On the 15th of December, 1845, Sir Thomas Mitchell started from Buree, his old point of departure, at the head of the small army with which he was once more going to vanquish the wilderness. Mounted videttes, barometer carrier, carter, and pioneer, etc., etc., were amongst the list of his subordinates. Well might poor Leichhardt say, when thinking over his slender resources:-- "Believe me, that one experienced and courageous bushman is worth more than the eight soldiers Sir Thomas intends to take with him. They will be an immense burthen, and of no use." But Sir Thomas thought otherwise; without soldiers he considered that certain failure awaited the rash explorer; discipline and method were the sheet anchors of his exploratory existence, every tent in his camp was pitched by line, and every dray had its station. With the fated Kennedy as second, and Mr. W. Stephenson as surgeon and collector, he had also with him twenty-eight men, eight bullock drays, three horse drays, and two boats; and thus accompanied, he marched to the north. Sir Thomas Mitchell struck the Darling much higher than Fort Bourke, the state of the country at this time of the year rendering this change in his plan needful. It was not until he was across the Darling that he was outside the settled districts, so rapidly had the country been stocked since last he was there, and even then he was on territory that his son had lately explored. The first river the party struck, west of the Darling, was the Narran, and this was followed up until the Balonne was reached, which Mitchell pronounced the finest river in Australia, with the exception of the Murray. Beyond this, they made the Culgoa, and, crossing it, struck the river again above the separation of the two streams, which from thence upwards preserved the name of the Balonne. On the 12th April, they reached the natural bridge of rocks on the Balonne, where the township of St. George now stands, long known as St. George's Bridge; and from here Sir Thomas advanced with a light party, leaving Kennedy to follow on his tracks with the remainder, after a rest of three weeks. Soon after leaving the camp, Mitchell crossed the junction of the Maranoa, but did not at that time like its appearance, and only followed it a few miles, returning and keeping the course of the Balonne until they reached the junction of the Cogoon from the westward, when they followed the course of that river, which led them into a beautiful pastoral district around a solitary hill, which the leader named Mount Abundance, and here Mitchell first noticed the bottle tree. Passing over a low range from the Cogoon, after crossing some tributary streams, Sir Thomas found a river with a northerly and southerly course, full of fine reaches of water, which retained its native name of the Maranoa, being supposed to be the same as the junction before noticed. Here they awaited the arrival of Kennedy with the heavy waggons and main body.