.—— rocky soil favoured its growth. The drooping m. 
_at Peak Range, the bricklow at the heads of the 
346 DR. LEICHARDT'S OVERLAND JOURNEY 
navigation of which has been repeatedly recommended by 
Captain King, the very best authority on such a subject. The 
flats along the river are chiefly formed by the detritus of 
coarse granitic rocks, the feldspar of which has been trans- - 
formed into clay mixed with grains*of quartz derived from 
the same source. Stiff clay soil was limited, and confined to 
hollows and depressions, round which the poplar-gum gene- 
rally formed a belt of bright green foliage. Rotten ground 
was not uncommon, but it always proved to be a mixture of 
clay with sand. The open forest of narrow-leaved ironbark 
and box, on a rather stony ground, alternated with plains of 
various extent, richly. grassed and frequently watered by 
numerous running brooks and springs. Large and deep 
lagoons were scattered over the valley, or were parallel to the 
river. But the approach to this interesting country is inter- - 
cepted by a very mountainous region, and by many deep 
_creeks, over which more practicable roads will no doubt be 
found in the progress of colonisation. The basalt appeared | 
to have been broken by a still more recent eruption of lava, 
which expanded partly over it, and formed as wild and | 
irregular fields of rock as ever covered the slopes of à vol 
càno. ES aee ates 
Dr. Leichardt makes the following observations on the 
Botany of the East coast. The vegetation changed very 
little from Moreton Bay to the northward. The open forest 
was generally formed by the narrow-leaved “and silver-leave? 
. ironbark, the flats were covered by box, the rocky shores 
the rivers and creeks, by bloodwood and Moreton Bay 85 
the immediate banks of the creeks were lined 
. Hoodec gums and. Casuarina which, farther northward, gà 
. way to the drooping tea-tree, Melaleuca Leucad 
. cyprus-pine), covers the whole continent wherever a : 
- 
~ and the Upper Lynd, where also the ironbark dise 
_ Several species of Bauhinia adorned the scrubs 
