188 
Captain Sturt's Expedition into the 
deserved the name of a stream. On the following morning, it 
was an impetuous and headstrong river, foaming along and car¬ 
rying everything away before it. In four days, it had risen 16 
feet above its previous level; it then rose more gradually. But, 
whence came this mass of waters ? Muddy and sudden, it 
appeared to me that they might be thrown into the river through 
the medium of the Williorara, and that this flood might have 
been caused by rains in the hills, towards which we were ap¬ 
proaching; for I could hardly think that they came from the 
basins of the Darling, from which we were, at least, 500 miles 
distant. Be that as it may, the river continued to rise, though 
not with the same rapidity. On the 8th of October, we had 
advanced to within 16 miles of Williorara, but looked out in vain 
for the hills Sir Thomas Mitchell had seen in the neighbourhood. 
The river had risen bank-high, and as we advanced up it, we 
observed that the lagoons had been successively filled, and that 
some of the flats were under water. On the 9th, about 2 p.m., 
Mr. Poole saw a low range, with two cones, bearing N.W. by N. 
but his view of them was very indistinct. There was also a line 
of gum trees, extending to the N. W., and a solitary signal 
smoke, rising in a dark column above the lioriaon of that 
depressed interior, bore due west of him. Our intercourse with 
the natives of the Darling was uninterrupted and friendly. We 
saw one tribe of remarkably handsome men; and generally, I 
think, the natives of the Darling are so. Whenever we came 
in the territory of a numerous tribe, our guide and friend, 
Nad buck, was peculiarly anxious that we should not take them 
by surprise, but approach with the same precaution and delibera¬ 
tion with which they approach each other. 
On the 10th, we started early on a course a little to the west¬ 
ward of north, which we changed to a due north course, on 
gaining the summits of a sandy table-land, from which we had a 
more distinct view of the range, now bearing N. 10° E. by 
compass, but they were still too distant for us to determine their 
character. About 2 p.m. we descended from this higher ground 
to a low flat of polygonum, growing on a cold whitish clay with¬ 
out a blade of grass upon it, and almost immediately afterwards 
