distance between which seldom exceeded half-a-mile. Down them trickled
small rills of water, derived from the range on which we were. We could
not, however, discern which way the water in the main valley ran, as the
bottom was concealed by a thicket of vines and creeping plants."


This barrier turned them to the south, and afterwards to the west again;
on the way, they met with a grand fall one hundred and fifty feet in
height, which they named Becket's Cataract. At the head of the glen they
found another fall which they estimated at two hundred and thirty feet in
height; crossing above this cataract, which was called Bathurst's Fall,
the eastern course was once more resumed, and tempests and storms found
them wandering amongst the deep ravines and gloomy forests of the coast
range, seeking for a descent to the lower lands.

On the 23rd of September, Oxley, accompanied by Evans, ascended a
mountain to try and discover a practicable route, and from there caught
sight of the sea.


"Bilboa's ecstasy at the first sight of the South Sea could not have been
greater than ours when, on gaining the summit of this mountain, we beheld
Old Ocean at our feet: it inspired us with new life: every difficulty
vanished, and in imagination we were already home."


Now commenced the final descent, and a perilous one it was:--


"How the horses descended I scarcely know; and the bare recollection of