3. They were not formed altogether of small stones from the rock on which they stood, but many were portions of very distant rocks, which must have been brought by human labour, for their angles were as sharp as the day they were broken off; there were also the remains of many and different kinds of seashells in the heap we opened.
My own opinion concerning these heaps of stones had been that they were tombs; and this opinion remains unaltered, though we found no bones in the mound, only a great deal of fine mould having a damp dank smell. The antiquity of the central part of the one we opened appeared to be very great, I should say two or three hundred years; but the stones above were much more modern, the outer ones having been very recently placed; this was also the case with the other heap: can this be regarded by the natives as a holy spot?
We explored the heap by making an opening in the side, working on to the centre, and thence downwards to the middle, filling up the former opening as the men went on; yet five men provided with tools were occupied two hours in completing this opening and closing it again, for I left everything precisely as I had found it. The stones were of all sizes, from one as weighty as a strong man could lift, to the smallest pebble. The base of each heap was covered with a rank vegetation, but the top was clear, from the stones there having been recently deposited.
PASS IN MOUNTAIN RANGE.
In the afternoon we proceeded on our route, travelling nearly north. After marching some distance we traversed at right angles a variety of under-features terminating in sandstone cliffs, but the hills on our right were composed of the same black rock as the chain in which Mount Lyell lies. Private Mustard being ill, I gave him my horse and tried to walk, but injured myself materially by so doing. We were obliged to encamp at the head of a large mangrove inlet.
April 8.
It being Sunday I halted all the morning and only started late in the afternoon. Our route lay through a mountainous country and consequently our progress was slow. Quartz was here largely developed in rocks. We halted this evening in a valley surrounded by mountains.
PASS MOUNT LYELL.
April 9.
We started at dawn and soon found that the valley we had encamped in was the true pass across the range of mountains. It ran in nearly a south-west direction to the foot of Mount Lyell. Here I halted for breakfast; and, on finding my position by cross bearings, which I was now able to do, and comparing it with my position by dead reckoning, was glad to find that the error only amounted to 150 yards. The valley we travelled up in the morning was fertile, connected with several other large ones of similar character, and contained two small lakes, or large ponds of water, the least of which was elevated considerably above the low ground in the neighbourhood. In the afternoon we crossed the mountains by a narrow neck, which is the best pass over this range of hills for anyone travelling to the south and east. We crossed our old track twice in the afternoon and encamped in the evening under a conical hill.