whence Evans had turned back, and where he had marked
a tree with his initials in 1815. There the boats were launched and
preparations completed for the final start. On the 6th of April, 1817,
Oxley left Sydney and joined his party at the depot on the 1st of May.
Thence he soon commenced this most momentous journey in Australia's early
annals, eager to penetrate into the unknown, and inspired with hopes of
solving the mystery of the outlet of this inland river.

Disappointment marks the tone of Oxley's journal from the start; the
exceeding flatness of the country, the many ana-branches of the river,
the low altitude of its banks, and the absence of any large tributary
streams, above all, the dismal impression made by the monotony of the
surroundings, seem to have depressed Oxley's spirit. He appears to have
formed the idea that the interior tract he was approaching was nothing
more than a dead and stagnant marsh -- a huge dreary swamp, within whose
bounds the inland rivers lost their individuality and merged into a
lifeless morass. A more melancholy picture could not be imagined, and
with such an awesome thought constantly haunting his mind there is no
wonder that he became morbid, and that the dominant tone of his journal,
whilst on the Lachlan, is so hopelessly pessimistic.

"These flats," he says, "are certainly not adapted for cattle; the grass
is too swampy, and the bushes, swamps, and lagoons are too thickly
intermingled with the better portion to render it a safe or desirable
grazing country. The timber is universally bad and small; a few misshapen
gum trees on the immediate banks of the river may be considered an
exception."

The channel of the river now divided, and Oxley followed the channel on
the northern side, which they were skirting. But before they had
progressed a mile beyond the point of divergence, they reached the spot
where the river overflowed its banks and its course was lost in the
marshes. It was on the 12th of May that they received this check to their
as yet uninterrupted progress.

"Observing an eminence about half-a-mile from the south side, we crossed
over the horses and baggage at a place where the water was level with the
banks, and which, when within its usual channel, did not exceed thirty or
forty feet in width.

"We ascended the hill, and had the mortification to perceive that the
termination of our research was reached, at least down this branch of the
river. The whole country f