70 DESCRIPTION OF THE WOODS. [CII. III. 



wind. Fewof the men had slept. Thus even night, which had 

 previously afforded us some protection from our great enemy, 

 the heat, no longer relieved us from its effects ; and this in- 

 cessant high temperature which weakened the cattle, dried 

 up the waters, destroyed our wheels, and nourished the fires, 

 that covered the country with smoke, — made humidity appear 

 to us the very essence of existence, and water almost an ob- 

 ject of adoration. No disciple of Zoroaster could have made 

 proselytes of us. The thermometer ranged from 96° to 101° 

 during the day, and during the last five nights had stood as 

 hioh as 90° between sunset and sunrise. From the time the 

 party left Sydney rain had fallen on only one day. We left each 

 friendly water-hole, in the greatest uncertainty whether we 

 should ever drink again, and it may be imagined with what 

 interest, under such circumstances, I watched the progress of 

 a cloudy sky. It was not uncommon for the heavens to be 

 overcast, but the clouds seemed to consist more of smoke 

 than moist vapour. The wind, from the time of our first 

 arrival in the country, had blown from the north or north- 

 west, and the bent of trees, at all exposed, shewed that 

 these were the prevailing winds. 



The country when seen from an eminence appeared to be 

 very generally wooded, but the lower parts were perfectly 

 clear, or thinly strewed with bushes, and slender trees, 

 chiefiy varieties of acacia. The principal wood consisted of 

 casuarinre which grew in thick clumps, or scrubs, and very 

 much impeded, as has already been stated, our progress in 

 any given direction. I found, that these scrubs of casuarinee 

 grew generally on rising grounds, and chiefly on their north- 

 ern or eastern slopes. We saw little of the cfillitris tribe, after 

 we had crossed the first hill beyond our last camp on the 

 Nammoy. On the contrary, these casuaiinae scrubs, and 

 grassy plains seemed to characterize the country to the west- 

 wai'd and northward of the Nundawur range, as far, at 

 least, as we had yet penetrated. The course of this chain 

 of poijds a])pearcd to be jnirallcl to that, on which we had 



