kind of a country lies, either to his right, or to
his left, he is sure to condemn it, unless it will afford the most
abundant pasture. Accustomed to roam about from one place to another,
these men despise any but the richest tracts, and include the rest of
the neighbourhood in one sweeping clause of condemnation. Thus I was
led to expect, that we should pass over a country of the very worst
description, between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee. Had it been
similar to that midway between Yass and Underaliga, we should, in
truth, have found it so; but it struck me, that there were many rich
tracts of ground among the valleys of the former, and that the very
hills had a fair covering of grass upon them. What though the soil was
coarse, if the vegetation was good and sufficient? Perhaps the greatest
drawback to this part of the interior is the want of water; yet we
crossed several creeks, and remarked some deep water holes, that can
never be exhausted, even in the driest season. Wherever the situation
favoured our obtaining a view of the country on either side of us,
while among these hills, we found that to the eastward lofty and
mountainous; whilst that to the westward, had the appearance of fast
sinking into a level.

JUGGIONG.

A short time before we reached the Morumbidgee, we forded a creek,
which we crossed a second time where it falls into the river. After
crossing it the first time we opened a flat, on which the marks of
sheep were abundant. In the distance there was a small hill, and on its
top a bark hut. We were not until then aware of our being so near the
river, but as Mr. O'Brien had informed me that he had a station for
sheep, at a place called Juggiong, by the natives, on the immediate
banks of the river, I did not doubt that we had, at length, arrived at
it. And so it proved. I went to the hut, to ascertain where I could
conveniently stop for the night, but the residents were absent. I could
not but admire the position they had taken up. The hill upon which
their hut was erected was not more than fifty feet high, but it
immediately overlooked the river, and commanded not only the flat we
had traversed in approaching it, but also a second flat on the opposite
side. The Morumbidgee came down to the foot of this little hill from
the south, and, of course, running to the north, which latter direction
it suddenly takes up from a previous S.W. one, on meeting some hills
that check its direct course. From the h