be very distant.  Our descent was considerable during the day; the rapids were frequent in the river, but it underwent no change in its general appearance.  Its waters were hard and transparent, and its banks, in many places, extremely lofty; with a red sandy loam and gravel under the alluvial deposits.  It generally happened that where the bank was high on the one side it was low and subject to flood, to a limited extent at least, on the other.  Upon these low grounds the blue-gum trees were of lofty growth, but on the upper levels box prevailed.

Scenery near the river.

The views upon the river were really beautiful, and varied at every turn; nor is it possible for any tree to exceed the casuarina in the graceful manner in which it bends over the stream, or clings to some solitary rock in its centre.

It here became necessary for us to cross to the left bank of the river, not only to avoid its numerous windings, and thus to preserve as much as possible the direct line to Mount Harris; but also, because the travelling was much better on the south side.  We therefore availed ourselves of a ford opposite to the ground on which the tents had stood; and then pursued our journey, in a south-westerly course, over a country of a description very inferior to that of any we had previously noticed.

Iron-bark and cypresses generally prevailed along our line of route on a poor and sandy soil, which improved after we passed Elizabeth Burn, a small creek mentioned by Mr. Oxley.

Taylor’s rivulet.

We approached the river again early in the day, and pitched our tent on the summit of a sloping bank that overlooked one of its long still reaches.  We were protected from the sun by the angophora trees, which formed a hanging wood around us, and, with its bright green foliage, gave a cheerfulness to the scene that was altogether unusual.  The opposite side of the river was rather undulated, and the soil appeared to be of the finest description.  The grass, although growing in tufts, afforded abundance of pasture for the cattle; and, on the whole, this struck me as a most eligible spot for a station, and I found it occupied as such on the return of the expedition.  We had encamped about a quarter of a mile from Taylor’s Rivulet, which discharges itself into the Macquarie from the N. E., and is the first stream, upon the right bank, below the Wellington Valley.

Immediately after receiving it the river sweeps away to the southward, in consequence of which it became again necessary for us to cross it.  Our guides, who were intelligent lads, led the cattle to a ford, a little below the junction of Taylor’s Rivulet, at which we effected a passage with some difficulty; the opposite bank being very steep, and we were obliged to force our way up a gully for some eighty or a hundred yards before we could extricate the team.  Pursuing our journey, in a N. W. direction, we soon left the rich and undulating grounds bordering the river behind us.  A poor, level, and open country, succeeded them.  The soil changed to a light red, sandy loam, on which eucalypti, cypresses, and casuarinae, were intermixed with minor shrubs; of which latter, the cherry tree (exocarpus cupressiformis) was the most prevalent.