CH. IV.] DIRECTION OF FUTURE ROUTE. 81 



line of ponds or river, which had proved such a providen- 

 tial relief to us, after our severe suffering' from want of water 

 under Mount Frazer. Here, however, we found a broad 

 and extensive lagoon, nearly level with its banks, and covered 

 with ducks. It had the winding character, and uniformity 

 of width of a river, but no current. I thought, this reach 

 might also contain some surplus water of the Nammoy, which 

 could not be far distant, for we had now reached those low 

 levels, to which we had previously traced the course of that 

 river. We travelled along the bank of this fine piece of 

 water for two miles, and found its breadth to be very uniform. 

 An arm trending northward then lay in our way. The 

 country was full of holes, and deep rents or cracks, but the soil 

 was loose, and bare as a new-ploughed field. I, therefore, 

 withdrew the carts to where we first came on the lagoon ; 

 not only for the sake of grass, but that we might continue 

 our route over the firmer ground, which appeared to the 

 eastward . 



I had now on my map the Nundawar range, with the 

 courses of the Nammoy on one side, and the Gwydir on the 

 other. I was between these two rivers, and at no great dis- 

 tance from either ; Mount Riddell, the nearest point of the 

 range bore 21|° S. of E., being distant 42 miles. The oppo- 

 site bearing or 20° N. of W., might, therefore, be considered 

 to express the common direction of these waters. In a 

 country so liable to inundation, as the district between these 

 rivers appeared to be, it was a primary object with us to travel 

 along the highest or driest part, and we could only look for 

 this advantage, in the above direction, or parallel to, and 

 midway between, the rivers. We could, in this manner, trace 

 out their junction with more certainty, and so terminate thus 

 far, the survey of both, by the determination of a point so 

 important in geography. The soil of these level open tracts 

 consisted of a rich, dark coloured clay. The lagoon was 

 marked by a row of stunted trees, which grew along its edge, 

 on each side, so that the line could be distinguished from a 



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