nd that the party at the station had been surprised by
a sudden rising of the water for which there was no apparent cause as
there had been no rain where they were.

The Glenelg River, in like manner, is subject to sweeping inundations,
rising sometimes to the height of fourteen to fifteen feet above its
usual level, as was evinced by the weeds and other substances we saw in
the trees on its banks.

To show that these are characteristics of the Fitzroy River I shall quote
the authority of Captain Wickham from a letter addressed to me just
before our meeting at Hanover Bay:

It (the Fitzroy) appears to be very similar to the rivers on the
south-east side of New Holland, subject to dreadful inundations, caused
by heavy floods in the interior, and in no way connected with the rainy
season on the coast. Our visit to it being in February and March,
immediately after the rainy season on the coast, without our seeing any
indication of a recent flooding, although there were large trunks of
trees and quantities of grass and weeds lying on the bank and suspended
from the branches of trees from ten to twelve feet above the level of the
river. The bed is entirely of sand.

...

INUNDATIONS.

It will be clearly seen how nearly this corresponds with what we observed
about the same season on the banks of the Glenelg. I have therefore
little doubt that the Fitzroy takes its origin from the same mountain
chain, and that the inundations described by Captain Wickham originate in
the causes which I have here assigned.

To demonstrate more clearly the similarity of character of these rivers
with those of New South Wales I shall quote two passages from the British
Colonies of Mr. Montgomery Martin, regarding the Hawkesbury and Hunter
Rivers of that colony:

The Hawkesbury, which is a continuation of the Nepean River, after the
junction of the latter with a considerable stream, called the Grose,
issues from a remarkable cleft in the Blue Mountains in the vicinity of
the beautiful town of Richmond, about forty miles from Sydney. Along the
base of these mountains the Hawkesbury flows in a northerly direction,
fed by numerous tributary mountain torrents, descending from narrow
gorges, which, after heavy rains, cause the Hawkesbury to rise and
overflow its banks as it approaches the sea. In one instance it rose near
the town of Windsor ninety-seven feet above its ordinary level. Volume 4
page 257.

Again he says, page 258:

Hunter's