BY HON. A. NORTON, M.L.C. 91 



Warrego. No roads were needed here, for on my left the 

 tortuous course of the Darling could be traced by the river 

 gums which grew on its banks, and on my right the distant 

 Berkeley Range was always visible ; as I rode on I could 

 see Mount McPherson in the far distance. I made a 

 fairly long day, and at night found shelter and tucker 

 at the last shepherd's hut below Tooralle. The poor fellow, 

 who lived there by himself, made much of me ; the man 

 who brought his rations, and now and then counted his flock, 

 was almost the the only fellow-being he saw for months. He 

 had not been troubled by blacks, he told me, but it was evident 

 that some visited the country occasionally, for, beside the 

 depressions which filled with the backwater from the river in 

 flood time there were many old humpies at their camping 

 places. These depressions were, to a considerable extent, 

 covered with polygonum, beside which there were bare patches 

 on which pigweed grew in abundance. This the blacks 

 collected for food, and on almost every old humpy some that 

 had been gathered for that purpose still lived, though in a 

 somewhat withered condition. My horse, like myself, had felt 

 the heat very much as we travelled over the plains, but a night's 

 rest and plenty of surprisingly good grass had revived him by 

 morning ; so I had some of the shepherd's homely damper and 

 mutton, and started once more on my journey. The 

 weather was again furiously hot (it was the twenty-eighth of 

 December, and I think hot for that time of year) ; right away 

 down river I travelled through mile after mile of plain, until 

 about midday I halted for a while beside a patch of polygonum 

 and took some light refreshment in the form of pigweed, which 

 helps to cool one's mouth and quench one's thirst. After an 

 hour or so I turned ixiy horse's head up the river again, and 

 before night set in had hobbled my weary nag beside the hut of 

 the friendly shepherd. I had had a long ride and my face was 

 terribly scorched by the pitiless sun ; almost the only living 

 objects I had seen were some white hawks, which had a dark 

 patch on each wing ; these busied themselves all day in their 

 search for marsupial mice, which seem to be their principal 

 food. The plains were too hot during the day for other native 

 animals. Even the heat did not disturb my rest that 

 night. 



When I got back to Prinibougyro, Dowling was arranging 

 for a trip down the river to take horses to Percy Simpson, 



