167 
Interior of Neiv South Wales. 
No. 1. 
Camp at the head of the River Salvator, in long. 1 47° 25' 40" 
E. ; lat. 24° 50' 17" S. 
9th September, 1846. 
Sir, —Before setting out on the last branch of my exploratory 
operations, I feel it my duty to report to your Excellency the 
progress made in that duty to this time, by the expedition sent 
into the interior under my command. 
The heat was excessive, and water so very scarce in the channel 
of the River Bogan, that I was obliged to abandon that route; 
and it was only with great difficulty, and after considerable delay, 
that the party could be conducted to the River Darling. Through¬ 
out the month of January, Farenheit’s thermometer stood fre¬ 
quently at 117°; in the shade was seldom below 100°; and 1 
found, on a ride down the Bogan, that there was no water in its 
channel for forty miles below Nyingen. The intense heat killed 
all our kangaroo dogs, and most of the party were attacked with 
opthalmia; our draught oxen were also so much distressed (the 
loads having been also made heavier at Buree than I had intended) 
that some of them fell dead on the journey, and I was obliged to 
halt for two weeks at the ponds of Cannonba, between the River 
Macquarie and the Bogan. During that interval, some refreshing 
rain fell, after which I examined Duck Creek, but found no water 
in it; and Mr. Kennedy subsequently ascertained (for I had myself 
opthalmia) that we could only hope to reach the Darling by the 
marshes of the Macquarie. « 
On the 12th Jgebruary, we left the ponds of Cannonba, and 
travelled along the left bank of the Macquarie, opening out a 
cart road along the western limits of the marshes through a 
country very favourable for cattle stations. We found the channel 
of the river continuous, in muddy ponds throughout the marshes; 
and I have to express my obligations to Mr. Kinghorne for the 
information he afforded me, and for sending with us an aboriginal 
native, who guided us beyond the region of reeds. 
We made the junction of the Macquarie with the Darling in 
long. 147° 33' E., lat. 30° 6' 11'S., but I found that a few 
M 2 
