SUPPOSED JUNCTION OF LACHLAN. 73 
barked on the bosom of that stream along: the banks 
of which we had journeyed for so many miles. 
Notwithstanding that we only used two oars, our pro- 
gress down the river was rapid. Hopkinson had arranged 
the loads so well, that all the party could sit at their ease, 
and Fraser was posted in the bow of the boat, with gun in 
hand, to fire at any new bird or beast that we might sur- 
prise in our silent progress. The little boat, which I shall 
henceforward call the skiff, was fastened by a painter to 
our stern. 
As the reader will have collected from what has already 
fallen under his notice, the country near the depot was 
extensively covered with reeds, beyond which vast plains 
of polygonum stretched away. From the bed of the river 
we could not observe the change that took place in it as we 
passed along, so that we found it necessary to land, from 
time to time, for the purpose of noting down its general 
appearance. At about fifteen miles from the depot, we 
came upon a large creek-junction from the N. E., which I 
did not doubt to be the one, M'Leay and I had crossed on 
the 25th of December. It was much larger than the creek of 
the Macquarie, and was capable of holding a very great 
body of water, although evidently too small to contain all 
that occasionally rushed from its source. I laid it down as 
the supposed junction of the Lachlan, since I could not, 
against the corroborating facts in my possession, doubt its 
originating in the marshes of that river. Should this, even- 
tually, prove to be the case, the similar termination of the 
