356 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION E. 



receiving its fresh supply every night. I can offer no explanation 

 for this, nor have I noticed such at any other inland springs. The 

 earth tremors or waves took a north-west and south-east direc- 

 tion, approximately, and the subterranean booms and rumblings, 

 always succeeded the shock by some few seconds. I use the plural, 

 for, though only the first shock was violent enough to displace 

 the rocks (each many tons m weight), there were many other 

 shocks for a fortnight afterwards, each accompanied by rumblings 

 sufficiently distinct and uncomfortable." 



Colonel Egerton Warburton, an old explorer of Central Aus- 

 tralia, said he had a vivid recollection of hearing, on one occasion, 

 about 6 a.m., a loud report in the vicinity of Lake Torrens, in 

 1857, and which he described as similar to an explosion of a barrel 

 of powder at about a mile distant. He imagines the cause due to 

 vents of mud volcanoes, of which he had seen traces of several 

 during his northern explorations. These inactive outlets resembled 

 holes from which trees had been grubbed, and lying around the 

 holes were small pieces of what the Colonel thought were fossilized 

 chips of wood. Some of these chips were submitted to the Rev. 

 Tenison Woods, who pronounced tliem to be pieces of dried mud. 

 At the time the Colonel heard the report, he was not aware of the 

 existence of the holes, and could tiot recollect whether they were 

 in the vicinity of the reports. 



Mr. Christopher Giles, who has resided some years in the cen- 

 tral portions of Australia, namely, at Charlotte Waters, on the 

 overland telegraph line, has heard several reports like discharges 

 of artillery in the vicinity of Dalhousie Springs. He has no dates, 

 but, so far as he can recollect, the sounds occurred at different 

 times of the day. Mr. Giles attributes the cause to outbursts of 

 fresh springs. 



Mr. R. R. Kuuckey, formerly of the Telegraph Department, 

 who is, I suppose, better acquainted with South Australia than 

 most travellers, says he has heard these peculiar sounds only in 

 the vicinity of the Peake and Dalhousie Springs. Whilst camped 

 at the Peake on 21st December, 1870, he was startled about 1 a.m. 

 by a loud report, and the next day a new artesian spring was 

 found at Coppa-toppa. Again, near Dalhousie Springs, between 

 Mt. Crispe and Edith Springs, he heard three distinct reports in 

 January, 1871, and three new artesian springs were subsequently 

 found in the vicinity. 



Our late Government Geologist, Mr. H. Y. Lyell Brown, in 

 his first annual report, makes the following remarks on the sand- 

 hill country between the overland telegraph and the Queensland 

 border, in Central Australia: — "The sandhills rest indiscrimi- 

 nately on the clay flats and plains or the stony downs, their eleva- 

 tion above these varying from 10 to 70 or 80 feet, and width 



