i 



314 JOURNEY OP DISCOVERY INTO 



miles distant, bearing S. 6^ 10' W., and a remarkable double-topped 

 peaked hill to the westward of it, which I called Mount Bland, bearing 

 S. 5*^ E. Crossing the watercourse last mentioned, in its rapid descent 

 to S.W. by S., we found travelling difficult and rugged, among nume- 

 rous small rocky ravines, and finally steered to the southward, to avoid 

 them and get upon more level land. At the end of five miles of level 

 sandy country we came upon another branch of the river, winding to the 

 southward in a very tortuous course, in bottom of a rocky steep valley, 

 three-quarters of a mile wide. Here occurred the white, streaked, and 

 coloured sandstones we had previously noticed on the Phillips, in close • 

 connection with the coal, accompanied by the same ironstone veins, 

 deep red sandstone, water-worn quartz, pebbles, and rough coarse 

 conglomerates, which had been observed to accompany them. Climb- 

 ing over the edge of a perpendicular cliff 150 feet high, overlooking 

 the river in the bottom, caverns eight feet deep were found to have been 

 excavated by the atmosphere in the softer white sandstones, and the 

 entire geological formation lay most beautifully developed before us. 



The surface, in this dangerous vicinity for our horses, being ex- 

 tremely rugged and thick, I felt glad to remove them away southward 

 as soon as possible, where the land seemed to descend and to become 

 more open, as the distance from the river increased. At the end of two 

 miles and a half we were again upon the verge of a similar sharp bend 

 of the river, winding through a valley a half to three-quarters of a mile 

 wide, and bordered by broken red and white cliffs 50 to 80 feet high, 

 and in many places perpendicular. The whole country hereabouts was 

 extremely rough, and thickly covered with scrub, rendering the greatest 

 caution necessary in threading our way slowly amongst the concealed 

 rocks and holes. Descending to the river's bed by a low hill of gra- 

 nite protruding amongst the sandstones, we came there upon large 

 pools of brackish water, and observed many indications of their being 

 sometimes as high as 25 feet above their then level. Half a mile be- 

 low this we encamped amongst good grass, in a rich flat formed by the 

 winding of the river, which then seemed to pass amongst numerous 



narrow 



ance oi penectly level tables, and in other views assuming the form of 

 sharp red peaks. Our native recognized this river as identical with 

 that ou which we were detained on the 25 th of October by rainy wea- 

 ther and soft ground, about fifteen miles to the north-westward. 



