THE INTERIOR OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 179 



by its right bank, where the land lay very low, and had been rendered 



soft and boggy by the rains. I therefore felt desirons of securing for 



them a firmer footing on the higher ground, and for this purpose cut 



off angles of the river which would otherwise have been more fully ex- 

 amined. 



As we proceeded upwards, the obstacles and impediments near the 

 river increased, and I found it necessary to withdraw the horses alto- 

 gether from its vicinity hereabouts, while able to do so. While there- 

 fore Messrs. Gregory and Eidley traced its bed, I conducted the party 

 through the dense masses of thicket we had seen from our camp, as the 

 only means of getting above some steep rocky cliffs which occurred ou 

 the western side of them. By the time these were cleared, at the ex- 

 pense of much scratching and tearing, the party from the river's bed 

 rejoined us, and reported they had fallen in with coal shales^ if not the 

 actual coal itself, of far superior quality to that already noticed, and 

 that it lay in large blocks in the river's bed. Not being aware of this till 

 we liad long passed the spot, I did not see it, but continued my search 

 for some grass, and a proper camping-place, the horses being greatly 

 fatigued with their harassing hill work, and some of them very footsore. 



Ascending a peaked rocky hill two miles north from the range, the 

 river was observed to occupy a very steep rugged valley in the inter- 

 mediate space, and to be in large pools. Above this it was observed 

 to wind through extensive grassy slopes from the N.N.W. and N., its 

 mimerous tributaries being also well grassed, and the principal valley, 

 fifteen or eighteen miles off, in the direction of N. by "W. One of these 

 tributaries, not so grassy as the others, seemed to cut its way almost 

 wholly through a red sandstone country, and could be traced by its 

 cliffs many miles to the W. and N.W. from its mouth, a little above 

 the hill we were upon. Several lofty and abrupt hills, of varied and 

 peaked outline, were observed between East and Middle Mounts Bar- 

 ren, and the latter itself appeared at the distance of thirty miles on the 

 bearing S. 50^ W. All these hills seemed to be composed of the same 

 b'ght-coloured micaceous slaty rock as that which formed the range 

 near us. 



Having given to the latter the name of Mr. Eyre, the indefatigable 

 explorer, who was the iirst to report its existence, we descended from 

 our rugged elevation, and encamped two miles further to the Avcstward, 

 a little above the mouth of the tributary already noticed with the red 



