CH. II.] PLAINS OF MULLUBA. 41 



ran away on seeing the party. The current was strong, 

 though the water did not reach above the axles of the carts, 

 and by half-past seven a.m. every thing was safe, on the 

 other side of the Peel. On quitting the immediate banks 

 of the river, we passed through a forest of the tree resembling- 

 pine (callitris), with bushes of the acacia pendula inter- 

 spersed. There was also a tree new to us, having a small 

 round leaf. After proceeding six miles, we reached the 

 borders of an extensive open tract, named Mulluba. It 

 could scarcely bear the usual designation of plain (the term 

 applied in New South Wales to almost all land free from 

 trees), for the undulations were as great as those which occur 

 betwixt London and Hampstead, and, indeed, the whole 

 territory bore a remarkable resemblance to an enclosed and 

 cultivated country. The ridges, of the kind already de- 

 scribed, I observed in directions, both with the slopes, and 

 across them, exactly resembling furrows in fallow land. 

 Trees grew in rows, as if connected with field enclosures, 

 and parts, where bushes or grass had been recently burnt, 

 looked red or black, thus contributing to the appearance of 

 cultivation. The soil was, indeed, well worthy of being 

 cultivated, for it consisted of a ricli black mould, so loose 

 and deep that it yawned in cracks, as if for want of feet to 

 tread it down. It appeared very probable, however, that in 

 wet weather such parts of the country might be too soft for 

 the passage of carts. I then supposed the ridge on our 

 left might be that called Hardwick's range, by Oxley ; its 

 general direction being about 20° to the westward of north , 

 We at length reached the remarkable opening in that range, 

 which I had observed from Perimbungay, and passing through 

 it, over a narrow flat, we arrived at a low woody country 

 westward of these ranges. Having now travelled sixteen 

 miles, I was anxious to encamp here, but we could not, at 

 first, find any water-course ; and one small, dry channel 

 appeared to be the only line of drainage in wet weather 

 from the extensive open country of Mulluba. It struck me 



