148 CONNECTION OF MACQUARIE AND DARLING. 
ance of the creek and its neighbourhood. The former di- 
minished in size, and at length separated into two distinct 
channels, choaked up, for the most part, with dead bul- 
rushes, but having a few green reeds in patches along it. 
The flats on either side became slightly timbered, and blue- 
gum was the prevailing tree. Crossing one of the channels, 
we observed every appearance of our near approach to the 
marshes, the flats being intersected by many little water- 
runs, such as we had noticed at the bottom of them. About 
noon we struck upon a body of reeds under the wood of eu- 
calypti, below the second great morass, and keeping a little 
to our right to avoid them, fell shortly afterwards into our 
old track on the plain, upon which we continued to move, 
making the best of our way to the channel which had sup- 
plied our wants on our first return from the Darling. It 
was now, however, quite dry, and we were obliged to push 
on further, to shorten the journey of the morrow. 
The result of our journey up the creek was particularly 
satisfactory, both to myself and Mr. Hume ; since it cleared 
up every doubt that might have existed regarding the actual 
termination of the Macquarie, and enabled us to connect 
the flow of waters at so interesting and particular a point. 
It will be seen by a reference to the chart, that the waters 
of the marshes, after trickling through the reeds, form a 
small creek, which carries off the superfluous part of them 
into Morrisett’s chain of ponds, which latter again falls into 
the Castlereagh, at about eight miles to the W. N. W. and 
all three join the Darling in a W. by N. direction, m lat. 30" 
