nd rivers as yet
discovered found the same common embouchure. Mitchell's experience too
proved that the pastoral country through which the Darling ran was by no
means unfit for habitation, nor was the river a salt one; true some of
his men had noticed that the water was brackish in places, but this
brackishness, it was seen, had a purely local origin.

Mitchell was a keen observer of the habits and customs of the aborigines.
He was remarkably quick at detecting tribal differences and distinctions,
and his records of his intercourse with them -- which occupies so much of
his journals -- were most interesting then, when little had been written
on the subject; and are even more valuable now, as a first-hand account
by an intelligent man and a practised observer of the appearance of the
natives at the time of earliest contact with the white man.

7.4. AUSTRALIA FELIX.

One would have thought that the fact of the union of the Darling and the
Murray was now sufficiently well-established; but the official mind
deemed otherwise. When the Surveyor-General's next expedition started in
March, 1836, he was informed that the survey of the Darling was to be
completed without any delay; that, having returned to the point where his
last journey had come to an end, he was to trace the river right into the
Murray -- see the waters of the two mingle in fact -- then to cross over
the Murray and follow up the southern bank, recrossing, and regaining the
settled districts at Yass Plains. Although the primary object of the
expedition was the verification of previous discoveries, the programme
was largely departed from, and this particular journey of Mitchell's led
to the opening up and speedy settlement of what is now the State of
Victoria.

A drought, long-continued and severe, was in full force when Mitchell
commenced his preparations for departure; consequently bullocks and
horses in suitable condition were hard to obtain. But as the Government
spared no expense, the necessary animals were at last available. Though
upon reaching Bathurst Mitchell was informed that the Lachlan River was
dry, he started on his third exploring expedition in the best of spirits.
His mind overflowed with old memories and associations, and he wrote in
his journal that this was the anniversary of the day "when he marched
down the glacis of St. Elvas to the tune of St. Patrick's Day in the
Morning, as the sun rose over the beleaguered towers of Badajoz." He had