in some seasons be a fine little stream so completely dry and dusty.  This day we met with a new species of Psoralea.* At the camp I ascertained the magnetic variation to be 9 degrees 10 minutes 15 seconds East, by an observation of the star Beta Centauri.

(Footnote.  A genus chiefly inhabiting the Cape of Good Hope, India, the Levant and North America, of which no species have before been published from Australia.  I was subsequently fortunate enough to discover two more species of this genus; which with one as yet unpublished, found by Mr. Allan Cunningham in 1818 in the rocky islands of Dampier’s Archipelago on the north-west coast, makes the number inhabiting Australia to be 4:  all of which are remarkable for their resemblance to the North American form of the genus.  The species we observed on this occasion was a small spreading herbaceous plant.  P. patens, Lindley manuscripts; herbacea, pubescens, foliis pinnatim trifoliolatis, foliolis dentatis punctatis lateralibus oblongis obtusis intermedio ovato obtuso basi cuneato, racemo pedunculato laxo multifloro foliis multo longiore, bracteis subrotundis striatis obscure multipunctatis, ramis divaricatis.)

March 20.

We proceeded, crossing the channel near the cattle station where I learnt that it was joined immediately below by that which I had named King’s creek on my last journey; also that water was abundant in it below the junction.  Some natives joined us and Piper prevailed on one of them to be our guide, as far as he knew the country.  The use of such a guide in following an unexplored watercourse is that bad places for the carts may be avoided, and the doubles of the stream cut off by the easiest routes.