THE RIVEE. 
125 
had only just preceded us down it: we came upon their 
fires that were still smoking ; and upon them were the 
remains of some fish they had taken, near which they 
had left a cumbrous spear. The circumstances cheered us 
with hopes that an improvement would take place in the 
country, and that some new feature would soon open upon 
us. In the course of the following day, however, every 
favorable change, both in the river and in the country, 
disappeared. The latter continued extremely depressed, 
and in general open, or lightly covered with acacia pen- 
dula ; the former dwindled into a mere ditch, choked up 
with brambles and reeds, and having only here and there 
a stagnant pool of water. We travelled on a N. W. | W, 
course for about ten miles, and again stopped for the 
night without water. In the course of the afternoon, we 
traversed several flats, on which the rough gum alone was 
growing. These flats were evidently subject to flood ; 
and contained an alluvial soil. 
They became more frequent as we travelled down the 
river, and the work was so heavy for the animals, that I 
was obliged to keep wide of them, in doing which we 
struck upon a creek of large size, coming from the N. E. 
and, having crossed, we traversed its right bank to its 
junction with the Castlereagh, and stopped close to it at a 
pond of water, though the feed for the animals was bad. 
The country to the left of the river, though somewhat 
high, was the same, in essential points, as that to the 
right. 
