Lachlan would afford such means, as it was reasonable to presume that its termination was very similar to that of the Macquarie.  The attention of the government was, consequently, fixed upon the Morumbidgee, a river stated to be of considerable size and of impetuous current.  Receiving its supplies from the lofty ranges behind Mount Dromedary, it promised to hold a longer course than those rivers which, depending on periodical rains alone for existence, had been found so soon to exhaust themselves.

Preparations.

The fitting out of another expedition was accordingly determined upon; and about the end of September 1829, I received the Governor’s instructions to make the necessary preparations for a second descent into the interior, for the purpose of tracing the Morumbidgee, or such rivers as it might prove to be connected with, as far as practicable.  In the event of failure in this object, it was hoped that an attempt to regain the banks of the Darling on a N.W. course from the point at which the expedition might be thwarted in its primary views, would not be unattended with success.  Under any circumstances, however, by pursuing these measures, an important part of the colony would necessarily be traversed, of which the features were as yet altogether unknown.

It became my interest and my object to make the expedition as complete as possible, and, as far as in me lay, to provide for every contingency:  and as it appeared to me that, in all likelihood, we should in one stage or other of our journey have to trust entirely to water conveyance, I determined on taking a whale-boat, whose dimensions and strength should in some measure be proportioned to the service required.  I likewise constructed a small still for the distillation of water, in the event of our finding the water of the Darling salt, when we should reach its banks.  The whale-boat, after being fitted, was taken to pieces for more convenient carriage, as has been more particularly detailed in the last chapter of the preceding volume.

So little danger had been apprehended from the natives in the former journey, that three firelocks had been considered sufficient for our defence.  On the present occasion, however, I thought it adviseable to provide arms for each individual.

Mr. Hume declined accompanying me, as the harvest was at hand.  Mr. George M’Leay therefore supplied his place, rather as a companion than as an assistant; and of those who accompanied me down the banks of the Macquarie, I again selected Harris (my body servant), Hopkinson, and Fraser.

Mr. KENT’S report.