SCENERY ON THE MURRUMBIDGEE. 187 



flower, with numerous other flowering plants ; 

 green natural fields decked the level land; 

 the songs of birds, and their increased num- 

 bers, were sufficient to acquaint us that we were 

 approaching a river. The scene was of the most 

 animated description ; in the distance long lines 

 of " swamp oaks," (Casuarina palludosa,) readily 

 distinguished by their dark, peculiar appearance, 

 indicated to us the course of the river. Having 

 enjoyed the prospect from the elevation, we de- 

 scended a steep hill, proceeded through a luxuiiant 

 pasturage, which was bounded by thinly- wooded 

 hills, carpeted with verdure, and soon arrived on 

 the bank of the Murrumbidgee stream, which 

 may be, at this part, forty or fifty yards wide. On 

 the opposite side of the river Mr. Manton pos- 

 sessed a grant, which he had just commenced 

 to stock and cultivate : the locality appeared ex- 

 cellent during the cool months, but liable to be 

 soon parched by the fervent summers. 



Having hobbelled our horses, that eagerly fed 

 on the luxuriant grass surrounding them, we 

 crossed the river in a canoe which had been 

 scooped by Mr. Manton's servants from the solid 

 trunk of a "water gum" tree, {^Eucalyptus sp.) 

 and was capable of carrying four or six persons. 

 Arriving on its opposite side we were now 



