40 
FALSIi CIIANNEI,. 
success, in the hope of gaining a further knowledge of the 
country ; but another still more extensive marsh checked 
him, and obliged him to retrace his steps. He was no less 
sui'prised at the account I gave of the termination of the 
river, than I was at its so speedily re-forming, and it was 
detei’mined to lose no time in the further examination of so 
singular a region. 
On the morning of the 28th therefore we broke up the 
camp, and proceeded to the northward, under Mr. Hume’s 
guidance, moving over ground wholly subject to flood, 
and extensively covered with reeds; the great body of 
the marsh lying upon our left. After passing the angle 
of a wood, upon our right, from which Mount Foster 
was distant about fourteen miles, we got upon a small 
plain, on which there was a new species of tortuous box. 
This plain was clear of reeds, and the soil upon it was very 
rich. Crossing in a westerly direction we arrived at the 
channel found by Mr. Hume, who must naturally have con- 
cluded that it was a continuation of the river. The boat 
was immediately prepared, and I went up it in order to 
ascertain the nature of its formation. For two miles it pre- 
served a pretty general width of from twenty to thirty yards; 
but at that distance began to narrow, and at length it be- 
came quite shallow and covered with weeds. We were 
ultimately obliged to abandon the boat, and to walk along 
a native path. The countiy to the westward was more open 
than I had expected. About a quarter of a mde from where 
we had left the boat, the channel separated into two 
