lowing in
another; since, if, as in the present instance, there is a great extent
of country between the two points, which may perhaps be of considerable
elevation, the river may receive tributaries, whose waters will of
course follow the general decline of the country. I take it to be so in
the case before us; and am of opinion, that the lower branches of the
Darling are not at all dependent on its sources for a current, or for a
supply of water. I have somewhere observed that it appeared to me the
depressed interior over which I had already travelled, was of
comparatively recent formation. And, by whatever convulsion or change
so extensive a tract became exposed, I cannot but infer, that the
Darling is the main channel by which the last waters of the ocean were
drained off. The bottom of the estuary, for it cannot be called a
valley, being then left exposed, it consequently remains the natural
and proper reservoir for the streams from the eastward, or those
falling easterly from the westward, if any such remain to be discovered.

From the junction of the Morumbidgee to the junction of the new river,
the Murray had held a W.N.W. course. From the last junction it changed
its direction to the S.W., and increased considerably in size. The
country to the south was certainly lower than that to the north; for,
although both banks had features common to each other, the flooded
spaces were much more extensive to our left than to our right.

CHANGE OF COUNTRY.

We started on the morning of the 24th, all the lighter from having got
rid of the skiff, and certainly freer to act in case the natives should
evince a hostile disposition towards us. As we proceeded down the
river, the appearances around us more and more plainly indicated a
change of country. Cypresses were observed in the distance, and the
ground on which they stood was higher than that near the stream; as if
it had again acquired its secondary banks. At length these heights
approached the river so nearly as to form a part of its banks, and to
separate one alluvial flat from another. Their summits were perfectly
level; their soil was a red sandy loam; and their productions, for the
most part, salsolae and misembrianthemum. From this it would appear
that we had passed through a second region, that must at some time have
been under water, and that still retained all the marks of a country
partially subject to flood.

INTRODUCED FROM TRIBE TO TRIBE.

We had, as I ha