the bed, which compelled me to leave the creek, and proceed on the rising
ground along its banks, when suddenly the extensive view of a magnificent
valley opened before us. We stood with our whole train on the brink of a
deep precipice, of perhaps 1800 feet descent, which seemed to extend far
to the eastward. A large river, joined by many tributary creeks coming
from east, south-east, south-west and west, meandered through the valley;
which was bounded by high, though less precipitous ranges to the westward
and south-west from our position; and other ranges rose to the northward.
I went on foot to the mouth of the creek; but the precipice prevented my
moving any farther; another small creek was examined, but with the same
result. We were compelled to move back, and thence to reconnoitre for a
favourable descent. Fortunately the late thunder-storms had filled a
great number of small rocky basins in the bed of the creek; and, although
there was only a scanty supply of a stiff grass, our cattle had filled
themselves sufficiently the previous night to bear a day's privation. In
the afternoon, Charley accompanied me on foot in a northerly direction
(for no horse could move between the large loose sandstone blocks), and
we examined several gullies and watercourses, all of a wild and rocky
character, and found it impossible to descend, in that direction, into
the valley. Charley shot a Wallooroo just as it was leaping, frightened
by our footsteps, out of its shady retreat to a pointed rock. Whilst on
this expedition, we observed a great number of grasshoppers, of a bright
brick colour dotted with blue: the posterior part of the corselet, and
the wings were blue; it was two inches long, and its antennae three
quarters of an inch.

Nov. 18.--We returned to the creek in which we had encamped on the 16th,
and pitched our tents a little lower down, where some rich feed promised
our cattle a good treat. Immediately after luncheon, I started again with
Charley down the creek, myself on horseback, but my companion on foot. It
soon became very rocky, with gullies joining it from both sides; but,
after two miles, it opened again into fine well-grassed lightly timbered
flats, and terminated in a precipice, as the others had done. A great
number of tributary creeks joined it in its course, but all formed
gullies and precipices. Many of these gullies were gently sloping
hollows, filled with a rich black soil, and covered with an open brush