Napier these cells or pores were several inches in diameter and, unlike amygdaloidal rocks, all were quite empty.  The surface consisted wholly of this stone, without any intermediate soil to soften its asperity under the feet of our horses, and yet it was covered with a wood of eucalyptus and mimosa, growing there as on the open forest land between which and this stony region the chief difference consisted in the ruggedness of surface, this being broken as already stated into irregular terraces where loose stones lay in irregular heaps and hollows, most resembling old stone quarries.  We travelled over three miles of this rough surface before we reached the base of the cone.

CRATER OF MOUNT NAPIER OR MURROA.

On the sides of it we found some soft red earth mixed with fragments of lava and on reaching the summit I found myself on the narrow edge of a circular crater composed wholly of lava and scoriae.  Trees and bushes grew luxuriantly everywhere except where the sharp rocks shot up almost perpendicularly.  The igneous character of these was so obvious that one of the men thrust his hand into a chasm to ascertain whether it was warm.

VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT.

The discovery of an extinct volcano gave additional interest to Mount Napier, but it was by no means a better station for the theodolite on that account; on the contrary it was the worst possible for, as the trees grew on the edge of the crater, no one station could be found to afford a view of the horizon until the whole circumference was cleared of the trees, and this was too great a work for us at that visit.  Mount William and the Grampian range presented a noble outline to the northward.  The sun had set before I could recognise distant points in the highly interesting country to be seen from this remarkable hill.  The weather was also unfavourable and I descended to pass the night at its base in hopes that the next morning might be clear.

RETURN TO THE CAMP.

On reaching the spot where I had left the horses I found that our native friend Tommy Came-last could discover no water in any of the numerous hollows around the hill and, though the superabundance of this element had caused the chief impediment to our progress through the country at that time, we were obliged to pass a night most uncomfortably from the total want of it at the base of Mount Napier.  The spongy-looking rocks were however dry enough to sleep upon, a quality of which the soil in general had been rather deficient, as most of us felt in our muscles.  I perceived a remarkable uniformity in the size of the trees, very few of which were dead or fallen.  From this circumstance, together with the deficiency of the soil and the sharp edge of the rock generally, some might conclude that the volcano had been in activity at no very remote period.

September 5.