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The flats increased on both side of the river, and were openly timbered with box and narrow-leaved Ironbark. The rock near our yesterday's camp was talc-schist. Farther down sienite was observed, which contained so much hornblende as to change occasionally into hornblende rock, with scattered crystals of quartz. Granite and pegmatite were round some lagoons near the creek from the southward.
Stretching its dusty length along, it soon broadens out as if glad to escape from its cramped quarters, and glides under the wide spreading branches of a California buckeye, which stands kneedeep in the beautiful clarkia, with its rose-pink petals, and wand-like stalks of the narrow-leaved milkweed, with silken pods bursting with fairy sails ready to start out on unknown travels.
To grow this shrub to perfection, peaty soil or decayed vegetable matter will be found most suitable. There is a narrow-leaved form named P. mucronata angustifolia, and another on which the name of P. mucronata speciosa has been bestowed. There are many beautiful-berried forms of the Pernettya, but as their flowers are small can hardly be included in our list.
Several other hills and mountains rose on the table land, generally with open plains at their base. The greater part, however, was open forest, principally of narrow-leaved Ironbark and Box, and occasionally poplar-gum.
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.
The former, which has small grayish-green leaves, is more aromatic and pleasing than the latter, which, however, is much more popular, mainly because of its size, and not because of its superiority to the narrow-leaved kind. It is also known as winter or German thyme.
The narrow-leaved Ironbark had disappeared with the primitive rocks; the moment sandstone commenced, stringy-bark took its place. We passed some lagoons, crossed a good sized creek from the south-west, and saw a small lake in the distance. At the latter part of the stage the country became more undulating.
Where the river left the scrub, it entered into a wild water-worn box flat, and cut up into several irregular channels, lined by a dense thicket of narrow-leaved Melaleucas of stunted growth and irregular shapes. The Box-tree itself is here a different species, the bark has deeper fissures, and the young wood is very yellow.
Among the plants, the most important change has been in the growth of flowering plants, which have been constantly becoming more plenty, and the plants which bear fruits have also become more numerous. The broad-leaved trees seem to be constantly gaining on the forests of narrow-leaved cone-bearers, which had in an earlier day replaced the forests of ferns.
The creek came from north and north-east and flowed to the south-west, to join the Condamine. The winding narrow-leaved Kennedyas, Gnaphaliums in abundance; Aotus in low bushes. No game, except a kangaroo rat, pigeons, ducks, and mutton-birds. Mr. Phillips brought a crawfish from the creek: it had just thrown off its old shell.
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