On leaving the last-mentioned creek, we found a gently rising country before us; and about three or four miles from it we crossed some stony ridges, covered with a new species of acacia so thickly as to prevent our obtaining any view from them.  As the sun declined, we got into open forest ground; and travelled forwards in momentary expectation, from appearances, of coming in sight of water; but we were obliged to pull up at sunset on the outskirts of a larger plain without having our expectation realized.  The day had been extremely warm, and our animals were as thirsty as ourselves.  Hope never forsakes the human breast; and thence it was that, after we had secured the horses, we began to wander round our lonely bivouac.  It was almost dark, when one of my men came to inform me that he had found a small puddle of water, to which he had been led by a pigeon.

It was, indeed, small enough, probably the remains of a passing shower; it was, however, sufficient for our necessities, and I thanked Providence for its bounty to us.  We were now about sixty miles from the Macquarie, in a N.W. by W. direction, and the country had proved so extremely discouraging, that I intimated to my men my intention of retracing my steps, should I not discover any change in it before noon on the morrow.  A dense brush of acacia succeeded to the plain on which we had slept, which we entered, and shortly afterwards found ourselves in an open space, of oblong shape, at the extremity of which there was a shallow lake.  The brush completely encircled it, and a few huts were upon its banks.  About 10 p.m. we got into an open forest track of better appearance than any over which we had recently travelled.

Isolated hill.

There was a visible change in the country, and the soil, although red, was extremely rich and free from sand.  A short time afterwards we rose to the summit of a round hill, from which we obtained an extensive view on most points of the compass.  We had imperceptibly risen considerably above the general level of the interior.

View from the summit.

Beneath us, to the westward, I observed a broad and thinly wooded valley; and W. by S., distant apparently about twenty miles, an isolated mountain, whose sides seemed almost perpendicular, broke the otherwise even line of the horizon; but the country in every other direction looked as if it was darkly wooded.  Anticipating that I should find a stream in the valley, I did not for a moment hesitate in striking down into it.  Disappointed, however, in this expectation, I continued onwards to the mountain, which I reached just before the sun set.  Indeed, he was barely visible when I gained its summit; but my eyes, from exposure to his glare, became so weak, my face was so blistered, and my lips cracked in so many places, that I was unable to look towards the west, and was actually obliged to sit down behind a rock until he had set.