Course led us through a country to the full as bad as any we had yet
seen, and equally devoid of water, the personal want of which again much
distressed us. On the 7th of August the scene began to change, and the
country to assume a very different aspect; we were now quitting the
neighbourhood of the Lachlan, and had passed to the north-east of the high
range of hills, which on this parallel bounds the low country to the
north of that river. To the north-west and north the country was high and
open, with good forest land; and on the 10th we had the satisfaction of
falling in with the first stream running northerly. This renewed our
hopes of soon falling in with the Macquarie, and we continued upon the
same course, occasionally inclining to the eastward until the 19th,
passing through a fine luxuriant country, well watered; crossing in that
space of time nine streams, having a northerly course through rich
valleys, the country in every direction being moderately high and open,
and generally as fine as can be imagined.
"No doubt remained upon our minds that those streams fell into the
Macquarie, and to view it before it received such an accession, was our
first wish. On the 19th, we were gratified by failing in with a river
running through a most beautiful country, and which I should have been
well contented to have believed to be the river we were in search of.
Accident led us down this stream about a mile, when we were surprised by
its junction with a river coming from the south, of such width and
magnitude as to dispel all doubts as to this last being the river we had
so long anxiously looked for. Limited as our resources were, we could not
resist the temptation which this beautiful country offered us, to remain
two days upon the junction of these rivers, for the purpose of examining
its vicinity to as great an extent as possible.
"Our examination increased the satisfaction we had previously felt; as
far as the eye could reach, in every direction, a rich and picturesque
country extended, abounding in limestone, slate, good timber, and every
other requisite which could render an uncultivated country desirable.
"The soil cannot be excelled; whilst a noble river of the first magnitude
affords the means of conveying its productions from one part of the
country to the other. Where we quitted it, its course was northerly, and
we were then north of the parallel of Port Stephens, being in latitude
32. 32. 45. S., and 148. 52. E. longitude.
"It appeared to me that the Macquarie had taken a north-north-west course
from Bathurst, and that it must have received immense accessions of water
in its course from that place. We viewed it at a period best calculated
to form an accurate judgment of its importance, when it was neither
swelled by floods beyond its natural and usual height, nor contracted
within its proper limits by summer droughts; of its magnitude when it
should have received the streams we had crossed, independently of any
which it may receive from the east (which, from the boldness and height
of the country, I presume must be at least as many as from the south),
some idea may be formed when I inform your excellency, that at this point
it exceeded in breadth and apparent depth the Hawkesbury at Windsor, and
that many of the reaches were of grander and more extended proportion
than the admired one on the Nepean River, from the Warragamba to Emu
Plains.
"Resolving to keep as near the river as possible during the remainder
of our course to Bathurst, and endeavour to ascertain at least on the
west side what waters fall into it, on the 22nd we proceeded up the
river, and, between the point quitted and Bathurst, crossed the sources
of numberless streams all running into the Macquarie; two of them were
nearly as large as that river itself is at Bathurst. The country whence
all these streams derive their source was mountainous and irregular, and
appeared equally so on the east side of the Macquarie.
"This description of country extended to the immediate vicinity of
Bathurst, but to the west of those lofty ranges the land was broken into
low grassy hills and fine valleys, watered by rivulets rising on the
western side of the mountains, which on their eastern side pour their
waters directly into the Macquarie. These westerly streams appeared to me
to join that which at first sight I had taken for the Macquarie, and, when
united, to fall into it at the point on which it was first discovered on
the 19th instant. We reached this place last evening, without a single
accident having occurred to any one of the party during the whole
progress of the expedition; which from this point has encircled within
the parallels of 34. 30. S. and 32. S., and between the meridians of
149. 29. 30. E. and 143. 30. E. a space of nearly one thousand miles.
I shall hasten to lay before your excellency the journals, charts, and
drawings, explanatory of the various occurrences of our diversified route;
amply gratified if our exertions should appear to your excellency
commensurate with your expectations, and the ample means which your care
and liberality placed at my disposal.
"I feel the most particular pleasure in informing your excellency of the
obligations I am under to Mr. Evans, the deputy surveyor, for his able
advice and cordial co-operation throughout the expedition; and, as far as
his previous researches had extended, the accuracy and fidelity of his
narrative was fully established.
"It would perhaps appear presumptuous in me to hazard an opinion upon
the merits of persons engaged in a pursuit in which I have little
knowledge; the extensive and valuable collection of plants found by
Mr. A. Cunningham, the King's botanist, and Mr. C. Frazer, the colonial
botanist, will best evince to your excellency the unwearied industry and
zeal bestowed in the discovery and preservation of them; in every other
respect they also merit the highest praise.
