fallen below their ordinary level. He saw the river when it was
overflowing its banks; on the present occasion it had scarcely sufficient
water to support a current. On the summit of the greater eminence, which
we ascended, there remained the half-burnt planks of a boat, some clenched
and rusty nails, and an old trunk; but my search for the bottle Mr. Oxley
had left was unsuccessful.

A reflection naturally arose to my mind on examining these decaying
vestiges of a former expedition, whether I should be more fortunate than
the leader of it, and how far I should be enabled to penetrate beyond the
point which had conquered his perseverance. Only a week before I left
Sydney I had followed Mr. Oxley to the tomb. A man of uncommon quickness,
and of great ability, the task of following up his discoveries was not
less enviable than arduous; but, arrived at that point at which his
journey may be said to have terminated and mine only to commence, I knew
not how soon I should be obliged, like him, to retreat from the marshes
and exhalations of so depressed a country. My eye instinctively turned to
the North-West, and the view extended over an apparently endless forest.
I could trace the river line of trees by their superior height; but saw no
appearance of reeds, save the few that grew on the banks of the stream.

Mount Foster, somewhat higher than Mount Harris, on the opposite side of
the river, alone broke the line of the horizon to the North N.W. at a
distance of five miles. From that point all round the compass, the low
lands spread, like a dark sea, before me; except where a large plain
stretching from E. to W., and lying to the S.E. broke their monotony;
and if there was nothing discouraging, there certainly was nothing
cheering, in the prospect.

ILLNESS OF TWO OF THE MEN.