"I Went With John Oxley" is the story of John Oxley's trip of exploration along the Macquarie River in 1818 searching for an inland sea, as told in the first person by Richard Watts, one of the convicts who went with him. They left Wellington depot with nineteen horses and two boats and after a long trek along the Macquarie River they ran into marshes, making progress impossible, so they left their boats and headed eastward. Travelling was difficult through mud and quicksand but they eventually came to open country, climbed Mount Seaview, from where they saw the sea, and continued down the Hastings River to arrive at and name Port Macquarie. It was providential that they found a boat on a beach because the convicts carried this boat on their shoulders and crossed many rivers and inlets until they safely reached Port Stephens. The story tells of the anxieties and joys experienced by the convicts.