On the 3rd of Dec, the stockman from below arrived; but the only information we gathered from him was the existence of a lake to the left of the river, about three days’ journey below the run of his herds, on the banks of which he assured us, the native companions, a species of stork, stood in rows like companies of soldiers.

He brought up a nest of small paroquets of the most beautiful plumage, as a present to Mr. Maxwell, and affirmed that they were common about his part of the river.  The peculiarity of the seasons had also brought a parrot into the valley which had never before visited it.  This delicate bird was noticed by Captain Cook upon the coast, and is called PSITTACUS novae HOLLANDIAE, or New Holland Parrot, by Mr. Brown.  It had not, however, been subsequently seen until the summer of 1828, when it made its appearance at Wellington Valley in considerable numbers, together with a species of merops or mountain bee-eater.

Departure for the interior.

On the 5th, our preparations being wholly completed, and the loads arranged, the party was mustered, and was found to consist of myself and Mr. Hume, two soldiers and eight prisoners of the crown, two of whom were to return with dispatches.  Our animals numbered two riding, and seven pack, horses, two draft, and eight pack, bullocks, exclusive of two horses of my own, and two for the men to be sent back.

Banks of the Macquarie.

The morning of the 7th December, the day upon which we were to leave the valley, was ushered in by a cloudless sky, and that heated appearance in the atmosphere which foretells an oppressively sultry day.  I therefore put off the moment of our departure to the evening, and determined to proceed no further than Gobawlin.  I was the more readily induced to order this short journey because the animals had not been practised to their full loads, and I thought they might have given some trouble at starting with an unusual weight.  They moved off however very quietly, and as if they had been accustomed to their work by a long course of training.  We took our departure from the settlement at 3 p.m. and, crossing to the right bank of the Macquarie, a little above its junction with the Bell, reached Mr Wylde’s station about half-past five.  Thus we commenced our journey under circumstances as favorable as could have been wished.  In disengaging ourselves on the following day from the hills by which Wellington Valley is encompassed on the westward, with a view to approach Mr. Palmer’s first station, we kept rather wide of the river, and only occasionally touched on its more projecting angles.  The soil at a distance from the stream was by no means so good as that in its immediate vicinity, nor was the timber of the same description.  On the rich and picturesque grounds near the river the angophora prevailed with the flooded gum, and the scenery upon its banks was improved by the casuarinae that overhung