Nov. 8, 1858.] IN SEARCH OF LEICHHARDT AND PARTY. 27 



some low ridges of drift sand, beyond which we found the channel 

 full of water, with a slight current (lat. 26° 2') ; but it terminated 

 in a large reach of water which had not yet filled, and the channel 

 lower down was dry. 



Low ridges of red drift sand were now frequent on the plain, and 

 appeared to be the higher points of the former sandy desert, the clay 

 plains resulting from the deposition of mud in the hollows between 

 which had in course of time filled it to one uniform level. 



1st June. — The channels on the western side of the plain were 

 very irregular, sometimes completely lost on the level surface, and 

 again collecting into large hollows, with box trees on the banks, in 

 which fine sheets of water still remained, some 100 yards wide and 

 more than a mile in length. We therefore did not experience so 

 much inconvenience with regard to the supply of this necessary 

 element as from the absence of sufficient grass, and the all but im- 

 practicable nature of the mud plains. 



4th June. — In latitude 27° low sandstone table-land approached 

 the west side of the river, and we attempted to travel along the 

 slope between it and the mud plains, but found it so stony that the 

 horses' hoofs were soon worn to the quick, as we had been compelled 

 to remove their shoes to enable them to traverse the mud plains. 



Had it not been for green bushes of salsola, and some similar 

 plants which had sprung up since the rain, this tract of country 

 exactly resembled the stony desert described by Captain Sturt, as 

 existing 200 miles to the westward. These remarkable features 

 forming the declivities of the sandstone table-land through which 

 " Cooper Creek " forces its way, and by confining the waters to a 

 narrower space during floods, causes the fine deep reaches of water 

 which characterise it. 



8^/i June. — By following the western limits of the plains we reached 

 latitude 27° 30', when the sandstone table-land receded, and a bound- 

 less expanse of mud plain was before us ; the lines of box trees 

 which had hitherto marked the channels nearly ceased, polygonum 

 and atriplex constituting the main feature of the vegetation. 



9^^ June. — After toiling S.W. a day and a half over this level sur- 

 face to latitude 27° 50', we approached some low ridges, at the foot 

 of which there was a lagoon 100 yards wide, exhibiting signs of a 

 current during flood to the N.W. ; and as there was an evident 

 westerly trend in all the smaller channels previously crossed, it was 

 evident they would soon merge in Cooper Creek. 



Steering VV.N.W. the several channels collected together, and soon 

 formed a deep watercourse, with fine reaches of water. 



9th June. — The sandstone table land closed in on both sides ; the 



