96 



described as follows : — Proceeding from Fraser Range in a north- 

 westerly direction, towards Lake Lefroy and the Hampton 

 Plains, long-stretched ranges of metamorphic rocks were traversed. 

 They have a general trend N.E. to S.W., and reach a height of 

 1,200 to 1,500 feet. Towards Lake Lefroy, between Camp 72 

 iind Camp 76, wide claypans and salt lakes are found in the 

 lower levels between the ridges. TJiese salt lakes extend far 

 towards the east, and are prt)bably connected with the chain of 

 salt lakes whicli were passed en route to the Fraser Range. The 

 lieight of the smaller ones above sea-level is on an average about 

 900 feet, whilst the bed of Lake Lefroy is 1,000 feet above sea- 

 level. All the salt-pans occupy boggy ground, and are therefore 

 difficult to traverse, especially for heavily loaded, camels. Most 

 of them are bordered by low cliffs, consisting of a siliceous 

 breccia of a secondary shore-formation. 



Lake Lefroy, which has its inlets on the north shore, is on its 

 southern side bordered by a line of hills of eruptive rock. Tlie 

 cover of salt is in places, viz., two to three inches thick ; 

 but this extreme thickness I consider to be due to the accumu- 

 lation of drift salt, an occurrence which was observed more dis- 

 dinctly at Lake Deborah, where considerable accumulations were 

 heaped up on wind-protected places. North and north-east of 

 Lake Lefroy the so-called Hampton Plains begin, which 

 extend in that direction. This is a splendid stretch of 

 country, a slightly undulating flat-land, rising only at Mount 

 Monger and the neighbouring hills to a moderate height, about 

 1,700 feet above sea-level, or some .300 feet above the general 

 level. The hills as well as the whole of the bed-rocks of the 

 Hampton Plains consist of schistose rocks, with an abundance of 

 quartz and ironstone lodes, the whole being traversed here and 

 there by eruptive, mostly dioritic, dykes. 



The soil is hereabout of an excellent ijuality, being ;i loam 

 composed of the decomposition-products of the schist and plu- 

 tonic rocks of the vicinity, 



By travelling from here. Camp 76 (Hunt's Well), in an easterly 

 direction towards Yilgarn, an entire change in the country was 

 observed after passing the Depot Hill of Hunt. Here the 

 typical Western Australian granite-country was entered for the 

 first time, i.e., boundless flat country, either of hard sandy soil 

 and covered with dense Eucalyptus forests, or strewn with 

 gravels and clay-stones, and in this case covered with stunted 

 vegetation. Through this sand-soil the underlying granite rises 

 occasionally in large masses, and attains various heiglits from 300 

 to 400 feet above the plains (which are on an average 1,500 feet 

 above sea level), thus breaking the monotony of the surface- 

 contour. 



