through rain, which commenced to fall in the morning. Soon after his
arrival, Dawber, my overseer of animals, who had accompanied him, was
taken suddenly ill. During the night he became much worse, with shivering
and spasms, and on the following morning he was extremely weak and
feverish. To add to my anxiety, Mr. Hume also complained of indisposition.
His state of health made me the more anxious to quit a position which I
fancied unwholesome, and in which, if there was no apparent, there was
certainly some secret, exciting cause; and as Mr. Hume reported having
crossed a chain of ponds about four miles to the eastward, and out of the
immediate precincts of the marshes, I ordered the tents to be struck, and
placing Dawber on my horse, we all moved quietly over to them.

MR. HUME'S EXCURSION.

The result of Mr. Hume's journey perplexed me exceedingly. He stated, that
on setting out from the Macquarie his intention was to have proceeded to
the N.E., to ascertain how far the reeds existed in that direction, and,
if at all practicable, to reach the Castlereagh; but in case of failure,
to regain the Macquarie by a westerly course. At first he travelled nearly
four miles east, to clear the marshes, when he came on the chain of ponds
to which we had removed.

He travelled over good soil for two miles after crossing this chain of
ponds, but afterwards got on a red sandy loam, and found it difficult to
proceed, by reason of the thickness of the brush, and the swampy state of
the ground in consequence of the late rain.

The timber in the brushes was of various kinds, and he saw numerous
kangaroos and emus. On issuing from this brush, he crossed a creek,
leading northerly, the banks of which were from ten to twelve feet high.
Whatever the body of water usually in it is, it now only afforded a few
shallow puddles. Mr. Hume travelled through brushes until he came upon a
third creek, similar to the one he had left behind him, at which he halted
for the night. The water in it was bad, and the feed for the animals
extremely poor. The brush lined the creek thickly, and consisted chiefly
of acacia pendula and box. The country preserved an uniform level, nor did
Mr. Hume, from the highest trees, observe any break on the horizon.

On the 2nd of January, Mr. Hume kept more northerly, being unable to
penetrate the brushes he encountered. At two miles he crossed a creek
leading to the N.W., between which and the place at which he had sle