192 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



do it. I photographed it as well as I could and also another rude 

 drawing of what gives one the idea of a " broad arrow," but 

 which is probably meant to represent the foot of an emu. Similar 

 drawings, as well as many others, are found all over Australia, 

 especially in the Northern districts, and those preserved are 

 mostly in caves, where they are sheltered from the weather. 



When the timber is rung in the forest country it is surprising 

 what a sward of grass often springs up from ground that had 

 previously been quite bare except for the trees. During the 

 winter and spring the streams are as a rule well supplied with 

 water, but by far the greater number dry up during the summer 

 months, or at most form a siring of waterholes. Nearly every- 

 where you go in Western Australia, especially in the inland 

 districts, the want of water seems to be the principal drawback ; 

 for instance, at Coolgardie the dark-brown soil seems very good, 

 and will, practically speaking, grow anything, but fresh water 

 cannot be spared, and the artesian water is mostly salt, and the 

 rainfall very deficient, there being no high land to attract it. 



Various means are used for conserving water, the principal one 

 being at the so-called soaks, where at the foot of a large granite 

 rock, often some acres in extent, the drainage water is collected 

 in some hollow in the granite under the surface, and shallow holes 

 are sunk in which water can be obtained at the bottom ; t)ut now 

 the Government in many places, such as near railway stations, &c., 

 build a small wall, generally of flakes of granite fastened on end, 

 about 2 feet high, all round the rock, so that the water comes off 

 at one place only, and it runs into a large tank or reservoir, from 

 which it can be taken as needed. And when a selector is looking 

 out for land in the inland districts his first thought is for a granite 

 rock from which he can obtain water, and if it was not for this 

 way of obtaining it much of the land at present occupied would 

 be deserted. Another way of obtaining the much-needed 

 water is from pipes or holes which are found in the other- 

 wise solid granite. They are called gnamma holes, and they 

 vary in width and depth, some being only about a foot or 

 less in diameter and possibly 5 to 15 feet deep. Others, 

 again, are several feet wide and go down to a considerable 

 depth, and hold as much as 20,000 gallons when full. The holes 

 are mostly more or less spherical, and the water in the few I saw 

 was well charged with iron, which discoloured the surface of the 

 rock at the openings, and which looks as if the cause of these 

 holes was the decomposing of a belt of ironstone in the granite, 

 or a dyke composed of softer material, which the natives may 

 have helped to clear out ; anyhow they puzzle local residents as to 

 how they came to be there, as the granite in which they are 

 formed is often high above the surrounding plains, and shows no 

 signs of ever having been caused by erosion from water, and they 



