me, and being then in a low and depressed country, precisely similar to
that over which I had crossed the previous year. As on the first
expedition, so on the present one, I descended rapidly into a country of
general equality of surface; reeds grew in extensive patches along the
line of the river, but beyond them sandy plains extended, covered with
salsolae of various kinds. From the Murrumbidgee, I passed into the
Murray, the largest known river in Australia, unless one of greater
magnitude has recently been discovered by Sir Thomas Mitchell to the
north.

In lat. 34 degrees and in long. 142 degrees, I arrived, (as I have
already had occasion to inform my readers), at the junction of a very
considerable stream with the Murray. At this point, being then 200 miles
distant from the south coast in a direct line, I was less than 100 feet
above the level of the sea; circumstances prevented my examining this new
river however for many miles above its junction with the main stream, but
coming, as I have elsewhere remarked, direct from the north, and
possessing, as it did, all the character and appearance of the Upper
Darling, I had no doubt as to its identity; in which case no stronger
fact could have been adduced to prove the southerly fall or dip of the
interior as far as it had been explored. Proceeding down the Murray, I
reached at length the commencement of the great fossil formation, through
which that river flows. This immense bed rose gradually before me as I
pushed to the westward, until it gained an elevation of from 2 to 250
feet, but on my turning southward, it presented an horizontal and
undulating surface, until at the point at which the river enters the Lake
Victoria, it suddenly dipped and ceased. The lower part of this formation
was entirely composed of Serritullae, but every description of shell with
the bones and teeth of sharks and other animals, have subsequently been
found in the upper parts of the bed, the summit of which is in many