The great outlines of the geology of this interesting country were seen at one glance.  Along the eastern edge of a basaltic table land, rose a series of domitic cones, stretching from south-east to north-west, parallel to the coast.  The whole extent of country between the range and the coast, seemed to be of sandstone, either horizontally stratified, or dipping off the range; with the exception of some local disturbances, where basalt had broken through it.  Those isolated ranges, such as Coxen’s Range—­the abruptness of which seemed to indicate igneous origin—­were entirely of sandstone.  The various Porphyries, and Diorites, and Granitic, and Sienitic rocks, which characterize large districts along the eastern coast of Australia, were missing; not a pebble, except of sandstone, was found in the numerous creeks and watercourses.  Pieces of silicified wood were frequent in the bed of the Isaacs.

The nature of the soil was easily distinguished by its vegetation:  the Bastard box, and Poplar gum grew on a stiff clay; the narrow-leaved Ironbark, the Bloodwood, and the Moreton Bay ash on a lighter sandy soil, which was frequently rotten and undermined with numerous holes of the funnel ant.  Noble trees of the flooded-gum grew along the banks of the creeks, and around the hollows, depending rather upon moisture, than upon the nature of the soil.  Fine Casuarinas were occasionally met with along the creeks; and the forest oak (Casuarina torulosa), together with rusty-gum, were frequent on the sandy ridges.

One should have expected that the prevailing winds during the day, would have been from the south-east, corresponding to the south-east trade winds; but, throughout the whole journey from Moreton Bay to the Isaacs, I experienced, with but few exceptions, during the day, a cooling breeze from the north and north-east.  The thunder-storms came principally from the south-west, west, and north-west; but generally showed an inclination to veer round to the northward.

From Coxen’s Range I returned to the river, and soon reached the place where I had met the Black-fellows.  In passing out of the belt of scrub into the openly timbered grassy flat of the river, Brown descried a kangaroo sitting in the shade of a large Bastard-box tree; it seemed to be so oppressed by the heat of the noonday sun as to take little notice of us, so that Brown was enabled to approach sufficiently near to shoot it.  It proved to be a fine doe, with a young one; we cooked the latter for our dinner, and I sent Brown to the camp with the dam, where my companions most joyfully received him; for all our dried meat was by this time consumed, and all they had for supper and breakfast, were a straw-coloured ibis, a duck, and a crow.  As Mr. Gilbert and myself were following the course of the river, we saw numerous tracks of Blackfellows, of native dogs, of emus, and kangaroos, in its sandy bed; and, when within a short distance of the place where I had seen the black women,