nnel, falling north-west; and I proceeded myself,
accompanied by Mr. Stephenson, to the summit of the fine cone already
mentioned. From this, I beheld a splendid and extensive view of the
mountains further northward. Most of the summits I had previously
intersected, and many others, very remarkable, just appeared over an
intermediate woody range, through which I was at a loss to discover where
our supposed northern river would pass. Far in the north-west, I could
just distinguish the tops of curiously broken hills arising from a much
lower country; and therein I hoped to find, whatever might be the final
course of our river, a passage to the north-west, and water. The most
important feature in that scene seemed to me to be a grey misty tint, as
if it marked a valley descending from the highest eastern mountains,
towards the curiously broken summits in the northwest. Bare crests of
similar hills, appeared to arise throughout the whole extent of that
valley. Under those lofty mountains, at such elevation, in such a clime,
with these romantic hills, that valley must be a paradise if watered
well, as I hope it is. So flowed the "spring" of hope at least, as it was
fed by the scene then before me. The cone we had ascended consisted of
trap rock, much resembling that of Mount Aquarius; but, at its base, and
on its sides, I found in large masses, the very compact felspathic rock
which characterises the valley of the Darling. This has been considered a
very fine-grained sandstone; but it is evidently an altered rock. Here,
in contact with trap, it possessed the same tendency to break into
irregular polygons, some of the faces of which were curved; and I
observed one mass which had been so tossed up, that its lower side lay
uppermost, inclined at an angle of about 60 deg.. That this is a hypogene
rock, sometimes in contact with granite as well as with trap, is evident
at Oxley's Table Land, and other places. I was glad to find it here, as
affording a prospect of meeting with better soil than the loose sand we
had seen so much of. We here found the grey, prickly SOLANUM ELLIPTICUM.
I named this cone Mount P. P. King; and, I have since ascertained, by
that officer's register and calculations, the height of this summit above
the sea, to be 2646 feet; and the height of this camp, 2159 feet.
Thermometer, at sunrise, 25 deg.; at 4 P. M., 55 deg.; at 9, 25 deg.. (XXXIX)

29TH JUNE.--Crossing a small tributary which was full of water (com