ong line of smoke skirting its northern
base afforded fair promise of some river or chain of ponds near which a
native population could live. The course of the Darling was clearly
marked out by its extensive plains and the darker line of large trees
vanishing far in the west. Beyond, or westward of the river, no high
ground appeared, no Berkley's range as shown on the map, unless it might
be a slight elevation, so very low and near as to be visible above the
horizon, only from the foot of the hill on which I then stood. A few
detached hills were scattered over the country between me and the Bogan;
and of these Oxley's Tableland was the most remarkable, being a finer
mass by far than Mount Helvelyn. This ridge, the features of which are
rather tame, consists of two hills (a and b) the principal or southern
summit (a) being 910 feet, the other 660 feet, above the plain at their
base. These heights are 2 1/2 miles from each other, which distance
comprises the whole extent of D'Urban's group, in the line of its summits
between north-east and south-west.

The steep and rocky face of the ridge thus formed is towards the river,
or westward. Eastward lower features branch off, and are connected by
slight undulations with some of the otherwise isolated hills in that
quarter. Towards the base is a very fine-grained sandstone, and at the
summit I found a quartzose rock, possessing a tendency to break into
irregular polygons, some of the faces being curved. There are a few
stunted pines on the higher crest, but the other parts are nearly bare.
The highest point of Helvelyn (which I take to be the southern summit) is
distant from the nearest bend of the Darling 17 2/6 miles, on a line
bearing 151 degrees from North, and from the highest part of Oxley's
Tableland, which bears 43 degrees from North (variation 6 degrees 30
minutes East) it is distant 39 miles. At this summit the western
extremity of Dunlop's range forms with Oxley's Tableland an angle
coinciding with the general course of the Darling, which flows through
the adjacent plains at an average distance of about 16 miles from each of
these points.

A BURNT SCRUB FULL OR SPINOUS DEAD BOUGHS.

It was nearly sunset when I mounted my horse at the foot of Helvelyn,
intending to return to the Darling for, there being no other water in the
whole country at that time, my intention was to travel back to this river
by moonlight. I had found however during my ride to this hill, that t