west; at 7.0 it commenced raining, and
there were frequent showers till midnight, with thunder and lightning.

HUTT PLAINS.

13th April.

As the creek in which we bivouacked seemed to come from the south-west,
we followed the valley in that direction; at 6.40 a.m. the hills
receding, the grassy flats appeared to extend to the Wickham River and
form a continuation of Hutt Plains; the creek now came from the
south-south-west and had some fine pools of water in the channel; at 2.10
p.m. camped at a shallow pool in the grassy flat, as the water in the
creek was not very easy of access owing to the dense masses of reeds and
grass. The hills which bound the valley of the creek are basalt,
sandstone, and schist. In the level ground near the creek the grass was
five to nine feet high, and greatly impeded our horses. The day was cool
and cloudy with some light showers at night. The aneroid barometer was
completely put out of adjustment by the principal lever having been moved
from its position by a violent shake in crossing one of the deep gullies.

NATIVE PAINTINGS.

14th April.

At 6.10 a.m. resumed our journey up the creek in a southerly direction,
the valley gradually narrowing, and in one part of the sandstone rocks
came close to the banks of the creek, leaving scarcely space to pass
between them and the deep pools of water; at 12.30 p.m. camped on the
right bank. The basaltic hills appeared to turn to the south-east, and we
now entered the sandstone country. The valley of this creek appears to
offer the best line of access to the upper part of the valley of the
Victoria, as it is nearly level from Hutt Plains to 10.40 in this day's
journey, beyond which point drays would have to ascend the hills and turn
to the south-east to reach Roe's Downs, which is the finest part of the
country yet examined. A short distance below our camp we saw several
native paintings on the sandstone rocks; they consisted of rude outlines
of fish and snakes, some in red ochre and others in white clay. Mr.
Baines sketched some of the most remarkable.

Latitude by Argus 16 degrees 55 minutes.

15th April.

At 6.25 a.m. recommenced our journey and followed the creek, which turned
to the west, and the country became extremely rugged, and at length, as
the valley became impassable, we ascended the hills and steered
south-west across a very rocky sandstone country to the basaltic plains.
Changing the course to west-north-west, crossed two tri