On the 14th of December, I left the Tumat country on my return to Yas. Day had just dawned when I commenced my journey; the sky was clear and serene; the rising sun gilded the summits of the picturesque mountains; the sparkling dew was not yet dispelled, and all nature looked refreshed; the atmosphere was cool and agreeable, and the birds chanted, as if to salute the rising orb with their early melody; the dark foliage of the swamp oaks, and a brighter vegetation, would indicate the proximity of the river, whose murmuring stream was occasionally heard, although its waters were not seen. But as the day advanced, it became more sultry; vegetation drooped with excessive heat; the feathered songsters ceased their carolling, and only a few herons, magpies, (“Karo” of the aborigines,) and crows, were visible. I arrived at Darbylara late in the afternoon. The banks of the Murrumbidgee were beautifully picturesque. How delightful it is in this country, so destitute of large streams, to sit under the overshadowing branches of the Eucalypti, near the river, watching the flights of wild fowl, engaged in catching the fish, with which this river abounds, or seeing the young amphibious blacks amusing themselves by throwing stones into the deep part of the stream, and diving in order to catch them before they reach the bottom. In this amusement, they displayed much activity, and in nearly every instance succeeded in regaining the stone before it reached the bottom. The competition among them to catch it, was highly amusing. There were a number of the aborigines about this farm, who made themselves occasionally useful by grinding wheat, and other occupations; but no dependence can be placed upon their industry for they work when they please, and remain idle when they like; the latter being of most frequent occurrence; but they are encouraged for their valuable assistance in finding strayed cattle, as they track the beasts with an accuracy seldom or never attained by a European. The river’s banks abounded in trees of enormous size, and were profusely embellished with elegant flowers. I saw a species of the Eucalyptus, called the “Water Gum,” full a hundred feet in elevation, and six or seven feet in diameter.[119] I also observed a swamp oak[120] growing from the trunk of one of these trees, having quite a parasitical character; the former being about twelve feet high, and the latter full forty, both in a flourishing condition. An animal, called “Water-rat” by the colonists, and Biddunong by the aborigines, burrowed in the banks; but I was not able to procure a specimen. There are also two species of the Kangaroo-rat found about this part of the colony; one called “Cannamung,” and the second, a larger species, called “Talbung” by the blacks.