he 18th November,
1861, but are equally applicable to the present publication.

Commencing with its geographical and geological peculiarities, that
portion of the country that came under our observation consists of a
succession of terraces, rising inland for nearly 200 miles, more or less
broken up by volcanic hills towards the coast. The first belt averages
from ten to forty miles in width from the sea, and is a nearly level
plain, slightly ascending to the southward, with an elevation of from 40
to 100 feet, the soil being generally either light loam or strong clays,
according as it is the result of the disintegration of the granite rocks
that occasionally protrude above its surface, or of volcanic rocks of
black scoria that frequently interrupt the general level; hills of this
nature also constitute the greater portion of the more elevated islands
off the coast, Cape Lambert, and the promontory that shelters the western
side of Nickol Bay. The generality of these rocks do not, however, yield
so rich a soil as might be expected from their origin. This is owing to
the absence of actual lava, the eruptive heat having nearly been
sufficient to convert the superincumbent primary and tertiary rocks into
a vitreous scoria, having a specific gravity of 3.2, and is highly
indestructible in its texture.

Proceeding inland for the next fifty or sixty miles is a granite country
that has been originally capped with horizontal sandstones, and has an
elevation of about 1000 feet. This range terminates to the southward in
level plains of good soil, the produce of the next series of more
elevated country, while towards the northern edges the granite and
sandstones have undergone great changes through the action of numerous
trap dykes, that have greatly disturbed its surface, producing
metamorphic rocks, some resembling jasper, and others highly cellular and
scoriaceous.

In about latitude 22 degrees, on the meridian of Nickol Bay, we came upon
another and more elevated range trending away to the south-east, having
an altitude of 2500 feet above the sea. This, unlike the last section,
has a southern escarpment of 500 or 600 feet, and consists of horizontal
sandstones and conglomerates, which have comparatively undergone little
change, and has an average breadth of eight or ten miles, the southern
flank being bordered by fertile valleys of strong loamy clays, merging
gradually to the southward into stony ridges and hills, some having