This They Traced Till It Joined A Large River, Which They Ascertained To Be The Macquarrie.

From this point to Bathurst Plains, the country was rich and beautiful.

As from the size of the Macquarrie where they fell in with it, it seemed probable that it either communicated with the sea itself or flowed into a river which did, the governor sent Lieutenant Oxley on another expedition to trace its course, and thus settle this point. For twelve days the country was rich and beautiful: the river was wide, deep, and navigable. The country then changed its character: no hill was to be seen; on all sides it was as level and uninteresting as that through which thay had traced the Lachlan in their former journey. Soon afterwards it overflowed its banks; and as the country was very flat, it spread over a vast extent. Under these circumstances, Lieutenant Oxley proceeded down it in a boat for thirty miles, till he lost sight of land and trees. About four miles farther it lost all appearance of a river; but he was not able to continue his route, and was obliged to return, without having ascertained whether this great inland lake, into which the Macquarrie fell, was a salt or fresh water lake.

On his return he crossed the highest point of the mountains which divides the waters running west from those which run into the east; the most elevated peak he calculates to be from 6000 to 7000 feet. Here he found a river rising, which flowed to the east; and following it, he arrived at the place where it fell into the ocean.

It is pretty certain from these expeditions, that no river of any size empties itself into the sea, on the northern, western, or southern coasts of New Holland. Captain Flinders and the French navigators had examined all the line of coast on the western side, except from latitude 22 deg. to 11 deg. south; it might therefore be supposed that the Macquarrie, after freeing itself from the inland lake to which Lieutenant Oxley had traced it, might fall into the sea, within these limits. This, however, is now proved not to be the case. In the year 1818, Lieutenant King was sent by the Board of Admiralty, to survey the unexplored coast, from the southern extremity of Terre de Witt. He began his examination at the north-west cape, in latitude 21 deg. 45', from this to latitude 20 deg. 30', and from longitude 114 deg. to 118 deg., he found an archipelago, which he named after Dampier, as it was originally discovered by this navigator. Dampier had inferred, from a remarkable current running from the coast beyond these islands, that a great strait, or river, opened out behind them. Lieutenant King found the tide running strong in all the passages of the archipelago, but there was no appearance of a river; the coast was in general low, and beyond it he descried an extensive tract of inundated marshy country, similar to that described by Lieutenant Oxley.

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