174 UTILITY OF ABORIGINAL NAMES. [CH. II. 



passing " Goonigal,"* a large plain on our right, near which 

 there was a fine tract of open forest land. The ground 

 afterwards rose in gentle undulations, and was covered with 

 kangaroo grass ;t the soil changing also, from clay to a 

 red sandy loam. 



We next arrived at a creek, or chain of deep ponds, called 

 " Coogoorderoy," which appeared to come from the south- 

 south-west. Further on, we passed plains on our left, of the 

 same name; and, at length, we crossed a fine one, the native 

 name of which was " Turangenoo." On the skirt of it, was a 

 hill named "Boorr," which we kept close on our left, crossing 

 its lower extremities, which were covered with a forest of 

 iron-bark eucalyptus, and forest oaks or casuarincs. At four 

 o'clock we reached' '■• Tandogo/' a fine creek of water de- 

 scending from the south, and flowing to the Bogan. 



A hill to the north-west, I was informed, was named the 

 Bugamel. 



April 15. — I halted to lay down my survey, and connect 

 it with that of Mr. Dixon of the Bogan. At noon, I found 

 our latitude to be 32° 45' 30'' S. and on making allowance 

 for the difference between Mr. Oxley's base (as to longi- 

 tude) and my own, I supposed we were then upon " Allan's 

 Water" of Oxley. In this instance, as in many others, the 

 great convenience of using native names is obvious. For 

 instance, so long as any of the aborigines can be found in the 

 neighbourhood of "Tandogo," future travellers may verify my 

 map. Whereas, new names are of no use in this respect, 

 especially when given to rivers or water-courses, by travellers 

 who have mirely crossed them, without ascertaining their 

 course, or oven their sources, or termination. He, alone, 

 should be entitled to give a name to a river, who explored its 

 course, or, at least, as much of it as may be a useful addition 

 to geography ; and when a traveller takes the trouble to 

 determine the true place of hills or other features, he might 



• This we found afterwards to be the native term for any plain. 

 t Anthistiria AustraUs. 



