CONNECTED WITH GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. xlv 
the depositions are of little depth, lying on a 
coarse gravelly soil, the decomposition of the 
nearer ranges. The former is found to diminish 
in thickness, according to the concavity of the 
valley through which the Macquarie flows, and 
at length becomes mixed with the coarser soil. 
This deposit is alone fit for agricultural pur- 
poses •, but it does not necessarily follow that 
the distant country is unavailable, since it is 
admitted, that the best grazing tracts are upon 
the secondary ranges of granite and porphyry. 
These ranges generally have the appearance of 
open forest, and are covered with several kinds of 
grasses, among which the long oat-grass is the 
most abundant. 
If we except the valley of the Nepean, the 
banks of the South Creek, the Pennant Hills 
near Paramatta, and a few other places, the 
general soil of the county of Cumberland, is of 
the poorest description. It is superficial in most 
places, resting either upon a cold clay, or upon 
sandstone ; and is, as I have already remarked, 
a ferruginous compound of the finest dust. Yet 
there are many places upon its surface, (hollows 
for instance,) in which vegetable decay has ac- 
