It Is Composed Of Basalt, And Partly Covered With Dense Scrub, And In Other Parts Openly Timbered; Where The Scrub Prevailed, The Soil Was Shallow And Rocky, But The Soil Of The Open Forest Was Deeper, And Of The Character Of That Of The Plains.

The deep gullies were all without water, but occasionally filled with patches of rich brush.

Many creeks went down between the sandstone ranges: and they were generally bounded on both sides by fine well-grassed, narrow-leaved Ironbark slopes, and sweet herbage, on which numerous emus and kangaroos were feeding. In one of the glens among the ridges I observed a new gum-tree, with a leaf like that of the trembling poplar of Europe, and of a bright green colour, which rendered the appearance of the country exceedingly cheerful. It is a middle-sized tree, of irregular growth, with white bark; but the wood, not being free grained, was unfit for splitting. Lower down, water was found, without exception, in all the creeks, and was most abundant at the edge of the level country to the eastward, where the ridges disappear, by more or less gradual slopes. Travelling across these sandstone ranges, with their thick vegetation, and deep gullies and valleys, was exceedingly difficult. The bullocks upset their loads frequently in clambering up and down the rocky slopes, and our progress was consequently very slow. This induced me to give up the westerly course, and to look for a better-travelling country to the eastward; supposing, at the same time, that water would be found more abundant, as we approached the sea-coast.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 143 of 524
Words from 38484 to 38752 of 141354