INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 33 



The conditions of the Stony Desert as I saw them were different 

 from the idea which I had formed from Sturt's account, and I think it 

 will be best to quote my notes made at the time. 



" Wednesday, Jvly 0th.— Edge of the Stony Desert. This morning, 

 on leaving the camp, we travelled for three miles across sandhills in a 

 north-west direction to one of the chain of large, shallow lakes through 

 which the flood waters find their way to Lake Lipson. These I believe 

 to be the Hope Plains of Sturt. The banks are grassy, and the whole 

 appearance of the country is exactly like that of the neighborhood of 

 Lake Hope. This lake appears to have contained water when McKinlay 

 passed it, judging from the camel footprints on its banks. The rain 

 waters ceased here, and for about 10 miles we travelled across high 

 ridges of loose sand with an occasional large gravelly flat, all vegeta- 

 tion being perished with drought, and the scene was a picture of desola- 

 tion. The landscape could have been painted in sepia and Indian ink. 

 At noon we came to a dry salt lake, rather boggy towards the centre, 

 and with a fall, as had the whole country here, towards the north. 

 At 2.30, after crossing ridges of red sand covered with porcupine grass, 

 and where there were no living bushes but a few acacias, we came 

 on to the edge of the desert- — the sandhills running out in various 

 lengths into it. It was very much as I expected it would be, namely, 

 extensive stony plains, like some I had seen on the south-west side of 

 Lake Eyre. We crossed about five miles of these stones, the travelling 

 not being bad, and camped on a sandridge, beyond which the stony 

 plains extended northwards to the horizon. There was scarcely any 

 feed for the horses ; nothing but the dried remains of grass, which looked 

 as if it owed its origin to the deluge. The only green plants to be seen 

 were a few plants of Portulaca, which some shower had freshened up. 

 We seem to be getting into rainfall again, as there are some small 

 puddles now only just dry. Distance, 25 miles. 



" Thursday, Jvly 10th. — Sturt's Desert. Started early — having 

 watched the horses all night to make sure of an ea/ly start — there 

 being neither feed nor water for them. In less than three miles, on a 

 north-west course, we came across numerous pools of rain water, a 

 godsend for our horses. The plains are covered wuth stones, in some 

 places closely packed together like a pavement, in others larger in size 

 and loosely strewn about over a spongy soil. Passed a dry lake about 

 three miles wide, the stony ground sloping to it from three sides, with 

 a sandridge on the other. About 11 o'clock we came in sight of a 

 good deal of stunted timber, principally a kind of prickly acacia, and 

 this our guide announced to be the creek he had spoken to me about, 

 c 



