312 HOPE REACH. 



was always the height of my ambition to reach, the 

 centre of the continent. 



To this part of the Albert that had given rise to 

 such expectations we gave the name of Hope Reach. 

 A little higher up we landed on the right bank to 

 cook a meal and examine the country. I shall here 

 attempt, with the aid of Lieut. Gore's sketch,* to 

 give the reader some idea of the beauty of the scene 

 that now presented itself to our anxious gaze. 



It was in truth as glorious a prospect as could greet 

 the eye. A magnificent sheet of water lay before 

 us in one unbroken expanse, resembling a smooth 

 translucent lake. Its gentle repose harmonized 

 exquisitely with the slender motionless boughs of 

 the drooping gums, palms, and acacias, that clus- 

 tered on the banks, and dipped their feathery foliage 

 in the limpid stream, that like a polished mirror 

 bore, within its bosom, the image of the graceful 

 vegetation by which it was bordered. The report 

 of our guns, as they dealt destruction among the 

 quails that here abounded, rolled for the first time 

 along the waters of the Albert, breaking in on the 

 hush of stillness that appeared to reign over all like 

 the presence of a spirit. The country that stretched 

 away from either bank was an extensive plain, 

 covered with long coarse grass, above which was 

 occasionally seen the head of a kangaroo, listening, 

 with its acute ear, for our approach. 



* See the view annexed. 



