APPENDIX

No. I.

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS.

By His Excellency Lieutenant General Ralph Darling, Commanding His Majesty's Forces, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the Territory of New South Wales, and its dependencies, and Vice Admiral of the same, &c. &c. &c.

To Charles Sturt, Esq. Captain in the 39th Regiment of Foot.

Whereas it has been judged expedient to fit out an expedition for the purpose of exploring the interior of New Holland, and the present dry season affords a reasonable prospect of an opportunity of ascertaining the nature and extent of the large marsh or marshes which stopped the progress of the late John Oxley Esq, Surveyor General, in following the courses of the rivers Lachlan and Macquarie in the years 1817 and 1818. And whereas I repose full confidence in your abilities and zeal for conducting such an expedition, I do hereby constitute and appoint you to command and take charge of the expedition now preparing for the purpose of exploring the interior of the country, and for ascertaining, if

practicable, the nature and extent of the marsh or marshes above mentioned.

In the prosecution of this service, you will be guided generally by the following instructions.

  1. You will be accompanied on this expedition by Mr. Hamilton Hume, whose great experience in travelling through the remote parts of the Colony, cannot fail to be highly useful to you. You will also be attended by two soldiers and six convicts, of whom one is to understand the shoeing of horses, one to be a carpenter, one a harness-maker and three stock-men, and you will be provided with six horses and twelve bullocks.
  2. A small boat has been built here for the use of the expedition, and for its conveyance, there is provided a light four-wheeled carriage to be drawn by two bullocks.
  3. The deputy Commissary General has received orders for supplying the expedition with provisions of the best quality sufficient for six months' consumption, together with tents, blankets, clothing, pack-saddles, utensils, instruments, tools, and necessaries of all kinds of which you are likely to stand in need. Orders are also given for providing you with arms and ammunition, with rockets for signals, and an ample supply of simple medicines—You are to consider it an important duty to attend to the providing of all these supplies, and to take care that not only every article is of the best quality that can be procured, but also that no article be wanting with which you may desire to be provided.
  4. Orders are given for forwarding without delay all your provisions, stores and supplies of every kind to Wellington Valley, at which place, you, Mr. Hume, and all your men
  5. are to rendezvous as soon as possible. Mr Maxwell, the superintendent, will furnish you with well-trained bullocks, and afford you all the assistance you may require in arranging every thing for your departure from that station.
  6. After you shall have completed all your arrangements, you are to lose no time in finally departing from Wellington Valley in prosecution of the immediate objects of the expedition.
  7. You are first to proceed to Mount Harris, where you are to form a temporary depot, by means of which you will have an opportunity of more readily communicating with Mr. Maxwell.
  8. You are then to endeavour to determine the fate of the Macquarie River, by tracing it as far as possible beyond the point to which Mr. Oxley went, and by pushing westward, you are to ascertain if there be any high lands in that direction, or if the country be, as it is supposed, an unbroken level and under water. If you should fail in these objects, you will traverse the plains lying behind our north-west boundaries, with a view to skirt any waters by which you may have been checked to the westward; and if you should succeed in skirting them, you are to explore the country westward and southward as far as possible, endeavouring to discover the Macquarie beyond the marsh of Mr. Oxley, and following it to its mouth if at all practicable.
  9. There is some reason to believe that the over-flowing of the Macquarie when visited by Mr. Oxley, was occasioned by heavy rains falling in the mountains to the eastward, and that as you are to visit the same spot at a different season of the year, you may escape such embarrassment; but although you should get beyond the point at which
  10. Mr. Oxley stopped, it would not be prudent to risk your own health or that of your men, by continuing long in a swampy country. Therefore it may be advisable for you in the first instance to leave the greater part of your men, bullocks, and baggage, at Mount Harris, and if you should see a probability of your being able to cross into the interior, you will then return to Mount Harris for such additional supplies as you may judge necessary. You can there communicate with Mr. Maxwell respecting any ulterior arrangements which you may be desirous of making.
  11. The success of the expedition is so desirable an object, that I cannot too strongly impress upon you the importance of perseverance in endeavouring to skirt any waters or marshes which may check your course as long as you have provisions sufficient for your return; but you must be cautious not to proceed a single day's journey further than where you find that your provisions will be barely sufficient to enable you to reach the nearest place at which you can depend upon getting supplies.
  12. If after every endeavour you should find it totally impracticable to get to the westward, you are still to proceed northward, keeping as westerly a direction as possible; and when the state of your provisions will oblige you to retreat, you will be guided by your latitude, as to the place to which you are to make the best of your way, but you are not to make for any place on the coast, if Wellington valley should still be nearer.
  13. You must be aware that the success of the expedition will greatly depend upon the time for which your provisions
  14. will hold out, and therefore you will see the great importance of observing every possible economy in the expenditure of provisions, and preventing waste of every kind.
  15. You are to keep a detailed account of your proceedings in a journal, in which all observations and occurrences of every kind, with all their circumstances, however minute, are to be carefully noted down. You are to be particular in describing the general face of all the country through which you pass, the direction and shape of the mountains, whether detached or in ranges, together with the bearings and estimated distances of the several mountains, hills, or eminences from each other. You are likewise to note the nature of the climate, as to heat, cold, moisture, winds, rains, &c, and to keep a register of the temperature from Fahrenheit's thermometer, as observed at two or three periods of each day. The rivers, with their several branches, their direction, velocity, breadth, and depth, are carefully to be noted. It is further expected that you will, as far as may be in your power, attend to the animal, vegetable, and mineral productions of the country, noting down every thing that may occur to you, and preserving specimens as far as your means will admit, especially some of all the ripe seeds which you may discover; when the preservation of specimens is impossible, drawings or detailed accounts of them, are very desirable.
  16. You will note the description of the several people whom you may meet, the extent of the population, their means of subsistence, their genius and disposition, the nature of their amusements, their diseases and remedies, their objects
  17. of worship, religious ceremonies, and a vocabulary of their language.

Lastly. On your return from your journey, you are to cause all the journals or other written documents belonging to, and curiosities collected by the several individuals composing the expedition, to be carefully sealed up with your own seal and kept in that state until you shall have made your report to me in writing of the result of the expedition.

Given at Sydney, this eighteenth day of November, 1828.
By Command of His Excellency the Governor,
ALEXANDER M'LEAY.

No. II.

LIST OF STORES SUPPLIED FOR THE EXPEDITION.

List of Articles delivered from His Majesty's Stores, in charge of D. A. C. Goodsir, to Captain Sturt, viz.—

1 Hack saddle. 9 Harness casks.
1 Bridle. 23 Canvas bags.
2 Tents. 4 Tin cases.
14 Pack saddles. 16 Padlocks.
14 Pair hobbles. 6 Tarpaulens.
24 Sets horse shoes. 10 Haversacks.
2000 Horse nails. 113 Fathom one-inch rope.
113 Fathoms 1 1/2 inch rope. 1 Boat compass.
1 Hammer, (Blacksmith's) 1 Telescope.
1 Paring knife. 1 Spare glass for ditto.
2 Chipping do. 1 Tin case (for charts.)
2 Rasps. 100 Fish-hooks, (large.)
1 Pair pincers. 12 Fishing-lines.
1 Cutter. 10 Knives.
2 lb. Pack thread. 10 Forks.
24 Needles. 10 Spoons.
1/4 lb. Bristles. 2 Frying-pans.
7 lbs. Leather. 2 Tinder-boxes.
1/2 lb. Thread. 1 Tea-kettle, (tin.)
1 Pair of steelyards. 10 Tin dishes.
10 Tin pots. 8 Jackets.
1 Flour seive. 8 Duck frocks.
2 Felling-axes. 8 Shirts.
4 Tomahawks. 16 Trousers.
2 Hammers. 24 Pair shoes.
1 Hand-saw. 16 Blankets.
3 Bill-hooks. 16 Pair stockings.
3 Awls. 2 Bullock collars.
3 Broad hoes. 2 Do. back-bands and pipes.
4 Razors. 2 Leading cruppers.
4 Brushes. 1 Boat with sail and oars.
4 Combs. 1 Do. carriage.
3 Iron pots, (camp kettles.) 1 Canvass boat-cover.
1 Pair scissors. 3 Water breaker.

Commissariat Office, Sydney, Nov. 10th, 1828.

P.S.—1 Tarpaulen.
Large Fish-hook.
1 Tin tea-kettle.
1 Camp kettle.
Pitch and oil.
Hemp or twine.

No. III.

SHEEP-FARMING RETURNS, SHOWING THE INCREASE IN FOUR YEARS, from two Breeding Flocks, consisting of 670 Ewes in Lamb.

(A.)—1st JUNE, 1828.

Flocks.Breeding Ewes.Lambs.Total.Remarks.
2 yrs. old3 yrs. oldMaleFemale
Lambs.
No. 1 330 148 149 627Deaths 6Incr.297
No. 2 330 154 154 638 4 308
*1265 10 605

* [The increase throughout these returns is calculated at from 270 to 290 Lambs, to 300 Ewes, which is the usual average in N.S.W.]

ABSTRACT.

Purchased two Flocks of Ewes, at 84s 670
Increase of Lambs 605
Casual Deaths 10 595
Total as per Return 1265

(B.)—1st JUNE, 1829.

FlocksEwesWethersRamsLambsTotalRemarks
BreedingMaidenMaleFemale
No. Lambs.
1 3-yr. 327 154 154 635Deaths 3Incr.308
2 4-yr. 326 155 155 636 4 310
3 1-yr. 302 302 1 618
4 1-yr. 302 18 320 8
1893

ABSTRACT.

Return (A) Total 1265
Increase by Lambing 618
Ditto Rams purchased 18
636
Casual Deaths 8 628
Total as per return 1893

(C.)—1st JUNE, 1830.

FlocksEwesWethersRamsLambsTotalRemarks
BreedingMaidenMaleFemale
No. Lambs.
1 2-yr. 296 133 133 562Deaths 6Incr.266
2 4-yr. 325 150 150 625 2 300
3 5-yr. 326 160 160 646 320
4 2-yr. 302 27 329
5 1-yr. 309 309 886
6 1-yr. 309 309
3 Rams died
278012 ditto purchased.

ABSTRACT.

Return (B) Total 1893
Increase by Lambing 886
Ditto Rams purchased 12
 898
Deaths 11 887
Total as per return 2780

(D.)—1st JUNE, 1831.

FlocksEwesWethersRamsLambsTotalRemarks
BreedingMaidenMaleFemale
No. Lambs.
1 2-yr. 304 136 136 576Deaths 5Incr.272
2 3-yr. 293 135 136 564 3 271
3 5-yr. 324 156 156 636 1 312
4 6-yr. 320 156 156 632 2 312
Killed 4
5 3-yr. 300 300Deaths 2 1167
6 2-yr. 308 308 1
7 1-yr. 443 443
8 1-yr. 442 442 1
9 40 40 5
3941 20
Purchased 12

ABSTRACT.

Return (C) Total 2780
Increase by Lambing 1167
Ditto Rams purchased 18
1185
Casual deaths 20…Killed for use 4 241161
Total as per return 3941

(E.)—1st JUNE, 1832.

FlocksEwesWethersRamsLambsTotalRemarks
Breeding Maiden Male Female (Killed)
No. Lambs.
1 2-yr. 344 154 154 652Deaths 6Incr.308
2 3-yr. 344 162 161 667 4 323
4 3-yr. 342 164 165 671 3 329
5 6-yr. 320 155 155 630 2 (2) 310
6 7-yr. 300 145 145 590 2 (18) 290
7 4-yr.
300 300 1560
8 3-yr. 302 302 2
9 2-yr. 440 440 1 (2)
10 1-yr 583 583
11 1-yr 584 584 (22)
12 45 45 5Purch.10
1650 5841625 45 780 780546425 Casual deaths

ABSTRACT.

Return (D) Total 3941
Increase by Lambing 1560
Ditto Rams purchased 10
1570
Decrease by casual death 25
Do. by slaughtered for use 22 1523
 47
Grand Total as above 5464

Memorandum,—The deaths have been calculated at the lowest rate under the best management. It may be safer to assume a rate of four or five per cent. per annum.

Account of Expenditure and Income upon Sheep Stock in Australia, appended to Returns A. B. C. D. and E.

1st YEAR, (RETURN A.) JUNE, 1829.

INCOME.
By 1265 fleeces, average weight 2 1/4 lbs. 2846 lbs
wool at 1s. 6d. per lb. £213 9 0
EXPENDITURE.
To 2 Shepherds at £30 £60 0 0
To 1 Watchman at 20 20 0 0 PROFIT.
To Hurdles, &c. 10 0 0
 90 0 0
 £123 9 0
2nd YEAR, (B.) JUNE, 1830.
INCOME.
By 1893 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 4259 lbs.
wool at 1s. 6d. £319 8 6
EXPENDITURE.
To 2 Shepherds at £30 £60 0 0
To 2 Ditto 20 40 0 0
To 1 Watchman 20 0 0
To Hurdles &c. 5 0 0
£125 0 0
To 18 Rams at £10* 180 0 0
£305 0 0
 14 8 6
* [The price of rams will probably fall to £5.]
3rd YEAR, (C.) JUNE, 1831.
INCOME.
By 2780 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 6255 lbs.
wool at 1s. 6d. £469 2 6
EXPENDITURE.
To 2 Shepherds at £30 £60 0 0
To 1 Ditto 25 25 0 0
To 3 Ditto 20 60 0 0
To 2 Watchman 20 40 0 0
To Hurdles &c. 10 0 0
195 0 0
To 12 Rams at £10 120 0 0
£315 0 0
 154 2 6
4th YEAR, (D.) JUNE, 1832.
INCOME.
By 3941 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 8867 lbs.
wool at 1s. 6d. £665 0 0
EXPENDITURE.
To 2 Shepherds at £30 £60 0 0
To 2 Ditto 25 50 0 0
To 4 Ditto 20 80 0 0
To 3 Watchmen, &c. (1 to take charge of Rams) 60 0 0
To Hurdles, &c. 10 0 0
260 0 0
To 18 Rams at £10. 180 0 0
£440 0 0
 225 0 0
5th YEAR, (E.) JUNE, 1833.*
INCOME.
By 5464 fleeces at 2 1/4 lbs. 12,294 lbs.
wool at 1s. 6d. £922 0 0
EXPENDITURE.
To 2 Shepherds at £30 £60 0 0
To 3 Ditto 25 75 0 0
To 5 Ditto 20 100 0 0
To 3 Watchman 20 60 0 0
To Hurdles &c. 20 0 0
315 0 0
To 10 Rams at £10 100 0 0
£415 0 0
 507 0 0
Net profit by sales of wool in 5 years £1024 0 0

£1024 divided by 5, gives £204 8 0 for annual interest on the original capital of £2814, (about 7 1/4 per cent. per annum,) in addition to the accumulation of capital itself, shown by the valuation of stock.

* [These accounts are a year in advance of the sheep returns, in order to bring them to the time at which the wool would be sold.]

VALUATION OF SHEEP, JUNE, 1832—(RETURN E.)

1614 Ewes from 1 to 4 years old £3 each£4842 0 0
620 Do. 4 to 7 years old 2 " 1240 0 0
780 Female Lambs 2 " 1560 0 0
2405 Wethers and Male Lambs 15s. 1803 0 0
45 Rams (original cost, 450l.) 400 0 0
£9845 0 0

Note.—About £500 would be added to the Income on the fifth year, by the sale of wethers of 3 and 4 years old.

The cost of rams ought, strictly speaking, to be added to capital, and not deducted from Income; but these returns were made out in their present form at the request of a gentleman proceeding to the Colony with a limited capital, and who wished to know how much he might safely invest in sheep.

No. IV.

LIST OF GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS, COLLECTED IN THE DISTANT INTERIOR DURING THE FIRST EXPEDITION, WITH THEIR LOCALITIES AND THEIR RELATIVE DISTANCES FROM EACH OTHER.

It may be necessary to observe that the height of the Cataract of the Macquarie River above the sea, was ascertained by barometrical admeasurement to be 650 feet. The country subsequently traversed is considerably lower. The specimens refer only to the geological formation of the distant interior.

Schorl Rock.—Colour blueish grey, fine grained, extremely hard. Composed of Tourmaline and Quartz. Forms the bed of the Macquarie at the Cataract, 75 miles to the N.W. of Wellington Valley.

Decomposed Mica Slate.—Colour white; yields to the knife; adheres strongly to the tongue.

Decomposed Feldspar.—Colour pale rose-pink; very fine grained; easily scratched with the knife; adheres strongly to the tongue.

Both specimens immediately succeed the Schorl rock at the Cataract, in large smooth-sided masses.

This formation may be said to terminate the rocks connected with the dividing ranges, since it is the last that occurs at their western base.

A little below the Cataract, the county undergoes a remarkable change, and becomes extremely depressed.

Porphyry with Feldspar.—Colour dull red, with white spots, or grey with red spots; very hard, compact, sonorous, magnetic. (See pp. 27 and 115.) Composition of Mount Harris, a hill called by Mr. Oxley, elevated about 170 feet above the level of the plains. It lies 65 miles to the N.N.W. of the Cataract, and is about 16 miles distant from the first of the marshes of the Macquarie.

Porphyry with Feldspar.—Colour grey with red spots, similar to the last. Was not observed to affect the needle. Formation of Mount Foster. Mount Foster is more than 200 feet in height, and lies about 5 miles to the N.N.W. of Mount Harris. From the summit of both, Arbuthnot's range is visible, bearing nearly due east, distant 70 miles. (See page 28.)

Quartz Rock varieties—Slaty Quartz varieties.—Composition of the first elevations to the Westward of the marshes of the Macquarie, called New Year's Range, a group of five hills. The loftiest about 200 feet in elevation; distant about 80 miles to the N.W. of Mount Harris.

Granite.—Colour red, coarse-grained. Composed of Quartz, Feldspar, and Mica.

Illustration 6
A SELENITE.
CHRYSTALLIZED SULPHATE OF LIME.

Granite, Porphyritic.—Colour light red. Both occurring in the bed of New Year's Creek, traversing it obliquely, and are visible for a

few hundred yards only. This granite occurs about 16 miles from the Range in a N. by E. direction.

Old Red Sandstone.—Composition of Oxley's Table Land, 500 feet above the level of the plains. It is broken into two hills, that appear to have been separated by some convulsion. (See page 81.) It bears N.W. by W. from New Year's Range, distant 50 miles.

Old Red Sandstone.—Composition of D'Urban's group. The highest elevation ascended during the expedition, being nearly 600 feet above the level of the plain in which it rises. It lies to the S.S.W. of Oxley's Table Land, distant 40 miles, and the rock of which it is composed is much harder and closer.

Breccia.—Colour pale yellow, silicious cement. Composition of some trifling elevations to the North of New-Year's range, with which it is doubtful whether they are connected.

Chrystallized Sulphate of Lime.—Found imbedded in the alluvial soil forming the banks of the Darling river. Occurring in a regular vein. Soft, yielding to the nail; not acted on by acids.—See Plate.

Breccia.—Pale ochre colour, silicious cement, extremely hard. Cellular, and sharp edges to the fractured pebbles. Has apparently undergone fusion. Occurs in the bed of the Darling in one place only.

Sandstone Varieties.—Colour dull red and muddy white; appears like burnt bricks; light, easily frangible; adheres to the tongue; occurs in large masses in the bed of the Darling;

probably in connection with the rock-salt of the neighbourhood, which, from the number of brine springs discovered feeding the river, must necessarily exist.

Variety of the same description of rock.

Jasper and Quartz.—Showing itself above the surface of a plain, from which D'Urban's group bore S. 40 E. distant 33 miles.

It is a remarkable fact, that not a pebble or a stone was picked up during the progress of the expedition, on any one of the plains; and that after it again left Mount Harris for the Castlereagh, the only rock-formation discovered was a small Freestone tract near the Darling river. There was not a pebble of any kind either in the bed of the Castlereagh, or in the creeks falling into it.

No. V.

OFFICIAL REPORTS TO THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.
GOVERNMENT ORDER

Colonial Secretary's Office, 23rd January, 1829.

His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to order, that the following communication, dated the 25th of December last, from Captain Sturt, of the 39th Regiment, who is employed in an exploring expedition into the interior of the country, be published for general information.

By his Excellency's Command,
ALEXANDER M'LEAY.

Western Marshes, 25th December, 1828.

SIR,—I do myself the honor to forward, for the Governor's perusal, a copy of my journal up to the date of my

arrival at Mount Harris. I should not have directed the messenger to return so soon, had I not subsequently advanced to Mount Foster, and surveyed the country from that eminence. I could distinctly see Arbuthnot's Range to the eastward. From that point the horizon appeared to me unbroken, but the country to the northward and westward seemed to favour an attempt to penetrate into it. I did not observe any sheet of water, and the course of the Macquarie was lost in the woodlands below.

Mr. Hume ascended the hill at sun-rise, and thought he could see mountains to the north east, but at such a distance as to make it quite a matter of uncertainty. Agreeing, however, in the prudence of an immediate descent, we left our encampment on the morning of the 23rd, under Mount Foster, to which we had removed from Mount Harris, and pursued a north-north-west course to the spot on which we rest at present. We passed some fine meadow land near the river, and were obliged to keep wide of it in consequence of fissures in the ground. Traversing a large and blasted plain, on which the sun's rays fell with intense heat, and on which there was but little vegetation, we skirted the first great morass, and made the river immediately beyond it. It is of very considerable extent, the channel of the river passing through it. We are encompassed on every side by high reeds, which exist in the woods as well as in the plains. Mr. Hume and myself rode forward yesterday through the second morass, and made the river on slightly elevated ground, at a distance of about five miles; the country beyond appeared to favour our object, and we, to-morrow, proceed with the party to the north-west. The river seems to bend to the north-east; but in

this level country it is impossible to speak with certainty, or to give any decided opinion of the nature of it, beyond the flats on which we are travelling. The reeds to the north-east and northward extend over a circumference of fifty miles; but if Mr. Hume really saw mountains or rising ground in the former point, the apparent course of the Macquarie is at once accounted for. The country, however, seems to dip to the north, though generally speaking it is level, and I am inclined to think that the state of the atmosphere caused a deception in this appearance.

I regret to add, that the effects of the sun on the plain over which we passed on the 23rd produced a return of inflammation in the eyes of the men, I have named in my journals, and caused the same in the eyes of several others of my party. I halted, therefore, to expedite their recovery. They are doing well now, and we can proceed in the cool of the morning without any fear of their receiving injury by it. One of the men, who were to return to Wellington Valley, was attacked slightly with dysentery, but the medicines I gave him carried it off in the course of a day or two. I have taken every precaution with regard to the health of the men, in preparing them for the country into which they are going; and I have to request that you will inform the governor that the conduct of the whole party merits my approbation, and that I have no fault to find. The men from Sydney are not so sharp as those from Wellington Valley, but are equally well disposed. The animals, both horses and bullocks, are in good order, and I find the two soldiers of infinite service to me. The boat has received some damage from exposure to intense heat, but is

otherwise uninjured. We still retain the carriage and have every prospect of dragging it on with us.

His Excellency, having been good enough to order a fresh supply of provisions to Wellington Valley, I have to beg they may be forwarded to Mount Harris, and that the person in charge thereof be instructed to remain at that station for one month. We shall, during the interval, have examined the country to the north-west; and, in case we are forced back, shall require a supply to enable us to proceed to the northward, in furtherance of the views I have already had the honor to submit for the Governor's approval.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your most obedient and humble Servant,
CHARLES STURT,
Captain, 39th Regt.

The Honorable The Colonial Secretary

GOVERNMENT ORDER

Colonial Secretary's Office, 6th April, 1829.

His Excellency the Governor is pleased to direct that the following interesting Report which has been received from Captain Sturt, 39th Regiment, who has been employed for some months past, (as will be seen on reference to the Government Order, No. 4, published with Captain Sturt's First Report in the Sydney Gazette, of the 24th

of January last) in exploring the interior, be communicated for the information of the public.

It appears that the river Macquarie ceases to exist near the spot where the expedition under the late Mr. Oxley terminated, which, from the state of country at the time, being then flooded, could not be ascertained; and that another river of no inconsiderable magnitude, fed by salt springs, was discovered by Captain Sturt on the 2nd February last, about 100 miles to the westward of the Macquarie, running to the southward and westward.

By His Excellency's Command,
ALEXANDER M'LEAY.

Mount Harris, 4th March, 1829.

SIR,—I do myself the honor to acquaint you, for the information of His Excellency the Governor, that I returned to this eminence on Monday, the 23rd ult. having been driven from the interior, in consequence of the extreme drought which prevails there.

I am to state, in reference to my former communication, that agreeably to what I then reported, I moved, on the 26th December last, lower down the plains of the Macquarie, but encountered a barrier of reeds, formed by the marshes of that river, through which we in vain endeavoured to force our way. I was in consequence obliged to make the nearest part of the river to my left, and to take such measures as the nature of my situation required. Here, for the first time, I set the boat afloat, deeming it

essential to trace the river, as I could not move upon its banks, and wishing also to ascertain where it again issued from the marshes, I requested Mr. Hume to proceed northerly, with a view to skirt them, and to descend westerly, wherever he saw an open space. He was fortunate enough to strike upon the channel about twelve miles north of our position, but was obstructed in his further progress by another marsh, in consequence of which he returned to the camp the next day; in the mean time, I had taken the boat, and proceeded down the Macquarie, my way being at first considerably obstructed by fallen timber: clearing this obstacle, however, I got into a deeper channel, with fine broad reaches, and a depth of from twelve to fifteen feet water. I had a short time previously cleared all woods and trees, and was now in the midst of reeds of great height. After proceeding onwards for about eight miles from the place whence I started, my course was suddenly and unexpectedly checked; I saw reeds before me, and expected I was about to turn an angle of the river, but I found that I had got to the end of the channel, and that the river itself had ceased to exist. Confounded at such a termination to a stream, whose appearance justified the expectation that it would have led me through the heart of the marsh to join Mr. Hume, I commenced a most minute examination of the place, and discovered two creeks, if they deserve the name, branching, the one to the north-west, and the other to the north-east; after tracing the former a short distance, I reached its termination, and in order to assure myself that such was the case, I walked round the head of it by pushing through the reeds; it being then too dark to continue where I was, I returned to

a place on the river, at which I had rested during a shower, and slept there. In the morning I again went to the spot to examine the north-eastern branch, when I was equally disappointed. I then examined the space between the two creeks, opposite to the main channel of the river, and where the bank receives the force of the current. Here I saw water in the reeds, but it was scarcely ankle deep, and was running off to the north-west quicker than the waters of the river, which had almost an imperceptible motion, I was therefore at once convinced that it was not permanent, but had lodged there in the night, during which much rain had fallen. I next pushed my way through the reeds into the marsh, and at length clearly perceived that the waters which were perfectly sweet, after running several courses, flowed off to the north, towards which point there was an apparent declination or dip. Finding it impossible to proceed further, I regained the boat, and thence returned to the camp, under a conviction that I had reached the very spot, at which Mr. Oxley lost the channel of the river in 1818.

The next day I moved to the place where Mr. Hume had struck upon the channel of the river, but was again doubtful in what direction to proceed.

The marsh, at the commencement of which we now found ourselves, being the third from Mount Foster, but the second great one, seemed to extend beyond us to the north for many miles, but varying in breadth. In the evening I went in the boat up the channel, and found it at first, deep and sullen, as that of the river above. It soon however, narrowed, and the weeds formed over its surface, so that I abandoned the boat and walked along a path up it. I had not gone far when the channel divided; two

smaller channels came, the one from the southern, and the other from the western parts of the marsh into it. There was an evident declination where they were, and it was at their junction the river again rallied and formed. On my return to the camp, Mr. Hume and I went down the river, but found that about a mile it lost itself, and spread its waters ever the extensive marsh before it.

In this extremity, I knew not what movement to make, as Mr. Hume had been checked in his progress north. I therefore determined to ascertain the nature of the country to the eastward and to the westward, that I might move accordingly; I proposed to Mr. Hume, to take a week's provisions, with two attendants, and go to the north-east, in order again to turn the marsh, but with the expectation that the angle formed by the junction of the Castlereagh with the Macquarie would arrest its progress, as the last was fast approaching the former.

I myself determined to cross the river, and to skirt the marshes on the left, and in case they turned off to the north east, as they appeared to do, it was my intention to pursue a N.W. course into the interior, to learn the nature of it. With these views I left the camp on the 31st of December, and did not return until the 5th of January. Having found early in my journey, from the change of soil and of timber, that I was leaving the neighbourhood of the Macquarie, I followed a N.W. course, from a more northerly one, and struck at once across the country, under an impression that Mr. Hume would have made the river again long before my return. I found, after travelling between twenty and thirty miles, the country began to rise; and at the end of my journey, I made a hill of considerable

elevation, from the summit of which I had a view of other high lands; one to the S.W. being a very fine mountain. As I had not found any water excepting in two creeks, which I had left far behind me, and as I had got on a soil which appeared incapable of holding it, I made this the termination of my journey, having exceeded 100 miles in distance from the camp, on my return to which I found Mr. Hume still absent. When he joined, he stated to me, that not making the Castlereagh as soon as he expected, he had bent down westerly for the Macquarie, and that he ended his journey at some gentle hills he had made; so that it appeared we must either have crossed each other's line of route, or that they were very near, and that want of length must alone have prevented them from crossing; but as such all assumption led to the conclusion that the Macquarie no longer existed, I determined to pursue a middle course round the swamps, to ascertain the point; as in case the river had ended, a westerly course was the one which my instructions directed me to pursue.

In the immediate neighbourhood of the marshes we were obliged to sink wells for water, and it was thus early that we began to feel the want of a regular supply.

Having made a creek about four miles from our position by cutting through the reeds where there was a narrow space, we pursued a westerly course over a plain, having every appearance of frequent inundation, and for four or five days held nearly the same direction; in the course of which we crossed both our tracks on the excursions we had made, which had intersected each other in a dense oak brush; thus renewing the few doubts, or rather the doubt

we had as to the fate of the Macquarie, whose course we had been sent to trace. Indeed, had I not felt convinced that that river had ceased, I should not have moved westward without further examination, but we had passed through a very narrow part of the marshes, and round the greater part of them, and had not seen any hollow that could by any possible exaggeration be construed into or mistaken for the channel of a river.

It appears, then, that the Macquarie, flowing as it does for so many miles, through a bed, and not a declining country, and having little water in it, except in times of flood, loses its impetus long ere it reaches the formidable barrier that opposes its progress northwards; the soil in which the reeds grow being a stiff clay. Its waters consequently spread, until a slight declivity giving them fresh impulse, they form a channel again, but soon gaining a level, they lose their force and their motion together, and spread not only over the second great marsh, but over a vast extent of the surrounding country, the breadth of ground thus subject to inundation being more than twenty miles, and its length considerably greater; around this space there is a gentle rise which confines the waters, while small hollows in various directions lead them out of the marshes over the adjacent plains, on which they eventually subside. On my return from the interior, I examined those parts round which I had not been, with particular attention, partly in company with Mr. Hume, and this statement was confirmed by what we saw. Thus, at a distance of about twenty-five miles from Mount Foster to the N.N.W. the river Macquarie ceases to exist, in any shape as a river, and at a distance of between fifty and sixty, the marshes

terminate, though the country subject to inundation from the river is of a very considerable extent, as shown by the withered bulrushes, wet reeds, and shells, that are scattered over its surface.

Having executed the first part of the instructions with which I had been honoured, I determined on pursuing a west, or north-west course into the interior, to ascertain the nature of it, in fulfilment of the second, but in doing this I was obliged to follow creeks, and even on their banks had to carry a supply of water, so uncertain was it that we should meet with any at the termination of our day's journey, and that what we did find would be fit to drink. Our course led us over plains immediately bordering the lower lands of the Macquarie, alternating with swamp oak, acacia pendula, pine, box, eucalyptus, and many other trees of minor growth, the soil being inclined to a red loam, while the plains were generally covered with a black scrub, though in some places they had good grass upon them. We crossed two creeks before we made the hills Mr. Hume had ascended, and which he called New Year's Range. Around these hills the country appeared better—they are gentle, picturesque elevations, and are for the most part, covered with verdure, and have, I fancy, a whinstone base, the rock of which they are composed being of various substances. I place New Year's Range in lat. 30° 21´, long. 146° 3´ 30´´. Our course next lying north-west along a creek, led us to within twenty miles of the hill that had terminated my excursion, and as I hoped that a more leisurely survey of the country from its summit would open something favourable to our view, I struck over for it, though eventually obliged to return. From it Mr. Hume

and I rode to the S.W. mountain, a distance of about forty miles, without crossing a brook or a creek, our way leading through dense acacia brushes, and for the most part over a desert. We saw high lands from this mountain, which exceeds 1,300 feet in elevation, and is of sandstone formation, and thickly covered with stunted pine, in eight different points—the bearings of which are as follows:—

Oxley's Table Land . . N. 40 E., distant 40 miles.
Kengall Hill . . due E. very distant.
Conical Hill . . S. 60 E.
Highland . . S.E. distance 30 miles.
Highland . . S. 30 E. distance 25 miles.
Long Range . . S. 16 E. distance 60 miles.
Long Range . . S. 72 W. distance 60 miles.
Distant Range . . S. 25 W. supposed.

It was in vain, however, that we looked for water. The country to the north-west, was low and unbroken, and alternated with wood and plain.

The country from New Year's Range to the hill I had made, and which I called Oxley's Table Land, had been very fair, with good soil in many places, but with a total want of water, except in the creeks, wherein the supply was both bad and uncertain; on our second day's journey from the former, we came to the creek on which we were moving, where it had a coarse granite bottom. The country around it improved very much in appearance, and there was abundance of good grass on the surface of it, in spite of the drought. On the right of this creek, a large plain stretches parallel to it for many miles, varying in quality of soil. Near Oxley's Table Land, we passed over open forest, the prevailing timber of which was box. I

have placed Oxley's Table Land in latitude 29° 57´ 30´´, longitude 145° 43´ 30´´.

Finding it impracticable to move westward from the hill I again descended on the creek, whose general course was to the north-west, in which direction we at length struck upon a river whose appearance raised our most sanguine expectations. It flowed round an angle from the north-east to the north-west, and extended in longitude five reaches as far as we could see. At that place it was about sixty yards broad, with banks of from thirty to forty feet high, and it had numerous wild fowl and many pelicans on its bosom, and seemed to be full of fish, while the paths of the natives on both sides, like well-trodden roads, showed how numerous they were about it. On tasting its waters, however, we found them perfectly salt, and useless to us, and as our animals had been without water the night before, this circumstance distressed us much; our first day's journey led us past between sixty and seventy huts in one place, and on our second we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives, having previously seen some between two creeks before we made New-Year's Range. At some places the water proved less salt than at others; our animals drank of it sparingly: we found two small fresh-water holes, which served us as we passed. After tracing the river for a considerable distance, we came on brine springs in the bed of it, the banks having been encrusted with salt from the first; and as the difficulty of getting fresh water was so great, I here foresaw an end to our wanderings. And as I was resolved not to involve my party in greater distress, I halted it, on overtaking the animals, and the next morning turned back to the nearest fresh-water, at a distance of

eighteen miles from us. Unwilling, however, to give up our pursuit, Mr. Hume and I started with two men on horseback, to trace the river as far as we could, and to ascertain what course it took; in the hopes also that we should fall on some creek, or get a more certain supply of drinkable water. We went a distance to which the bullocks could not have been brought, and then got on a red sandy soil, which at once destroyed our hopes; and on tasting the river water we found it salter than ever, our supply being diminished to two pints. Our animals being weak and purged, and having proceeded at least forty miles from the camp, I thought it best to yield to circumstances, and to return, though I trust I shall be believed when I add, it was with extreme reluctance I did so; and had I followed the wishes of my party, should still have continued onwards. Making a part of the river where we had slept, we stayed to refresh, and in consequence of the heat of the weather were obliged to drink the water in it, which made us sick. While here, a tribe of blacks came to us and behaved remarkably well. At night we slept on a plain without water, and the next day we regained the camp, which had been visited by the natives during our absence.

We found the river held a south-west course, and appeared to be making for the central space between a high land, which I called Dunlop's Range, at Mr. Hume's request, and a lofty range to the westward. It still continued its important appearance, having gained in breadth and in the height of its banks, while there were hundreds of pelicans and wild-fowl on it. Flowing through a level country with such a channel, it may be presumed that this river ultimately assumes either a greater character, or that it adds

considerably to the importance of some other stream. It had a clay bottom, generally speaking, in many places semi-indurated and fast forming into sandstone, while there was chrystallized sulphate of lime running in veins through the soil which composed the bank.

This river differs from most in the colony, in having a belt of barren land of from a quarter of a mile to two miles in breadth in its immediate neighbourhood, and which is subject to overflow. This belt runs to the inland plains, where a small elevation checks the further progress of the flood. There is magnificent blue gum on both sides the river, but the right bank is evidently the most fertile, and I am mistaken greatly if there is not a beautiful country north of it.

Of the country over which we have passed, it is impossible for me to have formed a correct opinion under its present melancholy circumstances. It has borne the appearance of barrenness, where in even moderate rain, it might have shown very differently, though no doubt we passed over much of both good and bad land; our animals on the whole, have thrived on the food they have had, which would argue favourably for the herbage. Generally speaking, I fear the timber is bad—the rough-gum may be used for knees, and such purposes, and we may have seen wood for the wheelwright and cabinet-maker, specimens of which I have procured, but none for general or household purposes.

The creeks we have traced are different in character from those in the settled districts, inasmuch as that, like the river, they have a belt of barren land near then and but little grass—they have all of them been numerously frequented by the natives, as appeared from the number

of muscle-shells on their banks, but now having scarcely any water in them, the fish having either been taken, or are dead, and the tribes gone elsewhere for food, while the badness of the river water has introduced a cutaneous disease among the natives of that district, which is fast carrying them off. Our intercourse with these people was incessant from the time we first met them, and on all occasions they behaved remarkably well, nor could we have seen less than than two hundred and fifty of them.

Our return is to be attributable to the want of water alone, and it is impossible for me to describe the effects of the drought on animal as well as vegetable nature. The natives are wandering in the desert, and it is melancholy to reflect on the necessity which obliges them to drink the stinking and loathsome water they do—birds sit gasping in the trees and are quite thin—the wild dog prowls about in the day-time unable to avoid us, and is as lean as he can be in a living state, while minor vegetation is dead, and the very trees are drooping. I have noticed all these things in my Journal I shall have the honour of submitting through you, for the Governor's perusal and information, on my return. Finally, I fear our expedition will not pave the way to any ultimate benefit; although it has been the means by which two very doubtful questions,—the course of the Macquarie, and the nature of the interior, have been solved; for it is beyond doubt, that the interior for 250 miles beyond its former known limits to the W.N.W., so far from being a shoal sea, has been ascertained not only to have considerable elevations upon it, but is in itself a table land to all intents and purposes, and has scarcely water on its surface to support its inhabitants.

I beg you will inform His Excellency the Governor, that I have on all occasions received the most ready and valuable assistance from Mr, Hume. His intimate acquaintance with the manners and customs of the natives, enabled him to enter into intercourse with them, and chiefly contributed to the peaceable manner in which we have journeyed, while his previous experience put it in his power to be of real use to me. I cannot but say he has done an essential service to future travellers, and to the colony at large, by his conduct on all occasions since he has been with me; nor should I be doing him justice, if I did not avail myself of the first opportunity of laying my sentiments before the Governor, through you. I am happy to add that every individual of the party deserves my warmest approbation, and that they have, one and all, borne their distresses, trifling certainly, but still unusual, with cheerfulness, and that they have at all times been attentive to their duty, and obedient to their orders. The whole are in good health, and are eager again to start.

I have the honor to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
CHARLES STURT,
Capt. 39th Regt.

The Honorable The Colonial Secretary.

Mount Harris, 5th March, 1829.

SIR,—It having appeared to me, that after discovering such a river as the one I have described in my letter of yes

terday, His Excellency the Governor would approve of my endeavouring to regain it. There being a probability that it ultimately joins the Southern Waters, I thought of turning my steps to the southward and westward; and with a view to learn the nature of the country, I despatched Mr. Hume in that direction on Saturday last. He returned in three days, after having gone above forty miles from the river, and states, that he crossed two creeks, the one about twenty-five miles, the other about thirty-two distance, evidently the heads of the creeks we passed westward of the marshes of the Macquarie. He adds, that, to the second creek the land was excellent, but that on crossing it, he got onto red soil, on which he travelled some miles further, until he saw a range of high land, bearing from him S.W.. by W., when, knowing from the nature of the country around him, and from the experience of our late journey, that he could not hope to find a regular supply of water in advance, and that in the present dry state of the low lands, a movement such as I had contemplated would be impracticable, he returned home. I do myself the honour, therefore, to report to you, for His Excellency's information, that I shall proceed on Saturday next in a N.E. direction towards the Castlereagh, intending to trace that river down, and afterwards to penetrate as far to the northward and westward as possible; it being my wish to get into the country north of the more distant river, where I have expectations that there is an extensive and valuable track of country, but that in failure of the above, I shall examine the low country behind our N.W. boundaries, if I can find a sufficiency of water to enable me to do so.

I am to inform you that in this neighbourhood the

Macquarie has ceased to flow, and that it is now a chain of shallow ponds. The water is fast diminishing in it, and unless rain descends in a few weeks it will be perfectly dry.

I am also to report, that the natives attempted the camp with the supplies before my arrival at Mount Harris, but that on the soldier with the party firing a shot, after they had thrown a stone and other of the weapons, they fled. It was in consequence of their fires, which I saw at a distance of forty miles, and which they never make on so extensive a scale, except as signals when they want to collect, and are inclined to be mischievous, that I made forced marches up, and I am led to believe my arrival was very opportune. The natives have visited us since, and I do not think they will now attempt to molest either party when we separate.

I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
CHARLES STURT,
Capt. 39th Regt.

The Hon. The Colonial Secretary.

End of Volume One