25th January.
The night was cloudy, and it was not till after daybreak that I could get
observations for latitude by altitudes of Venus and b Centauri. At 6.5
a.m. were again in the saddle, and steered south-east to a rocky hill,
which we reached at 7.0; the hill was sandstone, rising about 150 feet
above the trap plain; from the summit the view was extensive, but from
the broken nature of the country to the east nothing could be traced of
either the courses of creeks or rivers; to the south the trap plain rose
to a greater elevation than the summit of the hill we were on, and was
surmounted by table hills of sandstone at ten miles distance to the east
and north-east; the country appeared to consist of plains of basaltic
formation, well grassed, and very thinly wooded. Leaving this hill at
8.0, followed a dry rocky creek to the east and north-east, through
basaltic plains with sandstone hills and ridges, till 10.30, and halted
during the heat of the day. At this place the bed of the creek had been
cut through the basalt into the sandstone, exposing a fine section of the
junction of the two rocks; the sandstone was much altered at the line of
contact, and, having been deeply cracked, the basalt had filled the
fissures of the older rock. This altered sandstone and also a white
quartz-like rock are much used by the natives for the heads of their
spears; and during this day's journey great quantities of broken stones
and imperfect spear heads were noticed on the banks of the creek. At 3.45
p.m. recommenced our journey, and proceeded down the creek to the
north-east till 6.30, and bivouacked.
Latitude by Capella, Saturn, and Canopus 17 degrees 24 seconds.