32 



layer of smooth, glazed, rounded or subangular stones, set sO" 

 closely together that the appearance is not unlike a pavement. 

 The bare patches, or " gibbers," alternate with less stony or sandy 

 areas and small shallow depressions, termed daypans. Where 

 the stones are absent the saltbush abounds, and on the sand a 

 few small bushes maintain a precarious footing ; but the claypan 

 is smooth and bare, the edges usually margined with a gro^vth of 

 samphire, and the surface white with a coat of salt-efflorescence. 



The southern portion of this region presents its most extreme^ 

 character, and is met with immediately after leaving the north 

 termination of the Flinders Range. 



As might be expected, this basin being the receptacle of a vast 

 drainage area, there are some immense watercourses, which con- 

 duct the occasional flood Avaters to the lowest levels ; but so- 

 gentle is the slope, and so local and irregular is the rainfall, that 

 it is not an uncommon circumstance for the lower portions of the 

 channels to be destitute of running water for years together. In 

 fact, throughout the great plain a mild drought may be con- 

 sidered its normal condition ; but heavy rains around its edges 

 may send down a flood exceeding the capacity of the lower 

 channels. Then the country becomes inundated for miles on 

 either side ; billabongs, saltpans and all depressed portions are- 

 filled to the brim, and the non-absorbent character of the clayey 

 soil permits these waters to remain for long periods — perhaps till 

 another flood — and furnisli the only supplies of surface waters- 

 that man and beast can obtain. 



After such an inundation the aspect of the country undergoes 

 a complete and wonderful transformation. The dreary monoto- 

 nous w-aste, whicli formerly only reflected the heated rays of the 

 sun and the landscape of mirage and uncertain outline ever 

 varying amid the air currents, — the very sight of which intensified 

 the arduous nature of the traveller's journey, and begat an in- 

 voluntary sense of fear and shrinking, — is succeeded by a magic 

 growth of beautiful green sward, from out of which rise " gera- 

 niums," " parakylia " and succulent herbs delightful to animals 

 and gratifying to man. 



It is but "for a short time, liowever, that the desert thus 

 " blossoms as the rose." The great heat following after moisture 

 induces a rapid growth, but only of ephemeral existence ; and after 

 a bush fire, or the more slow wasting due to natural causes, the 

 country relapses into its normal condition. 



The foregoing is especially true of the country east of Lake 

 Eyre, where the Barcoo or Cooper's Creek brings down the storm 

 waters of the Queensland coast range. From the slopes near Car- 

 pentaria, in tlie north, the flood waters follow the ill-defined 

 channels of the Diamantina and Mulligan, while from the slopes 



