719 



Thryptomane maisonneuoii, covered with small flowers (dark- 

 red and white), made its appearance. There are three species 

 of mulga (Acacia) growing on this sandy ground, but unfor- 

 tunately the state of the country was so very dry that few of 

 these interesting shrubs were in flower. When crossing a 

 higher sand-ridge than usual, a dark line showed up in the- 

 distance crossing our course from north to south, and our 

 field-glasses showed it to be a bank of redgums, a feature that 

 always marks one of the watercourses in that country, and this 

 one could be none other than the Officer Creek, which has its 

 source in the Musgrave Ranges, and winding out into the 

 sandhill country loses itself amidst the dry sandy plains to the 

 south. The sandhills took us right up to the Officer Creek, 

 but the country improved somewhat before reaching its dry 

 bed, and quite a crop of everlastings ( Myreocephalus stuartii) 

 lined the banks. Our camels were continually breaking their 

 nose-lines as they made frantic attempts to get a mouthful of 

 them as they passed along. Our leader followed the dry 

 watercourse towards the Musgrave Kanges. The banks of this 

 river only average 5 or 6 feet in height, and the absence of 

 logs or large deposits of debris, as well as the very fine sand 

 in the bed, would lead one to suppose that during flood-time 

 there would not be any fast-running stream such as there is 

 at the same distance from the MacDonnell Ranges, this being 

 due no doubt to the level nature of the country through which 

 the Officer runs. The first night we spent on this course was 

 near a native well in the bed of the river; the sand had been 

 thrown out for several feet, but there was no water in it. 

 After the camels had been unloaded our leader, with other 

 members of the party, put the well down much deeper, when 

 a little water w^as obtained, but not sufficient to water the 

 camels. Birds were much more numerous along this water- 

 course, and during our journey along it quite a number were 

 secured. Many indications were seen of natives having visited 

 this locality. On the day we left the Officer Creek to go east 

 the wild native from the Everards pointed along the ground, 

 east and west, where the camel-pad made by the Elder Explor- 

 ing Expedition, twenty or more years previously, could be 

 plainly seen. The country was in a very dry state, and not 

 a drop of water existed anywhere. 



We had now reached our furthest west, and the sun went 

 down at our backs that night for the first time on our home- 

 ward track. Our course took us over low sandhills and 

 through thick mulga scrub till we sighted some isolated masses 

 of granite, which indicated that we were approaching the 

 Everard Range again. Following a long outlier from the 

 range we tried to get through a gap with the camels, bub 



