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10
In the afternoon I delivered to each of 14 men, on of the 8 firelocks & 6 [pistols?] also a great coat to each - A native from the Liverpool Plains came to the tents. I gave him a pipe & he offered to shew me the best [roads?] across them - he belonged to the Never never tribe as it is termed by Stockmen - he assured me that there was a large river in the [direction?] I was going - This day was very hot - therm.r. 84 at Sunset - Adjusted the Sextant in the evening - Wrote this day a letter to Sire George [Murray?]
Monday 5th Dec.r. Set off at 7 o'clock - and we soon reached the [place?] across the Liverpool Range about which we had heard such exaggerated accounts - some even saying that our drays would perhaps be broken and taking them over empty - We, however, by deviating a little from the beaten track - managed to take up the loaded drays by fitting [?] bullocks to each. The pass is a very low neck of the range and is named by the natives Hecknaduey - The creek or watercourse we must [?] entering the plains is called Nuzabella - Murilla and not Merry[lands?] is the native name of the Cone N W of Wingen fixed in this trigonom[etric?] survey - At 1/2 past 10 we had every thing up - and were on our [way] towards the Plains, when the axle of one of the drays broke, and we were obliged to leave the dray and place the load on the spare pack-horses & [?] of the dray which would pack - We reached at 4 o'clock a creek called by the natives Currungai about [?] miles from the pass. There we encamped - we found here a tribe of natives from the side of Dary Brook - the same we had yesterday with.
Tuesday 6th Dec.r. Four soldiers of the mounted Police brought a letter from Capt.n. forbed (with.t. date) informing me that the Governore had arrived that day, and that Barber had been taken at [?] 15 miles from Bathurst the day after he had made his escape - We left the ground at 7 oclock - following still (guided by the natives) the cart track - and crossing a low ridge of rich searth in which were embedded residues of Limestone and also trap - after passing several such undulations, apparently the extremities of the high ridge on the left - we reached an arm of the plains - which the road crossed in a direction S. of West - This being very different from the direction in which Peel's ruin or Walldoor lay. I left the road without winding the waters, and took a Northerly course. We came soon [to] a path and line of marked trees which a native, whom I had agreed [with] to go with me to Walldoor, said was a road from Palmer's to Loder's. We reacher a deep dry bed of what must be a very considerable stream in wet seasons - after considerable riding up and down