SPINIFEX A NUISANCE 111 



growth of reeds. We accidentally set fire to some of 

 these reeds when making our camp-fire, and in a few 

 minutes the whole country around us was blazing and 

 roaring fiercely. It was a grand but nerve-trying sight. 

 Never have I seen fire spread with such fearful rapidity as 

 on this night, nor with such a hungry fury. In the 

 morning we could see, from some hills, that several miles 

 of country had been cleared of vegetation. 



It is difficult to conceive how these sand ridges were 

 formed. The ground is firm, there being a kind of marl 

 mixed with the sand. There is similar land on the west 

 side of the continent, but there it is not covered with reeds. 

 In some parts of the Flinder's vale there is a sprinkling 

 of trees scattered over' the plain, and many of these trees 

 are dead. Where the ground is flat some patches of the 

 grey salt bush were noticed. It was in flower, and this 

 and some other beautiful wild flowers were almost the 

 only objects to relieve the terrible desolation of this district. 

 Mallee-scrub was also seen, and desert-like as the country 

 is, it is everywhere covered with some sort of herbage, 

 including kangaroo grass in places, which is one of the 

 best of the native grasses, and is always a valuable and 

 much appreciated food for a traveller's horses. 



Where the reeds ceased to be found the ground was 

 covered with spinifex, a horrible kind of plant, with sharp 

 spines for leaves, which are an intolerable nuisance to both 

 man and beast. Three of the horses were badly lamed by 

 this grass, and a dog we had with us had to be carried a 

 distance of thirty miles. Wallabies and kangaroos avoid 

 spinifex-covered ground, and scarcely a bird was seen 

 during this part of our journey. We would gladly have 

 cleared the ground by fire, but the flames would not 

 spread, and one night we had to cut away the grass before 

 a sufficient space could be had for the horses to lie on. 



We had six horses with us, two of them being pack 

 animals, and these we would hobble at night and turn 

 loose to gather their own food. They seldom wandered 

 further than a few yards from the camp — well trained 

 Australian horses never do — and as a rule lay down to rest 



