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remounted, and continued our journey to Adelaide, highly pleased with all that we had seen in the Mount Barker district. A more favourable opinion of the country than I had previously entertained was the natural result of having seen this fine range of pasturage ; and although the district is of inconsiderable extent, not exceeding, probably, one million of acres, available for the depasturing of flocks and herds, it was regarded by the colonists as a sure source of prosperity and abundance. Its adaptation for the rearing of cattle and horses, in the proportion of six acres to each head of stock, appears to be undeniable. I have, however, been informed by Captain Finnis, an ex perienced sheepowner, that the herbage of the Mount Barker country is too rich for sheep, these animals being found to thrive better in situations where the soil is dry and the herbage comparatively scanty. The superior fertility of this part of South Australia is unquestionably determined in some degree by its geo logical formation, which is calcareous. The superficial mould rests on an undulating stratum of limestone, con taining fossil shells—a formation, which, wheresoever it occurs, is marked by a beautiful and sweeping surface, bearing the richest grasses, and trees of great size, in the proportion of three or four to the acre. In the centre of the district, about fifteen miles due east of Mount Lofty, stands the isolated hill, about two thousand feet in height, which gives its name to the surrounding country. From its isolated position in the midst of a level or undulating tract of limestone, it seems probable that if not itself the body of an extinct volcano, it has been upraised by sub marine action at a period subsequent to the deposition of the secondary strata. This opinion, however, has not