expeditions, strongly advocated the hypothesis of that last-mentioned
officer; but as Mr. Cunningham kept on high ground on his subsequent
excursions, he could not on such occasions form a correct opinion as to
the nature of the country below him. His impressions were however much
influenced by the observations made by Captain King in Cambridge Gulf,
the water of which was so much discoloured, as to lead that intelligent
and careful officer to conclude, that it might prove to be the outlet of
the waters of the interior, and hence a strong opinion obtained, that the
dip of the continent was in the direction of that great inlet, or to the
W. N. W. I therefore commenced my investigations, under an impression
that I should be led to that point, in tracing down any river I might
discover, and that sooner or later I should be stopped by a large body of
inland waters. I descended rapidly from the Blue Mountains, into a level
and depressed interior, so level indeed, that an altitude of the sun,
taken on the horizon, on several occasions, approximated very nearly to
the truth. The circumference of that horizon was unbroken, save where an
isolated hill rose above it, and looked like an island in the ocean.

When I reached the point at which Mr. Oxley had been checked, I found the
Macquarie, not "running bank high," as he describes it, but almost dry;
and although ten years had passed since his visit to this distant spot,
the grass had not yet grown over the foot-path, leading from his camp to
the river; nor had a horse-shoe that was found by one of the men lost its
polish. In this locality there are two hills, to which Mr. Oxley gave the
names of Mount Harris and Mount Foster, distant from each other about
five miles, on a bearing of 45 degrees to the west of south. Of these two
hills Mount Foster is the highest and the nearest, and as the Macquarie
runs between them to the westward, it must also be closer than Mount
Harris to the marshes. I therefore naturally looked for any discovery
that was to be made from Mount Foster, and I according ascended that hill