It was stated to me in this part of the colony, that the natives call all large rivers Murrumbidgee,[94] and I certainly heard it applied by them equally to the Tumat and Murrumbidgee streams; but I found they usually name the river after the country through which it flows, so that on demanding the name of the river at different places, many names are bestowed upon it: a person unaware of this circumstance is surprised at the number of names the same stream obtains. Thus, the Yas river at one part is called “Gondaroo” by the natives, and this occasioned many to suppose the correct name of the Yas river was “Gondaroo,” until it was ascertained that it received that appellation from the portion of country of the same name through which it passed; afterwards receiving the name of “Yas,” or “Yar,” when flowing through its plains: by the latter name, however, the entire stream is known to Europeans, which is a better method of nomenclature than that adopted by the natives. The Tumat at Mr. Warby’s farm was called “Bewuck,” and as a variety of the “river cod” receives the same native name, the river might either be named after the number of the fish found in it, or the fish from being found abundant in that particular part of the river; for a very short distance further up the stream, the aborigines bestow a different name upon it from the country through which it flows. I mention these circumstances, hoping some future traveller may have opportunities of further inquiry, confirming my statements if correct, or refuting them should they prove erroneous. The sand in and about the banks of the Murrumbidgee river has a glittering appearance, which led many to report that gold dust abounded; but those who made the assertion have yet to learn “that it is not all gold that glitters,” for on examination the glittering particles are found to be merely talc. When a well was about to be sunk, at a distance from three to four hundred yards from the banks of this river, opposite to, and not far distant from, Mr. Warby’s farm, at a depth of thirteen feet, in an alluvial soil, a quantity of charcoal was found, and at a further depth of twenty feet more was discovered.