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The beautifully-timbered plains, or the limestone cliffs of the noble Murray the naked plains that bound on either side the strip of forest-trees of huge dimensions, by which the Lachlan is bordered, the constantly full stream, the water-worn and lightly-timbered banks, the clear open space between the river and its distant margin of reeds, which mark the character of the Murrumbidgee, the low grassy banks or limestone rocks, the cascades and caverns, the beautiful festoons of creeping plants, the curious form of the duck-billed platypus, which are to be found on the Glenelg; the sandstone wastes of the Wollondilly, the grassy surface of the pretty Yarrayne, with its trees on its brink instead of on its bank; the peculiar grandeur of the tremendous ravine, 1,500 feet in depth, down which the Shoalhaven flows; these and many more remarkable features of scenery in the Australian rivers, would afford abundance of materials for description either in poetry or prose.
About this part, which lay high, as well as where we stayed the night before, there had been rains; but on the lowlands lying between the two places there had been none. Our road again lay over grassy plains and low, lightly-timbered hills, with very few houses probably not more than one in a league. The country was now greener; they had had showers of rain, and fine grass had sprung up.
Hitherto the road had been over a succession of hills and dales, with occasionally a patch of pretty scenery; but from the foot of Mount Terrible a level, lightly-timbered piece of country extended to the Unkaparinga, which we crossed, passing through the township of Noarlinga, on its north bank.
The country opens into lightly-timbered ridges, which are composed of a hard rock, the sharp pieces of which covered the ground, and made our animals foot-sore. A coarse-grained sandstone and quartzite cropped out in that part of the river situated between the two camps.
Travelling over lightly-timbered sandy ridges, barren and scrubby, but without stone, at 9 or 10 miles they crossed the head of a sandy creek, rising in a spring, about 60 yards wide, having about 5 or 6 inches of water in it. The creek runs through mimosa and garrawon scrub for 5 miles, and the spring occurs on the side of a scrubby ridge, running into the creek from the west.
They occur first on one side of the river, and then on the other, there being an open or a lightly-timbered flat on the opposite side, with a line of trees almost invariably round it, especially along the river.
Charley went back to bring forward our party, whilst I proceeded with Mr. Calvert to reconnoitre the plains under the peaks, feeling confident of finding water at their foot. We passed over plains and lightly-timbered basaltic ridges, between which shallow creeks came down from the range, but we only found water in one or two holes.
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