Mount Allan (Wollar of the natives) lay north-east by north, at a distance of 3 3/4 miles.  It was not a conspicuous or commanding hill, but between it and our camp we this day discovered a feature of considerable importance.  This was the Goobang creek of our former journey, to all appearance here as great a river as the Bogan and indeed its channel, where we formerly saw it, contained deep ponds of clear water at a season when the muddy holes of the Bogan had nearly failed us.  Here the Goobang much resembled that river in the depth of its bed and the character of its banks:  and its sources and tributaries must be also similar to those of the Bogan.  Hervey’s range gives birth to the one, Croker’s range to the other and, their respective courses being along the opposite sides of the higher land extending westward between the Lachlan and Macquarie, all their tributaries must fall from the same ridge.  Of these Mr. Oxley crossed several in his route from the Lachlan to the Macquarie; Emmeline’s Valley creek belonging to the basin of the Goobang; Coysgaine’s ponds and Allan’s water to that of the Bogan.  It was rather unfortunate, considering how much has been said about the Lachlan receiving no tributaries in its long course, that Mr. Oxley left unexplored that part where a tributary of such importance as the Goobang joins it; especially as the floods of this stream lay the country below Mount Cunningham under water, and are the sole cause of that swampy appearance which Mr. Oxley observed from the hill on looking westward.  It would appear that this traveller’s route northward was nearly parallel to the general course of the Goobang.  The name this stream receives from the natives here is Billibang, Goobang being considered but one of its tributaries.  Its course completes the analogy between the rivers and plains on each side, and the supposed disappearance of the channel of the Lachlan seemed consequently as doubtful as the mysterious termination of the Macquarie.

April 1.

The rain continuing, the party remained encamped.  The barometer had fallen since we came here from 29.442, at which it stood last night at ten, to 29.180, which I noted this morning at six:  the thermometer continuing about 60 degrees of Fahrenheit.

LARGE FISHES.

On dragging our net through the muddy pond we captured two fishes, but of monstrous size, one weighing 17 pounds, the other about 12 pounds.  Although very different in shape, I recognised in them the fish of the perch kind with large scales* and the eel-fish** formerly caught by us in the Namoi.  But the former when taken in that river was coarse and tasted of mud, whereas this ruffe, although so large was not coarse, but rich, and of excellent flavour—­and so fat that the flakes fell into crumbs when fried.  This day a bird of a new species was shot by Roach.  It was of a swallow kind, about the size of a snipe, of a leaden colour, with dark head and wings.