pected to have found some other natives. Being disappointed,
however, they turned in towards the river again, but we stopped short of
it on the side of a serpentine sheet of water, an apparent continuation of
the chain of ponds we had left behind us, forming a kind of ditch round
the S.W. extremity of the range, parallel to which we had continued to
travel. This range, which had been gradually decreasing in height from the
lagoon, above which it rose perpendicularly, might almost be said to
terminate here. We fell in with two or three natives before we halted, but
the evident want of population in so fine a country, and on so noble a
river, surprised me extremely. We saw several red kangaroos in the course
of the day, and succeeded in killing one. It certainly is a beautiful
animal, ranging the wilds in native freedom. The female and the kid are of
a light mouse-colour. Wild turkeys abound on this part of the Morumbidgee,
but with the exception of a few terns, which are found hovering over the
lagoons, no new birds had as yet been procured; and the only plant that
enriched our collection, was an unknown metrosideros. In crossing the
extremity of the range, the wheels of the dray sunk deep into a yielding
and coarse sandy soil, of decomposed granite, on which forest-grass
prevailed in tufts, which, being far apart, made the ground uneven, and
caused the animals to trip. We rose at one time sufficiently high to
obtain an extensive view, and had our opinions confirmed as to the level
nature of the country we were so rapidly approaching. From the N. to
the W.S.W. the eye wandered over a wooded and unbroken interior, if I
except a solitary double hill that rose in the midst of it, bearing
S. 82 degrees W. distant 12 miles, and another singular elevation that
bore S. 32 degrees W. called by the natives, Kengal. The appearance to the
E.S.E. was still that of a mountainous country, while from the N.E., the
hills gradually decrease in height, until lost in the darkness of
surrounding objects to the northward. We did not travel this day more than
13 miles on a W. by N. course. The Morumbidgee, where we struck it, by its
increased size, kept alive our anticipations of its ultimately leading us
to some important point. The partial rains that had fallen while we were
on its upper branch, had swollen it considerably, and it now rolled along
a vast body of water at the rate of three miles an hour, preserving a
medium width of 150 feet; i