short time. He had fixed his establishment on the banks of the Lorn, a
small river, issuing from the broken country near Lake George, and now
ascertained to be one of the largest branches of the Lachlan River. We had
descended a barren pass of stringy bark scrub, on sandstone rock, a little
before we reached Mr. Hume's station, but around it the same, open forest
tract again prevailed. We crossed the Lorn, at 2 o'clock, leaving
Mr. Broughton's farm upon our left, and passed through a broken country,
which was very far from being deficient in pasture. We encamped on the
side of a water-course, about 4 o'clock, having travelled about fifteen
miles.

On the 19th, we observed no change in the soil or aspect of the country,
for the first five miles. The eucalyptus mannifera was the most prevalent
of the forest trees, and certainly its presence indicated a more
flourishing state in the minor vegetation. At about five miles, however,
from where we had slept, sandstone reappeared, and with it the barren
scrub that usually grows upon a sandy and inhospitable soil. One of the
drays was upset in its progress down a broken pass, where the road had
been altogether neglected, and it was difficult to avoid accidents.
Fortunately we suffered no further than in the delay that the necessity of
unloading the dray, and reloading it, occasioned. Mr. O'Brien, an
enterprising settler, who had pushed his flocks to the banks of the
Morumbidgee, and who was proceeding to visit his several stations,
overtook us in the midst of our troubles. We had already passed each other
frequently on the road, but he now preceded me to his establishment at
Yass; at which I proposed remaining for a day. We stopped about three
miles short of the plains for the night, at the gorge of the pass through
which we had latterly been advancing, and had gradually descended to a
more open country. From the place at which we were temporarily delayed,
and which is not inappropriately called the Devil's Pass, the road winds