ut the journey along the
Darling last year. His name was Farmer--an unfortunate appellation for
surveying horses--for Farmer's Creek, in the new road to Bathurst, was
named after another horse which fell there and broke his neck while I was
marking out the line.

CROSS A COUNTRY SUBJECT TO INUNDATIONS.

The land adjacent to the river was of the richest quality; and the grass
on it was luxuriant and the forest scenery fine. The lofty trees
certainly bore marks of inundation one or two feet high; but as land
still higher was not far distant it cannot be doubted, notwithstanding
its liability to become flooded, that the soil might supply the wants of
an industrious population; especially as its spontaneous productions are
the chief support of the aboriginal inhabitants.

TRAVERSE A BARREN REGION AT SOME DISTANCE FROM THE RIVER.

May 17.

A beautiful morning. The latitude of this camp being exactly that of the
most southern bend of the river in Arrowsmith's map, I ventured upon a
course nearly west in order to clear the bends. The lofty trees I had
seen before me were found to be situated, not on the banks of the river,
but amongst scrubs. We afterwards came to sandhills and extensive tracts
covered with that most unpleasing of shrubs to a traveller, the
Eucalyptus dumosa, and the prickly grass mentioned by Mr. Oxley. We
traversed ridges of sand rising perhaps sixty feet above the plains,
nearer the river; and, when viewed from trees, the same kind of country
seemed unlimited in all directions. I therefore travelled
south-south-west and afterwards southward; until we once more entered
among the yarra trees on the more open ground by the river, and encamped
after a journey of about twelve miles. The country we had this day
traversed was of so unpromising a description that it was a relief to get
even amongst common scrubs, and escape from those of the Eucalyptus
dumosa. This species is not a tree but a lofty bush with a great number
of stems, each two or three inches in diameter; and the bushes grow
thickly together, having between them nothing but the prickly grass in
large tufts. This dwarf wood approached to the very river, where we
encamped without leaving an intermediate plain, as on the Lachlan. In
this country, however dreary it appeared, we found a beautiful grevillea
not previously seen by us.

KANGAROOS THERE.

During the day we saw also a great many kangaroos and killed two of them.

ANOTHER HORSE IN THE