and useless to us, and as our animals had been without water the night before, this circumstance distressed us much; our first day’s journey led us past between sixty and seventy huts in one place, and on our second we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives, having previously seen some between two creeks before we made New-Year’s Range.  At some places the water proved less salt than at others; our animals drank of it sparingly:  we found two small fresh-water holes, which served us as we passed.  After tracing the river for a considerable distance, we came on brine springs in the bed of it, the banks having been encrusted with salt from the first; and as the difficulty of getting fresh water was so great, I here foresaw an end to our wanderings.  And as I was resolved not to involve my party in greater distress, I halted it, on overtaking the animals, and the next morning turned back to the nearest fresh-water, at a distance of eighteen miles from us.  Unwilling, however, to give up our pursuit, Mr. Hume and I started with two men on horseback, to trace the river as far as we could, and to ascertain what course it took; in the hopes also that we should fall on some creek, or get a more certain supply of drinkable water.  We went a distance to which the bullocks could not have been brought, and then got on a red sandy soil, which at once destroyed our hopes; and on tasting the river water we found it salter than ever, our supply being diminished to two pints.  Our animals being weak and purged, and having proceeded at least forty miles from the camp, I thought it best to yield to circumstances, and to return, though I trust I shall be believed when I add, it was with extreme reluctance I did so; and had I followed the wishes of my party, should still have continued onwards.  Making a part of the river where we had slept, we stayed to refresh, and in consequence of the heat of the weather were obliged to drink the water in it, which made us sick.  While here, a tribe of blacks came to us and behaved remarkably well.  At night we slept on a plain without water, and the next day we regained the camp, which had been visited by the natives during our absence.

We found the river held a south-west course, and appeared to be making for the central space between a high land, which I called Dunlop’s Range, at Mr. Hume’s request, and a lofty range to the westward.  It still continued its important appearance, having gained in breadth and in the height of its banks, while there were hundreds of pelicans and wild-fowl on it.  Flowing through a level country with such a channel, it may be presumed that this river ultimately assumes either a greater character, or that it adds considerably to the importance of some other stream.  It had a clay bottom, generally speaking, in many places semi-indurated and fast forming into sandstone, while there was crystallized sulphate of lime running in veins through the soil which composed the bank.

This river differs from most in the colony, in having a belt of barren land of from a quarter of a mile to two miles in breadth in its immediate neighbourhood, and which is subject to overflow.  This belt runs to the inland plains, where a small elevation checks the further progress of the flood.  There is magnificent blue gum on both sides the river, but the right bank is evidently the most fertile, and I am mistaken greatly if there is not a beautiful country north of it.