FIRST EXPEDITION 485 



i a running creek which we found about 2 miles south of our 

 amp, and which took its rise in the sandstone ranges to the south. 

 On our return to the camp we were glad to find that the boys 

 ad shot a young kangaroo and two black cockatoos a supply 

 rhich would enable us to spare the salt beef for two days. A 

 angaroo dog which accompanied us turned out quite useless, a 

 boucbe inutile. The poor dog's worthlessness was explained 

 terwards by his falling into the distemper. 



August 25. Having previously determined on the best possible 

 ossing of the range before us, I led straight up to it (N. 24 W., 

 mile). The best was not very good ; it was up a long, grassy 

 nr, leading to the lowest part of the range, at a height of about 



feet ; the descent on the other side was much steeper. The 

 rses behaved well. A series of bearings was taken from the 

 mmit. 



Having descended into the valley (about a mile from its head), 



1 struck out for a prominent point of the right wall of the valley, 

 itant about 3 miles and bearing W. 14 S. To the south of this 

 int a long valley opened out, and this I took for the course of 

 e creek. My surprise was great to find that it was only a 

 butary valley and that the main stream which I named DESERT 

 IEEK escaped westward through a narrow gap into the flat 

 untry, which I had seen from the summit of the ridge. We 

 jre therefore fairly launched on waters flowing to the Normanby 

 ver, or into Princess Charlotte Bay, and had crossed in the 

 Drning (without suspecting the fact) the last ridge of the BACK- 

 NE OF THE CAPE MELVILLE PENINSULA. 



We continued down the valley for I mile to W. 14 N. and for 

 miles further to W. 6 N. (the creek having by this time become 

 unning stream). The latter course brought us to a low sandstone 

 nge, which we had to skirt for 2 miles to S. 4 W. before we could 

 und it and continue our westward journey. 



When we had rounded the point of the sandstone range and 

 sumed our course (W. 6 N.), we entered at once on a desert, 

 ic creek fell away to the south of our course and the ground we 

 aversed had an almost insensible southward slope. No more 

 ndmarks were visible than if we had been out on the open ocean, 

 tiere was no grass but spinifex and not much of that, for the 

 itives had burned it the day before. The timber was stunted 

 tree (mdalfuca), stringybark or messmate, and low bushes of 

 indanus, occasionally thickening into scrub. There was no soil, 

 it only deep white sand derived from the waste of the Desert 

 indstone. There were even no water-courses what represented 

 em were mere strips of sand absolutely bare of vegetation but 

 t below the general level. After crossing about Si miles of 

 lis desert, we found water at 5 o'clock to my surprise, for I 

 Hy expected to have to make a waterless and, still worse, an 



