110 
alarm for the safety 
circuit of the marshes. They had found the first channel 
dry, and had passed on to the other, in which, fortunately, 
a small quantity of water still remained. It was, however, 
so shallow as to expose the backs of the fish in it, and a 
number of crows had congregated, and were pecking at 
them. Wishing to satisfy my mind as to the distance to 
which the river extended to the northward, Mr. Hume 
rode with me on the following day, to examine the country 
in that direction, leaving the men stationary. We found 
that the reeds gradually decreased in body, until, at length, 
they ceased, or gave place to bulrushes. There were general 
appearances of inundation, and of the subsidence of waters, 
but none that led us to suppose that any channel existed 
beyond the flooded lands. 
On our return to the camp, we observed dense masses of 
smoke rising at the head of the marshes, and immediately 
under Mount Foster. This excited our alarm for the 
safety of the party we hoped to find at Mount Harris, and 
obliged us to make forced marches, to relieve it if threat- 
ened by the natives. 
On the 22d, we crossed the plains of the Macquarie, and 
surprised a numerous tribe on the banks of the river ; and the 
difficulty we found in getting any of them to approach us, 
their evident timidity, and the circumstance of one of them 
having on a jacket, tended to increase our apprehensions. 
When two or three came to us, they intimated that white 
men either had been or were under Mount Harris, but we 
were left in uncertainty and passed a most anxious night. 
