he
"bank of a small river, about fifteen yards in breadth, having a brisk
current to the North-West." As there was deep water in the pools of this
river, the men anticipated some good fishing, and they were not
disappointed. Cunningham named this river the Condamine.

Although their provisions were failing them, Cunningham remained for some
time on the site of his new discovery, fully impressed with the certainty
of its immense importance in the future settlement of Australia. Peel's
Plains and Canning Downs were named by him, and to the north-west "beyond
Peel's Plains an immeasurable extent of flat country met the eye, on
which not the slightest eminence could be observed to interrupt the
common level, which, in consequence of the very clear state of the
atmosphere, could be discerned to a very distant blue line of horizon."

Cunningham's far-seeing mind fathomed the future requirements of such a
vast agricultural and pastoral extent of country, and he at once turned
his attention to its natural means of communication with its obvious
port, Moreton Bay. A lofty range of mountains to the east and north-east
seemed to offer a difficult barrier, and he determined upon making a
closer inspection. As his horses were recruiting all the time on the
luxuriant herbage, he did not so much regret their own scarcity of
rations. Finding a beautiful grassy valley which he named Logan Vale,
after Captain Logan, the well-known commandant of Moreton Bay, leading to
the base of the principal range, he proceeded to make a nearer
inspection. After much climbing of successive tiers or ridges, he gained
the loftiest point of a main spur, and through some gaps in the main
range itself, he was able to overlook portions of the country in the
vicinity of Moreton Bay, and even to recognise the cone of Mount Warning.
He took particular notice of one gap, and on closer inspection he came to
the conclusion that a line of road could be constructed without much
difficulty.

Having spent a week on the Downs, and his shortness of provisions and the
weakness of his horses preventing any excursion to the western interior,
as his intention had been, he set out on his homeward journey on the 18th
of June. In order to render his chart of the country traversed as
complete as possible, he kept a course about equidistant between the
route of his outward journey and the coastal watershed. He reached
Segenhoe on the 28th of July, bringing his men and horses b