386 
Miscellanea. 
It is not the least singular among the various contrarieties of this 
curious land, that wherever there is abundance of good feed there 
is a dearth of water ; and wherever there is plenty of water the 
feed is sure to be scanty. This will appear highly paradoxical to 
those who are ignorant of the character of the country, but it is, 
nevertheless; almost universally the case wherever discovery has 
gone in this colony. We understand that it is Mr. Drummond’s 
intention to pursue his explorations as far as Smith’s Range 
(which lies in the immediate neighbourhood of Moresby’s Flat- 
topped Range), in the expectation that the good land will be found 
to extend thus far. In this expectation we fear that Mr. Drum¬ 
mond will be disappointed, as, from the examination made of the 
country from Wizard Peak, by Capt. Stokes, of H.M.S. Beagle , 
the country for forty miles north, south, and east appears to be 
of a very uninviting description. There is one circumstance with 
reference to Mr. Drummond’s late discoveries which appears to 
us especially worthy of attention. The country he speaks of is 
scattered over with the bones of oxen, principally skulls, all of 
them bearing remarkably wide branching horns—a peculiarity not 
possessed by any of the breeds imported into this colony by our¬ 
selves, and so striking as to have attracted Mr. Drummond’s par¬ 
ticular attention. Upon inquiry among the natives, as to their 
knowledge of the existence and origin of these cattle, Mr. Drum¬ 
mond was informed by a very intelligent native that they were 
there long before the settlement of this colony; the native in 
question, who is supposed to be about forty years old, declaring 
that he distinctly remembered cattle being killed there by his 
father, * when he was a little boy.’ It would seem also that wild 
cattle still exist in the locality, for the natives also complained to 
Mr. Drummond that they thought it very hard that the Governor 
would not allow them to kill these wild cattle, as it was certain 
that they never belonged to any of the settlers, but were in the 
country long before they came to it. There does not appear any 
reason to doubt the truth of these statements, and upon them 
Mr. Drummond has built up a very probable theory, viz., that 
these cattle proceed from stock that have gone astray from New 
South Wales, having thus, in course of years, found their way 
across the entire continent of New Holland! If we take for 
granted all that has been supposed of the barren and desolate 
character of the interior, it is difficult to believe such a migration 
possible; but then again here, undoubtedly, are the remains of 
cattle presenting the marked peculiarity we have mentioned, and 
as we see no reason to doubt the truth of the natives’ statements, 
we venture to conclude that the unknown interior is by no means 
so universally sterile as has been supposed. If these cattle had 
their origin in the manner indicated, there must be at least one 
good line by which the country may be traversed from east to 
west, and if there is one line we see no reason why there may not 
