178 JOURNEY OF discovehy into 



and the sharp cracks of thunder seemed to be in our very presence, and 

 to explode close by us. The rain did not fail to play its part either; 

 and by the time all was over, our ammunition (in waterproof canisters) 

 was the only article left dry, for our frail calico tents might as well 

 have been struck at the onset. 



At daylight nature smiled out upon us^ as if nothing had happened ; 

 and upon the same principle we .proceeded on the labours of the day, 

 as soon as we could dry some clothes, and had looked about for the 

 damage done by the elements ; but beyond the leaping and brawling 

 of the water-channels around, and the occasional grumbling of the dis- 

 tant thunder, no vestige appeared of the recent storm. 



On examining the river one hundred yards to the westward, it was 

 found to be in deep open pools of considerable size, formed entirely out 

 of a light-coloured greenish rock, laminated and stratified. Its lay was 

 E. 30° N. and W. 30° S., with occasional deviations, amounting to 10° 

 or 15°, and the dip was estimated at about 60° to S. 30° E. Thin 

 veins of metamorphic ironstone traversed the strata, without any regard 

 to order or arrangement ; and to all appearance the w^hole of the adja- 

 cent range was of the same formation, its naked rocks being plainly 

 visible to the eye. 



Mr. Gregory, in following up the river's bed a few hundred yards, 

 having found some loose pieces of micaceous slaty rock, apparently 

 coloured black by a bituminous substance, and resembling a slaty coal, 

 we proceeded ou our examination of the river upwards, with renewed 

 hopes; and at a part of it, three-quarters of a mile west from the last 

 bivouac, came upon shales of a promising character in the bed, of a 

 deep slate colour, approaching to black, and apparently bituminous, 

 with thin veins of still darker substance, like coal, between the layers. 

 The direction and dip of the strata were as before stated, and the sides 

 of the steep hills which rose from the river's bed were strewed with 

 fragments of the same slaty appearance, but more hardened by exposure 

 to the atmosphere. 



The rains of the previous night had unfortunately filled all the lowest 

 levels in the river's bed, and had also set it running, as well as every 

 adjoining tributary. The bed was likewise so encumbered with rocky 

 fragments among the deep pools, as to render our search difficult, tedi- 

 ous, and incomplete, for at the time it was in progress, the horses were 

 struggling and floundering across the rich grassy peninsula formed here 



