capabilities of the country, on either side, through which they passed. In both instances Mr. Oxley found that the rivers abruptly terminated by marshes, beyond which no regular channel of a river could be detected. From some observations which had been made on the course of another river in the same district, the Castlereagh, it was concluded that this stream had a similar termination, and a general inference appeared to be established, that the united waters of the three rivers formed one common inland sea or basin. But the state of the season in which the experiments were made for ascertaining the truth of these opinions was too unfavourable for the trial, which was consequently left to be completed by future explorers. Several enterprising individuals entered upon the necessary investigation; and from the results of their inquiries it was deemed probable that the western portion of the interior of New Holland comprehended an extensive basin, of which the vast plains of reeds, met by Mr. Oxley, formed the outskirts; so that an apprehension seemed generally to prevail, that should an expedition be despatched into the interior, it would meet with obstacles either very difficult to be overcome, or altogether insurmountable, in the extensive marshes which would obstruct the passage.

Such were the conjectures respecting the interior of New Holland on its western side, which appeared to be well worthy of being settled; and it was for that important purpose that Captain Sturt was appointed as head of the expeditions of which these volumes present us with a copious account.

In September 1828 the expedition, consisting of Captain Sturt, Mr. Hume, two soldiers and eight prisoners of the crown, two of whom were to return with despatches, proceeded from Sydney on its mission. After many adventures and dangers, the party at length were able to trace the river Macquarie, subsiding, as was anticipated, into marshes. In the direction which they had taken, no pure water was now to be found, and therefore the party was under the necessity of giving up the minute examination of the marshes, in order to pass into the interior from the bank of the river. During the course of the journey the party occasionally met with some natives, who appeared to be frightened at the appearance of the strangers, although they were in most instances easily conciliated. The farther the party proceeded into the interior in this latter excursion, the more were they impressed with the desolation of the country. There was scarcely a living animal to be seen of the feathered race, to break the stillness of the scene. The native dogs alone wandered about, and by their melancholy howling served only to give fresh horrors to the desolate scene.

Continuing their excursion northwards, afterwards southward and westward, they fell in with a native village, consisting of a group of seventy huts, each of which was capable of holding from twelve to fifteen men each. But they had not proceeded far beyond the village, when they found the villagers themselves :

In breaking through some brush to an open space that was bounded on one side by the river, we observed three or four natives, seated on a bank at a considerable distance from us, and directly in the line on which we were moving. The nature of the ground so completely favoured our approach, that they did not become aware of it until we were within a few yards of them, and had ascended a little ridge, which, as we afterwards discovered, ended in an abrupt precipice upon the river, not more than thirty yards to our right. The crack of the drayman's whip was the first thing that aroused their attention. They gazed upon us for a moment, and then started up and assumed an attitude of horror and amazement; their terror apparently increasing upon them. We stood perfectly immoveable, until at length they gave a fearful yell, and darted out of sight.

Their cry brought about a dozen more natives from the river, whom we nad not before observed, but who now ran after their comrades with surprising activity, and without once venturing to look behind them. As our position was a good one, we determined to remain upon it, until we should ascertain the number and disposition of the natives. We had not been long stationary, when we heard a crackling noise in the distance, and it soon became evident that the bush had been fired. It was, however, impossible that we could receive any injury on the narrow ridge upon which we stood, so that we waited very patiently to see the end of this affair.

In a short time the fire approached pretty near to us, and dense columns of smoke rose into the air over our heads. One of the natives, who had been on the bank, now came out of the bush, exactly from the spot into which he had retreated. He advanced a few paces towards us, and bending his body so that his hands rested on his knees, he fixed his gaze upon us for some time; but, seeing that we remained immoveable, he began to throw himself into the most extravagant attitudes, shaking his foot from time to time. When he found that all his violence had no effect, he turned his rear to us in a most laughable manner, and absolutely groaned in spirit when he found that this last insult failed of success.pp. 90, 91.

Mr. Hume, however, who was well acquainted with the dispositions of the natives, was able to make one of them approach, and ultimately the whole of the natives came forward to mix with the strangers, appearing to have no longer the fears which first seized them at the sight of the white people. Whilst examining the huts in the absence of the natives, the party found on the floors of some which were particularly well swept, a number of white balls, resembling the powder of shells of lime, which they afterwards found to be used in mourning. Many of the tribe were evidently suffering under diseases of the skin, and their chief or elder implored the aid of the strangers towards a cure. Upon another occasion the camp of the party was visited by a body of natives. They were armed with spears, and were inquisitive and forward; some, however, carried fire sticks to guard against diseases. Although the visitors were actively engaged in watching their

guests, still many of them seized some minor article with the most consummate dexterity. In this part of Australia, on the bank of the Darling river, the natives are numerous; they are a clean-limbed race, and occupy permanent huts, to the size of which, however, Captain Sturt observes, that their numbers bear no proportion. Their customs appear to be similar to those of the mountain blacks, of which they form an essential portion, though their language is by no means identical. They lacerate their bodies, but do not extract their front teeth. We saw, says Captain Sturt, but few cloaks among them, since the opossum does not inhabit the interior. Those that were noticed, were made of the red kangaroo skin. In appearance, these men are stouter in the bust than at the lower extremities; they have broad noses, sunken eyes, overhanging eyebrows, and thick lips. The men are much better looking than the women. Both go perfectly naked, except the former, who wear nets over the loins and across the forehead, and bones through the cartilages of the nose. Their chief food is fish, of which they have great supplies in the river; still they have their seasons for hunting their emus and kangaroos. The nets they use for this purpose, as well as for fishing, are of great length, and are made upon large frames. These people do not appear to have warlike habits, nor do they take any pride in their arms, which differ little from those used by the inland tribes, and are assimilated to them as far as the materials will allow. One powerful man, however, had a regular trident, for which Mr. Hume offered many things without success. He plainly intimated that he had a use for it, but whether against an enemy, or to secure prey, they could not understand.

At a place called Mount Harris, Captain Sturt found himself in the midst of a tribe who had some time before killed two white men. The victims were two Irish convicts, who escaped from Wellington Valley, bringing with them two dogs, and stopped at Mount Harris. The natives wished to have the dogs, but found that in order to obtain them they must get rid of their masters. The two men being unarmed, the savages gave them weapons, telling them that they would be required to defend themselves; one of them quickly fell; and, as soon the event reached the other, he cut the two dogs' throats. He was sacrificed, however, and the bodies of himself and companion formed the materials for a delicious series of meals for the general tribe.

Proceeding eastward, the party came to the banks of the Castlereagh river, where they found another assemblage of the natives, consisting chiefly of old men, women, and children. These fled at the approach of strangers, but in the evening the whole tribe came down, when Captain Sturt and Mr. Hume went to meet them. They had no difficulty in communicating with the natives, and he thinks it may be a useful guide to others, were he to detail the manner in which the communication was effected:

When the natives saw us advance, they stopped, and we did the same. Mr. Hume then walked to a tree, and broke off a short branch. It is singular that this should, even with these rude people, be a token of peace. As soon as they saw the branch, the natives laid aside their spears, and two of them advanced about twenty paces in front of the rest, who sat down. Mr. Hume then went forward and sat down, when the two natives again advanced and seated themselves close to him.

Now it is evident that a little insight into the customs of every people is necessary to insure a kindly communication; this, joined with patience and kindness, will seldom fail with the natives of the interior. It is not to avoid alarming their natural timidity that a gradual approach is so necessary. They preserve the same ceremony among themselves. These men, who were eighteen in number, came with us to the tents, and received such presents as we had for them. They conducted themselves very quietly, and, after a short time, left us, with every token of friendship.-pp. 127, 128.

During the journey of the British party from the Castlereagh river to a creek where they encamped, they found that great numbers of the natives were rapidly dying, not from disease, but from want of food. Upon one occasion, Captain Sturt was particularly pleased with an instance of honesty in one of the natives, who had returned a blanket which had been stolen. When the tribe returned next day, the individual was selected from out of their ranks, when Captain Sturt presented to him a tomahawk and clasp knife, which highly delighted, not only the individual, but the whole tribe. The Captain was likewise induced to give to them an opportunity of learning something about a power of which they had no notionhe called for his gun, and fired a ball from it into a tree. The effect was perfectly ludicrous on the natives; some stared at him, others fell down, while a third portion ran away. This excursion to the course of the Darling river enabled the party to determine, that the course of the waters of the marshes of the Macquarie, after trickling through the reeds, forms a small creek, which carries off the superfluous part of them into Morrisett's chain of ponds, which latter again falls into the Castlereagh, at about eight miles to the W. N. W., and all three join the Darling in a W. by N. direction, in lat. 30 deg. 52 min. S. and E. lon. 147 deg. 8 min. at about 90 miles to the N. N. W. of Mount Harris, and about an equal distance to the E. S. E.

Captain Sturt concludes the first volume by some general remarks on the difficulties of exploring Australia, and on some practical means of removing those obstacles. Although the expedition, the account of which is contained in the above volume, was not so successful as it was expected to prove, still it must be allowed that it was attended with some important consequences; for it settled the question as to the existence of an internal shoal sea in southern Australia; it traced the actual termination of the rivers, and added to the knowledge already acquired of the country which

lies westward of all former discoveries. It is true that no signs of fertility were discovered by the expedition; but the fact determined by it of the existence of a large river, like the Darling, lying at the back of our intertropical settlements, is one of much interest and curiosity. The course and termination of the river remained unexplored by the first expedition; but it appeared to be of the greatest importance to determine whether the river held a due course southward, or turned in a westward direction, and ran into the interior of the country. But difficulties presented themselves against this inquiry, particularly those which arose from the impossibility of procuring fresh water in the route, since the Darling itself consisted of water impregnated with brine springs. These rivers, therefore, including with the Darling, the Macquarie, Castlereagh, and Lachlan, were abandoned, and attention was entirely fixed upon the Morumbidgee, which was reported to be considerable in its extent, and impetuous in its current. It promised, by its origin from the lofty ranges behind Mount Dromedary, to maintain a longer course than the rivers already spoken of, which appeared to have derived their supply chiefly from the periodical rains, and to have been accordingly exhausted, as was the case when explored by Captain Sturt, as the country was visited by a drought. The Morumbidgee rises in south latitude 31 deg. and east longitude 140 deg.; it proceeds in a western direction, and flows into Murray river. To trace this river, or such streams as might be connected with it, was the object proposed for a second expedition into the interior, the conduct of which was once more entrusted to Captain Sturt. The party consisted of about the same number as on the former occasion, and it set out from Sydney on the 3rd of November, 1829. When they arived near the banks of the river, they were much amused by the contrivances with which one of the natives pursued an opossum, which was within the hollow of a dead tree. He called for a tomahawk, and with that instrument made a hole in the trunk above where the animal, as he thought, would be discovered. He found, says the Captain, that he had cut too low, and that it had run higher up. This made it necessary to smoke it out; he accordingly got some dry grass, and having kindled a fire, stuffed it into the hole he had cut. A raging fire soon kindled in the tree, where the draft was great, and dense columns of smoke issued from the end of each branch, as thick as that from the chimney of a steam engine. The shell of the tree was so thin that I thought it would soon be burnt through, and that the tree would fall; but the black had no such fears, and, ascending to the highest branch, he watched anxiously for the poor little wretch he had thus surrounded with dangers, and devoted to destruction; and no sooner did it appear, half singed and half roasted, than he seized upon it and threw it down to us with an air of triumph. The effect of the scene, in so lonely a forest, was very fine. The roaring of the fire in the tree, the fearless attitude of the savage, and the associations which his