did not discover that it had a navigable entrance; of course our most
anxious attention was directed to this important point; and although the
want of a boat rendered the examination as to the depth of water in the
channel incomplete, yet there appeared to be at low water at least three
fathoms, with a safe though narrow entrance between the sand-rollers on
either hand. Having ascertained thus far, and that by its means the fine
country on the banks, and in the neighbourhood of the river, might be of
future service to the colony, I took the liberty to name it Port
Macquarie, in honour of your excellency, as the original promoter of
the expedition.

On the 12th of October, we quitted Port Macquarie on our course for
Sydney; and although no charts can be more accurate in their outline and
principal points than those of Captain Flinders, we soon experienced how
little the best marine charts can he depended upon, to show all the
inlets and openings upon an extensive line of coast. The distance his
ship was generally at, from that portion of the coast we had to travel
over, did not allow him to perceive openings, which, though doubtless of
little consequence to shipping, yet presented the most serious
difficulties to travellers by land; and of which, if they had been laid
down in the chart, I should have hesitated to have attempted the passage
without assistance from the sea-ward: as it is, we are indebted for our
preservation, and that of the horses, to the providential discovery of a
small boat on the beach, which the men with the most cheerful alacrity
carried upwards of ninety miles on their shoulders, thereby enabling us
to overcome obstacles, otherwise insurmountable.

Until within these few days, I hoped to have had the satisfaction to
report the return of the expedition without accident to any individual
composing it; but such is the ferocious treachery of the natives along