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160 which he had previously carried over two thousand miles within the limits of the colony, and which had now induced him to explore the territory hitherto untrodden by white men, lying between the Murray and the south-eastern coast of New South Wales. At Ellerslie, a remote station, the Count was joined by Mr. James Macarthur, the son of a settler, and another gentleman named Riley, both of whom were eager to share with him the toils and gratifications of his undertaking.

The party started well provided with provisions and pack-horses, and all well mounted, excepting the Count, who, having with him a considerable number of valuable instruments necessary for the prosecution of his observations, which, on account of their delicate construction, required the greatest care of carriage, preferred pursuing his journey on foot, with his budget on his back. From Ellerslie the party descended into the beautiful valley of the Murray, and followed its picturesque windings for about fifty miles. Here the travellers encamped. The Count and Mr. Macarthur ascended the Australian Alps on the 12th of February; about noon they found themselves sitting on the most elevated peak of Australia, at the height of seven thousand eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, beyond the reach of vegetation, and surrounded with perpetual snows; with a serene and lucid sky above them, and below, an unbroken view over an extent of about four thousand square miles. On the summit of the Alps, Count Strzelecki secured many valuable meteorological and magnetic observations. The trigonometrical survey, which the Count had begun, received new supports from this predominant point;