THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 79 



of adaptation to climate. In the dry season one would imagine 

 that no animal or plant life could exist, but immediately rain falls 

 animal life seems to spring from the ground. The natives will 

 soon initiate you into the manner in which the animals live. 

 The frogs, for example, dig into the ground and make a coating 

 of earth around themselves, which hardens, and thus closes 

 them in. In this they w^ait until the rain falls, when they come 

 out and gorge themselves with a stock of food and prepare for 

 the next time they will be closed up. When the rain is dis- 

 appearing they fill themselves out with as much water as possible 

 and go into the holes which they make. The natives are aware 

 of this habit, and, if thirsty and unable to obtain water otherwise, 

 will obtain the frogs and get the water from them. Each frog 

 contains about half a wineglassful. 



Going westward into the Amadeus basin we have only a very 

 few small streams, which generally run out from low ranges on to 

 the plains and get lost in the sand. The lake itself for the greater 

 part of the year is perfectly dry, and its bed is coated with pure 

 white salt. A large extent of this country is covered with Porcu- 

 pine Grass, which grows in large tussocks, from one to three or 

 four yards in diameter. This grass forms one of the greatest 

 obstacles to travelling, owing to its being armed with spikes, which 

 tear your horses and yourselves. A special form of the She-Oak 

 (Casiiarina decaisneana) grows here, and affords the only shelter 

 which can be obtained from the heat of the sun, which is often 

 intense. 



On the southern side of the lake, Ayers Rock, which rises 

 precipitously to a height of t,ioo feet, is a prominent feature in 

 the landscape. Its surface is covered with small holes, one above 

 the other, which must have been formed by the water as it 

 descends during the rainy season in cascades down the steep 

 sides. Some twenty miles further away to the west is situated 

 Mount Olga, a group of bare, bold, rounded masses, rising to a 

 height of 1,500 feet above the level plain. 



Leaving the Amadean basin and travelling north, we come to 

 the Macdonnell Ranges, with their intricate gorges. These are 

 often very narrow and almost impossible to traverse, owing to 

 there being either water or dense scrub in them. Some are very 

 picturesque, the rocks being a red quartzite, and clothed with a 

 greater variety of vegetation. 



At one spot, and one spot only, we meet with a palrn 

 {Livistona marice), discovered by the explorer Giles in 1872. It 

 is closely allied to the Cabbage-tree Palm of eastern Australia, 

 but is known only in the one locality, where probably not more 

 than two hundred plants exist. It grows to the height of perhaps 

 80 feet, and is the only palm you will see during the whole 

 journey to the Gulf of Carpentaria. 



