EXCURSION TOWARDS A RIDGE OF HIRES. 57 
to the northward, because of the apparent eagerness with 
which the natives had caught at the word Colare, which I 
recollected having heard a black on the Macquarie make 
use of in speaking of the Lachlan. They pointed to the 
N.N.W., and making a sweep with the arm raised towards 
the sky, seemed to intimate that a large sheet of water 
existed in that direction ; and added that it communicated 
with the Morumbidgee more to the westward. This in- 
formation confirmed still more my impressions with regard 
to Mr. Oxley’s line of route ; and, as I found a ready volun- 
teer in M'Leay, I gave the party in charge to Harris until 
I should rejoin him, and turned back towards the hills, 
with the intention of reaching them if possible. No doubt 
we should have done so had it not been for the nature of 
the ground over which we travelled, and the impossibility 
of our exceeding a walk. We rode to a distance of 18 
miles, but still found ourselves far short of the hills ; and 
therefore gave up the point. I considered, however, that 
we were about the same distance to the south, as Mr. Ox- 
ley had been to tbe north of them, and in taking bearings 
of the highest points, I afterwards found that they exactly 
tallied with his bearings, supposing him to have taken 
them from his camp. 
On our way to the river, we passed through some dense 
bushes of casuarinas and cypresses, to the outskirts of 
the plains through which the Morumbidgee winds. We 
reached the camp two or three hours after sunset, and 
found it crowded with natives to the number of 60. They 
were extremely quiet and inoffensive in their demeanour, 
