160 CHARACTER OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR. 
to the Dumaresq, are tributaries to the principal channel 
which conveys their united waters at right angles, if not 
still more opposite to the direction they were supposed to. 
take, as far as is yet known. 
The Darling River must be considered as the boundary 
line to all inland discoveries from the eastward. Any judg- 
ment or opinion of the interior to the westward of that 
stream, would be extremely premature and uncertain. 
There is not a single feature over it to guide or to strengthen 
eitlier the one or the other. 
My impression, when travelling the country to the west 
and N. W. of the marshes of the Macquarie, was, that I 
was traversing a country of comparatively recent formation. 
The sandy nature of its soil, the great want of vegetable 
decay, the salsolaceous character of its plants, the appear- 
ance of its isolated hills and flooded tracts, and its tri- 
fling elevations above the sea, severally contributed to 
strengthen these impressions on my mind. My know- 
ledge of the interior is, however, too limited to justify me 
in any conclusion with regard to the central parts of Aus- 
tralia. An ample field is open to enterprise and to ambition, 
and it is to be hoped that some more decisive measures will 
be carried into effect, both for the sake of the colony and of 
geography, to fill up the blank upon the face of the chart 
of Australia, and remove from us the reproach of indiffer- 
ence and inaction. 
Since the above pages were written, an expedition was 
undertaken by Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, to 
