The Vast Extent Of Desert Country To The Westward - The Scarcity Of Grass - The Denseness Of The Scrub - And The All But Total Absence Of Water, Even In The Most Favourable Seasons, Are In Themselves, Sufficient Bars To The Transit Of Stock, Even To A Distance We Are Already Acquainted With.

I would rather, therefore, turn the public attention to the Northward, as being the most probable point from which

Discoveries of importance may be made, or such as are likely to prove beneficial to this and the other colonies, and from which it is possible the veil may be lifted, from the still unknown and mysterious interior of this vast continent."

On the 27th I dined with His Excellency the Governor, and had a long conversation with him on the subject of the proposed Western Expedition, and on the exploration of the Northern Interior. With his usual anxiety to promote any object which he thought likely to benefit the colony, and advance the cause of science, His Excellency expressed great interest in the examination of the Northern Interior, and a desire that an attempt should be made to penetrate its recesses during the ensuing season.

As I had been the means of diverting public attention from a Western to a Northern exploration, so was I willing to encounter myself the risks and toils of the undertaking I had suggested, and I therefore at once volunteered to His Excellency to take the command of any party that might be sent out, to find one-third of the number of horses required, and pay one-third of the expenses.

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