ontradistinction to the
sandstone ranges, appears to have been formed from the detritus of
the latter, deposited in undulating beds of vast extent. The
greater portion of this ground appears almost level when one is on
it, but when viewed from a distance the undulations are very
distinct; the stones are chiefly water-worn pebbles of sandstone,
quartz, and iron-stone; in some places the rises approach more
nearly to the nature of the sandstone ranges, and here the stones
are less water-worn, and are mixed with large blocks of rock. I
found the magnetic polarity to be very distinct in some of the
ironstone pebbles on these rises.

Earthy Plains.--The earthy plains which are such an important
geological feature in this part of the country, will, I fear,
greatly interfere with its future occupation. When dry they are so
intersected by chasms and cracks that it is in some places
dangerous for animals to cross them, and when wet they would be
quite impassable. Cattle would, perhaps, do well on them for some
time after an inundation, and the ground might improve after having
been stocked. The boggy nature of the banks of the creeks passing
through this ground would be another impediment to settlers, from
the losses of cattle that it would sometimes entail. To furnish an
idea of the danger in that respect, I may mention that there are
places where, for a distance of two or three miles, neither a
bullock nor a horse could get to the water with safety, and it was
with difficulty that we could approach it ourselves; the safest
spots are at the lower end of the waterhole, where the creeks run
out on the plains. A peculiar geological feature that I have never
seen so strongly exhibited elsewhere is, that the watercourses on
these plains have a strong tendency to work away to the south and
south-west; the fall of the ground, as shown by the flow of the
flood water, being to the west and north-west. I found that at
almost every place where a portion of the creek ran out, the small
branches into which it split before disappearing, struck off at
nearly right angles to the creek, and that the flow of the water on
the level plain was invariably in a west or north-westerly
direction; whereas the creeks generally had a course considerably
to the south and west, more especially before running out. The
branch creeks and waterholes are always lined with box trees and
polygonum bushes; they are generally situated between or near
sandhills, a