iS6 



NATURE 



[June 21, 1S94 



south, and about three miles wide. The camp of the working | 

 party was at firs; pitched on the east side of the most southerly 

 hillock, but the extreme exposure of the site to ihe prevalent 

 winds and sand-storms soon compelled a change to the opposite 

 side. Noiihward of the sand-hills, so far as the eye can reach, 

 the whole like bed i~ an unbroken fl.u expanse, covered with 

 gypsum crystals of all sizes, from which the reflection of the 

 bright sunlight causes a glare painful to the eyes. The greatest 

 distance in this directijn r< ached by member^ of the party was 

 eight mile=. Here there are a number of brackish spring? in 

 the bed of the lake, each surrounded by a fringe of "bull- 

 rushes" {Tyfha sp.), and on the way thither a peculiar oval 

 mound was passed, consisting of an interior mass of soft black 

 mud covered by a greyish crus', the whole structure quaking 

 on pressure like a jelly. The size was about twelve feet long 

 by eight fee! broad and four ftret high. 



South of the cainp is another flat expanse on which water 

 very readily collecs even after a light fall of rain. 

 When ihii is dry the surface is white from the presence 

 of a saline efflorescence, probably >ulphate of sodium. 

 East and west the group of sand-hills aie separated from the 

 m-iinlanl by sail-encrusted flats of about half a mile in width, 

 which in dry weather are passable for camels and even for 

 light vehicles, but are extraordinarily bogf;y ar.d sticky after rain. 

 Theie are a (ew shallow water-courses near the camp, the 

 general direction of which is from north to south, and in some 

 pans of these salt water stands permanently. The soft black 

 mad which forms their bed contains in msny places much de- 

 composing vegetable matter, and often stinks horribly from the 

 evolution from it of sulphuretted hydrogen gas. In one place 

 there is, in the bed of the water course, a round black-looking 

 hole standing full of water, which gave no bottom with sound- 

 ings at twenty five feet. 



After a continuance of dry » ealher, the flats around the camp 

 become coated with a white amorphous saline crust with this 

 peculiarity, that it does not form on .•^uiface tracks, and these 

 thus appearing dark amid the surrounding while ground, the 

 scene suggests with singular firce the appearance of fojtprinls 

 on a snow-field. On the other hand, whenever water (collected 

 in the tracks and other inder^tation^) has evaporated, which 

 »ery soon takes place under the influence of the stroig, dry 

 winds of the locality, there are left behind large tlat glistening 

 prismatic crystals which, in excess ol dryness, crumble into a 

 fine white powder. Unfortunately, the nature of these crystals 

 cannot now be precisely slated, as the samples collected have 

 not reached Adelaide, but, fiom their shape and behaviour, 

 there is lilile doabt but that they are composed of sodium sul- 

 pbai e. 



Scarcely any vegetation relieves the prevailing desolation 

 be)ond stubbly "samphiie plants" [Salicornia), which grow in 

 patches upon the sandhills, and rarely excted two feet in 

 height. Judging by the unusual thickne-s of their stems, some 

 of these bubbes must be very old. A few scattered and still 

 more stunted bushes of the same plant grow upon the interven- 

 ing flats. To the north and south ol the sandhills net a bush 

 relieves the unbroken monotony of the level, white crystalline 

 surface. 



On the western side, not far from Ihe margin of the lake, are 

 the Mulligan Springs, where a station hut was formerly in occu- 

 pation ; but this has been for some time abandoned. The 

 n<MiCfn' country is now under pastoral lease to the Beltana 

 my, whose holding extends continuously to the 

 i -lance of 150 miles. The eastern spurs of the 

 11 111. .iimmiis of which reach .in elevation 



ich to within nbout twenty miles ol 

 . , un the eastern slope of the range, 

 t-.illabonna Station, belon,;ing to .Messrs. 

 iders the lake on the east, and consists 

 , (laini which stretch to, and beyond, the 

 w South Wales. The station-house stands on 

 ' '■-■ ' ' 'iim the lake, and six from 



Ku7 wiutina .M.iliim, belong- 



li.y.^ . :.:iicc from .\delr.ide in a 



direct line is about 4C0 miles, Int to icach the lake by the 

 ordinary routes necessitates a journey by rail of about (hat 

 length and an additional 150 to 2C0 miles by road, according 

 10 Ihe route selected. The whole iouruey thither occupies five 

 10* ' 



exec 



Ihe 1 

 there arc 



Kasle'is i 



the camp, 

 ing to .Mr. 



> as uninviting region 



geol ^.. ,..; wunsidered. 



Its 



History of the Discovery. 



During many years, and from many parts of South Australia, 

 notably from the Lake Eyre district, the S )uih Australian 

 Museum has from time to time received tefih and fragments of 

 DifrototioH bones, which were occasionally associated with 

 fragmentary remains of Macropods, Crocodiles, Turtles, and 

 large Bird--. 



.■\mong such donations were some teeth and portions of the 

 lower jaw, sent to us in 1885 liy Mr. John Rngless, which weie 

 found by his son, Mr. K. tS. Kagless, in a water-course at a 

 depth ol live feet, about two miles east of the margin of Lake 

 Callabonna, and about twelve miles north-east ol the place 

 where the more recent discoveries have been made. It was 

 not, however, until 1SS9 that the Museum obtained a very per- 

 fect skull, and several other bones in their enliiety, from Kaldina 

 Creek, near Burra, a locality about a hundred miles due north 

 of .\del.iide. In the same year, from fr.ngments found at Bun- 

 dey, ill the same district, we were able to restore incompletely 

 another skull, which differs very considerably from the former. 

 S. little la'er a third, but mere imperfect, skull was found at 

 Gawler, twenty-five miles north of .Adelaide. 



-Since the first discovery of Diprolodon remains in the Wel- 

 lington Caves, by Sir Thomas Mitchell, in 1830, teeth and bones 

 of this animal have been found over an extensive area which 

 extends from the Gulf of Carpentaria to Victoria, and from the 

 Darling Downs to the Lake Eyre Basin. They have also been 

 foun 1 at Kimberley, in Northwest Australia, and 10 the west of 

 the bead of the Great B'ght : so that the IMf^rolodon appears to 

 have had an immense range, and probably wandered over the 

 whole continent of .\ustr.Tlia. 



The existence of bones in the actual bed of Lake Calla- 

 bonna was made known to Mr. F. B. fia^less on January 10, 



1892, by an intelligent aboriginal who described iheni as being 

 vei7 large and numeious, and two days afterwards Mr. Ragless 

 himself visited the locality, which subsequently became the seal 

 ol operation-. .\ few days later Ihe place was visited by John 

 Meldrum, who had been for some months in Mi. Uagless's 

 employ, and by him some fragments were brought to Adelaide. 

 These facts having come to the notice of the Museum 

 authorities, Mr. H. Ilurst, who had been previously eng.agedin 

 geological and palaeontological work in Queensland, was com- 

 missioned to inspect and report. The promising nature of the 

 report of this gentleman ultima'ely led to the despatch to the 

 lake of a party under his charge in January 1893. 



TheWoIvK at Lake Callabonna. 



Operations under Mr. Hurst's superintendence were con- 

 tinued for four months, during which time a considerable 

 amount of maierial was obtained. Towards the end of June 



1893, however, work, having been previously interrupted by 

 rain, had to bo finally discontinued in consequence of a heavy 

 fall, and Mr. llursl, wilh one of his paity, returned to 

 Adelaide, bringing with hiui as many bones as could be carried 

 in a " buck-board " buggy. 



At this stage it appeared desirable for various reasons thai 

 the work of excavation should be continued under the direction 

 of a responsilde Museum nfficer, and accordingly, at tlie desire of 

 the Board of Management, I left for the field on August 11, 



I 1893, in company with .Mr. Zietz, the assistant director, and 

 another member of the Museum stafl:. On our ariival at Lake 

 Callabonna Mr. lluist, who had by ihal time returned to the 

 camp, resigned his appointment, wilh another member of his 

 previous party. 



As the result of Mr. Hurst's labours about a ton of bones 

 were soon 'lespalched to Adelaide. Shortly alter our arrival 



' a fall of rain, though not exceeding hall an inch in amount, w.t 

 sufficient to cause considerable sheets ol water to collect on tli' 



I low-lying flats, to fill up the holes which had been cxcavaleii. 



1 and to render the clay surface of the lake, at ihe best of linn 



; very soft and sticky, so boggy th.at further woik on the field be 

 came for a lime impossible. Eurlher, it became a matter ul 

 great difficulty for the camels to pass over to the mainland for 

 the requisite supplies, and it was occasionally necessary 10 re- 



I move their loads and dig them out of the glue-like mud in 

 which they h.td sunk nearly to their bellies. 



In consequence of ihc rain it was a fortnight before excava- 

 tions could be properly resumed ; meanwhile. Icing unfor- 

 lunalelv obliged to return to Adelaide, I Icfl the camp in charge 



I of -Mr.' Zielz, ihc other members ol the party being three 



NO. I 2 86, VOL. 50J 



