and examined the places which had been dug, and
found the wild yam in considerable quantities, but in general
very small, not larger than a walnut; they appear to be in the
greatest plenty on the banks of the river; a little way back they
are scarce.

We frequently, in some of the reaches which we passed through
this day, saw very near us the hills, which we suppose as seen
from Port Jackson, and called by the governor the Blue
Mountains.

At five in the evening, we put ashore at the foot of a hill,
where we passed the night; and at day-light in the morning of the
5th, we embarked, and continued our way up the river; in which we
still found good depth of water, from two to five fathoms, and 60
or 70 fathoms wide. As we advanced, we found the river to
contract very fast in its breadth, and the channel became
shoaler; from these circumstances, we had reason to believe that
we were not far from its source: the ebb tides were pretty
strong, but the floods were only perceptible by the swolling of
the water.

In the evening we arrived at the foot of a high mountain,
which was spread over with Iofty trees, without any underwood;
and saw a pleasant looking country, covered with grass, and
without that mixture of rocky patches in every acre or two, as is
common in many other places: we ascended some distance, and
erected our tents for the night. The river here is not more than
twenty fathoms wide. In the night, when every thing was still, we
heard distinctly the roaring of what we judged to be a fall of
water; and imagined from this circumstance, that we should not be
able to advance much farther.

In the morning, we walked to the top of the hill, and found we
were not more than five or six miles from a long range of
mountains, between which, and that where we stood, there is a
deep valley, or low country, through which, probably, a branch of
this river may run. This range of mountains we supposed to be
those which are seen from Port Jackson, and called the Blue
Mountains: they limit the sight to the west-north-west. In that
range of high land there is a remarkable gully, or chasm, which
is seen distinctly at a distance, and from which we appeared to
be distant about five miles. The hills on each side of this gap
were named by Governor Phillip; on one side the Carmarthen, on
the other, the Lansdown hills; and that on which we stood was
called Richmond-hill.

In the morning of the 6th, we examined the river, which, as