MAJOR MITCHELL'S "AUSTRALIA FELIX" 89 



a collector of birds. They were provided by the Government with 

 a substantial outfit, on very different lines to the parsimonious 

 treatment of Hume and Hovell : a large number of bullocks, 

 horses, drays, waggons, boats, and abundance of stores, arms and 

 ammunition. Indeed, this expedition differed materially from any 

 of the preceding ones, in that it was made almost a picnic, a real 

 pleasure -jaunt in comparison with Sturt's record of privation. 



They started from Sydney early in March, 1836, and after 

 exploring the lower waters of the Lachlan, the Murrumbidgee and 

 the junction of the Darling, exploits which pertain to the history 

 of New South Wales, they proceeded up the Murray, and finally 

 crossed into Victorian territory on the 13th of June, a few miles below 

 the junction of the Murrumbidgee. Had they attempted to strike 

 due south to explore the country towards Port Phillip, they would 

 soon have become entangled in the dense mallee scrub that gives 

 such a forbidding aspect to the desert-like north-west counties, 

 and the report on the new-found country might have been couched 

 in very different terms. Fortunately they clung to the river bank 

 as far as Swan Hill, which they reached at the end of the first 

 week. Here they struck the Loddon Eiver, erroneously supposed 

 by Mitchell to be the Goulburn, and following it up were soon led 

 out of the mallee solitudes into more open country, diversified 

 with fine park glades, well watered and richly grassed, the finest 

 country they had seen since leaving the settled districts. 



They continued up the river until reaching the site of the present 

 town of Kerang, and then deserting it for a creek which led across 

 the Goulburn Plains, made for a bold hill which the Major named 

 Mount Hope. After surveying the lay of the country from its 

 summit, they pushed on a few miles farther to Pyramid Hill, and 

 from this eminence Mitchell began to realise the importance of his 

 discovery. "The view," he says, "over the surrounding plains 

 was exceedingly beautiful, as they shone fresh and green in the 

 light of a fine morning. The scene was different from anything I 

 had ever before witnessed, either in New South Wales, or elsewhere, 

 a land so inviting, and still without inhabitants. As I stood, the 

 first intruder on the sublime solitude of these verdant plains, as 

 yet untouched by flocks or herds, I felt conscious of being the 



