hhardt's tracks. The distance at
which Dr. Leichhardt passed the extreme westerly point gained by me was
600 geographical miles, and his distance from my extreme easterly one was
420 miles; Sir Thomas Mitchell's distance from my extreme west, being
about 380 miles, and that from my last position, (on Cooper's Creek),
about 260. He had been traversing a country of great richness and
fertility, a country, indeed, such as he had never before seen, and in a
despatch addressed to the Governor of New South Wales, thus describes it
and the river he discovered on the occasion:--

"On ascending the range early next morning, I saw open downs and plains
with a line of river in the midst, the whole extending to the N.N.W., as
far as the horizon. Following down the little stream from the valley in
which I had passed the night, I soon reached the open country, and during
ten successive days I pursued the course of that river, through the same
sort of country, each day as far as my horse could carry me, and in the
same direction again approaching the Tropic of Capricorn. In some parts
the river formed splendid reaches, as broad and important as the river
Murray; in others it spread into four or five branches, some of them
several miles apart. But the whole country is better watered than any
part of Australia I have seen, by numerous tributaries arising in the
downs.

"The soil consists of rich clay, and the hollows give birth to numerous
water-courses, in most of which water was abundant. I found at length
that I might travel in any direction, and find water at hand, without
having to seek the river, except when I wished to ascertain its general
course, and observe its character. The grass consists of Panicum and
several new sorts, one of which springs green from the old stem. The
plains were verdant indeed, the luxuriant pasturage surpassed in quality,
as it did in extent, any thing I had ever seen. The Myall-tree and salt
bush, (Acacia pendula and salsolae), so essential to a good run, are also
there. New birds and new plants marked this out as an essentially
different region from any I had previously explored; and although I could
not follow the river throughout its long course at that advanced season,
I was convinced that its estuary was in the Gulf of Carpentaria; at all
events the country is open and well watered for a direct route thereto.
That the river is the most important of Australia, increasing as it does
by successive t