234 VIEW FROM DUNLOP'S RANGE. [CH. V. 



repairs, and it being also necessary to shoe several horses, 

 I thought it advisable to rest the party this day : I wished 

 also to ascend Dunlop's range. On climbing to the top, I 

 found that it consisted of a chain of hills, composed of a very 

 hard sandstone, or quartz rock, similar to that of D'Urban's 

 group. The summit was bare, not only of trees, but even 

 of grass, or any vegetation. This nakedness was, however, 

 the more favourable for my chief object, which was to obtain 

 a view of the distant country. The weather was not very 

 auspicious, the sky being cloudy, and slight showers fell oc- 

 casionally. The height of these hills is not considerable, the 

 summit of that which I ascended was about 528 feet above 

 the plains. It was seven miles to the south-east of the camp ; 

 and at the north-west extremity of the range, or the most 

 western part visible from D'Urban's group. 1 never as- 

 cended a hill with feelings of keener interest in the views it 

 commanded. Eastward, I beheld that hilly country, which 

 I had always considered to lie in the best line of exploration ; 

 and from this point it looked well. I could easily trace the 

 further course of the Darling for about 20 miles westward ; 

 but the most remarkable feature discoverable from the hill, 

 was the undulating character of the country to the north-west 

 beyond the river. That region no longer presented a dead 

 flat like the ocean, but had upon it various eminences, some 

 resembling low portions of table-land, others being only 

 undulations raised a little above the common level ; but 

 the whole country was much variegated with wood and 

 plain. 



June 14. — We moved forward along the plains, keeping 

 the river in sight, on the right ; and after travelling 13^ 

 miles, we encamped close to it. The banks were so steep at 

 this part, that the cattle could not be got down without 

 considerable difficulty. The water was quite sweet. 



June 15. — We continued our journey in a south-west 

 direction, and thus crossed various slight eminences, con- 

 nected with a range, which lay nearly parallel to our route, 



