ue
N. of the marshes of the Macquarie, both of us were anxious to
ascertain whence it originated. To return to Mount Harris, by retracing
our steps up the Castlereagh, would have entailed the severest distress
upon us; we the rather preferred proceeding up this creek, and taking
our chance for a supply of water. We therefore crossed Morrisset's
chain of ponds, and encamped in the angle formed by the junction of the
two creeks.

Before we left this position, we were visited by a party of natives,
twelve in number, but not of the Darling tribe. They accompanied us a
short way, and then struck off to the right. At about a mile and a
half, we crossed Mr. Hume's track, leading westerly, which still
remained observable. The creek was, no doubt, the hollow he stated that
he crossed on that excursion, and its appearance certainly justified
his opinion of it. Its bed was choked up with bulrushes or the
polygonum, and its banks were level with the country on either side, or
nearly so. We passed over extremely rich soil the whole day, on a S.W.
and by W. course, though the timber upon it was dwarfish, and
principally of the rough-gum kind.

On the 2nd of April, we stopped in order to make some repairs upon the
dray; the wheels of which had failed us. Clayton put in four new
spokes, and we heated the tyres over again, by which means we got it
once more serviceable.

WILD MELON.

The soil in the creek was of the richest quality, and was found to
produce a dwarf melon, having all the habits and character of the
cucumber. The fruit was not larger than a pigeon's egg, but was
extremely sweet. There were not, however, many ripe, although the
runners were covered with flowers, and had an abundance of fruit upon
them. In the morning, we sent the tinker on horseback up the creek, to
ascertain how far the next water was from us, desiring him to keep the
creek upon his right, and to follow his own track back again. He
thought fit, however, considering himself a good bushman, to wander
away to his left, and the consequence was, that he soon lost himself.
It would appear that he doubled and passed through some thick brush at
the back of the camp, and at length found himself at dark on the banks
of a considerable creek. In wandering along it, he luckily struck upon
the natives we had last seen, who, good-naturedly, led him to the track
of the dray, which his horse would not afterwards desert, and the
tinker sneaked into the tent about 3 o