CHAPTER VI.

Improvement in the aspect of the country—­Increase of the river—­Strong westerly gales—­Chronometer broken—­A healthier tribe of natives—­ Termination of the Murray in a large lake—­Its extent and environs—­ Passage across it—­Hostile appearance of the natives—­Beautiful scenery —­Channel from the lake to the sea at Encounter Bay—­Reach the beach—­ Large flocks of water fowl—­Curious refraction—­State of provisions—­ Embarrassing situation—­Inspection of the channel to the ocean—­Weak condition of the men—­Difficulties of the return.

Delightful country.

It now appeared that the Murray had taken a permanent southerly course; indeed, it might strictly be said that it ran away to the south.  As we proceeded down it, the valley expanded to the width of two miles; the alluvial flats became proportionably larger; and a small lake generally occupied their centre.  They were extensively covered with reeds and grass, for which reason, notwithstanding that they were little elevated above the level of the stream, I do not think they are subject to overflow.  Parts of them may be laid under water, but certainly not the whole.  The rains at the head of the Murray, and its tributaries, must be unusually severe to prolong their effects to this distant region, and the flats bordering it appear, by successive depositions, to have only just gained a height above the further influence of the floods.  Should this prove to be the case, the valley may be decidedly laid down as a most desirable spot, whether we regard the richness of its soil, its rock formation, its locality, or the extreme facility of water communication along it.  It must not, however, be forgotten or concealed, that the summits of the cliffs by which the valley is enclosed, have not a corresponding soil.  On the contrary, many of the productions common to the plains of the interior still existed upon them, and they were decidedly barren; but as we measured the reaches of the river, the cliffs ceased, and gave place to undulating hills, that were very different in appearance from the country we had previously noted down.  It would have been impossible for the most tasteful individual to have laid out pleasure ground to more advantage, than Nature had done in planting and disposing the various groups of trees along the spine, and upon the sides of the elevations that confined the river, and bounded the low ground that intervened between it and their base.  Still, however, the soil upon these elevations was sandy, and coarse, but the large oat-grass was abundant upon them, which yielded pasture at least as good as that in the broken country between Underaliga and Morumbidgee.

We had now gained a distance of at least sixty miles from that angle of the Murray at which it reaches its extreme west.  The general aspect of the country to our right was beautiful, and several valleys branched away into the interior upon that side which had a most promising appearance, and seemed to abound with kangaroos, as the traces of them were numerous, and the dogs succeeded in killing one, which, to our great mortification, we could not find.