ere suddenly stopped by a succession of
precipitous sandstone gullies, and were turned to the eastward of north
down a valley the fall of which was to that point. This valley led us to
that in which we had rejoined Flood, but lower down; in crossing it we
again struck on the creek we had then left, much increased in size, and
with a row of gum-trees on either side of it, but its even broad bed
composed of the cleanest gravel and sand, precluded the hope of our
finding water. At about a mile, however, it entered a narrow defile in
the range, and the hills closed rapidly in upon it. Pursuing our way down
the defile it gradually narrowed, the bed of the creek occupied its whole
breadth, and the rocks rose perpendicularly on either side. We searched
this place for water with the utmost care and anxiety, and I was at
length fortunate enough to discover a small clear basin not a yard in
circumference, under a rock on the left side of the glen. Suspecting that
this was supplied by surface drainage, we enlarged the pool, and obtained
from it an abundance of the most delicious water we had tasted during our
wanderings. Mr. Browne will I am sure bear the Rocky Glen in his most
grateful remembrance. Relieved from further anxiety with regard to our
animals, he hastened with me to ascend one of the hills that towered
above us to the height of 600 feet, before the sun should set, but this
was no trifling task, as the ascent was exceedingly steep. The view from
the summit of this hill presented the same broken country to our scrutiny
which I have before described, at every point excepting to the westward,
in which direction the ranges appeared to cease at about six miles, and
the distant horizon from S.W. to N.W. presented an unbroken level. The
dark and deep ravine through which the creek ran was visible below us,
and apparently broke through the ranges at about four miles to the W.N.W.
but we could not see any water in its bed. It was sufficiently cheering
to us however to know that we were near the termination of the ranges to
the westward, and that the country we should next traverse was of open
appearance.

I had hoped from what we saw of it from the top of the hill above us, on
the previous afternoon, that we should have had but little difficulty in
following down the creek, but in this we were disappointed.

We started at eight to pursue our journey, and kept for some time in its
bed. The rock formation near and at our camp was