od, open, forest-land,
until our guides brought us directly to the very pond of water beside
which we formerly encamped. We had travelled but nine miles, which was
two miles less than I reckoned the distance to be, a pleasant discovery
in our present case when even the proposed journey for the day, although
short, had appeared too much for the very weak condition of our animals.
I had indeed thought of going up the first creek in order to join our
route at Coogoorduroy; but we had now been so fortunate as to gain, by a
journey of nine miles, the point which, had we gone round by
Coogoorduroy, must have been the end of our second day's journey. We had
here the satisfaction of recognising the track of my courier's horse
tracing our foot-marks homewards at a good fast pace. This pond was
nearly dry, the little water remaining being thick and green. It was more
however than I expected to find, and it was quite sufficient for our
wants.

GOOBANG CREEK.

By resting here it was in my power to reach, by another day's travelling,
Goobang creek, where the ponds were deep and clear and the grass good.
This pond of Cookopie appeared to be near the head of a small run of
water arising in hills behind Pagormungor, a trap hill distant only five
or six miles along our route homeward.

September 11.

This morning Fahrenheit's thermometer stood at 23 degrees, and the pond
was frozen three-quarters of an inch thick. There was however so little
water left that only three of the bullocks could be supplied before
starting. The natives who had promised to go on with us nevertheless
remained behind; but we proceeded by our old route to Goobang creek, and
encamped on its left bank nearly a mile above where we had crossed it
formerly. Here the grass was superior to any we had seen lower down;
numerous fresh tracks of cattle were visible on the ground, and the water
lay deep and clear in ponds, surrounded by reeds. There were no reeds
about the waterholes of the Bogan; and we had in fact this day left that
river, and reached the sources of the Lachlan, to which stream the
Goobang must sometimes be an important tributary. The ground separating
these waters, which must travel towards the distant channels of such
spacious basins as those of the Lachlan and Darling, consists here only
of some low hills of trap-rock, connected with gently sloping ridges of
mica schist. The country on the Goobang or Lachlan side appears to be the
best; for the gra