In October 1824 he set out on an expedition during which he discovered the confluence of the Goulburn and Hunter rivers, and then, following Dart Brook to its source, crossed the Liverpool Range to the plains beyond. He turned back when attacked by the Geaweagal clan of the Wanaruah people west of where the town of Murrurundi now stands. His report on the quality of land on the plains caused an immediate rush of applicants for land grants. On this journey he sighted a domed feature that he named Mt Cupola. It was renamed Mount Dangar by explorer Allan Cunningham, who became the first European to climb it the following year.