Vol. IX 

 igio 



] Whitlock, On the East MurcMson. 185 



enabled to do a little more scouting, and the results were more 

 interesting still. Not only did I encounter further pairs of 

 Ainyiornzs, but in following an individual of the latter species I 

 flushed a tiny bird from a clump of spinifex almost at my feet. 

 After a lot of persuasion the feathered mite showed itself It 

 was a veritable Emu-Wren, the blue throat of a fine male being 

 conspicuously visible. Another bird which for a time puzzled 

 me by its notes was a Ptilotis. I knew it could not be P. ornata, 

 and, though it looked like P. pbimula, I was very doubtful of 

 its identity, when I considered the locality and surroundings I 

 was in. However, the teams started again, and I had to post- 

 pone further investigations ; but I mentally determined to visit 

 this land of promise in the near future. Our camp that night 

 was at the Bore Well. We were now within 30 miles of our 

 destination. Between Bore Well and Wiluna the mulga, jam- 

 wood, gidgi (^Acacia), casuarina, beef-wood, and other trees 

 attained a size I had never experienced before. Herbage was 

 abundant, and the various species of everlastings, which are so 

 prominent on the Yalgoo and Murchison goldfields, were in 

 great abundance. Bounding the spinifex plain at Bore Well are 

 a series of low ranges, and away to the south-east one could 

 easily discern the bold escarpments of Mt. Lawrence Wells, 

 which lie some 20 miles south by west of Lake Way. We were 

 rapidly reaching our destination, and on 30th June, towards the 

 evening, I had my first glimpse of Wiluna, which was to be my 

 headquarters for the ensuing four months. 



The driver of our team kindly gave me some useful hints as 

 to where to camp, and I was enabled to select a sheltered site 

 within a convenient distance of a Government well. Conveying 

 my baggage to the spot, I soon had my tent up, and before 

 darkness had set in was comfortably settled for the time being. 



Next morning, ist July, I was up betimes and off to the lake. 

 It may be as well to explain here that Lake Way in reality 

 consists of two shallow depressions, separated from one another 

 by a tract of low-lying ground six or seven miles in breadth 

 and thickly covered with scrub. The northern depression is 

 usually termed Lake Violet, and is so marked on some of the 

 Government maps. But for all purposes there is only one lake, 

 consisting of a series of lagoons, divided by a network of sand- 

 banks and other slight elevations. Nearly all my work was 

 done at the northern end, owing to the scarcity of fresh water 

 near the southern portion, and also the want of practicable 

 tracks to convey my gear to a suitable camping-ground. 



Between Wiluna and Lake Violet lies the chief portion of the 

 auriferous belt, consequently the country is much disturbed by 

 mining operations and has been denuded of all timber of any 

 commercial value. It so happens that the premier mine of the 

 district is at the southern extremity of the auriferous belt, so 



