128 ITS PRODUCTIONS. 



countr}^ is flat^ there is usually a narrow belt of 

 dense brush or jung-le. In the valle3^s^ one finds 

 what in the colony of New South Wales would be 

 termed open forest land^ characterized by scattered 

 eucalypti and other trees^ and a scanty covering* of 

 coarse sedg-e-like grass growing* in tufts on a red 

 clayey soil^ covered with nodules of ironstone and 

 coarse quartzose sand. As characteristics of this 

 poor soil^ the first objects to attract the attention 

 are the enormous pinnacled ant-hills of red clay 

 and sand^ often with supporting* buttresses. These 

 sing-ular structures^ which are sometimes twelve 

 feet in, height^ are of g"reat strength and toughness 

 — on breaking* off a piece^ they appear to be 

 honeycombed inside^ the numerous galleries being 

 then displayed. The ants themselves are of a pale 

 brown colour^ a quarter of an inch in length. In 

 sailing along* the coast^ these ant-hills may be dis- 

 tinctly seen from the distance of two or three miles. 



The rock in the immediate neighbourhood of Cape 

 York is a porphyry with soft felspathic base^ 

 containing* numerous moderately sized crystals of 

 amber-coloured quartz^ and a few larg*er ones of 

 flesh-coloured felspar. It often appears in larg*e 

 tabular masses split horizontally and vertically into 

 blocks of all sizes. At times when the vertical 

 fissures predominate and run chiefly in one direction^ 

 the porphyry assumes a slat}^ character^ and large 

 thin masses may be detached. 



One of the most interesting features in the botany 



