The greater part of our way was through deep sandy cypress brushes, so that the cattle had a heavy pull of it.

We reached our destination at 1 p.m., where we found Mr.Eyre, with eight or nine natives, all, who were then in the neighbourhood.
The back-water of the Murray was fast flowing into the lake, which already presented a broad expanse of water to the eye.

It was covered with wild fowl of various kinds, and there were several patches of reeds in which they were feeding.
As I purposed stopping for a day or two, to rest the bullocks, I directed Mr.Poole to survey the lake, whilst I undertook to lay down the creek or channel connecting it with the river, in which service I enlisted Mr.
Hawker, who had formerly been on the survey, and whose name I gave to the creek on the completion of our work.
Lake Bonney is a shallow sandy basin, which is annually filled by the Murray; and as it rises, so, to a certain extent, it falls with the river, until at length, being left very shallow, it is soon dried up.

The Hawker being too small to discharge the water equally with the fall of the river, has a current in it after the river has lowered considerably, for which reason I thought, when I passed it on my second expedition, that it had been a tributary; but such is not the case--Lake Bonney receiving no water save from the Murray.

To the south of it, or next the river, the ground is low, grassy, and wooded; but on every other side the lake is confined by a low sand hill, of about fifteen feet in height, behind which there is a barren flat covered with salsolaceous plants, and exactly resembling a dry sea marsh, if I may say so.