Over This Said Mysterious River, As Major Mitchell Calls It, The Trees Drooped Like Willows, Or Grew In Dark Clusters At Each Turn; The Sloping Banks Were Of A Vivid Green, The Flats Lightly Timbered, And The Aspect Of The Whole Neighbourhood Cheerful.

"I had hoped that we should have been able to approach the ranges pretty closely along the line of

Laidley's Ponds; but fancy our disappointment when we arrived on its banks to find that instead of a mountain stream it was a paltry creek, connecting a lake, now dry, with the river, and that its banks were quite bare. I was therefore obliged to fall back upon the Darling, and have been unable to stir for the last four days by reason of heavy rain.

"On Tuesday I despatched Mr. Poole to the ranges, which are forty miles distant from us, to ascertain if there is water or feed under them; but I have no hope of good tidings, and believe I shall ultimately be obliged to establish myself on the Darling.

"You will be glad to hear, and so ought every body, that we have maintained a most satisfactory intercourse with the natives. The report we had heard referred to Major Mitchell's affray with them, and you will not be surprised at their reverting to it, when I tell you that several old men immediately recognized me as having gone down the Murray in a boat, although they could have seen me for an hour or two only, and fifteen years have now elapsed since I went down the river.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 558 of 914
Words from 155344 to 155607 of 254601