previously obtained, and is marked on the chart; these in two instances
were verified by geometrical measurement, and the difference was found
to be too trilling to be noticed. The conveyance of such delicate
instruments is always attended with great risk, and in our case
peculiarly so, our means being only those of horseback. I am afraid
that a method of constructing those instruments, so as to place them
beyond the reach of injury by carriage, will always remain among the
desiderata of science. I have given to our thermometrical observations
the form of a chart, as affording the readiest view of the atmospherical
changes which took place during our journey. The winds and weather are
also more particularly noticed on the same sheet than in the narrative.

It may perhaps be not superfluous to mention, that it is the intention
of His Majesty's Government to follow the course of the Macquarie River,
and it is sanguinely expected that the result of the contemplated
expedition will be such as to leave no longer in doubt the true
character of the country comprising the interior of this vast island. It
would be as presumptuous as useless to speculate on the probable
termination of the Macquarie River, when a few months will (it is to be
hoped) decide the long disputed point, whether Australia, with a surface
nearly as extensive as Europe, is, from its geological formation,
destitute of rivers, either terminating in interior seas, or having
their estuaries on the coast.

J. O.
Sydney, New South Wales,
Dec. 11, 1817.


ERRATA: 12 items of errata, listed in the book at this point,