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;pass, Effie, and Moon, consisting of Pre - Cambrian 

 rocks, and are monadnocks of Permo-Carboniferous erosion. 

 Around these hills is a weird-looking country of sandy ridges 

 and treacherous swamps, covered with a characteristic scrub 

 except where the settler has made a clearance and built his 

 hut. 



Passing through Mount Compass Gap we get a better 

 view of this remarkable basin, which forms the north-west 

 portions of the Hundred of Nangkita (plate xxxiii.). Mount 

 Moon is directly in front, and forms a striking feature in the 

 landscape. It rises abruptly from the plain, has a rounded 

 contour, and is sharply truncated on its western side (plate 

 xxxiv.). Mounts Compass and Effie have also rounded outlines 

 with abrupt sides. All these hills have been submerged by 

 glacial waste, and as the latter is easily removed by a feeble 

 surface drainage the locality supplies excellent illustrations of 

 "wind-gaps." 



Mount Moon, as well as most of the other elevations of 

 the district, is surrounded by swamps which converge in their 

 drainage, forming the Black Swamp, a permanent stream of 

 fresh-water, which finds its outlet by the lower reaches of the 

 River Finniss. 



The greatest elevation of the district is Mount Jagged, a 

 rugged ridge of very siliceous white quartzite, representing 

 the same geological horizon as Mount Magnificent, the range 

 continuing therefrom to the north-east, to Bull's Creek and 

 the Meadows. The quartzite of these ranges is not, strati- 

 graphically, far above the base of the Cambrian series. Wood 

 Cone is a slightly lower height on the northern sides of Mount 

 Jagged, and consists of highly-metamorphosed slates which 

 have weathered into good and deep soil. A greater contrast 

 of physical conditions, within so short a distance, is rarely 

 met with, as is seen on the slopes of Wood Cone. After toil- 

 ing over loose sand, which supports a stunted scrub vegeta- 

 tion, the traveller suddenly emerges from this desert-like 

 country to a rich, strong soil with running waters, and the 

 extensive and well-kept orchards of the Messrs. Hancock, at 

 Heywood, which rise like an oasis from the sandy wastes 

 (plate xxxv.). Mount Jagged and Wood Cone were at one 

 time buried under soft sandstones of glacial origin, but, like 

 the lesser prominences of Mounts Compass and Moon, 

 they have been partially cleared by denudation of the newer 

 deposits and now form inliers of these beds. 



A striking feature of this district is the numerous 

 swamps which occupy the flats between the hills, a feature 

 which distinguishes it from all other highlands of South Aus- 

 tralia. Before visiting the district I had a strong convic- 



