r. Oxley has not done it more
than justice. It is certainly a beautiful and fertile spot, and it was
now abundant in pasturage, notwithstanding the unfavourable season that
had passed over it.

The settlement stands upon the right bank of the Bell, about two miles
above the junction of that stream with the Macquarie. Its whitewashed
buildings bore outward testimony to the cleanliness and regularity of
the inhabitants; and the respectful conduct of the prisoners under his
charge, showed that Mr. Maxwell had maintained that discipline by which
alone he could have secured respect to himself and success to his
exertions, at such a distance from the seat of government.

The weather was so exceedingly hot, during our stay, that it was
impossible to take exercise at noon; but in the evening, or at an early
hour in the morning, we were enabled to make short excursions in the
neighbourhood.

Mr. Maxwell informed me that there were three stations below the
settlement, the first of which, called Gobawlin, belonging to Mr.
Wylde, was not more than five miles from it; the other two, occupied by
Mr. Palmer, were at a greater distance, one being nineteen, the other
thirty-four miles below the junction of the Bell. He was good enough to
send for the stockman (or chief herdsman), in charge of the last, to
give me such information of the nature of the country below him, as he
could furnish from personal knowledge or from the accounts of the
natives.

LOW STATE OF THE MACQUARIE RIVER.

Mr. Maxwell pointed out to me the spot on which Mr. Oxley's boats had
been built, close upon the bank of the Macquarie; and I could not but
reflect with some degree of apprehension on the singularly diminished
state of the river from what it must then have been to allow a boat to
pass down it. Instead of a broad stream and a rapid current, the stream
was confined to a narrow space in the centre of the channel, and it ran
so feebly amidst frequent shallows that it was often scarcely
perceptible. The Bell, also, which Mr. Oxley describes as dashing and
rippling along its pebbly bed, had ceased to flow, and consisted merely
of a chain of ponds.

On the 3rd of Dec, the stockman from below arrived; but the only
information we gathered from him was the existence of a lake to the
left of the river, about three days' journey below the run of his
herds, on the banks of which he assured us, the native companions, a
species of stork, stood in rows like compani