arbuthnot’s range. 
115 
there, had laid his compass on a large rock, near to which 
Mr. Oxley’s boat had been burnt. To his surprise, he found 
the needle affected ; and his bearings were all wrong. 1 
subsequently went up to ascertain the extent of the error 
produced, and found it precisely the same as Mr. Hume 
noticed. When I placed the compass on the rock. Mount 
Foster bore from me N. by W., the true bearing of the 
one hill from the other being N. N. W. My placing my note 
book under the compass did not alter the effect, nor did the 
card move until I raised the instrument a couple of feet 
above the stone, when it first became violently agitated, 
and then settled correctly ; and my bearings of the highest 
parts of Arbuthnot’s Range, and of its centre, were as 
follows : 
Mount Exmouth to the N N. 86 E. 
Centre • N. 85 E. 
Vernon’s Peak N. 89 E. 
Distance 70 miles. 
Having finished my reports and letters, it became necessary ' 
to consider the best point on which to move, and to fix a 
day for our departure from Mount Harris. It struck me 
that having found so important a feature as the Darling 
River, the Governor would approve my endeavouring to 
regain it more to the southward, in order to trace it 
down. I, therefore, detached Mr. Hume to survey the 
country in that direction, and to ascertain if a descent 
upon the Bogen district would be practicable, through which 
I had been informed a considerable river forced itself. The 
I 2 
