ARBUTHNOT'S RANGE.

Mr. Hume had been one day on Mount Harris, and while there, had laid his
compass on a large rock, near to which Mr. Oxley's boat had been burnt.
To his surprise, he found the needle affected; and his bearings were all
wrong. I subsequently went up to ascertain the extent of the error
produced, and found it precisely the same as Mr. Hume noticed. When I
placed the compass on the rock, Mount Foster bore from me N. by W., the
true bearing of the one hill from the other being N.N.W. My placing my
notebook under the compass did not alter the effect, nor did the card move
until I raised the instrument a couple of feet above the stone, when it
first became violently agitated, and then settled correctly; and my
bearings of the highest parts of Arbuthnot's Range, and of its centre,
were as follows:

Mount Exmouth to the N ...... N. 86 E.
Centre....................... N. 85 E.
Vernon's Peak................ N. 89 E.
Distance 70 miles.

Having finished my reports and letters, it became necessary to consider
the best point on which to move, and to fix a day for our departure from
Mount Harris. It struck me that having found so important a feature as the
Darling River, the Governor would approve my endeavouring to regain it
more to the southward, in order to trace it down. I, therefore, detached
Mr. Hume to survey the country in that direction, and to ascertain if a
descent upon the Bogen district would be practicable, through which I had
been informed a considerable river forced itself. The report he made on
his return was such as to deter me from that attempt, but he stated that
the country for 30 miles from the Macquarie was well watered, and superior