pon it was very rich. Crossing in
a westerly direction we arrived at the channel found by Mr. Hume, who must
naturally have concluded that it was a continuation of the river. The boat
was immediately prepared, and I went up it in order to ascertain the
nature of its formation. For two miles it preserved a pretty general width
of from twenty to thirty yards; but at that distance began to narrow, and
at length it became quite shallow and covered with weeds. We were
ultimately obliged to abandon the boat, and to walk along a native path.
The country to the westward was more open than I had expected. About a
quarter of a mile from where we had left the boat, the channel separated
into two branches; to which I perceived it owed its formation, coming, as
they evidently did, direct from the heart of the marsh. The wood through
which I had entered it on the first occasion bore south of me, to which
one of the branches inclined; as the other did to the S.W. An almost
imperceptible rise of ground was before me, which, by giving an impetus to
the waters of the marsh, accounted to me for the formation of the main
channel. It was too late, on my return to the camp, to prosecute any
further examination of it downwards; but in the morning, Mr. Hume
accompanied me in the boat, to ascertain to what point it led; and we
found that at about a mile it began to diminish in breadth, until at
length it was completely lost in a second expanse of reeds. We passed a
singular scaffolding erected by the natives, on the side of the channel,
to take fish; and also found a weir at the termination of it for the like
purpose so that it was evident the natives occasionally ventured into
the marshes.

There was a small wood to our left which Mr. Hume endeavoured to gain, but
he failed in the attempt. He did, however, reach a tree that was
sufficiently high to give him a full view of the marsh, which appeared to
extend in every direction, but more particularly to the north, for many
miles. We were, however, at fault, and I really felt at a loss what step
to take. I should have been led to believe from the extreme flatness of
the country, that the Macquarie would never assume its natural shape, but
from the direction of the marshes I could not but indulge a hope that it
would meet the Castlereagh, and that their united waters might form a
stream of some importance. Under this impression I determined on again
sending Mr. Hume to the N.E. in order to ascertai