accompany us as guides, on our leaving that settlement. Even Mr. Maxwell's
influence failed; for, notwithstanding the promises of several, when they
saw that we were ready to depart, they either feigned sickness or stated
that they were afraid of the more distant natives. The fact is, that they
were too lazy to wander far from their own district, and too fond of
Maxwell's beef to leave it for a precarious bush subsistence. Fortunately
we found several natives with Mr. Palmer's stockmen, who readily undertook
to conduct us by the nearest route to the cataract, which we considered to
be midway between Wellington Valley and Mount Harris. We started under
their guidance for Dibilamble, Mr. Palmer's second station, and reached it
about half-past 4 p.m. The distance between the two is sixteen miles. The
country for some miles differs in no material point from that through
which we had already passed. The same rich tracts of soil near the river
and the same inferiority in the tracks remote from it. Near Dibilamble,
however, the limestone formation terminates, and gives place to barren
stony ridges, upon which the cypress callities is of close and stunted
growth. The ridges themselves were formed of a coarse kind of freestone
in a state of rapid decomposition. The Tabragar (the Erskine of Mr. Oxley)
falls into the Macquarie at Dibilamble. It had long ceased to flow, being
a small mountain torrent whose source, if we judge from the shingly nature
of its bed, cannot be very distant. Our descent was considerable during
the day; the rapids were frequent in the river, but it underwent no change
in its general appearance. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its
banks, in many places, extremely lofty; with a red sandy loam and gravel
under the alluvial deposits. It generally happened that where the bank was
high on the one side it was low and subject to flood, to a limited extent
at least, on the other. Upon these low grounds the blue-gum trees were of
lofty growth, but on the upper levels box prevailed.

SCENERY NEAR THE RIVER.