On October 14th, 1824, the party left Lake George. On reaching the
Murrumbidgee they found it flooded, and after waiting three days, and the
river continuing the same, an attempt was made to cross, and by means of
the body of a cart rigged up as a punt with a tarpaulin, they succeeded.

On the south side of the river they found the country broken, and
somewhat difficult to make good progress through, but it was all well
grassed and adapted to grazing purposes. Here, as might have been
anticipated, they soon had to leave their carts behind, and pack their
cattle for the remainder of their journey. Following the Murrumbidgee,
after a short distance they left it for a south-west course, which still
led them through hills and valleys rich with good grass and running
water.

On November 8th, they were destined to enjoy a sight never before
witnessed by white men in Australia. Ascending a range, in order to get a
view of the country ahead of them, they suddenly came in front of
snowcapped mountains. There, under the brilliant sun of an Australian
summer's day, rose lofty peaks that might have found a fitting home in
some far polar clime, covered as they were for nearly one-fourth of their
height with glistening snow.

Skirting this range, which was called the Australian Alps, the
travellers, after eight days wandering through the spurs of the lofty
mountains they had just seen, came on a fine flowing river, which Mr.
Hume named after his father the "Hume," destined to be afterwards called
the Murray when visited lower down.

Failing to find a ford, a makeshift boat was constructed by the aid of
the useful tarpaulin, and the passage of the Hume safely accomplished.