they gradually fell to a level with the plains. We had
penetrated to lat. 28 degrees 43 minutes S., and to long. 141 degrees 4
minutes 30 seconds; but had found a country worse than that over which we
had already passed--a country, in truth, that under existing
circumstances was perfectly impracticable. Yet from appearances I could
not but think that an inland sea existed not far from the point we had
gained. As I have already observed, the fall of all the creeks from
Flood's Creek had been to the eastward, and from what we could judge at
our extreme north, the dip of the country was also to the eastward. I
thought it more than probable, therefore, that we were still in the
valley of the Darling, and that if we could have persevered in a
northerly course, we should have crossed to the opposite fall of waters,
and to a decided change of country.

We had hitherto made but few additions to our collections. A new hawk and
a few parrots were all the birds we shot; and if I except another new and
beautiful species of Grevillia, we added nothing to our botanical
collections. The geological formation was such as I have already
described--a compact quartz of a dirty white. Of this adamantine rock all
the hills were now composed.

A remarkable feature in the geology of the hills we had recently visited
was, as I have remarked, that they were covered with the same productions
and the same stones as the plains below, of which they seemed to have
formed a part. Milky quartz was scattered over them, although no similar
formation was visible; of manganese, basalt, and ironstone, with other
substances, there were now no indications. None of these fragments had
been rounded by attrition, but still retained their sharp edges and
seemed to be little changed by time.

Mr. Poole informed me, that the day he returned to the party he proceeded
towards the little range I had directed him to examine; in which, I
should observe, both he and Mr. Browne thought there might be water, as
they had passed to the westward of it, on their last journey towards the
hills, and had then noticed it. Mr. Poole stated, that on approaching the
range he arrived at a line of gumtrees, under which there was a long deep
sheet of water; that crossing at the head of this, he entered a rocky
glen, where there were successive pools in stony basins, in which he
considered there was an inexhaustible supply of water for us; but that
although the water near the camp had