We halted for about an hour and a half and then recommenced our journey, but were unfortunate enough to miss the marked trees, and therefore wandered a good deal in our attempts to find the right track. Whilst thus roaming in the wood we passed two spots about one hundred yards distant from each other, which I imagined to be native burying-places: they consisted of piles of small loose stones so heaped together as to form a large mound; these mounds were placed on flat bare rocks, one of them, the smaller, had been recently made, the other was larger and much older, for it was partly overgrown with plants.
VIEW FROM THE SANDSTONE RANGE.
About 2 P.M. we reached the extremity of the sandstone ridges and a magnificent view burst upon us. From the summit of the hills on which we stood an almost precipitous descent led into a fertile plain below; and from this part, away to the southward, for thirty to forty miles, stretched a low luxuriant country, broken by conical peaks and rounded hills which were richly grassed to their very summits. The plains and hills were both thinly wooded, and curving lines of shady trees marked out the courses of numerous streams. Since I have visited this spot I have traversed large portions of Australia but have seen no land, no scenery to equal it. We were upon the confines of a great volcanic district, clothed with tropical vegetation, to which the Isle of France bears a greater resemblance than any other portion of the world which I am acquainted with. The rocks in both places are identical; many of the trees are also the same; and there are several other close and striking points of similarity.
DESCENT FROM THE SANDSTONE RANGE INTO THE LOW COUNTRY.
The descent into the lowlands, being very difficult, occupied us nearly two hours; we then gained the bed of a ravine, in which ran a clear stream: the ravine gradually widening out as we reached the plains. I proceeded directly down it in the direction of a lofty peaked hill which bore to the westward of south; and, having gained a shoulder of this hill, we halted for the night.
Immediately above us a perfectly conical peak raised its head to the height of at least five hundred feet;* this hill was covered with rich grass, and there could be no doubt that it was of volcanic origin, for the rock of which it was composed was a vitrified lava resembling that of Ascension. It is from this lava that the natives form their most deadly spears, for which purpose it answers well, as it fractures easily, and the fracture resembles that of the coarse green glass of England; indeed a lump of this rock might readily be taken for a part of a glass bottle.
(*Footnote. This hill may be easily recognized by a precipitous cavity near the summit on its southern side, which may be seen at some distance.)
The horses and sheep revelled in the luxuriant pasture. The hill we had encamped on formed a sort of plateau; behind us stood dark mountains, and in our front lay fertile plains, from which green hills rose one behind the other until they were lost in the distance, without any perceptible change in the character of the country. To the eastward the prospect was similar, as well as to the westward, except that in this direction the hills were more lofty, and behind these the tropical sun was hurrying down with a rapidity of movement never witnessed by those who live in the gloomy climes of the north. The men all looked healthy and full of hope; the cool sea-breeze refreshed my feverish frame: I painted in fancy the rapid progress that this country would ere long make in commerce and civilization, and my weakness and fatigues were all forgotten.
DISTANT EXPANSE OF WATER.
February 28.