t time Surveyor-General of
the Province, I was glad of such an opportunity to extend my own
knowledge of the province to the north and northeast of Adelaide, more
especially as this journey gave me an opportunity to cross from the river
to the hills westward of the Great Bend. Not only was the land on the
Murray soon afterwards occupied to that point, but Colonel Gawler and I
also visited the more distant country on that occasion. Since my return,
indeed, from my recent labours, the line of the Murray is occupied to
within a short distance of the remoter stations of the colony of New
South Wales, and there can be no doubt but that in the course of a few
years the stock stations from the respective colonies will meet. I was
afraid, when I came the second time down the Murray, that I had
exaggerated the number of acres in the valley, but on further
examination, it appears to me that I did not do so; for as the traveller
approaches Lake Victoria the flats are very extensive, but more liable to
inundation than those on the higher points of the river, for being so
little elevated above the level of the water, especially those covered
with reeds, the smallest rise in the stream affects them. Lake Victoria,
although it looks like a clear and open sea, as you look from the point
of Pomundi, which projects into it to the south, is after all exceedingly
shallow, and is rapidly filling up from the decay of seaweed and the
deposits brought into it yearly by the floods of the Murray. No doubt but
that future generations will see that fine sheet of water confined to a
comparatively narrow bed, and pursuing its course through a rich and
extensive plain. When such shall be the case, and that the strength of
the Murray shall be brought to bear in one point only, it is probable its
sea mouth will be navigable, and that the scenery on this river will be
enlivened by the white sails of vessels on its ample bosom. I can fancy
that nothing would be more beautiful than the prospect of vessels,
however small they might be, coming with swelling sails along its
reaches. It may, however, be said, that it will be a distant day when
such things shall be realized. There is both reason and truth in the
remark; but Time, with his silent work, has already raised the flats in
the valley of the Murray, and as we are now benefiting by his labours, so
it is to be hoped will our posterity. However that may be, for it is a
matter only of curious speculation, n