CH. I.] MY DEPARTURE FROM SYDNEY. 151 



ration were at an end, and I could still count on three weeks 

 of comparative leisure at Sydney, during which time I could 

 arrange the business of my office. The cattle station at 

 Buree, where I intended to commence operations, was distant 

 170 miles from Sydney, and as it was necessary, that the 

 party should travel slowly, in crossing the mountains with 

 the boat-carriage ; and equally indispensable that the cattle 

 should rest some days after arriving at Buree ; I calculated, 

 that the expedition could not be ready to advance from that 

 point, in less than three weeks from the time, at which it 

 left Paramatta. 



On the 31st of March, I quitted Sydney on the important 

 errand of geographical discovery. My horse, which had 

 been in training by Brown for some weeks, seemed impa- 

 tient of roads, and full of spirit, a pleasant sensation, at all 

 times to the rider, and very congenial to the high excitement 

 of such an enterprise. 



We soon arrived at Paramatta, where I obtained the loan 

 of a good chronometer from Mr. Dunlop, at the observatory. 

 Having noted various important memoranda and suggestions, 

 and partaken of an early dinner, I bade my scientific and 

 obliging friend farewell, and pursued my journey along the 

 western road. 



I arrived, in a few hours, at Emu ferry, on the river Hawkes- 

 bury, the boundary there of the county of Cumberland. I 

 had traversed the county in its greatest width, by this western 

 route ; and thus crossed by far the best portion. Unlike 

 the northern sandstone district, where the road towards 

 Wiseman's ferry could be made, only by following one con- 

 tinuous ridge, the surface being intersected by deep and pre- 

 cipitous ravines, we were enabled here, the surface rock 

 being trap, to travel along a perfectly straight road over a 

 gently undulating surface. The soil in this district is good, 

 consisting chiefly of decomposed trap. The land is wholly in 

 the hands of individuals, and, in a climate sufficiently moist, 

 would answer well for cultivation. The road passes near 



