212 JOUKNEY OF nSCOYEKY INTO 



thus being able, in so intricate a part of tlie country, almost totally 

 uulcuown to him, to walk direct to a small water-hole, entirely con- 

 cealed from view amongst tufts of grass. Plunging into the midst of 

 these, our sable friend remained at least two minutes underground, 

 and then re-appeared with a distended stomach, and the welcome intel- 

 ligence that plenty of good water existed six feet below the surface. 

 Encamping immediately under shelter of some neighbouring bushes, 

 the spade was tried, and soon produced fresh water, tuo feet below the 

 surface, and therefore accessible to the horses, to whom; and to all of 

 us, a little good fresh water was quite a treat. These wells were in a 

 grassy tributary to the coal-river, the steep white banks of which were 

 visible a quarter of a mile below our camp. In the meantime Messrs. 

 Eidley and Gregory had followed that river downwards a short dis- 

 tance, and reported that, a mile below the coal, the shales were still 

 abundant, but apparently in some disorder, tbe dip being changed from 

 S-E. to S.W., and occasionally to the south. They saw no more coal, 

 and found that a very white appearance, which covered the entire right 

 bank of the river, below the coal-bed, was caused by very numerous 

 fragments of white quartz, which had apparently fallen from the surface 

 of the land above, and had become partly imbedded in the soft slaty 

 and clayey shales. Meukar on the meridian gave the latitude of this 

 camp 34''l'28"S.i au4 abrupt red sandstone-hills, flat-topped and 

 peaked, rose up around it in every direction. 



The inlet which receives this river being that on which our native 

 had been informed a Prench whale-ship had procured coal for use, I 

 determined on giving it a close inspection, and with that view re-com- 

 menced our descent of the river on the morning of the 28th of Decem- 

 ber, keeping as near as possible to it, in order to watch the indications. 

 The river was here in pools in an open valley, half a mile wide, well 

 supplied with spear, kangaroo, and other good grasses, growing among 

 yeit-trees and the mainung-wattle, both of which indicate a superior 

 soil. At less than a mile from our camp, a tributary joined from the 

 right, opposite to an elevated quartz-slope, almost a cliff, on the left 

 bank. The valley soon afterwards contracted to a width of 200 yards, 

 and became clifify and steeps shales again appeared in abundance on 

 the left bank, crowned by a superincumbent mass of ironstone, but the 

 intervening bed of the river would not afford a practicable passage by 

 which we could get at them. They appeared however to dip as for- 



