the natives of
that country being, as Piper expressed it "still very wild." This morning
we were on the march as soon as the sun rose, all being very anxious to
see the river again and a better country. At two miles we passed along a
sandy ridge between two extensive swamps; but at a mile and a half
farther I found at length a small hollow and water running in it, a
feature which convinced me at once that the river could not be very
distant. In the bank there was a thin stratum of shelly limestone bearing
a resemblance to some of the oolitic limestones of England; and in the
bed were irregular concretions of ironstone containing grains of quartz,
some of the concretions having externally a glazed appearance arising
from a thin coating of compact brown haematite.

AGAIN ARRIVE ON THE GLENELG.

Casuarinae and banksia growing on grassy slopes were the next marks of a
different country from that of the swamps, and at less than a mile from
this point we came upon the river.

INDIFFERENT COUNTRY ON ITS BANKS.

Its banks had a different character from that which they presented above
but they were still fine.

BREADTH AND VELOCITY OF THE RIVER.

The river now flowed in a narrow valley, the bed being about 70 feet
below the common level of the swampy flats. At sharp bends the banks
consisted of cliffs of a soft limestone, composed in part of comminuted
fragments of corallines, the interstices being rarely filled up; the rock
contained also a few specimens of Foraminifera, most probably of recent
species. In the narrow valley all was flourishing and green, attesting
the rich luxuriance of the alluvial soil. The mimosa trees predominated,
but still the bushes of leptospermum darkened the stream which was deep,
rapid, and muddy, its breadth being about 40 yards and the bed consisting
of a friable or soft calcareous sandstone. In accompanying it in its
course downward we met with less difficulty than I had expected, but I
perceived that the barren swampy land, or more frequently the stringybark
forests, approached the higher banks on both sides the river. The few
ravines falling in our way were only the drains from swamps close at hand
and they were easily crossed by the party at the fall of the ground,
where we found rocky strata.

ENCAMP ON A TRIBUTARY.

After tracing the river more than four miles we encamped on an elevated
point overlooking a flat of good grass, so necessary for the cattle.

August 14.

Some of the