20 



HOT SPRINGS AND MUD ERUPTIONS. 



or SO, and all more or less in a state of activity, that is, 

 they emit streams of thin mud or water intermittently. They 

 are found on either side of the river, and seem to have no con- 

 nection with, or influence on, the water in the river, which may 

 be said to be only a surface water. Although possessing a striking 

 similarity to each other, still any connection between them 

 must exist beneath the i)resent cour.-e of the Flinders, which 

 is cut out of the level plains by the annual tropical rains, 

 and is a river of recent times ; no hollow or valley exists where 

 the course of the river runs, the banks are nearly perpendicular, 

 but not very deep, while the levfil plains extend right up to the 

 bank of the river. The springs helong to an older formation 

 than the present river system, and must derive their force from 

 some very distant inland nmuntainous country. 



From where the river leaves the high country (which con- 

 sists of a lava overlying the original sandstone) to its entrance 

 into the Gulf of Carpentaria, its course is through level, treeless 

 plains of cretaceous formation, with occasional belts of ^ine 

 sandstone, sometimes bearing fossil shells. The course is 

 generally a little to the north of west, and is over 500 miles in 

 length. The only elevations are Mount Browne, in about 20° 

 south latitude, a low, stony rise of ironstone and granite, rising 

 from the plain and about a mile from the river on the right 

 side ; and Fort Bowen, twenty miles west, similarly situated with 

 regard to the river, and rising also abruptly from the open plains. 

 These are the only rises of any consequence near the river. And 

 at both of these small mountains numbers of springs and mounds 

 of erupted mud, coated with a whitish crust of soda, lie scat- 

 tered about, with stumps of large tea-tree and reeds, and pools of 

 discoloured water throughout ; while at Mount Browne occur 

 two hot springs on the south side, with a lemj)erature of 120^ 

 Farenheit at the surface. The water stands in a large baisin on 

 a mound raised many feet above the^ level of the plain, and 

 covered with gigantic tea-trees (Melaleuca leucadendron), amongst 

 the matted roots of which the hot water steams in clear, shining, 

 crystal pools. The basin, or cavity, is fathomless, while the 

 roots and branches lying in it are coated with a soft, green 

 vegetable matter, with air bubbles attached, small bubbles of car- 

 bonic acid innumerable, which are continually rising to the surface. 

 The water is too hot to bear the hand in for any length of time, 

 but when cooled is good for use, and always bright and clear, 

 and free from any taste, while that in the adjoinmg cold springs 



