miles farther the morasses closed upon us, and rendered all farther progress impossible.  The water was here stagnant.  The large trees that used to be met with in such numbers up the stream were entirely lost, a few diminutive gums being the only timber to be seen:  the height of the bank from the water-line was three feet six inches; and the marks of floods on the trunks of the trees rose to the height of four feet six inches, being about one foot above the level of the surrounding marshes.  It would appear that the water is frequently stationary at that height for a considerable time, as long moss and other marks of stagnant waters were remaining on the trunks and roots of the trees, and on the long-leaved acacia, which was here a strong plant.  There could not be above three feet water in this part of the lagoon, as small bushes and tufts of tea grass were perceptible.  The water was extremely muddy, and the odour arising from the banks and marshes was offensive in the extreme.  There were only four different kinds of plants at this terminating point of our journey, viz. the small eucalyptus, the long-leaved acacia, the large tea grass, and a new diaeceous plant which covered the marshes, named polygonum junceum.  It is possible that the bed of the lagoon might extend eight or ten miles farther, but I do not think it did, as the horizon was perfectly clear in all directions, a few bushes and acacia trees, marking the course of the lagoon, excepted.

Had there been any hill or even small eminence within thirty or forty miles of me they must now have been discovered, but there was not the least appearance of any such, and it was with infinite regret and pain that I was forced to come to the conclusion, that the interior of this vast country is a marsh and uninhabitable.  How near these marshes may approach the south-western coast, I know not; but I do not think that the range of high and dry land in that quarter extends back north-easterly for any great distance; it being known, that the coast from Cape Bernouilli to the head of Spencer’s Gulf is sandy and destitute of water. [Note:  The view from the top of Mount Brown (in lat. 32. 30. 15.  S. and lon. 138. 0. 3/4.  E. head of Spencer’s Gulf) was very extensive, its elevation not being less than three thousand feet; but neither rivers nor lakes could be perceived, nor any thing of the sea to the south-eastward.  In almost every direction the eye traversed over an uninterruptedly flat woody country, the sole exceptions being the ridge of mountains, extending north and south; and the water of the gulf to the south-westward.  Flinder’s Voy.  Vol.  I. p. 159.]

Perhaps there is no river, the history of which is known, that presents so remarkable a termination as the present:  its course in a straight line from its source to its termination exceeds five hundred miles, and including its windings, it may fairly be calculated to run at least twelve hundred miles; during all which passage, through such a vast extent of country, it does not receive a single stream in addition to what it derives from its sources in the eastern mountains.