205 



personal information. A reference shows that the basin is^ 

 widest easterly from Broken Hill, and that its nearest point to 

 that j)lace is on the Redan Run, and here the boundary of the 

 two formations is evident to the most casual observer in the low 

 ridge bisecting the run north-easterly and south-westerly, whilst 

 northerly, towards the Quondong Well, is the most easterly 

 of the Archaean rocks of the Barrier ; hence all the wells to 

 the west are comparatively useless, whilst all the eastern ones 

 reach water in the characteristic fine sands. The Quondong Well 

 just referred to, is formed by a bar of the ancient rocks inter- 

 cepting the soakage of the superficial sands of Stephens Creek, 

 hence its shallow depth (30 feet) and small supply. 



The Redan Well, at the Head Station, is 270 feet to water in 

 the drift -sand, here 50 feet thick. A bore was put down another 

 100 feet, and stopped in blue clay. The water did not rise above 

 the level at which it was first struck, though at one point the 

 hydrostatic pressure was so great that sand was blown up for 30 

 feet. Total depth of well and bore, 420 feet. 



The Aldborough Well, lying still further towards the centre of 

 what I have called the Menindie area, after penetrating the 

 usual clay strata, struck water at 200 feet in a bed of sand, 

 which proved to be six feet thick, yielding a good supply ; it was then 

 sunk through six feet of blue clay, and the water, which at first 

 contained red mud, welled up to the level of the first flow. 

 The well-shaft subsequently caved in. 



The Kars Well was sunk many years since, it is 210 feet 

 deep, contains a large supply of stock-water, is in fine drift- 

 .tand, and has a powerful engine, with seven-inch pipe. No 

 attempt, by boring or otherwise, has been made, as far as I can 

 learn, to test the presence of other water-bearing strata below. 



The Silistria Well, situated towards the eastern edge of the 

 Menindie basin, is a very remarkable one ; sunk, as usual, 

 through the various clay strata. At 270 feet water was struck in 

 the fine sand, and a bore 131 feet deep was put down through 

 alternate layers of blue clay and sand, each deeper layer containing 

 coarser sand, and at the bottom very coarse sand and water-worn 

 pebbles were found. The watei', immediately it was struck, rose 

 up to the level of the bottom of the well, and the force was so 

 great as to send up pebbles with it. The water had a distinct 

 sweetish taste, but is palatable for drinking; it is the deepest 

 water so far struck within the area. 



On reference to the chart, a large, almost detached, area of the 

 Newer Tertiary to the north-west is shown, and may be called the 

 Topar area. Particulars of wells sunk here I have not been able 

 to obtain, except that water in fine sand was struck at the well 

 marked towards its western edge. Its distance from Broken Hili 



