42 EXPLORATION OF THE MURCHISON, LYONS, AND [Nov. 8, 1858 



our friends of the morning again made their appearance with a 

 number of strange natives, dodging us among the deep muddy 

 ravines, which abound at this part of the river ; their manoeuvres 

 being equivocal and unsatisfactory we kept well on our guard ; they, 

 however, ran off at night, on my facing about on horseback to drive 

 them away. 



Our course during the day had been nearly west 22 miles, one 

 large tributary having joined the river from the northward, which 

 was afterwards named the Lyons, in honour of the gallant Admiral 

 of that name; this accession had increased the breadth of the 

 channel to 400 yards. As we drew towards our evening's bivouac, 

 the river entered a gorge formed by the river cutting through the 

 south end of a flat-topped sandstone range of about 1200 feet eleva- 

 tion above the sea, presenting many bold and picturesque outlines 

 and detached summits, terminating in abrupt and almost pre- 

 cipitous faces ; to this we gave the name of the Kennedy Eange in 

 honour of our present Governor. 



To the south, a detached mass of broken sandstone hills gradually 

 falls away in the distance, apparently into a barren scrub similar 

 to those on the banks of the lower Murchison, while to the west 

 lay before us an extensive plain, unbroken by a single object, save 

 a few low ridges of red drift sand, clothed with a stunted scrub of 

 melaleuca and acacia. The bottom of the gorge we found to be 480 

 feet above the sea. 



13th May. — From this morning to noon of the 15th the country 

 passed over was similar to that first described, the sand ridges 

 running north-west and south-east at about a quarter of a mile 

 apart; the river keeping a general course of west-north-west, its 

 channel deepening to 60 feet, and maintaining an average width of 

 400 yards. Grass was only to be found in small patches along the 

 margin of the river; the accumulated waters of the late inunda- 

 tions, having been confined to one channel, had risen to the height 

 of 48 feet, carrying away many of the largest timber trees, as also 

 much of the soil from the banks, leaving a scene of devastation 

 exceeding anything of the kind I had hitherto witnessed. 



A small description of Spanish reed was here first observed to 

 grow on the margin of the pools. Deep muddy creeks, having only 

 short courses, were very numerous, rendering travelling both 

 tedious and intricate. 



From noon of the 15th the country gradually opened out to a 

 thinly grassed plain of light alluvial soil, atriplex bushes and 

 acacia, widely scattered, forming almost the entire vegetation ; the 



