halted. The country was
slightly undulated, and much intersected by creeks, few of which had
water in them. The whole tract was, however, well adapted either for
agriculture, or for grazing, and, in spite of the drought that had
evidently long hung over it, was well covered with vegetation. We had
passed all high lands, and the interior to the westward presented an
unbroken level to the eye. The Morumbidgee appeared to hold a more
northerly course than I had anticipated. Still low ranges continued
upon our right, and the cypress ridges became more frequent and denser;
but the timber on the more open grounds generally consisted of box and
flooded-gum. Of minor trees, the acacia pendula was the most prevalent,
with a shrub bearing a round nut, enclosed in a scarlet capsule, and an
interesting species of stenochylus. I had observed as yet, few of the
plants of the more northern interior.

NATIVES--THEIR UGLINESS.

In this neighbourhood, the dogs killed an emu and a kangaroo, which
came in very conveniently for some natives whom we fell in with on one
of the river flats. They were, without exception, the worst featured of
any I had ever seen. It is scarcely possible to conceive that human
beings could be so hideous and loathsome. The old black, who was rather
good-looking, told me they were the last we should see for some time,
and I felt that if these were samples of the natives on the lowlands, I
cared very little how few of I them we should meet.

EXTENSIVE PLAINS.

The country on the opposite side of the river had all the features of
that to the north of it, but a plain of such extent suddenly opened
upon us to the southward, that I halted at once in order to examine it,
and by availing myself of a day of rest, to fix our position more truly
than we could otherwise have done. We accordingly pitched our tents
under some lofty gum-trees, opposite to the plain, and close upon the
edge of the sandy beach of the river. Before they were turned out, the
animals were carefully examined, and the pack-saddles overhauled, that
they might undergo any necessary repairs. The river fell considerably
during the night, but it poured along a vast body of water, possessing
a strong current. The only change I remarked in it was that it now had
a bed of sand, and was generally deeper on one side than on the other.
It kept a very uniform breadth of from 150 to 170 feet--and a depth of
from 4 to 20. Its channel, though occasionally much