14 
cliffs, which are white. The section of these hills is as follows :—Granite, 90ft. at least; it may he more, 
but the line of junction is concealed by weathered masses of rock, which have fallen down from the cliffs ; 
then follows 100ft. to 150ft. of coarse red sandstone; then 30ft. to 40ft. of magnesian silicate, making a 
total at the highest of about 270ft. above the plain. The coarse red sandstone lies in horizontal strata. It 
consists of large quartz grains embedded in a reddish-brown cement. Its materials have no apparent connec¬ 
tion with any rock visible in the valley now. The upper stratum is a compact rock with small vesicles. It 
is either creamy white, yellow, or mottled, or deep-red brown, with streaks and veins of lighter color. 
There is a concretionary character about its decomposition, which makes it break up into a number of small 
red rounded pebbles, like pea-iron ore. But this is not always visible, only where there is not much iron-oxide. 
In other places it is a pure white, and consists of a magnesian silicate. These cliffs seem to be a decomposed 
volcanic ash, possibly mainly derived from olivine. 
There are three things to be particularly noted here :—(1) The so-called desert sandstone does not form 
a continuous tableland. (2) It lies in comparatively thin strata of sandstone, and magnesian silicate capping 
other rocks, usually granite. (3) It does not attain at McMinn’s Bluff, a height of 300ft. above the plain. & 
The Eveleen Silver Mine .—This mine is situated on nearly the south-eastern extremity of the metalli¬ 
ferous ranges, about four miles west of the upper reaches of the River Mary. As already stated, it is situated 
on a small patch of limestone exactly on the junction of the metalliferous slates with the blue granite of the 
valley of the Mary. The formation is probably paleozoic in alternate strata of chert and limestone. There 
are many small outcrops of the usual character of limestone, but the outcrop, called here Pinnacle Hill, is a 
pile of boulders rising abruptly from the plain and covering several acres of ground. There are many lodes 
visible in this hill, the main one of many feet in width with wide brilliant shoots of galena. There is also 
much copper in the stone giving rise to veins and crystals of blue and green of the most lively colors. There 
arc an immense number and variety of minerals in the veins and pockets forming a sight of rare beauty. 
Some very uncommon minerals are found amongst the stone, which can be easily imagined from the combin¬ 
ation of silver, lead, copper, iron, and probably nickel. It is said that the percentage of silver in the lead is 
very high. It looks well, and it is easy to extract silver even with a blow-pipe. The copper ores are poor 
and light. The company are going to great expense in machinery, kc., and seem determined to test the 
property. Its proceedings will be watched with much interest. If bullion lead can be produced and ex¬ 
ported so as to pay at the present rates of labor and cartage, it will be a great thing for the Territory, and 
any failure would do much injury to many mines. We must hope for the best, and hope also that prudent 
and economical management which the mine will require may contribute to this. At any rate the property 
is a very good one as far as it has been explored. 
Many other discoveries of argentiferous galena are reported, as I have stated in dealing with the subject 
of silver lead. About two and a half miles south of the Spring Hill mine, where an auriferous quartz reef is 
worked by a miner named Robertson, a lode of silver lead has been found close to the Elizabeth creek. 
The ore is reported to have yielded a very high assay. The whole country thereabouts is rich in minerals, 
and the prospector evidently thinks so too, for he has taken out nearly a square mile of it. 
JIouschildt's Rush .—This is an alluvial and reef gold field, about four miles south of the Eveleen, and 
extending it is stated for about seven miles. The sinking is very shallow in a soft ferruginous slate, with no 
drift or wash properly speaking. There is a lode worked by some Chinese in a band of decomposed limonite 
or ironstone. It must be very rich, for gold was visible in all the matrix, which is a very red gravel. The 
great difficulty on this field is the want of water. It can only be worked for about six months in the year, 
yet to me it seemed as good a field as any I have seen in the Territory. There must be other reefs—many 
others I should say of the same ironstone cement which only require careful searching for, as the country 
is full of the same material. As usual only Chinese are working now on these mines. 
PROSPECTING EXPLORATION. 
On the 20th August I started from Burrundie accompanied by Mr. Surveyor Hingston, two men, and 
ten horses, to explore and prospect the country between Mount Wells and the Katherine river, by way of 
the Eveleen mine. Our course at first was due north to Mount Douglas, a very conspicuous hill visible from 
Mount Wells, said to be granite; beyond this I could get no information. Mount Douglas has been 
prospected by few miners, but no one could I meet with who had proceeded further. We reached the 
mountain in question in two days. The intervening country consists of low slate ridges, with sharp and 
bristling outcrops of slate, quartz lodes and phouolite dykes. It is entirely an auriferous country, any portion 
of which may contain alluvial or good reefs. The country is well watered but rough to travel from the 
stony nature of the soil, and the many tributaries of the McKinlay along which our course lay. Mount 
Douglas consists of a coarse, slightly reddish quartzite, enclosing many rounded water-worn white quartz 
pebbles with faint blackish lines of specular iron. The pebbles arc generally sparingly scattered through 
the stone, but there are sometimes thick strata af conglomerate with fragments of slate and numerous veins 
of segregation (quartz) of small size. The formation is in fact what I have described as fluviatile sandstone. 
It dips away from the river at an angle of 30° or more. The base and sides of the mountain are covered with 
enormous masses of boulders which have broken away from the summit. It is cross-bedded and evidently a 
derivative formation from the wearing down of auriferous rocks. We ascended to the summit easily ; the 
highest portion is only 550ft. above the plain, though most of it is much less. It is about two and a half 
miles long and a quarter of a mile wide. On its northern base the River McKinlay flows, and on the opposite 
side of the valley arises a low river range doubtless of the same fluviatile conglomerate formation. The base 
of the formation may* be auriferous, but in the sandstone no mineral exists. 
A\ c continued to pursue a generally' south-east course from Mount Douglas, which is connected with 
moderately high and steep but very stony r ranges of slate, felsite, and hornstone, broken by weathering and 
the original jointing of the rocks into a kind of metalling of 2in. gauge. There is no surface soil, but the 
ground is deeply’ covered with these stones, like a shingle beach. We continued through these ranges for 
several hours. Phey r are separated by open valleys and mud flats, with dry creeks and poor timber, and 
occasional outcrops of mineral veins of quartz, with, I believe, silver lead; there were also porphyry dy f kes. 
A gully to the east brought us into granite country, and so on to the plains of the Mary river. Another day’s 
travelling to the south-east brought us into the ranges again, which here stretch out far into the eastern 
plains; the ridges became very high and almost impassable. The stone is slate, but differing from the 
auriferous slate. We passed the capping of four or five mineral lodes. The whole country about is of a 
promising character for minerals, mostly’, I should say, for silver lead, though perhaps for gold also. 
When 
