362 
Miscellanea. 
reeds, through which we could not have pushed but for the nar¬ 
row lanes made in them by the natives. We could not, how¬ 
ever, approach the river for two days, and when we again came 
upon it, it was issuing from a vast marsh, its waters were muddy, 
and its channel considerably diminished. Instead, however, of 
holding a course to the westward, the Hume at this point sud¬ 
denly changed it to the eastward of S., flowing through a barren 
country of white tenacious clay, above the reach of flood, but of 
the most gloomy character. It had just been fired by natives— 
the trees were scathed to their very summits, and the trunks 
of those which had fallen were smoking on the ground. 
On the 20th of June, the river still running to the eastward of 
S., we found ourselves suddenly stopped by a deep river of some 
size, most beautifully fringed witli acacia of a dark green hue. 
This was the Goulburn, which we had struck about a mile above 
its junction with the Hume, in lat. 36° 3', and in long. 144° 58'. 
On crossing the Goulburn, I found that some other overland 
party had been here before me, and at the junction saw that Mr. 
Bonney had cut his name on one of the trees. It appeared, 
therefore, that he and Mr. Hawdon had taken the line of the 
Goulburn in their way to South Australia ; instead, however, of 
keeping the banks of the Hume, these gentlemen crossed the 
hard and extensive plains which surround the hollow through 
which the Hume flows. On the other hand, I kept to the river, 
encamping on its banks every night, sometimes without firewood, 
the weather being cold and frosty. We traversed a country sub¬ 
ject to flood, of a blistered soil, and heavy for the teams to drag 
through, and we at length once more got into the region of reeds. 
On the 30th June, we sighted Mount Hope of Sir Thomas 
Mitchell, bearing S.W., distant about fourteen miles, and lost 
sight of it on the 5th of July, bearing S.S.E., distant about 
eighteen miles. At this point we could see some lofty trees to 
our left; but we were in the midst of reeds, which extended over 
an immense flat, bounded in the distance by a dark belt of the 
eucalypti, the intervening space being one entire marsh. On the 
9th of July, we came upon a small river, with steep earthy banks, 
which I presume to be the Whimera of Sir Thomas Mitchell, 
