The path was however soon made as passable as our abilities permitted, and we started along it with the ponies; some of them were however no less reduced than the men and, in endeavouring to lead one of them up a rocky hill, it fell, and from weakness sank under its light load without making an effort to save itself; the spine was thus so severely injured as to render it unable to move the hinder extremities; we therefore killed the poor creature and moved on.
SANDSTONE CAVE.
Throughout the day we continued gradually the ascent of the range which we had yesterday commenced.

The large valley we were in led us by a gentle slope winding higher and higher amongst the rocky hills; at first it had been so wide as to appear like a plain, but by degrees it contracted its dimensions, until, towards the afternoon, it suddenly assumed almost the character of a gorge.

Just at this point we saw in the cliffs on our left hand a cave, which I entered in the hope of finding native paintings.
Nor was I disappointed for it contained several of a very curious character.

This cave was a natural chasm in the sandstone rocks, elevated at its entrance several feet above the level of the ground, from which the ascent to it was by a natural flight of sandstone steps, irregular, of course, but formed of successive thin strata, resting one upon another, and thus constituting an easy ascent; these successive layers continued into the body of the cave, quite to the end, where was a central slab, more elevated than the others, and on each side of this two other larger ones which reached the top of the cave and partly served to support the immense sandstone slab that formed the roof.
ANOTHER PAINTED CAVE.
The cave was twenty feet deep and at the entrance seven feet high and about forty feet wide.

As before stated the floor gradually approached the roof in the direction of the bottom of the cavern, and its width also contracted, so that at the extremity it was not broader than the slab of rock, which formed a natural seat.
FIGURE DRAWN ON THE ROOF.
The principal painting in it was the figure of a man, ten feet six inches in length, clothed from the chin downwards in a red garment which reached to the wrists and ankles; beyond this red dress the feet and hands protruded and were badly executed.
The face and head of the figure were enveloped in a succession of circular bandages or rollers, or what appeared to be painted to represent such.