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absence of natives. 
The opinion I have expressed, and which is founded on 
my personal experience, that the rivers crossed by Messrs. 
Hovell and Hume had already united above me, was 
stiengthened by the capacity of the stream we had just 
discovered. It had a medium width of 350 feet, with a 
depth of from twelve to twenty. Its reaches were from 
half to three-quarters of a mile in length, and the views 
upon it were splendid. Of course, as the Morumbidgee 
enteied it from the north, its first reach must have been 
E. and W., and it was so, as nearly as possible ; but it took 
us a little to the southward of the latter point, in a distance 
of about eight miles that we pulled down it in the course 
of the afternoon. We then landed and pitched our tents 
for the night. Its transparent waters were running over a 
sandy bed at the rate of two-and-a-half knots an hour, 
and its banks, although averaging eighteen feet in height, 
were evidently subject to floods. 
We had not seen any natives since falling in with the 
last tribe on the Morumbidgee. A cessation had, there- 
fore, taken place in our communication with them, in re- 
establishing which I anticipated considerable difficulty. It 
appeared singular that we should not have fallen in with any 
for several successive days, more especially at the junction 
of the two rivers, as in similar situations they generally have 
an establishment. In examining the country back from 
the stream, I did not observe any large paths, but it was 
evident that fires had made extensive ravages in the neigh- 
bourhood, so that the country was, perhaps, only tern- 
