of the Island of Tasmania. 149 



idea of the outline which these spurs have produced ; of 

 those endless sharp-edged ridges, which run in all directions, 

 interbranch, and form, as it were, a network of mountain 

 chains woven intricately together. At times the eye can 

 seize upon their distinct and independent courses, radiating 

 from a common centre, and gradually sloping into flat- 

 bottomed valleys ; at times their flanks are erect and 

 perpendicular, imparting to the ridge's an appearance of 

 having been rent asunder, and presenting between dark 

 chasms and gorges, from which roaring torrents make their 

 escape." From the northern extremity of what the Count 

 called the " lofty and precipitous battlements" of Ben 

 Lomond, the mountain overhangs profound and tortuous 

 abysses. The central part of the mountain top is a mass of 

 prismatic greenstone columns, 8 or 10 feet in diameter, 

 and their ends projecting over chasms more than 3000 feet 

 in perpendicular depth. 



The chain of which Ben Lomond forms the culminating 

 point reaches the sea at St. Patrick's Head. It then takes a 

 south-west course for about sixty miles. It turns westward 

 between Lake Tomb and the Eastern Marshes, and runs 

 north of west to St. Peter's Pass. A spur runs out south at 

 St. Peter's Pass, which separates the Coal River valley from 

 that of the Jordan ; and another which separates the Jordan 

 from the Clyde. In this spur, Table Mount (3596 feet) is 

 very conspicuous. It is a slope of tableland which, at a 

 distance, appears like elevated strata of sandstone, though I 

 believe it is an escarpment of greenstone. 



The main axis or chain then proceeds northwards, dividing 

 Lake Sorell from Lake Arthur, and extending to Dry's 

 Bluff (4257 feet). The latter is a commanding elevation 

 which forms a conspicuous abutment to the plains of the 

 north coast. Between Dry's Bluff and the Western Bluff 

 the chain has a semi-circular bend, and sends one spur to 

 the north, which terminates at Quamby's Bluff. It also 

 sends others to the south, which divide the lakes from some 

 of the tributaries of the Derwent. At Western Bluff it sends 

 to the north-east a long spur, which divides the valleys of 

 the Mersey and Meander. The range from St. Peter's Pass 

 averages 3500 feet in height, and presents an extremely 

 dark, rugged aspect. Its crests are almost all greenstone 

 very rocky and barren. To the southward it is still bolder 

 iC Its spurs in the vicinity of Lake St. Clair, to the north, 

 north-west, and west, are topped for the most part by more 



