118 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



ward to reaching the Indi River at Groggin on the next march, so 

 hastily packed up and sent the horses to the ford. Three of 

 them crossed without the slightest difficulty, but the timid, 

 clumsy brute, that had given us the trouble near Craven ville, 

 refused to do so. He was finally got over by tying a coat over 

 his head, leading him up to the ford, and dusting his back at the 

 crucial moment. 



Several mining shafts, 8 to 12 feet deep, occur on the north 

 side of the creek, but payable gold has not been found. The 

 strata in tlie vicinity are siliceous sandstones and slates, consider- 

 ably contorted, dipping to N. 60° E. at 62°. Running Creek is a 

 strong stream of beautiful water, and is about 15 feet wide. It 

 evidently drains a good extent of country, though its course is 

 not visible for more than a quarter of a mile above the ford, 

 where, in a series of small falls and rapids, it descends from the 

 plateau to the east. 



We now crossed a small gully and ascended a long, steep spur 

 over unaltered slates dipping to N. 60° E. Here another 

 Copper-headed Snake was killed, and a little later two more. 

 Further on slightly spotted slates and siliceous sandstones 

 appeared, still with the same dip ; then very fine mica-schists, 

 and, finally, coarse and fine nodular and wavy mica-schists of 

 yellow, brown, red, olive-green and grey colours, with a few 

 bands of quartzite. All of tliem are greatly jointed, and have 

 numerous veins and patches of vitreous barren quartz running 

 obliquely across their strike. The dip is of foliation, and is to 

 the west at 78° to 80°, indicating a conformance between the dips 

 of the strata and of foliation and the presence of a syncline. 

 These mica-schists form the summit and upper portion of Mt. 

 Hope, which lies about 4 miles from the ford on Running Creek. 



Two fine photographs of Mt. Gibbo were here obtained. In 

 passing on, contorted, crinkled and pitted mica-schists were seen, 

 but nowhere on the track was there any evidence of gneiss or 

 granite. Proceeding 3 miles further to Dinner Creek, the reverse 

 gradation to normal slates was observed. Mt. Hope itself is 

 about the centre of this metamorphic area. Its summit is some- 

 where about 4,700 feet, and from it a fine view can be obtained 

 across N.E. Benambra. 



The track followed the main ridge to within about half a mile 

 of Dinner Creek hut, where it left the ridge in a belt of dense 

 Hop scrub and continued north easterly along the shallow valley 

 of this creek to the hut near a spring amongst Tea-tree. This 

 is at an altitude of some 4,400 feet. The hut was empty at the 

 time, but was apparently being used by an oi)ossum-trapper, as 

 skins of these animals were nailed out on the trees. At this 

 place we had lunch and rested the horses, so as to reach Groggin, 

 10 miles on, if possible, that night. After an hour's rest we 

 pushed on again just before dusk. A short distance N.E. from 



