ular, and afforded
a proof of the violence of the rains in this part of the interior. From
the highest of these, I observed that the country to the S.E. was
gently undulated, and so far changed in character from that through
which we had been travelling; still, however, it was covered with a low
scrub, and was barren and unpromising.

About noon of the 18th, we surprised two women at the water-side, who
immediately retreated into the brush. Shortly after, four men showed
themselves, and followed us for a short distance, but hid themselves
upon our landing. The country still appeared undulated to the S.E.; the
soil was sandy, and cypresses more abundant than any other tree. We
passed several extensive sand-banks in the river, of unusual size and
solidity, an evident proof of the sandy nature of the interior
generally. The vast accumulations of sand at the junctions of every
creek were particularly remarkable. The timber on the alluvial flats
was not by any means so large as we had hitherto observed it; nor were
the flats themselves so extensive as they are on the Morumbidgee and
the Macquarie. Notwithstanding the aspect of the country which I have
described, no POSITIVE change had as yet taken place in the general
feature of the interior. The river continued to flow in a direction
somewhat to the northward of west, through a country that underwent no
perceptible alteration. Its waters, confined to their immediate bed,
swept along considerably below the level of its inner banks; and the
spaces between them and the outer ones, though generally covered with
reeds, seemed not recently to have been flooded; while on the other
hand, they had, in many places, from successive depositions, risen to a
height far above the reach of inundation. Still, however, the more
remote interior maintained its sandy and sterile character, and
stretched away, in alternate plain and wood, to a distance far beyond
the limits of our examination.

About the 21st, a very evident change took place in it. The banks of
the river suddenly acquired a perpendicular and water-worn appearance.
Their summits were perfectly level, and no longer confined by a
secondary embankment, but preserved an uniform equality of surface back
from the stream. These banks, although so abrupt, were not so high as
the upper levels, or secondary embankments. They indicated a deep
alluvial deposit, and yet, being high above the reach of any ordinary
flood, were covered with g