I Went With John Oxley is the story of John Oxley's trip of exploration along the Macquarie River in 1818 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 swamps making progress impossible, so they left their boats and headed eastwards. 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 discover and name Port Macquarie. It was providential that they found a boat on the sands and the convicts carried it on their shoulders until they reached Port Stephens and were rescued by a ship from Newcastle. The story tells of the many anxieties suffered by the convicts.