47 



hill, from the top of which we could see the head station, 

 situated on a gentle rise about half a mile before us, at which 

 place we had not well arrived when rain began to fall, and 

 though about quarter of an inch fell during the night, by 8 

 o'clock next morning scarcely a vestige of it was to be seen 

 upon the surface. 



For a distance of about two and a-half miles up from the 

 head station on either side of Anna Creek the country con- 

 tinues to be of a sandhill character. To the south-west and 

 west of Milcheterrana Hill it is studded over with gentle rises 

 belonging to the Primary series. To the east of that hill, how- 

 ever, and for about a mile south-east on the eastern side of the 

 creek a sandy plain stretches away for several miles in that 

 direction. This plain is also here and there interrupted with 

 bluffs of old rocks. Close to the creek and about three miles 

 above the head station there is a band of very hard quartzite 

 standing about eight feet above the level of the present sur- 

 face ; strike, 10° west of north ; dip, about 10° easterly ; thick- 

 ness, about 16 feet. Fundamental slate rock also appears at 

 the surface in situ at this place on the eastern side of the 

 quartzite. The band, which here rises above the plain as a mere 

 bluff, on pursuing its course northward constitutes the summit 

 of Milcheterrana Hill. Directing our path a little more west 

 from here, and at a distance of about a quarter of a mile, a 

 band of blue marble was observed, which makes (as Mr. 

 Hogarth informs me) most excellent mortar. Strike of this 

 marble band, which is exposed at the surface for at least one 

 hundred yards north, is about magnetic north and south, dip 

 60° east. The quartzite band, referred to above, constitutes the 

 summit of the hill, from 130 to 140 yards to the east of the 

 marble one. Between it and the quartzite, however, about 

 one-third of the distance is occupied with marbles much more 

 argillaceous in quality. On the western side of the pure 

 marble band, which at this place is not more than two feet in 

 thickness, a band of gritty quartzite is interbedded, the strike 

 and dip of which are the same as that of the marble band. 



The Anna Creek head- station and well are situated in lat. 

 28° 60' south, long. 136° 8' east. The well yields an inexhaus- 

 tible supply of most excellent water. The strata penetrated 

 consist, in descending order, of twenty-five feet of sandy clay, 

 thirty-eight feet of desert sandstone, at which depth water 

 was struck. The sinking was continued four feet further, 

 making a total depth of sixty-seven feet. The stratum in 

 which water was first discovered consisted chiefly of a gypsi- 

 ferous clay. The daily quantity of water which the well pro- 

 duces has never been fully ascertained, but taking from it at 

 the rate of 1,000 gallons an hour lowers the water in the shaft 



