lloch's range; the highest
point being to the east, or east-north-east, beyond the hill discovered
on the 21 instant. The horizon was lowest towards the west-south-west,
for even in the south-west I could perceive a rise sufficient to confine
the course of the river to the west-south-west. We proceeded nearly west
by south over a soft bed of naked earth, across which, at one place, a
well-beaten road of the natives led to the valley on the south and to
some watercourse, if not to water itself. After 10 1/4 miles of weary
travelling, we encamped on a bend of the Darling, in latitude 31 degrees
31 minutes 20 seconds South.

The soil of the plains being extremely soft, uneven, and full of holes,
the cattle were at length almost unable to get through their allotted
journeys; I therefore determined to let them rest during the three
following days while I proceeded to the hills beyond the Darling, in a
west-north-west direction nearly, and distant from our camp 11 2/3 miles.

VISIT A HILL BEYOND THE DARLING.

June 26.

I forded the Darling where the bottom was a hard clay; and I proceeded in
a direction bearing 27 degrees north of west to the hill. There was much
less of the soft soil on this bank, and at a mile from the ford we
travelled on very firm clay, quite clear of vegetation, white, shining,
and level as ice. At about seven miles from the river we reached the
first rise of firm red earth. The vegetation upon it consisted of the two
species of atriplex so very common on that soil, and more of the salsolae
than I had before seen. This rise seemed to mark the extent of the bed of
clay through which the Darling flows, at least as far as we had hitherto
traced it. The country was open to about three miles from the summit
where we passed through a scrub of stunted casuarinae, interspersed with
a few of the acacia with spotted bark. Here we crossed some beds of
conglomerate, consisting of grains and pebbles of quartz, cemented by a
hard ferruginous matrix, probably decomposed felspar; and we saw soon
after a few blocks of the same hard sandstone which occurs at Dunlop's
range and other high points.

VIEW FROM ITS SUMMIT.

The summit, consisting of the same rock, was very broad and strewed with
small stones, and partly covered with a dwarf acacia bush which gave a
uniform tinge, like heath, to the whole country as far as my view
extended to the westward. The horizon to the west and south-west was
finely broken by hills