nd
quite as heavy on the wing. They disappeared in the same mysterious
manner as they arrived, and have never since repeated their visit. Were
these birds visitors from the interior, or had they just arrived at the
end of a migratory journey from some distant country? It is to be
regretted that no specimen of them was to be obtained, as it might have
helped to clear an interesting subject from doubt.

THE DARLING RANGE.

The change in ascending this range, from the alluvium near its base, to
the primitive formation of which it is itself composed, is very
remarkable. Shells still common on the adjacent coasts were met with 14
feet below the surface, near the foot of the range, by one of the
colonists when sinking a well. In the same locality deposits of sand may
be seen, having that particular wavy appearance which is always noticed
upon the sea beach. These appearances, as well as the general aspect of
the adjacent country, seem to justify the conclusion I arrived at while
on the spot, that the land which now intervenes between the mountains and
the shore, is a comparatively recent conquest from the sea. The character
of this land may be thus described: The first three miles from the coast
is occupied with ridges of hills, from 100 to 200 feet high, of
calcareous limestone formation, cropping out in such innumerable points
and odd shapes as to be almost impassable. Some of these lumps resemble a
large barnacle; both lumps and points are covered with long, coarse
grass, and thus concealed, become a great hindrance to the pedestrian,
who is constantly wounded by them. To these ridges succeed sandy forest
land and low hills, except on the banks of the rivulets, where a belt of
alluvial soil is to be found. The Darling range traverses the whole of
Western Australia in a direction, generally speaking, north and south. It
appears to subside towards the north, and its greatest elevation is
nearly 2,000 feet. The cliffs of the coast at the mouth of Swan River,
have a most singular appearance, as though covered with thousands of
roots, twisted together into a species of network.

A SINGULAR CLIFF.

A similar curiosity is to be seen on Bald Head, in King George's Sound,
so often alluded to by former navigators, and by them mistaken either for
coral, or petrified trees standing where they originally grew. Bald Head
was visited by Mr. Darwin, in company with Captain Fitzroy, in February
1836, and his opinions upon the agencies