I was now satisfied that we had crossed the whole bed of the Lachlan; and I thought Mr. Oxley’s line of route might have passed near the spot where I then stood; and that in a time of flood all the channels, save the one next the firm ground, might easily have escaped his notice.  Here our horses began to be quite knocked up, chiefly from want of water; we therefore dismounted and dragged them on, for I hoped by taking the direction of Mr. Oxley’s line of route, as shown on his map, that the branches would soon concentrate in one united channel.

DRY BED OF THE LACHLAN.

At the end of four miles we found that junction had taken place, and the bed of the river as broad and deep as usual, but it was everywhere dry.  I made the people lead the exhausted horses from point to point, while I examined all the bends, for the course was very sinuous; still I saw no appearance of water, nor even of any having recently dried up.

FIND AT LENGTH A LARGE POOL.

After proceeding thus about two miles, the chirping of birds and a tree full of chattering parrots raised my hopes that water was near; and at a very sharp turn of the channel, to the great delight of all, I at length saw a large and deep pool.  Our horses stood drinking a full quarter of an hour; and during the time a duck dropped into the pond amongst them.  The poor bird appeared to have been as much overcome by thirst as ourselves for, on the inconsiderate native throwing his boomerang, it was scarcely able to fly to the top of the opposite bank.  As the grass was good I halted during the remainder of the day for the sake of our horses; although the delay subjected us to another night in the bush.  I made the men sit down out of sight of the pond for a reason which I did not choose to tell them; but it was that we might not, by our presence, deprive many other starving creatures of a benefit which Providence had so bountifully afforded to us.

On a large tree overlooking the pond, and which had already been deprived by the natives of a considerable patch of bark, I chalked the letter M, which the men cut out of the solid wood with their tomahawks.  This being the lowest permanent pond above the separation of the river into so many arms, I thought that by such a mark of a white man the natives would be more ready to point out the spot to any future traveller when required.  I found about the fires of the natives a number of small balls of dry fibre resembling hemp, and I at first supposed it to be a preparation for making nets, having seen such on the Darling.

FOOD OF THE NATIVES DISCOVERED.